Grow it Long 2023 Challenge!

[snoop]

I moisturizedmy hair and put it into two buns. I was so proud of myself for wearing these twists for two weeks and not being sick of them yet. I decided that since it's going so well, I'll stretch out out for one more week.

Let me just check my calendar...

I've only been wearing them for 9 days...!

Give me strength!

 

[ckisland]

I moisturizedmy hair and put it into two buns. I was so proud of myself for wearing these twists for two weeks and not being sick of them yet. I decided that since it's going so well, I'll stretch out out for one more week.

Let me just check my calendar...

I've only been wearing them for 9 days...!

Give me strength!

Awwww!!! It be like that sometimes !! It's a good thing that you keep track of your wash days . The time is going to fly by and you'll be at two weeks before you know it!

 

[Napp]

I am honestly getting a little tired of my ponytails. im thinking of getting braids

 

[Chicoro]

I am honestly getting a little tired of my ponytails. im thinking of getting braids

Hang in there. This is the danger point: boredom. Perhaps focus on your original goal of gaining your dream length. You may not want to move too far away from what has been working, thus far.

 

[Napp]

Hang in there. This is the danger point: boredom. Perhaps focus on your original goal of gaining your dream length. You may not want to move too far away from what has been working, thus far.

The reason I haven't strayed from ponytails is their reliability. i like that my hair looks the same everyday with minimal effort

 

[Chicoro]

The reason I haven't strayed from ponytails is their reliability. i like that my hair looks the same everyday with minimal effort

Yes, I understand. And your ponytails are gorgeous. Perhaps I misunderstood your previous post. I thought you were saying you wanted to change from your ponytails because you were bored of them. My response was that although you may be bored, if they are working perhaps it's a good idea to continue with them. Also, sometimes changing up the hair and getting away from what's been working may set you back, not always, but sometimes.

 

[Napp]

Yes, I understand. And your ponytails are gorgeous. Perhaps I misunderstood your previous post. I thought you were saying you wanted to change from your ponytails because you were bored of them. My response was that although you may be bored, if they are working perhaps it's a good idea to continue with them. Also, sometimes changing up the hair and getting away from what's been working may set you back, not always, but sometimes.

No you were right. I've been wanting to change it up but I haven't because ponytails are cheap and reliable lol. I could also go for a cute short wig too lol. i retained alot of length with wigs too with the deep moisture method. i don't want a set back though. i wish i could at least refresh my ponytails because they are stiff and frizzy but I'm in a transitory housing and cant really wash and style my ponys like that. I'm trying not to spend too much money on hair this year too.

 

[Chicoro]

No you were right. I've been wanting to change it up but I haven't because ponytails are cheap and reliable lol. I could also go for a cute short wig too lol. i retained alot of length with wigs too with the deep moisture method. i don't want a set back though. i wish i could at least refresh my ponytails because they are stiff and frizzy but I'm in a transitory housing and cant really wash and style my ponys like that. I'm trying not to spend too much money on hair this year too.

One cheap way to refresh your phony pony is to buy cheap fabric softener. You can get some for about $1 at a dollar or discount store. Wash your pony with whatever soap you have. Then, soak it in the sink for 5 minutes in the fabric softener. Lightly and gently wring it out and place safe nearby by to hang dry or lay it down to dry.

 

[apple_natural]

I put leave-in conditioner in my hair a few days ago and Saturday night, I moisturized it again and renewed by twist bun. I want a different style. I'm thinking of putting it in a perm rod set with clip ins.

 

[snoop]

I am honestly getting a little tired of my ponytails. im thinking of getting braids

I get the boredom, but I feel like you could be messing up a good thing. If I recall, last year you tried a few different things and each time you ended up having a bit of a setback.

 

[Mapleoats]

Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed:
natural

Current Length:
BSB/ grazing MBL?

Goal Length:
full MBL while learning to safely enjoy and style my hair.

Plan to reach goal length:

• listen to my hair,
• trim every 3 months,
• be consistent with my regimen,
• Keep up with hair journaling to discover what is working

Regimen:
every 7-10 days

• shampoo,
• apply deep conditioner,
• detangle,
• sit under the hooded dryer for 20 mins to deep condition
• Rinse
• Style

Once per month

• Clarify
• Hard water treatment
• olaplex 1 and 2 treatment
• Shampoo
• Deep condition
• Style

Styling Regimen:
Still trying to figure this out. I want to perfect both my "natural" styles and my blow out styling. Right now I am focusing on the natural styling, as alternating each week is not letting me make enough progress on either.

for now I am going to try rocking 8-12 chunky twists, dried under the hooded dryer, and unraveled after 3-5 days as a nice twist out.

I will experiment with product combos, application methods, rods on the ends, and different maintenance techniques.

Starting Pic:
Will add later

 

[snoop]

Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed:
natural

Current Length:
BSB/ grazing MBL?

Goal Length:
full MBL while learning to safely enjoy and style my hair.

Plan to reach goal length:

• listen to my hair,
• trim every 3 months,
• be consistent with my regimen,
• Keep up with hair journaling to discover what is working

Regimen:
every 7-10 days

• shampoo,
• apply deep conditioner,
• detangle,
• sit under the hooded dryer for 20 mins to deep condition
• Rinse
• Style

Once per month

• Clarify
• Hard water treatment
• olaplex 1 and 2 treatment
• Shampoo
• Deep condition
• Style

Styling Regimen:
Still trying to figure this out. I want to perfect both my "natural" styles and my blow out styling. Right now I am focusing on the natural styling, as alternating each week is not letting me make enough progress on either.

for now I am going to try rocking 8-12 chunky twists, dried under the hooded dryer, and unraveled after 3-5 days as a nice twist out.

I will experiment with product combos, application methods, rods on the ends, and different maintenance techniques.

Starting Pic:
Will add later

Welcome!!!

 

[Mapleoats]

Notes from my hair journal about todays wash day. Trying out my new styling regimen today. This is a cream only chunky twist set. Under the dryer now, will add pics when it's done drying


In the shower
- Squeezed excess water out of my hair first
- applied CRN aloe whipped butter gel in the shower in 4 sections.
- rolled each section into a Bantu knot

Out of the shower
- did this immediately, no additional drying or waiting time
- Took down back two sections and divided into two horizontal sections. Pinned up the upper section
- Smoothed a little bit more product into each section
- Smoothed hair with tangle teezer, FL, or tangle teezer root brush.
- Twisted each section and rolled into a bantu knot
- NO flat twists
- 11 twists total
- 2 in the lower back
- 3 in the upper back
- 3 in each front half (6)
- after finish twisting, tightened and bobby pinned each twist down
- dried under hooded dryer for ?? Mins

Because I kept sections that I wasn't ready for in the Bantu knots my hair stayed quite wet throughout the whole process. I did not need to reach for a spray bottle which was a huge time saver. It only took me like 45 mins to do these twists. It takes me like 1.5+ hours to do my small twists. I also noticed I saw very little breakage/ hairs in the sync while doing my hair. I think again this is due to working in larger sections.
I'm hoping that tightening and pinning them down while I dry under the dryer will keep these twists nice and smoothe. Cream only twist outs usually don't play well for my hair, so we'll see how the twists hold up and what the subsequent twist out looks like

 

[Mapleoats]

So the above mentioned set did not turn out well. My hair stayed soft and supple in the twist but had no hold and frizzed immediately when I took them out


I washed it out a few days later and tried again, same process as above but with jello shot on top. I got much better definition, but too much hold. I had to wait until the cast broke before I could separate my hair, and I couldn't separate it to the point I wanted without creating frizz and breakage because the hold was so strong.



I feel like I'm heading in the right direction but not there yet. I might wash this out today and try again with UFD only or just using much less JS.

i am washing and experimenting with my hair a bit more than I think is healthy. But by the end of this I will hopefully have a reliable style that I can complete in an hour or less that makes me feel good about my hair. The next step will be making sure I do this in a healthy way that also allows for growth

 

[Kiaray8]

Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed: Natural
Current Length: Just touching waist length. Front is 16.5inches, middle left is 18inches, middle right 17inches & the back is 15.5inches. From the top of my hair at the front to the end of my hair at the back is 26inches altogether.
Goal: Tailbone length
Plan to reach goal length: More intentional styling with frequent change of style. Less damaging routine practices. 3 braided protective styles & a more consistent ends routine.
Regimen: Shampoo twice (only on the roots now), conditioner to detangle, deep condition for 30mins then style. Oil ends every day twice a day. I do plan on trimming every 4 months for maintenance but nothing crazy.
Protective Styles: Straight back braids, twists & buns
Staple Products: Switching this up atm but melanin hair care leave in and oil & crece polo deep conditioner.
Added info: I fell off with the 2022 grow challenge so I’m joining this year hoping for better results. Last year, I was really focused on losing weight (which I still am) but not at the expense of my hair again. I had multiple trims as I just couldn’t get my ends together & decided to get a professional trim last week. I also did a silk press for the first time since I turned started growing my hair from a buzz cut in 2017. Some of the errors I learned from last year: I can’t shampoo the ends of my hair anymore, it was too drying. I have to let go of some of the slicking down hair products and tight buns as I was noticing breakage mid shaft. I also need to refrain from the product junkie lifestyle - too much wasting money on products then not being consistent with a routine just makes no sense atm. Also I’ve accepted I pretty much have to make a routine that makes more sense for the length I currently have (which sounds silly) but I really didn’t consider how much I would need to alter my routine going past waist length.
Anyway, happy hair growing this year ladies!
Starting Pic: Purple apron pic is pre trim. The picture sitting down was taken the same day after the cut at home. The last photo is checking if I’m still waist length.

 

[HealthyHair2020]

Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed: Natural
Current Length: Just touching waist length. Front is 16.5inches, middle left is 18inches, middle right 17inches & the back is 15.5inches. From the top of my hair at the front to the end of my hair at the back is 26inches altogether.
Goal: Tailbone length
Plan to reach goal length: More intentional styling with frequent change of style. Less damaging routine practices. 3 braided protective styles & a more consistent ends routine.
Regimen: Shampoo twice (only on the roots now), conditioner to detangle, deep condition for 30mins then style. Oil ends every day twice a day. I do plan on trimming every 4 months for maintenance but nothing crazy.
Protective Styles: Straight back braids, twists & buns
Staple Products: Switching this up atm but melanin hair care leave in and oil & crece polo deep conditioner.
Added info: I fell off with the 2022 grow challenge so I’m joining this year hoping for better results. Last year, I was really focused on losing weight (which I still am) but not at the expense of my hair again. I had multiple trims as I just couldn’t get my ends together & decided to get a professional trim last week. I also did a silk press for the first time since I turned started growing my hair from a buzz cut in 2017. Some of the errors I learned from last year: I can’t shampoo the ends of my hair anymore, it was too drying. I have to let go of some of the slicking down hair products and tight buns as I was noticing breakage mid shaft. I also need to refrain from the product junkie lifestyle - too much wasting money on products then not being consistent with a routine just makes no sense atm. Also I’ve accepted I pretty much have to make a routine that makes more sense for the length I currently have (which sounds silly) but I really didn’t consider how much I would need to alter my routine going past waist length.
Anyway, happy hair growing this year ladies!
Starting Pic: Purple apron pic is pre trim. The picture sitting down was taken the same day after the cut at home. The last photo is checking if I’m still waist length.

View attachment 486871
View attachment 486867

I'm curious - in what ways have you had to alter it?

 

[faithVA]

Ha ... I don't get mentions on the site anymore and didn't realize I was called to this thread But I will update my info now and get started.

 

[faithVA]

Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed: Natural

Current Length: NL

Goal Length: SL, some parts grazing APL

Plan to reach goal length/Regimen
Shampoo, condition, style (SCS) weekly or twice a week.
Keep styling to flat twist, 2 strands and wash and goes
Keep hit for 1x or 2x a year length check
Dust my ends on a regular basic 3x a year
Clip splits when I run across them
Use K18 monthly

Protective Styles:
Flat twist
2 strand twists
Wash and goes

Staple Products:
Madison Reed shampoo & conditioner
TGIN shampoo, leave-in and deep conditioner
K18
UFD, ICH, Trepadora Papaya

Starting Pic: REQUIRED

 

[faithVA]

Starting this week, my goal will be to refresh my hair every 3 to 4 days. I will shampoo and condition weekly. However, mid-week I will probably just rinse and condition. So, I will keep my styling simple so I can refresh more often.

 

[Theresamonet]

Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed:
Relaxed

Current Length:
BSL

Goal Length:
WL in 2023

Plan to reach goal length:
—Staying consistent with my regimen.
—No major changes, or experimenting.

Regimen:
—Overnight growth oil & HOT pre-poo
—Wash, light protein, DC every 7-10 days
—Clarifiying shampoo 2x/month
—Olaplex #3 treatment 2x/month
—Relax hair every 12 weeks
—Search & destroy as needed
—Salon trim every 16 weeks
—Hard protein 1-2 weeks after each relaxer
—Only comb on wash day

Protective Styles:
—Primarily, 2-4 pinned up braids, which I take down and wear as a braid out when I go somewhere or need to be on Zoom.
—Occasionally, in the summer, box braids.

Staple Products:
—Shampoos:

• Keracare Hydrating Detangling
• Olaplex #4
• Redken Hair Cleansing Cream (Clarifying)

—Deep Conditioners:

• Keracare Humecto
• Joico Moisture Recovery Balm
• Olaplex #8
• Aveda Nutriplenish Deep Moisture Masque
• Redken All Soft Heavy Cream

—Treatments:

• Olaplex #0 & #3
• Tigi Bed Head Dumb Blonde Reconstructor
• Aphogee 2 Step Reconstructor
• Aveda Damage Remedy Treatment

—Leave-ins:

• Olaplex #6 Bond Smoother
• Olaplex #9 Bond Protector Serum
• Aveda Nutriplenish Leave-in
• Pureology Color Fanatic Leave-in

—Moisturizers/Stylers/Finishers/Oils:

• Aveda Brilliant Universal Styling Cream
• Aveda Brilliant Finishing Gloss
• Aveda Nutriplenish Moisturizer
• Olaplex #7 Bonding Oil
• Njoy Growth Oil
• DIY Ayurvedic Oil

Starting Pic: REQUIRED

 

[Chicoro]

Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed:
Relaxed

Current Length:
BSL

Goal Length:
WL in 2023

Plan to reach goal length:
—Staying consistent with my regimen.
—No major changes, or experimenting.

Regimen:
—Overnight growth oil & HOT pre-poo
—Wash, light protein, DC every 7 days
—Clarifiying shampoo 2x/month
—Olaplex #3 treatment 2x/month
—Relax hair every 12 weeks
—Search & destroy as needed
—Salon trim every 16 weeks
—Hard protein 1-2 weeks after each relaxer
—Only comb on wash day

Protective Styles:
—Primarily, 2-4 pinned up braids, which I take down and wear as a braid out when I go somewhere or need to be on Zoom.
—Occasionally, in the summer, box braids.

Staple Products:
—Shampoos:

• Keracare Hydrating Detangling
• Olaplex #4
• Redken Hair Cleansing Cream (Clarifying)

—Deep Conditioners:

• Keracare Humecto
• Joico Moisture Recovery Balm
• Olaplex #8
• Aveda Nutriplenish Deep Moisture Masque
• Redken All Soft Heavy Cream

—Treatments:

• Olaplex #0 & #3
• Tigi Bed Head Dumb Blonde Reconstructor
• Aphogee 2 Step Reconstructor
• Aveda Damage Remedy Treatment

—Leave-ins:

• Olaplex #6 Bond Smoother
• Olaplex #9 Bond Protector Serum
• Aveda Nutriplenish Leave-in
• Pureology Color Fanatic Leave-in

—Moisturizers/Stylers/Finishers:

• Aveda Brilliant Universal Styling Cream
• Aveda Brilliant Finishing Gloss
• Aveda Nutriplenish Moisturizer
• Olaplex #7 Bonding Oil
• Njoy Growth Oil
• DIY Ayurvedic Oil

Starting Pic: REQUIRED

View attachment 487113

Hair is ALREADY long, silky and beautiful!

 

[Chicoro]

Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed: Natural

Current Length: NL

Goal Length: SL, some parts grazing APL

Plan to reach goal length/Regimen
Shampoo, condition, style (SCS) weekly or twice a week.
Keep styling to flat twist, 2 strands and wash and goes
Keep hit for 1x or 2x a year length check
Dust my ends on a regular basic 3x a year
Clip splits when I run across them
Use K18 monthly

Protective Styles:
Flat twist
2 strand twists
Wash and goes

Staple Products:
Madison Reed shampoo & conditioner
TGIN shampoo, leave-in and deep conditioner
K18
UFD, ICH, Trepadora Papaya

Starting Pic: REQUIRED
View attachment 487103

It looks like you've gained two (2) inches in length! Is that correct?

 

[Mapleoats]

Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed:
natural

Current Length:
BSB/ grazing MBL?

Goal Length:
full MBL while learning to safely enjoy and style my hair.

Plan to reach goal length:

• listen to my hair,
• trim every 3 months,
• be consistent with my regimen,
• Keep up with hair journaling to discover what is working

Regimen:
every 7-10 days

• shampoo,
• apply deep conditioner,
• detangle,
• sit under the hooded dryer for 20 mins to deep condition
• Rinse
• Style

Once per month

• Clarify
• Hard water treatment
• olaplex 1 and 2 treatment
• Shampoo
• Deep condition
• Style

Styling Regimen:
Still trying to figure this out. I want to perfect both my "natural" styles and my blow out styling. Right now I am focusing on the natural styling, as alternating each week is not letting me make enough progress on either.

for now I am going to try rocking 8-12 chunky twists, dried under the hooded dryer, and unraveled after 3-5 days as a nice twist out.

I will experiment with product combos, application methods, rods on the ends, and different maintenance techniques.

Starting Pic:
Will add later

Adding my starting pic

I pressed my hair last night for the first time in a year. I could definitely use a trim to even out my ends a bit but it's not that bad and I don't wheat my hair bone straight anyway. I will do a small trim before I wash this press out.
Looking at these pics side by side (Feb 2022 vs Feb 2023) I do think my hair grew a little bit last year (v shape grew out) so I'll take it.



I don't feel super pressed for length right now, just trying to keep my hair healthy and figure out a styling regimen. If I can gain 3-4 inches by the end of the year though I will be satisfied.

Edit - actually I kind of like the soft V look. Maybe at the end of the year I'll trim it back into that shape

 

[Theresamonet]

I’ve been updating my regimen since I posted it. lol… Thinking about changing it again from trimming every 16 weeks to 2x per year. I’m at 21 weeks now since my last trim, and my ends aren’t bad. I’m right at the beginning of needing a trim. My ends get a lot less mechanical damage since I relaxed my hair. I mostly do protective and low manipulation styles, and rarely use heat. I think I could get away with 2x a year, but maybe 16 weeks is just safer.

 

[apple_natural]

my hair has not been growing or maybe it has just not been staying on my head in the past year. i'm also tired of wearing it in silly styles just for it to not look like much. i have one friend who blows her hair out once a week and its thriving. another gets hers flat ironed every two weeks and hers is also thriving. i look like i live in the wild and i have nothing to show for it. i haven't been taking my vitamins. i haven't been doing anything. i'm thinking of putting it in locs

....

i figured it was time for a new style so i washed, dc, and blew it out. it at least looks thicker than it was last year and not as short as i thought. maybe i need to do more things to it. i have a kadrillion perm rods. i think i want to do some perm rod sets. also i watched a video on diy wefts. i want to make some kanekalon roller set clip ins lol maybe some brushed out ones too. that will give me versatility. i think i will not braid this year to see if that helps me stop the broken strands

 

[ckisland]

I'm trying a new regimen for the next month. So I'm posting some starting pics to help me record any changes.

New regimen:
Shampoo and DC every 3 weeks
Cowash and condition twice a week
Detangle with brush once a week
Wear hair clipped up the majority of the time

These pics are on wet hair.

View attachment 486415View attachment 486417View attachment 486419

I posted an update in the Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge 2023

I'm back to my old regimen minus dcing:
Shampoo 1x week
Condition 1x week
Detangle 1x week
Sleep with satin scarf

I've retained length in the past month and I'm really happy.

 

[snoop]

Pull tests don't seem to be showing me anything, but when I install my twists I can see the progress.



I think that my progress is getting jump started again because my internals are starting to balance, again. I'm still not very good with water, but I'm much better than before. I'd like to become even better with veggies, but most days I eat half a plate 1 to 2 times per day. Currently, my sugar and bread intake have increased, but I won't beat myself up too much because I'll lower it again soon. Sleep was getting junky again, but not as bad as before. I've been good at fixing that. Overall, I'm doing much better about treating myself better.

 

[apple_natural]

CUT
I gave myself a bit of a cut. I wanted the back straight. I considered cutting to neck length. Instead, I just brought the back up about 1-2 inches so that there aren't so many layers. If it grows in a "V" from this, that's okay. Photo in media

BREAKAGE
I have noticed breakages along my parts both in box braids and when I put my hair in two side buns. I think I pull it too tight when I braid on straight hair since it slips. I didn't always braid it tight. Nonetheless, I will try to go without box braids this year. If I wear side buns, I need to put on oil or leave in more often. I would like to stop breakage in the back occipital area. Also, the front part of my hair is so short that I have to twist it down, but that is pulling my edges. I would like to not do that this year.

STYLE
I'm going to try mini-twists instead of braids again this year. I did that in 2020 and it was a great. As an alternate style, I could to do the rollersets, but idk if my clip in idea will work. I received the wrong color hair this weekend, so I couldn't make them.

 

[Kiaray8]

I'm curious - in what ways have you had to alter it?

Sorry, I took ages to respond! I'm pretty much going to be doing more protective styles, less gelled down styles, consistent ends routine & washing my hair twice a week as my hair seems to prefer that.

 

[apple_natural]

Doing well...
I've been taking my vitamins

Focus on...
The coconut oil is too low in the jar and I think that's why I have been missing my prepoo. I don't want to have to bother with melting it and using it. I should get a candle warmer thing. That way I just sit the jar on it and I can use it from that.... genius