Grow it Long 2023 Challenge!

[snoop]

@snoop do clay mixes freeze well?

I don't think that it should be a problem, especially if you use it within the next couple of weeks.

 

[nana mack]

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. View attachment 488505
View attachment 488507

Beautiful hair , what products do you use and your routine please ?

 

[nana mack]

Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed: Natural

Current Length: shoulder length

Goal Length: bras strap length

Plan to reach goal length: protecting my ends and keeping it moisturized by applying oil and creams at least 2 times a week.

Regimen: I wash my hair twice a week due to alopecia and the product I am spraying.

Protective Styles: simply keeping my ends tucked away in a ponytail or twist and then a ponytail.

Staple Products: I rotate my shampoo and deep conditioner between these two brands: puriya clarifying shampoo Lanza healing nourishing shampoo

Puriya leave-in condition and Lanza and healing conditioner
Lanza healing spray.
I use olapex number 7 for blow drying and
Ten in one leave-in conditioner (I am changing this leave-in for something else)
On my ends I mix vitamin e, shea butter, jojoba and grapeseed oil.

 

[Napp]

Switching my main style to braids. I’m looking for even more retentions than buns and ponytails were giving me

 

[fifi134]

Beautiful hair , what products do you use and your routine please ?

Thank you!

- I wash my hair with Tresemme Moisture Rich shampoo and conditioner every week.
- I have a scalp condition, so every few weeks or so I use my medicated oil on my scalp before shampooing, and then use the medicated shampoo for my first wash, before following up with the Tresemme one.
- I deep condition every week with Silicon Mix Deep Intensive Hair Treatment.
- I've just started trying to clarify once a month. I've been lazy and just use Suave Coconut Shampoo and try to focus it on my scalp.
- When I clarify, I use the TGIN Honey Miracle Hair Mask deep conditioner with a cap for 35 minutes.
- I use my RevAir to 'blowdry' my hair, and then I put my hair into medium sized twists for the week. Now that it's much hotter out, I might twist my hair wet more often, but I find that I get WAY less tangles when I RevAir my hair first. Detangling during wash day is such a breeze.
- I use TGIN Green Tea Super Moist as my leave-in, and that's it!

 

[snoop]

Natural, Relaxed, Texlaxed: Natural

Current Length: shoulder length

Goal Length: bras strap length

Plan to reach goal length: protecting my ends and keeping it moisturized by applying oil and creams at least 2 times a week.

Regimen: I wash my hair twice a week due to alopecia and the product I am spraying.

Protective Styles: simply keeping my ends tucked away in a ponytail or twist and then a ponytail.

Staple Products: I rotate my shampoo and deep conditioner between these two brands: puriya clarifying shampoo Lanza healing nourishing shampoo

Puriya leave-in condition and Lanza and healing conditioner
Lanza healing spray.
I use olapex number 7 for blow drying and
Ten in one leave-in conditioner (I am changing this leave-in for something else)
On my ends I mix vitamin e, shea butter, jojoba and grapeseed oil.

View attachment 489691

Welcome to the challenge!

 

[snoop]

Update on my hair: I installed my current set of mini twists the weekend after Easter. I think that this is the longest that I've worn a set and I probably have to keep them in for another week or two. We're doing renos while simultaneously getting ready to list and so hair has been on the back burner. Partly because for a few weeks I couldn't even access my hair products and now because I don't have time.

The kiddos hair has been on pause for most of that time as well, but I discovered in doing their hair that wearing single braids (with their own hair) worked very well on their hair, even after weekly washes for a month. If I have issues taking down these twists, I think that I'm going to try medium sized single braids on my hair and see how it goes.

I feel like I'm gaining length and that my twists are the longest that they've ever been, but I'm not sure what a pull test will reveal. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow.

I want to trim my ends in a couple of days so I decided to take down my hair. It was sooo easy! Barely any meshing except at the roots! I'll feel more confident now, leaving my hair in for a month or more at a time. To take my hair down, I applied a bit of ayurvedic oil. This wasn't supposed to make the take down easier, but to get some herbal goodies into my hair before washing it.

I noticed a bit of broken ends. When I started, I thought that there would be way more based on what I was seeing, but nope. I'm wondering if there was more and I didn't see it or if these were hairs that may have gotten trapped in my twists when I micro trimmed last month.




Approximately, 6.5 weeks of wearing two strand mini twists.



I think that my hair grows faster and in the front and back. Right in the middle of my crown seems to be a bit slower.

 

[Napp]

Thank you!

- I wash my hair with Tresemme Moisture Rich shampoo and conditioner every week.
- I have a scalp condition, so every few weeks or so I use my medicated oil on my scalp before shampooing, and then use the medicated shampoo for my first wash, before following up with the Tresemme one.
- I deep condition every week with Silicon Mix Deep Intensive Hair Treatment.
- I've just started trying to clarify once a month. I've been lazy and just use Suave Coconut Shampoo and try to focus it on my scalp.
- When I clarify, I use the TGIN Honey Miracle Hair Mask deep conditioner with a cap for 35 minutes.
- I use my RevAir to 'blowdry' my hair, and then I put my hair into medium sized twists for the week. Now that it's much hotter out, I might twist my hair wet more often, but I find that I get WAY less tangles when I RevAir my hair first. Detangling during wash day is such a breeze.
- I use TGIN Green Tea Super Moist as my leave-in, and that's it!

do you have any pictures of you blowdried twists?

 

[snoop]

If I can figure out how to 1. wrap my hair neatly with this super long cord and 2. not have my hand cramp while doing it, then this might be my semi-go-to style for the summer using various colours of satin cord.



I can't ever seem to wrap it directly in the back. No matter. I can wear it as a side ponytail.

 

[Chicoro]

If I can figure out how to 1. wrap my hair neatly with this super long cord and 2. not have my hand cramp while doing it, then this might be my semi-go-to style for the summer using various colours of satin cord.

View attachment 489757 View attachment 489759

I can't ever seem to wrap it directly in the back. No matter. I can wear it as a side ponytail.

Your hair has GOT to be beyond waist length. Your hair is hanging LONG!

 

[snoop]

Your hair has GOT to be beyond waist length. Your hair is hanging LONG!

You know what? I don't think it is.

Pulling my hair out of the shower gives me a different length than in the shower. I used to think I was WL but I wasn't close (during the time I had vitamin deficiencies and didn't know). I feel like my hair is now getting longer but my waist now seems to be moving.

I'll try to take pictures so I don't have to guess.

 

[Chicoro]

You know what? I don't think it is.

Pulling my hair out of the shower gives me a different length than in the shower. I used to think I was WL but I wasn't close (during the time I had vitamin deficiencies and didn't know). I feel like my hair is now getting longer but my waist now seems to be moving.

I'll try to take pictures so I don't have to guess.

Okay. I Will wait for the photos!

 

[fifi134]

@Napp Not a good one, sorry. I’ll try and remember to take a pic next week.

 

[nana mack]

Welcome to the challenge!

Thank you! I see you’re in Toronto too.

 

[snoop]

Thank you! I see you’re in Toronto too.

Yes, I am! Hiiii!

 

[snoop]

I water rinsed my hair yesterday. I wanted to make sure that my hair was "properly" finger detangled. I think I'll be in the shower doing an herbal wash on Wednesday and perhaps another water rinse. If I do them frequently enough, I have a chance to detangle more sections and work my way up to making sure my roots are mostly detangled as well. The bonus is, that with water, and my fingers my texture starts popping and if I keep it up, it sets this way, even if my hair has been styled in twists.



This is what my hair looked like this morning after taking down my twists. I rinsed only with water yesterday and raked my fingers through to detangle before trimming. Right after I put my hair into two strand twists will still in the shower under the water so that the water could stretch my hair. When I came out, I loosened the twist, moisturized and sealed with DIY un-petrolum jelly. then twisted and bantu-knotted. If I keep water detangling/raking my hair under the water, it will continue to clump more and more.




So, today, I took down the twists and decided to throw some braids in. If my hair holds up over the next couple of days I'll wear braids more. The only problem with braids is that they don't give me the flexibility to do clay masks. Well, I could do, but I might end up with residue from the ayurvedic herbs that I add to the clay.

My hair was damp enough for a pull test. This side of my nape might be longer than the other side. I might also get a bit more stretch under running water.




Braids are in and I wore them in a bun for today à la Mme. @Chicoro . The un-petrolum jelly has my hair feeling soft, but I tried not to use too much near my scalp.

 

[Chicoro]

@snoop, Your hair is definitely at waist length. If we want to split hairs as it relate to exact, precise length, then let’s say you are between 1 to 2 inches, at the most, from waist length. You all should know I got Spidey Vision and get Spidey Tingles when it comes to afro- textured hair: I can see length and great hair care!

 

[snoop]

I just converted my two strand twists into braids. I'm going to follow @Chicoro this month and keep my braids in for the month. At least I'm going to try. It means that my washing routine will change a bit but that's ok.

It took a bit over an hour and they ended up slightly smaller than I wanted them to be. There's no way that I will be willing to take them down in a couple of days to water rinse, so as quickly as that idea came, it went.

 

[snoop]

Hey ladies! How is it going? Our second check in is fast approaching!!! I hope that you've all been doing what you can to stay diligent with your hair care routines.

For many people, summer time is when they see a big growth spurt, so let's take advantage of this summer sun and grow, grow, GROW!

 

[snoop]

I'm still wearing my braids, but I plan to take them down next week(end). I've been so busy at home that I missed washing my hair last weekend. Since my hair is in braids I'll just do a herbal tea wash instead.

I've also been reading the old inversion challenge posts and have used that as motivation to start massaging my scalp again (not necessarily inverted). I bought a vibrating scalp massager to replace my old one and I find that I can massage my scalp WAY longer with it than when I just use my fingers (20 min+ vs 4 min).

I like how my hair has been hanging. Unfortunately, your means that I've been wearing my hair down more. I'm not sure what that means for my ends.

 

[nana mack]

I booked an appointment to get my hair relaxed. I am over being natural after more than 5 years, I never wear my hair out in bread out or wash and go, and all I get is long wash days and detangling and tangles, I am over it. I want to wear my hair down and out if not now than when, what is the purpose of protective style if I don’t enjoy my hair? I asked myself.
thanks for letting me vent. I am excited for this new journey. Please tag me in thread for relaxers! I will still do this challenge though!

 

[snoop]

Different clay mixes have different effects on my hair...

I love how this gloss bar made my hair look so thick!

 

[apple_natural]

I have no idea what year it is! I put in twists soo long ago and just took them out. I feel like I came up from deep diving or something. I'm planning on putting them in again...seriously i have no idea when i put them in. It must have been May. It felt like fooreeever ago. Well, my next two months will be starting soon

@snoop Your hair is so lush. I love it

I see some cool comments about clay. I'll try to remember to read those after I finish writing some papers. I'm currently procrastinating.

 

[Napp]

I've been hovering just over BSL for a while now. I'm wondering if this is just my terminal length because i have never grown past this length. I will reassess at the end of the year when I do another length check. Just leaving my hair alone.

 

[snoop]

I have no idea what year it is! I put in twists soo long ago and just took them out. I feel like I came up from deep diving or something. I'm planning on putting them in again...seriously i have no idea when i put them in. It must have been May. It felt like fooreeever ago. Well, my next two months will be starting soon

@snoop Your hair is so lush. I love it

I see some cool comments about clay. I'll try to remember to read those after I finish writing some papers. I'm currently procrastinating.

Thank you very much!!!

 

[Chicoro]

I've been hovering just over BSL for a while now. I'm wondering if this is just my terminal length because i have never grown past this length. I will reassess at the end of the year when I do another length check. Just leaving my hair alone.

I call this your Break-Point length. Whatever you did to get to this length WORKS! But, there is some slight tweak or change or modification needed to get you past this point. What that change is, I don't know.

You may want to ask yourself what is DIFFERENT at this length? Does your hair rub more? Does your hair tangle here at this length more? Are the ends tired and fatigued at this point which could mean some different processes need to be put in place PRIOR to getting to BSL.

I bet you, it's something SMALL that may make the difference. Sleuthing and detective skills are required! Get your Sherlock Holmes on. If you can get to BSL, you can get beyond that length. I am SURE. Doesn't mean the answer is obvious. If the answer were obvious, you would have seen it long ago.

If you feel like it, tell me what happens to your hair once you get to bra strap length? What do YOU do? How do you feel?

 

[Napp]

I call this your Break-Point length. Whatever you did to get to this length WORKS! But, there is some slight tweak or change or modification needed to get you past this point. What that change is, I don't know.

You may want to ask yourself what is DIFFERENT at this length? Does your hair rub more? Does your hair tangle here at this length more? Are the ends tired and fatigued at this point which could mean some different processes need to be put in place PRIOR to getting to BSL.

I bet you, it's something SMALL that may make the difference. Sleuthing and detective skills are required! Get your Sherlock Holmes on. If you can get to BSL, you can get beyond that length. I am SURE. Doesn't mean the answer is obvious. If the answer were obvious, you would have seen it long ago.

If you feel like it, tell me what happens to your hair once you get to bra strap length? What do YOU do? How do you feel?

It always thins out in the middle and I have to cut it back to APL. this happens whether i wear my hair in wash and goes or straightened for a majority of the time. My ends always thin out. Its like the back grows long, the front is shorter and the crown is vey short. I always have breakage in this pattern.

 

[Chicoro]

It always thins out in the middle and I have to cut it back to APL. this happens whether i wear my hair in wash and goes or straightened for a majority of the time. My ends always thin out. Its like the back grows long, the front is shorter and the crown is vey short. I always have breakage in this pattern.

Is it possible to hold the thin ends at either bsl or at the longer length? That means having a goal length and trimming the longest hair in the back, back up to bsl. This might allow for two things to happen: 1) Those thin ends at the longest part, in the back, can thicken up. 2) The shorter hair in the front and crown may have a chance to catch up in length.

 

[Chicoro]

Is it possible to hold the thin ends at either bsl or at the longer length? That means having a goal length and trimming the longest hair in the back, back up to bsl. This might allow for two things to happen: 1) Those thin ends at the longest part, in the back, can thicken up. 2) The shorter hair in the front and crown may have a chance to catch up in length.

Also, is the texture of you hair in the crown, on the sides and in the back middle, a different texture than the hair that grows longer? Hair that is coarser than other areas on the head can be more fragile and break faster than other areas. Perhaps if the hair textures in those shorter areas is different, that hair may need more intense moisturizing and/ or more fortification with protein.

 

[Napp]

Is it possible to hold the thin ends at either bsl or at the longer length? That means having a goal length and trimming the longest hair in the back, back up to bsl. This might allow for two things to happen: 1) Those thin ends at the longest part, in the back, can thicken up. 2) The shorter hair in the front and crown may have a chance to catch up in length.

I never let it go so long that it grew past BSL even with thiner ends. I love me a blunt cut unfortunately lol. I will try to go these next 6 months with no trim and see if I can reach BSL before the end of the year even if my ends thin out again. I also think my hair is very uneven because the new growth is stronger than the chemically treated hair so I’m getting a lot of breakage