Has any naturals grown hair to shoulder blades....

[auntybe]

If so can you plese share your technique with me. I have decided that my stylist is only going to trim my hair when needed and give me weaves in the winter. Everything else she does to my hair is because I tell her and I take my pwn products and all she can do to my hair is a twist out because she says it has too much volume. Since my last trim my hair is back to the nape of my neck. I would like to grow my natural hair to my shoulder blades. I had to realize that my stylist can't work with my hair well unless she is weaving or relaxing. Since my hair has gotten thicker-she can't even press it straight. I had planned on getting it pressed once a month this winter. I will have to do it myself now. I just have to get better control over my hair.

 

[skegeesmb]

Exactly how long is shoulderblade length? I think I am close to that length. When stretched or straightened, my hair is very close, when in it's shrunken glory, it just hits my shoulders (and I mean "just").

I just wash and condition as normal. Getting it to this length is all about patience and consistency. As a matter of fact, it's all about patience. I wash condition, either put in a ponytail, or rollerset to wear straight. And only in the past few months have I been able to really see the difference of length in my hair from December to now.

 

[Tracy]

My Mom's natural hair (4a and some b) is about as long as mine is when stretched (between shoulder blades and BS).

She washes it twice a week, and wears it in a bun with a faux bun attached. Sometimes she has me blow dry it semi straight on warm - just so it's more manageable. But it's always in that faux bun. Always.

She uses soft hold gels (kinda like Jam, Lusters Pink makes one that she likes) and adds conditioner every few days to lay the edges down. Her hair is ALWAYS in a bun. She grew it to this length from a TWA in about a year and a half!!

I really think the key for her was having it in that bun all the time. She has also never trimmed it since she started her growth.

Actually - not true - I tirmmed it for her ONCE. Do you have a daughter that will take any opportunity to snuggle up to her Mom (like I do.

) at any given moment? Have someone you love and trust trim it twice a year and wear styles that stop you from manipulating it, but that allow it to breathe, and you'll get there. Or at least - my Momma did!

 

[auntybe]

Sksgeesmb: What do you use and how do you rollerset?

Tracy: What texture is the bun that your mother use? My hair is a cross between Gloria Ruben and Macy Gray.

 

[aqualung]

Re: Has any naturals grown hair to shoulder blades

Tracy,
Your mom's story is very inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

Meg

 

[sassygirl125]

[ QUOTE ]
...and wears it in a bun with a faux bun attached

[/ QUOTE ]

This is what I'm doing to. I'm also interested in the names of her hairpieces. I have the hardest time finding kinky ones.

 

[i12sitonmyhair]

Yes, my hair (when pulled straight) is between my shoulder blades. I agree with the post about wearing faux buns. I would put neat, little cornrows in the front of my hair, brush the back up into one or two braided ponytails, and put faux ponytails or buns over the ends.

Sometimes, I would just wear a full wig (especially in the winter). Protecting those ends is very important if you want your natural hair to grow. There are a lot of really neat, cute styles you can make if you're growing your hair out. Have fun with it!

Oh yeah, and I don't bother with trimming anymore. I don't have any real "breakage". Maybe a strand or two, here or there, but that's about it. And I always use a wide-tooth comb when detangling.

 

[joyous]

My natural hair unstretched is to my shoulder blades.Here's what I do:
1)Wash once a week with CON(ultra moisturizing, follow with deep conditioner)
2) Conditioner wash with VO5 strawberries,blueberries/cream twice a week.
3)ALWAYS use distilled water as a final rinse.
3)Leave-in after every wash(African Royale Daily Doctor)
4)ALWAYS air dry using ponytail method.
5)While ponytail is still damp put it in a bun.
6)Moisturize daily and moisturize ends at night before covering with a silk scarf.
7) Clarify every month/3 weeks and use a protein deep conditioner.

Lately I've been doing the bun/chignon challenge started on this board and it has made a world of difference in length by keeping my ends protected. When I was exposing my ends I wasn't retaining as much length. Also I press or flat iron my hair about every two months to see how much its grown.

 

[auntybe]

Joyus-

Thanks! I think I will try your routine. My hair is not long enough to put in a bun yet. I think I will go buy a piece to attach.

 

[joyous]

Auntybe, your welcome and good luck. I hope it works for you. When I simplified my routine and started wearing the bun that made a big difference. Keep us posted.

 

[nijilah]

I don't think that I could be much help but I hope that I can be inspirational. I am natural and my hair's standard, meaning easy length without doing much of anything, is shoulder blades. Actually, my hair's easy length is about 2 inches longer than that.

To better explain 'easy length', just washing, conditioning for 3 minutes, and then oiling, my hair will grow very quickly to a little below the shoulder blades. After that, my hair grows like a turtle

! It took my about 1 year to go from 2 inches below the shoulder blade to bra strap!

And now I am 1 inch shorter than bra strap because I HAD TO trim.

To get back on the subject, I think that there are a lot of naturals on this board who even have bra strap hair. I think that Faith has bra strap hair and Den1 has almost waist length hair!

Just remember moisture moisture and moisture

. Plus, I think that protective styles are the way to go such as a french roll or a loose bun. Before I got lazy, I would spitz my hair with water every night and then apply an oil and the plait my hair in like 8 plaits every night. This routine worked to eliminate breakage and keep my hair moist.

 

[ChocoKitty]

Natural shoulder length is definitely achieveable. Moisture is your greatest tool and try investing some good vitamins too. My hair was rencently past my bra -but I got a much needed trim. I've been natural for about ten years now.

 

[SVT]

Re: Has any naturals grown hair to shoulder blades

Okay, I'm gonna have to get on this natural bun bandwagon. I'm back to wearing my hair au natural after flatironing it for the better part of two months.

Auntybe: My natural hair when shrunken just touches my shoulders. It grows best when I'm consistent with the moisture. Overnight conditioning treatments are great and keeping a spray bottle filled with a mix of purified water and conditioner and/or oil also helps my hair to stay moist during the day.

I wear my natural pulled back with a scrunchie or bands. I'm not skillful in creating natural styles but the bun thing sounds easy enough.

 

[phynestone]

Re: Has any naturals grown hair to shoulder blades

My natural hair has just now reached my shoulder blades, at least in the back. I attribute this too leave-in conditioners, protecting my ends and keeping my hair moisturized. It does take a lot of work, but pretty soon, I won't have to wear weaves and braids just to have long hair b/c MY hair will be long. Keep up the work, no matter how long and tiring it may seem.

 

[Tracy]

Re: Has any naturals grown hair to shoulder blades

Your welcome guys...

Actually - my mom's bun isn't kinky...

It's braided, but the hair is pretty straight. Since it's braided though, it ends up looking fine. People ask her all the time how she got her hair to grow so long (believing that the bun is actually HER hair braided up an dbunned

).

I'll post a pic of the bun. I have to TAKE one tho - I coulnd't find on online.

Just wanted to clarify that it's not a kinky bun. Because she pulls her hair back, and ties it down, while damp with conditioner and gel, she gets a nice "guylike" wave going on.

Matches the bun well enough.

 

[auntybe]

Re: Has any naturals grown hair to shoulder blades

Thanks for explaing the bun. I have been looking for a braided one.

 

[keke]

Re: Has any naturals grown hair to shoulder blades

"pretty soon, I won't have to wear weaves and braids just to have long hair b/c MY hair will be long"

thaaat is exACTLY my goal to have. No more worrying bout the hair slippin out, tracks showing all that crap :^P. I like weaves and all and they are very useful but still i want my own hair that i can put in ANY style i want too w/o having to worry about not doing it too tight cause then the track will show or i may pull the braid loose or i may pull the braid out and it rip my hair. :^P

 

[skegeesmb]

For my rollersets I use lottabody cremewrap (you can purchase at many Korean stores), and I use wildgrowth hair oil. I use the purple rollers (large), and I'm getting ready to use very large rollers. If you go to my page you can see a photo of me with a rollerset when my hair was shorter, but I still follow the same routine.

 

[auntybe]

I'll have to look for the cremewrap. I haven't been able to find it. I thought about trying to rollerset with Black and Sassy Wrap Creme since I have a large jar of it. I think I'll try it tonight.

 

[Shinka]

thos who grown their hair to should blade...what did you do as "protective styles" when you hair was twa length about 1.5 inches long for those who did the big chop etc.

I don't have th eluxury yet of attaching fake hair pieces and buns, just I just rock some wraps and braids for winter then?

 

[pressncurl]

I think my hair may be at my shoulder blades. It was already a few inches beyond shoulder length when I pressed it last--earlier this summer. I'll know for sure in about a month when I press again.

 

[SVT]

Re: Has any naturals grown hair to shoulder blades

My natural hair grazes my shoulder. When pressed, I'm guessing it's 3-4 inches from brastrap.

My hair grows better when I wear it natural more than pressed. It's because I can maintain a higher level of moisture in my natural hair (overnight conditioning, humid weather, moisture spritzing throughout the day, etc.). I trim whenever I see a split.

I guess my current syle can be considered a protective style. I part down the middle then gather my hair into a low puff. I've gotten compliments on this simple style. Coworkers love coming over and "pattin' the puff"!

I'm cool with it though.

 

[Daughter]

"too much volume" - your stylist makes it sound like a curse more than what it truly is - a blessing!

My hair has quite a lot of shrinkage. I don't see myself pressing it again (I'm on a no/low heat hair diet!) but if I stretch my hair it's about an inch past my shoulders. Shoulderblades is my immediate goal, bra-strap the ultimate goal.

Good luck with your goal!

 

[KinkyCurly]

I'm past shoulder blades, and I agree with many of the comments here (Joyous' routine sounds excellent). Moisture and protective styles that retain moisture are key.

I had to stop wearing my hair 'out' in order to retain my length. Then I switched to wearing twists a lot, which helped keep my hands out of my hair.

But these protective styles are doing wonders for my hair in terms of softness and manageability.

 

[Faith]

My hair is now about 1" past end of bra strap when stretched or pressed. I'm aiming for waist length but I don't have a set date for that since my setback this summer.

 

[i12sitonmyhair]

[ QUOTE ]
thos who grown their hair to should blade...what did you do as "protective styles" when you hair was twa length about 1.5 inches long for those who did the big chop etc.

I don't have th eluxury yet of attaching fake hair pieces and buns, just I just rock some wraps and braids for winter then?

[/ QUOTE ]
When I chopped all but an inch of my hair off four years ago, I wore wigs or got my hair braided until it was long enough for me to cornrow my own hair and attach phonytails to it. I didn't worry about people knowing it wasn't my real hair.

 

[Shinka]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
thos who grown their hair to should blade...what did you do as "protective styles" when you hair was twa length about 1.5 inches long for those who did the big chop etc.

I don't have th eluxury yet of attaching fake hair pieces and buns, just I just rock some wraps and braids for winter then?

[/ QUOTE ]
When I chopped all but an inch of my hair off four years ago, I wore wigs or got my hair braided until it was long enough for me to cornrow my own hair and attach phonytails to it. I didn't worry about people knowing it wasn't my real hair.

[/ QUOTE ]

thanks, I think when october or november rolls around I'm going t get some braids and keep them in for about a year or so, because wetting hair everyday for winter is not cool. But until thing I'm going to try and twist and braid my HAIR every week or two ( actually I could probably keep that up for the winter too, who knows)

thanks for the reply

 

[auntybe]

I'v decided that in October I am going to get my hair cornrowed using extensions and have the ends put in a bun. That way I won't have to worry about going out with it wet in winter

. I am going to evaluate my products

in my large closet and come up with a routine for the next 30 days and then do something simillar to Crown and Glory while my hair is braided.

 

[keke]

When i woke up this morning and finger combed down the lil short, short hairs i got in the back of my head at the nape i noticed now are 2, 2.5 or 3 inches away from my shoulders. I am sooo happy. A few more and im good to go :d

 

[auntybe]

Yeah Keke!