Hip Length Challenge 2010

Ok... so I am sitting here bored... it's Sunday 9:00 pm here and back home Texas it's 7:00am on Saturday... I washed my hair and this weeks oil is Castor. I was reading the ingredients and looked up the words I had no idea what they meant. Did you know that one of the ingredients is "Octyl methoxycinnamate" which is for UV protection. That's good! I also have Dudhi Herbal Oil in my stash and it is a natural coolant. One of the ingredients in it is peppermint... The Indian women use these different oils during differents seasons or occassions... the oils that cool your scalp are used during the hot summer month's. It makes since with all that thick hair they have. The "Octyl methoxycinnamate" is in a lot of the oils which makes since as well because of the long hot summers UV protection is a must.

Things we discover when we are bored....:lachen:
 
I haven't posted an update in a while because the pregnancy has had my hair out of whack! It's been shedding like crazy. I'm planning on washing and straightening my hair this weekend, so I'll post pictures then.
 
Combs... If you use one, which is best... Plastic or Wood? I am told wood combs are the best. Japanese use boxwood combs dipped in camelia oil and comb their hair or decorate their hair... The camelia oil is good for the wood, but is said to keep the Japanese hair long and beautiful. I was told if I visited Japan I could get the comb made in a Widetooth version instead of the standard shape.... interesting. Here is a quote from a article in the New York Times....

[FONT=굴림]November 23, 1986[/FONT]
[FONT=굴림]http://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/23/travel/shopper-s-world-japanese-combs-crafted-from-history.html[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]SHOPPER'S WORLD; Japanese Combs Crafted From History[/FONT]
[FONT=굴림]By AMANDA MAYER STINCHECUM; AMANDA MAYER STINCHECUM, A SPECIALIST IN JAPANESE TEXTILES, IS WRITING A GUIDE TO TRADITIONAL KYOTO SHOPS TO BE PUBLISHED BY JOHN WEATHERHILL IN TOKYO.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]"In the middle of the Gion District of Kyoto, the center of the city's geisha world, a narrow, three-story, tile-roofed building is wedged between glittery coffee shops, trendy boutiques, elegant restaurants and souvenir shops.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Amid the street's conspicuous glamour stands Nijusanya, a tiny shop specializing in boxwood combs and ornaments used to style the sculptured hairdos (or wigs) worn by geishas and actors of the kabuki stage.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]The store has been in its present location on Shijo-dori, Kyoto's Fifth Avenue, for more than 70 years, and combs themselves have an ancient history in Japan. Combs apparently made of bamboo are depicted on ancient clay tomb figures of the Jomon Period (up to 200 B.C.), and a huge comb 1,200 years old, excavated from a palace site in Nara, the first permanent capital of Japan, is very similar to the shop's old signboard - a bowed comb a foot long.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]During the 18th century, combs were increasingly used as hair ornaments and not simply as tools for the coiffure. They became objects of luxury, made not only of wood or bamboo but also of valuable tortoise shell and ivory, decorated with gold, silver and colored lacquers, precious metal inlays or mother-of-pearl. The fine workmanship that went into the creation of these personal ornaments rivaled European jewelry of the period.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Since the Meiji Restoration of 1868, with the influx of Western influence and a simplification of Japanese dress, the elaborate combs of the preceding era gradually reverted to earlier types, the more simple utilitarian combs that we see today in Nijusanya's display case.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Combs made of Japanese boxwood are of the highest quality and command higher prices than their imported counterparts -for example, boxwood from Thailand, which is not as strong. As Japanese boxwood becomes scarcer, its price continues to rise. In the old days, says the shop manager, Kakie Isamu, every time a girl was born in Kagoshima, the family planted a boxwood tree. By the time she was of marriageable age, the tree was ready to be cut and made into combs for her trousseau.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]The best boxwood is kitsuge (yellow boxwood), from Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. Once cut, the trees are left to dry for a year, then smoke-cured. The raw wood is much easier to carve; curing makes the wood harder, and therefore more durable, as well as insuring that no further warping will occur. The warping that does occur during the drying and curing processes is corrected by clamping the pre-cut slabs of wood before cutting the teeth of the combs.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Every Japanese boxwood comb at Nijusanya is made by hand, each tooth handcarved, requiring great skill to make the teeth straight and give them a smooth finish that will not damage the hair. Mr. Kakie was himself a comb maker for decades until the proprietor of Nijusanya promoted him to manager. He made the bamboo combs (now rarely made and no longer sold by Niju-sanya) called togushi, consisting of two, back-to-back rows of dozens of extremely fine teeth. Togushi were used for cleaning the hair between infrequent washings, the fine teeth drawing grease and dust from the hair. The shop once specialized in togushi, the three syllables of which mean 10 (ju), 9 (ku) and 4 (shi), totaling 23, or in Japanese, nijusan; the suffix ya means a house or shop. Thus the name of the store, Nijusanya. The word for comb, kushi, is associated with misfortune because, in addition to the numerical meaning of the syllables ku and shi (9 and 4), ku also means suffering and shi means death. Possibly because of these double meanings, it is considered bad luck to give a comb as a gift unless it is accompanied by money, to compensate the recipient for the bad luck he may receive with the comb.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Few if any boxwood combs are now made in Kyoto; those sold at Nijusanya come from Kaizuka, near Osaka. There are still about 10 craftsmen there, the youngest of whom is in his 50's and most are closer to 70, according to Mr. Kakie. But in the mid-19th century as many as 200 workshops flourished there, he said, able to support all their artisans solely by the manufacture of handmade combs. Kushi Jinja (the comb shrine) in Kaizuka attests to the great number of people once involved in this very specialized industry.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Now, about 80 percent of Nijusanya's customers are young women, says Mr. Kakie. They appreciate the simple, clean design of the combs and that they don't produce static electricity or damage the hair as poorly finished plastic or metal combs do.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]The hair clasps (made of Thai boxwood because Japanese boxwood is too hard to carve into the sometimes intricate, traditional designs), in addition to being an elegant but easy way to hold hair together, are better than metal clips or rubber bands because they don't break the hair. There are two basic comb shapes for everyday use - an elongated box used by women, and a short-handled style used by men." [/FONT]
 
I took my hair out of my bun today and decided to stretch it. It's back down to the top of my butterfly antennas and wing tips. About the length it was before my trim. My tat is two inches in length.And I'm claiming HL when my hair reaches the bottom of it. I can't wait until the next update to see how much it will grow from now. Kinda excited!
 
mariposa i'm droolin over your siggie pic. ::sigh:: i cant wait

mzmomo STRAIGHTEN NOW AND POST SOME PICS DAMMIT!!!!

I'm straightened and keeping it like this until after this weekend, I'm wearing it in buns, and just taking it down when i have an audition. This weekend I'm DCing and twisting it up for the first time since june 09 when I BCed. It's gunna take FOREVER....::sigh::
 
MariposaSexyGirl said:
I took my hair out of my bun today and decided to stretch it. It's back down to the top of my butterfly antennas and wing tips. About the length it was before my trim. My tat is two inches in length.And I'm claiming HL when my hair reaches the bottom of it. I can't wait until the next update to see how much it will grow from now. Kinda excited!
Click to expand...

Wow thats good...I thought I was the only one that uses their tat for measuring mark...:lachen:
 
MariposaSexyGirl said:
I took my hair out of my bun today and decided to stretch it. It's back down to the top of my butterfly antennas and wing tips. About the length it was before my trim. My tat is two inches in length.And I'm claiming HL when my hair reaches the bottom of it. I can't wait until the next update to see how much it will grow from now. Kinda excited!
Click to expand...

That's Great!!!!! I love progress!!!:grin:

Traycee said:
Wow thats good...I thought I was the only one that uses their tat for measuring mark...:lachen:
Click to expand...

Funny.... I don't have a tat so I am using my butt crack!!! :lachen:
 
Mz.MoMo5235 said:
i'm considering straightening and doing a length check sooner.... i dunno though.
Click to expand...

I would love to see your hair straightened....but if you do it now....you might be disapointed if June's update doesn't show stellar progress:look:.... just a thought!:grin: Reminder...meaning.....you would be back to the one month update again.... you did not like that before...:yep:
 
Last edited:
Whimsy said:
mariposa i'm droolin over your siggie pic. ::sigh:: i cant wait

mzmomo STRAIGHTEN NOW AND POST SOME PICS DAMMIT!!!!

I'm straightened and keeping it like this until after this weekend, I'm wearing it in buns, and just taking it down when i have an audition. This weekend I'm DCing and twisting it up for the first time since june 09 when I BCed. It's gunna take FOREVER....::sigh::
Click to expand...

Aww thanks what you drooling for?! Your hair is glorious what you talkin' bout lol
 
Candy828 said:
Combs... If you use one, which is best... Plastic or Wood? I am told wood combs are the best. Japanese use boxwood combs dipped in camelia oil and comb their hair or decorate their hair... The camelia oil is good for the wood, but is said to keep the Japanese hair long and beautiful. I was told if I visited Japan I could get the comb made in a Widetooth version instead of the standard shape.... interesting. Here is a quote from a article in the New York Times....

[FONT=굴림]November 23, 1986[/FONT]
[FONT=굴림]http://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/23/travel/shopper-s-world-japanese-combs-crafted-from-history.html[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]SHOPPER'S WORLD; Japanese Combs Crafted From History[/FONT]
[FONT=굴림]By AMANDA MAYER STINCHECUM; AMANDA MAYER STINCHECUM, A SPECIALIST IN JAPANESE TEXTILES, IS WRITING A GUIDE TO TRADITIONAL KYOTO SHOPS TO BE PUBLISHED BY JOHN WEATHERHILL IN TOKYO.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]"In the middle of the Gion District of Kyoto, the center of the city's geisha world, a narrow, three-story, tile-roofed building is wedged between glittery coffee shops, trendy boutiques, elegant restaurants and souvenir shops.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Amid the street's conspicuous glamour stands Nijusanya, a tiny shop specializing in boxwood combs and ornaments used to style the sculptured hairdos (or wigs) worn by geishas and actors of the kabuki stage.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]The store has been in its present location on Shijo-dori, Kyoto's Fifth Avenue, for more than 70 years, and combs themselves have an ancient history in Japan. Combs apparently made of bamboo are depicted on ancient clay tomb figures of the Jomon Period (up to 200 B.C.), and a huge comb 1,200 years old, excavated from a palace site in Nara, the first permanent capital of Japan, is very similar to the shop's old signboard - a bowed comb a foot long.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]During the 18th century, combs were increasingly used as hair ornaments and not simply as tools for the coiffure. They became objects of luxury, made not only of wood or bamboo but also of valuable tortoise shell and ivory, decorated with gold, silver and colored lacquers, precious metal inlays or mother-of-pearl. The fine workmanship that went into the creation of these personal ornaments rivaled European jewelry of the period.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Since the Meiji Restoration of 1868, with the influx of Western influence and a simplification of Japanese dress, the elaborate combs of the preceding era gradually reverted to earlier types, the more simple utilitarian combs that we see today in Nijusanya's display case.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Combs made of Japanese boxwood are of the highest quality and command higher prices than their imported counterparts -for example, boxwood from Thailand, which is not as strong. As Japanese boxwood becomes scarcer, its price continues to rise. In the old days, says the shop manager, Kakie Isamu, every time a girl was born in Kagoshima, the family planted a boxwood tree. By the time she was of marriageable age, the tree was ready to be cut and made into combs for her trousseau.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]The best boxwood is kitsuge (yellow boxwood), from Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. Once cut, the trees are left to dry for a year, then smoke-cured. The raw wood is much easier to carve; curing makes the wood harder, and therefore more durable, as well as insuring that no further warping will occur. The warping that does occur during the drying and curing processes is corrected by clamping the pre-cut slabs of wood before cutting the teeth of the combs.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Every Japanese boxwood comb at Nijusanya is made by hand, each tooth handcarved, requiring great skill to make the teeth straight and give them a smooth finish that will not damage the hair. Mr. Kakie was himself a comb maker for decades until the proprietor of Nijusanya promoted him to manager. He made the bamboo combs (now rarely made and no longer sold by Niju-sanya) called togushi, consisting of two, back-to-back rows of dozens of extremely fine teeth. Togushi were used for cleaning the hair between infrequent washings, the fine teeth drawing grease and dust from the hair. The shop once specialized in togushi, the three syllables of which mean 10 (ju), 9 (ku) and 4 (shi), totaling 23, or in Japanese, nijusan; the suffix ya means a house or shop. Thus the name of the store, Nijusanya. The word for comb, kushi, is associated with misfortune because, in addition to the numerical meaning of the syllables ku and shi (9 and 4), ku also means suffering and shi means death. Possibly because of these double meanings, it is considered bad luck to give a comb as a gift unless it is accompanied by money, to compensate the recipient for the bad luck he may receive with the comb.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Few if any boxwood combs are now made in Kyoto; those sold at Nijusanya come from Kaizuka, near Osaka. There are still about 10 craftsmen there, the youngest of whom is in his 50's and most are closer to 70, according to Mr. Kakie. But in the mid-19th century as many as 200 workshops flourished there, he said, able to support all their artisans solely by the manufacture of handmade combs. Kushi Jinja (the comb shrine) in Kaizuka attests to the great number of people once involved in this very specialized industry.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]Now, about 80 percent of Nijusanya's customers are young women, says Mr. Kakie. They appreciate the simple, clean design of the combs and that they don't produce static electricity or damage the hair as poorly finished plastic or metal combs do.[/FONT]

[FONT=굴림]The hair clasps (made of Thai boxwood because Japanese boxwood is too hard to carve into the sometimes intricate, traditional designs), in addition to being an elegant but easy way to hold hair together, are better than metal clips or rubber bands because they don't break the hair. There are two basic comb shapes for everyday use - an elongated box used by women, and a short-handled style used by men." [/FONT]
Click to expand...

I remember when I first started my hair journey(APL) I read about the camilla oil and the wood comb. And I thought to myself I am not buying no comb nor oil from Japan :look:
 
MariposaSexyGirl said:
Hey Traycee! And nope you are not the only one :lachen:
How is your hair growing?(a way to say how are you doing on the hair board :drunk:) lol. But I really want to know about your hair :look:
Click to expand...

Everything is going extremely well... My hair is grazing HL... I have been doing black tea rinses and it has my hair growing like weeds... I should be full HL sometime this summer..
 
MariposaSexyGirl said:
How is your pregnancy going?
Click to expand...

I go in for my C-section at 6am! They won't start cutting till 7:30 though. I'm nervous! :o But I'm looking forward to seeing this little person who's been boxing with my organs all this time :lachen:and I bet she's cute.

Mz.MoMo5235 said:
lol you're funny!



me and my best friend have noticed a trend. when me and her think our hair is wild and crazy and needs to be put up, white folk LOVE IT!!!! that go coo coo for cocoa puffs!!!:spinning:

but when we look at our own hair, or each others, or other black women see it, we get the :nono: face lol
Click to expand...

I was so nervous in the parking lot, I felt so self-conscious. Of course folks were looking at me, but all of them were white so they were loving it and probably wondering how I got it to look like that! lol

I am halfway ready to just start doing that as my signature style though... dry in like 8 cornrows going straight back, take it down in the morning and put my hair up in some kind of hairtoy or bun... and just KIM. You know, I bet it would grow like weeds if I did, too. Black folks would be giving me the side eye, but then again that happens to me a lot anyway :rolleyes: so whatever!

PS. I wish I did have the money for a Japanese boxwood comb and some camellia oil! But then one of my kids would use to dig in the trash can or something and you'd find me on the 11 o clock news going apeisht. :swearing:
 
Candy828 said:
I would love to see your hair straightened....but if you do it now....you might be disapointed if June's update doesn't show stellar progress:look:.... just a thought!:grin: Reminder...meaning.....you would be back to the one month update again.... you did not like that before...:yep:
Click to expand...

that's very true... i was quite butt hurt that last time i did a back to back check huh. dont want that to happen again.... i should just wait huh
 
Mz.MoMo5235 said:
that's very true... i was quite butt hurt that last time i did a back to back check huh. dont want that to happen again.... i should just wait huh
Click to expand...

I would wait.... then you'd be so happy by the difference in the pictures! :yep: Just keep up your regime and avoid hair disasters!!!! I want you to be very happy next update!:grin:
 
Candy828 said:
I would wait.... then you'd be so happy by the difference in the pictures! :yep: Just keep up your regime and avoid hair disasters!!!! I want you to be very happy next update!:grin:
Click to expand...
:grin: i want to be happy too!!! i think i've just been stressed about my hair. silly stress about my hair i guess. i vented in another thread... i dont quite feel better though :sad:
 
All of you ladies seem to be right on track!:look:

I cant wait to see all of the updates in June, but my update may be a little later than that.
I just installed a partial weave, and I plan on rocking it for two months if I can. ...although I usually only last in it for a month:rolleyes:.

Anyways, happy growing!
I just wanted to check in and say "WAZZAPPANIN"!:band2:
 
Detangling made easy.....

As the hair gets longer and longer... the detangling process could become longer and longer.... So this time, before washing my hair I sectioned it in 4 braids, got in the shower and shampoo'd my scalp with my Shikakai Bar soap, rinsed my hair out throughly and squeeze repeatedly so there is no soap left in my hair (the bar soap is easy to rinse out. It doesn't make as much lather), then I take one braid down and slather on the conditioner (raking my fingers through over and over again) then re-braid that section. I repeated this for each section. I put on a plastic cap. Then I took a bath. After my bath, I took off the plastic cap and rinsed my braided hair. No more combing is necessary at this point. I let my hair dry this way... Once dry I did my oiling and guess what???? NO TANGLES! and only two or three hairs in the wide-tooth comb!!!:happydance: So now daily it's just finger combing after oil and massage...This will be my method going forward whether I co-wash or not.... I figured if I was gonna go for Classic length, then I'd better find a better way to wash my hair and I think this is it!!!!! But if my hair get's thicker, I'll have to make it 6 braids instead of 4!:grin:
 
Ok ladies; In all fairness to the Hip Length Challenge, I started a new thread.... Classic Length 2010 Challenge Part I

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?p=10864292#post10864292

It doesn't seem to make since for me to keep posting updates on this board.:nono: Even though I am so attached to all of you!:yep: So I will post my updates there. But I will be keeping an eye on you!

Maybe I won't get any participants! Which will make for a lonely road.... but I will post long hair styles and maybe you all will visit me once in a while!:grin:
 
Candy828 said:
Ok ladies; In all fairness to the Hip Length Challenge, I started a new thread.... Classic Length 2010 Challenge Part I

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?p=10864292#post10864292

It doesn't seem to make since for me to keep posting updates on this board.:nono: Even though I am so attached to all of you!:yep: So I will post my updates there. But I will be keeping an eye on you!

Maybe I won't get any participants! Which will make for a lonely road.... but I will post long hair styles and maybe you all will visit me once in a while!:grin:
Click to expand...

WOW seriously, you're fired up. I'll check it out.
 
Candy, I'm no where near CL but I will check out your thread and cheer you on, get ideas. I should probably stop straightening my hair. I've been so disappointed at how slow it's been growing that I'm afraid my ungratefulness will hinder the progress. I am hoping that the sides catch up with the middle (tail) by June.

Has anyone heard from LadyPaniolo? I believe her baby was born on Thursday.
 
Ok so can I go crazy and join this challenge? I just measured from the bottom of my neck to the top of my jeans, which is about an inch below my hip bone. I have 7 inches to HL! WOW tape measures are the bizness! There are only 8 months left in the year so I HIGHLY doubt I'll make it, plus I'm transitioning. But it doesn't hurt to try right?

Alternatively, I'll probably maintain at WL or mbl....but I would love to see how long I can maintain healthy hair while transitioning!

You ladies are truly inspirational!
 
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