Grow it Long 2023 Challenge!

[faithVA]

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

I'm sorry I'm just responding. I didn't get an alert about your post

I'm pretty sure I retained at least 4. I probably grew 6 and retained 4 to 4.5. I really don't know exactly. I retained less in the back because I get it cut with my curly cut maintentance.

 

[faithVA]

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

View attachment 487307

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.

Your twists on the right are thicker and longer. There has definitely been a lot of growth and retention.

 

[faithVA]

My hair is getting back to the length it was in 2019. I can not get back to my old standby style of flat twists. I think I'm going to keep it simple and take it easy for a while and just shampoo, condition and twist her up.

 

[Kiaray8]

Mini update: Welp, I have heat damage now but oddly not all over my hair. I think the main cause was the temperature was too high (on reflection) the second time I straightened my hair. I'll probably just lurk on this thread but I'm not sure about contributing as much since I'm going to have to cut my hair off gradually. I'm definitely not doing another big chop as I just don't want to go through the awkward stage so I'm going to transition. But I might do mini updates on that here if people don't mind!

Oddly, I'm not too upset about it because I felt like I had fallen behind on my regimen, and the recent cut was to get me back on track with taking care of my hair correctly. It's just frustrating as I realised how much I do prefer/got used to my hair being curly.

 

[snoop]

Mini update: Welp, I have heat damage now but oddly not all over my hair. I think the main cause was the temperature was too high (on reflection) the second time I straightened my hair. I'll probably just lurk on this thread but I'm not sure about contributing as much since I'm going to have to cut my hair off gradually. I'm definitely not doing another big chop as I just don't want to go through the awkward stage so I'm going to transition. But I might do mini updates on that here if people don't mind!

Oddly, I'm not too upset about it because I felt like I had fallen behind on my regimen, and the recent cut was to get me back on track with taking care of my hair correctly. It's just frustrating as I realised how much I do prefer/got used to my hair being curly.

Sorry that you're going through this. The good thing is that you know enough about your hair to make the transition efficiently.

Definitely keep posting in this thread. The wonderful thing about these length threads and this community is that it doesn't matter what the goal length is, everyone is here to support you at your current length.

 

[faithVA]

Mini update: Welp, I have heat damage now but oddly not all over my hair. I think the main cause was the temperature was too high (on reflection) the second time I straightened my hair. I'll probably just lurk on this thread but I'm not sure about contributing as much since I'm going to have to cut my hair off gradually. I'm definitely not doing another big chop as I just don't want to go through the awkward stage so I'm going to transition. But I might do mini updates on that here if people don't mind!

Oddly, I'm not too upset about it because I felt like I had fallen behind on my regimen, and the recent cut was to get me back on track with taking care of my hair correctly. It's just frustrating as I realised how much I do prefer/got used to my hair being curly.

I'm sorry you have heat damage. I have had it twice myself. If you are willing, buy yourself a bottle of the K18 leave-in and use it as directed. It can help as you transition out of it and give your hair the strength you will need to keep on going.

 

[Kiaray8]

Sorry that you're going through this. The good thing is that you know enough about your hair to make the transition efficiently.

Definitely keep posting in this thread. The wonderful thing about these length threads and this community is that it doesn't matter what the goal length is, everyone is here to support you at your current length.

Love this so much! I will definitely keep posting as my hair grows out, this will definitely help me to reduce buying new products continuously.

 

[Kiaray8]

I'm sorry you have heat damage. I have had it twice myself. If you are willing, buy yourself a bottle of the K18 leave-in and use it as directed. It can help as you transition out of it and give your hair the strength you will need to keep on going.

Thank you! This is actually my second time having heat damage as well. Once I realised I had it, I did an ACV + Aztec clay mask which did help bring back some of my curls but yeah a transition is definitely needed. I'll report back once I've tried the K18.

 

[faithVA]

Thank you! This is actually my second time having heat damage as well. Once I realised I had it, I did an ACV + Aztec clay mask which did help bring back some of my curls but yeah a transition is definitely needed. I'll report back once I've tried the K18.

Ok. If you try it you really try to use it as directed, 6 washes in a row. I didn't see anything for the first 4 uses.

I shampoo, apply K18 and then apply my leave-in after the waiting time.

 

[Napp]

I’m going to do a length check tomorrow. Really anxious about my results

 

[Chicoro]

I’m going to do a length check tomorrow. Really anxious about my results

You are one the Queens of Healthy Length Retention!

 

[snoop]

My thought this morning: My hair in shrunken twists is now longer than my longest loose length in high school. High school me would have been mind blown!

Freshly trimmed ends!



I have mainly been focusing on being a "good girl" when it comes to my inner hair work (better diet, more water, reduced stress). I'm not fully there yet, but much better than before. My main goal is to continue to do things that will reduce inflammation since I think that this has been one of the contributing factors to my (previous) setback. The second thing is to maintain my iron and vit D. I'm going to get them re-tested soon, but if my hair is anything to go by, the diet/de-stress/vitamins have helped my hair a lot!



Isn't lighting a joke?! The first picture reminds me of what my hair looked like when I used to play under the bed as a kid.

(Am I the only one who's hair holds the shape of things? I installed these twists last night and wore pony holders to stretch my hair when I went to bed. You can see all of the divots from the holders. When I was relaxed, my hair would hold the shape, too. There was no swing to it.)

 

[apple_natural]

Mini update: Welp, I have heat damage now but oddly not all over my hair. I think the main cause was the temperature was too high (on reflection) the second time I straightened my hair. I'll probably just lurk on this thread but I'm not sure about contributing as much since I'm going to have to cut my hair off gradually. I'm definitely not doing another big chop as I just don't want to go through the awkward stage so I'm going to transition. But I might do mini updates on that here if people don't mind!

Oddly, I'm not too upset about it because I felt like I had fallen behind on my regimen, and the recent cut was to get me back on track with taking care of my hair correctly. It's just frustrating as I realised how much I do prefer/got used to my hair being curly.

What if you just cut it as it passes your goal length? Like keep it until then?

 

[Mapleoats]

I've been really enjoying playing with styling my hair. Mainly focusing on quick styling, so when naptural 85 came out with that 1 hr washday video the other day it was perfect for me. I tried it out last night. My hair was still really wet and I needed to go into the office today so I used my revair and dyson supersonic to dry my hair after taking the twists out. All in all it was only a 50 min wash day plus 20 mins drying
nd styling this morning. For the time investment I think it came out really cute.
I'm wearing it in a half up half down for work

 

[Napp]

I am going to shift my mindset. I am not transitioning anymore, just growing my hair out. I feel like I am normalizing the breakage I have had these last few months by thinking that I’ll just cut the ends off in the end.

NO.

I am going to retain every inch until I reach TBL and then I’ll begin trimming the ends off. Until then I will just do .5 inch trims 2x a year. I intend on keeping my whole strands intact from here on out!

 

[Mapleoats]

I've been trying to post these pictures all day!
here's my hair from the quick wash day


grrr it's still not working

 

[Mapleoats]

Finally!! A little more frizz than I normally go for but it was like an hour total style time so I'm not mad at all. Plus the volume looks very intentional to me. Usually when I have volume it feels accidental and thus messy if that makes sense

 

[Napp]

Your hair is cute @Mapleoats

 

[Chicoro]

My hair situation for now is quiet in that I have no breakage or shedding drama. It's just me, my braids and my baggie. I plan to wash this weekend. I am still not seeing any length retention. More importantly, I am not seeing any more breakage, either.

 

[Napp]

My hair situation for now is quiet in that I have no breakage or shedding drama. It's just me, my braids and my baggie. I plan to wash this weekend. I am still not seeing any length retention. More importantly, I am not seeing any more breakage, either.

How many months has it been since you found your groove?

 

[Chicoro]

How many months has it been since you found your groove?

I think it's been about two months, ever since I started with that @snoop Super Clay mix. I think I started around January 2023.

 

[Mapleoats]

Your hair is cute @Mapleoats

Thank you so much!

 

[snoop]

I've been slacking on my diet these past two weeks, but overall, I think I've done alright for the year.

One thing that I've been noticing since around Christmas, is that I can see the white bulbs on my shed hair again! This may seem like weird, but for years, my bulbs looked like that of a baby's...practically invisible and black. I think that this was linked to my deficiencies. I couldn't tell shed from broken hair because I couldn't see my roots. Now that things are getting better, they're starting to look like normal size and colour. Twice I've found really big ones so I'm hoping to get the majority of them to that size -- white and clearly visible.

Other than that, I've returned to my old routine of wearing my twists for at least two weeks, while maintaining weekly washes. I have a set in that are two weeks old.. I can either take my twists down this week or ride it for another week or two. Decisions, decisions.

 

[DVAntDany]

My scheduled trim/dusting is on April 29th. My ends might be in worse shape than I had anticipated. I can say right now that I haven't been too kind to my hair. It is getting that length where it is starting to touch stuff. I have to zip everything up all the way now. Otherwise, my hair will get caught in the zippers when I turn my head. It's also a magnet for tree branches and hay. Also, there has been way more wind than expected. So I invested in an actual buff by the brand Buff. It is much smoother than the off brand one I was using. I need two. One for outdoor use and one for in the house.

I've been doing every 7 to 10 day wash and go sets. I need to crank back up the frequency. My scalp doesn't like it and using more gentle shampoos wont allow it. Plus, I need a reason to use up products.

 

[snoop]

Water rinsed my hair yesterday and took down my twists. I was scared that they were going to be very matted but they weren't at all, after two washes. (I thought that I had them in for three. I always overestimate, but I am keeping written record.) After rinsing, my hair seemed so full! I put my hair into plaits since I'm going to wash it in a couple of days, anyway.

When I installed the twists at the beginning of the month I also trimmed my ends. I don't like trimming in medium twists, but I didn't feel like spending the time to install minis. Next trim will be in April, to take care of the spots that I missed.



Also, I never braid to the ends of my hair. I find that when I braid my (own) hair it has a tendency to get knotted at the ends. So I prefer to leave them loose so that I can unravel them easier.

 

[snoop]

Slow and steady.

I tried to find a picture where my hair was in the same state, freshly washed and wet.

 

[apple_natural]

I am going to shift my mindset...

That's right @Napp ! I am in full support

Finally!! ...

LOVE IT!!

 

[Napp]

Switching my main style to wash and goes and I hope it doesn't eat my ends up....I may need to trim earlier than I thought

 

[fifi134]

I don’t think I ever officially joined this challenge, but my goal was to hit MBL. The first pic is at the end of 2022, and I was just before BSL. I just checked and I think I finally hit it! Hoping to keep it up and see MBL by the end of the year, if not a bit earlier.

 

[Fashionista922]

Inching closer to my goal!

January 1st >>>>>> April 3rd