I'm New and Skeptical

[Miss*Tress]

Hello ladies,

I started out as a lurker and decided to pay my dues this week and jump in.

I've learned a great deal about hair care from you and admired your beautiful heads of hair so I'm following your advice: protect, moisturize, moisturize, moisturize, strengthen, protect, moisturize, moisturize, moisturize, strengthen...

So far my hair looks and feels much better than it usually does.

My problem is this: my hair has never grown past my shoulder blades, ever! Even when I was a child with natural hair and a part of me doesn't *really* believe that my hair will grow beyond that plateau.

Have any of you ever felt skeptical? Has your hair surprised you and grown beyond your wildest dreams? How do you stay motivated?

Have any of you reached a plateau despite taking care of your hair and come to realize you've reached the end of your growth cycle? How do you deal with that?

 

[UmSumayyah]

Before I was hair jacked I had hair past my shoulders for the first time EVER. My hair started retaining length and just kept on getting longer.
I have been encouraged by seeing progress since my setback and am confident that I will reach my former length and beyond.

 

[brownhaired_bonanza]

Hello and welcome to the club!

 

[Champagne_Wishes]

Welcome MissBiss. I know how you feel. My relaxed hair seemed to have a plateau when it grows. I am slowly learning that what I use and how I style it makes a huge difference in retaining length. Just to let you know, everyone's hair is different and some people can wear their hair down and have waist length hair while others must treat their hair like fine French silk lace (if that exists). Anyways just look around and do you research and see what your hair responds to and what it doesn't.

 

[katie]

I've seen old posts I made about how I couldn't imagine ever being at shoulder length.It's funny to me now cuz I see the posts and am like"Did I really think that??"
My hair is past shoulder length now and is the longest it has ever been,EVER.I always had neck length hair even as a child.So it definitely is possible for your hair to exceed your expectations.

 

[webby]

It's been many a years since I felt skeptical, but I do remember feeling that way when my friend (RIP) recommended a dominican salon that she went to.

My hair had been really long and thick as a child, but no one, especially not myself, could get it to grow out. After going to the one salon for a couple of years, I had HAIR. It was long AND healthy.

I have to say that seeing black women or women with coarse hair with long hair is not uncommon in NYC anymore. There are countless women in the city with long, beautiful hair...so my skepticism is non-existant now.

 

[Mariaat40]

There are so many ladies here whose hair is longer than it's ever been. I know mine is. And even if your genetical growth potential is the shortest cycle possible (I believe 2 years) you can achieve brastrap length hair. Just keep doing what you're doing.

 

[brownhaired_bonanza]

I just realized that I posted without actually answering any of your questions...it's hard to say this without sounding as if I'm bragging (I really don't mean it that way), but my hair has been thick and healthy for as long as I can remember. I've never been the recipient of a bad perm even though half a dozen people have permed my hair in my lifetime. I just really enjoy the conversations and camaraderie here. This is my favorite website.

 

[RainbowCurls]

There are so many ladies here whose hair is longer than it's ever been. I know mine is. And even if your genetical growth potential is the shortest cycle possible (I believe 2 years) you can achieve brastrap length hair. Just keep doing what you're doing.

Not without taking lots of vitamins/protein/whatever, surely...?
AFAIK the average hair growth is 6" per year. So someone with a 2 year growth cycle and average growth speed could grow a maximum of 12" at any one time.

 

[A_Christian]

Welcome to the forum

Don't be discouraged about your hair growth. I thought my hair would never grow when I was younger, but it finally did when I was a teenager. Once you find the the products that your hair responds really well to you'll start to retain more growth than you ever thought you could. Eating heatlhfully, drinking lots of water, exercising, and taking a good multi-vitamin also really helped my hair growth take off in addition to finding products that work for me.

 

[Mariaat40]

Not without taking lots of vitamins/protein/whatever, surely...?
AFAIK the average hair growth is 6" per year. So someone with a 2 year growth cycle and average growth speed could grow a maximum of 12" at any one time.

Don't forget that we're talking about 12 inches of hair from the scalp, not the hairline. Twelve inches from the nape would put you around brastrap, depending of course on the length of your torso. I could be wrong about the minimum growth cycle being two years, though. I just remember in several previous threads we determined that with the minimum growth cycle, everyone could have brastrap length hair.

 

[Miss*Tress]

Hello ladies,

Wow!!! What a welcome. Thank you for your encouraging words. I found it especially reassuring that some of you were long hair skeptics too.

As long as I follow the advice you give here, at the very least I will have strong, healthy hair just past my shoulder blades. That's not so bad, now is it?

I won't post the details of my routine and hair type here in the thread, but if you're interested, I started a journal. Don't hesitate to leave a comment.

Thanks again and happy growing!

 

[PretteePlease]

hello and welcome. i was never really sceptical but i thought people were genetically programmed for long or short hair. my time here has netted me the longest hair that i ever recall having and its not even that long!!!

so be encouraged and know that u2 can have long hair

saw your journal and it looks like you have the right stuff for a good start

 

[Wildflower]

I thought I would never have even shoulder length hair, my hair was always neck length or almost touching the shoulders, but never actually doing so. I'm past my breaking point and I'm not skeptical anymore.

 

[Trinity1]

Hi Missbiss,

and welcome aboard I can testify to once believing my hair would never be past my shoulders. As a kid I had what most considered long hair but then as I grew up and started relaxing it broke off. I then got a serious cut and started going to the hairdresser every 2 weeks and my hair grew from ear length to my shoulders. I decided I could take care of my own hair,stopped going to the hairdresser and maintained a regimen of washing,blow drying and hot ironing every 5 days only to have my hair stay at shoulder length for 5 years! Once I joined the LHCF and learned about properly caring for my hair not only did my hair grow ( I am now at brastrap) but I realized I had a different texture of hair than I did when I was growing up. My hair was always thick but it was dry and my new growth use to grow out very coarse.Although my hair looked healthy,in retrospect I can say that it wasnt,which is why it stayed the same length for so long. Now when my new growth comes in,its very soft and wavy and you cant really tell where the new growth and relaxed hair meet. So yes,you can have longer hair...trust me. As long as you do the things that these wise ladies tell you on this board,you will see your hair take such a turn that you will not believe your eyes!!!! stay encouraged!!!!


TeeTee2

 

[tryn2growmyhair]

It's been many a years since I felt skeptical, but I do remember feeling that way when my friend (RIP) recommended a dominican salon that she went to.

My hair had been really long and thick as a child, but no one, especially not myself, could get it to grow out. After going to the one salon for a couple of years, I had HAIR. It was long AND healthy.

I have to say that seeing black women or women with coarse hair with long hair is not uncommon in NYC anymore. There are countless women in the city with long, beautiful hair...so my skepticism is non-existant now.

Could you share the name of the Dominican salon with us, pretty please ?

 

[simplycee]

I always knew I COULD grow my hair longer than it was but I never knew the secret to maintaining length. I could see that my hair was growing from all the new growth but it just wasn't getting longer. I finally figured out that too much direct heat, infrequent washing and bad styling habits was keeping me at shoulder length.

Now I'm getting closer and closer to brastrap one inch at a time. In the words of our beloved DSD .... "never speak defeat"!

 

[bluwatersoul]

Hello ladies,

I started out as a lurker and decided to pay my dues this week and jump in.

I've learned a great deal about hair care from you and admired your beautiful heads of hair so I'm following your advice: protect, moisturize, moisturize, moisturize, strengthen, protect, moisturize, moisturize, moisturize, strengthen...

So far my hair looks and feels much better than it usually does.

My problem is this: my hair has never grown past my shoulder blades, ever! Even when I was a child with natural hair and a part of me doesn't *really* believe that my hair will grow beyond that plateau.

Have any of you ever felt skeptical? Has your hair surprised you and grown beyond your wildest dreams? How do you stay motivated?

Have any of you reached a plateau despite taking care of your hair and come to realize you've reached the end of your growth cycle? How do you deal with that?

MB, I hear you loud and clear. My hair feels and looks great! But my hair has never grown past a certain length my whole life. I wish I had a nickel for every time people or I myself have admired my hair, and I would wish it could just be longer!

There are some intimidating heads on this board, but I am trying to use them as inspiration instead of letting it discourage me. I'll see how it goes. I have to stick with it for awhile - I have to justify all of these products I have purchased! erplexed

the prize is the journey
Blu

 

[webby]

Could you share the name of the Dominican salon with us, pretty please ?

I used to go to Miquelina's on 120th off of 1st ave. She stopped doing my hair when she got pregnant with her second child. Lindy started doing it...my hair GREW with both ladies.

Lindy has a salon on 2nd Ave between 110th and 111th...The problem with her is she runs out, leaves the relaxer on your hair...yaps on the phone while there are chemicals in your hair...not good.

Now, I go to a girl named Mirian at New Millenium. She's on 1st Avenue, between 118th and 119th. There are two salons on that block; she's the one closest to 119th street. She's really gentle, never over relaxes, but I don't let her cut my hair EVER and I bring my own products, especially my hair color.

One cool thing about Mirian is she has all of the latest relaxers: Affirm, Mizani etc.

 

[Isis]

Welcome, MissBiss!

No, I've never felt skeptical. Since I started learning how to care for my hair and seeing all the beautiful, inspirational heads of hair on this board, I believe anything is possible. To me, the fun is in the journey.

 

[ccd]

Welcome and I hope you are not skeptical anymore! You will definitely reach your goal for hair growth....

I had been a shoulder length natural as a child ( pressed hair at times) and that is the longest I though I could get, I went through my teenage stage and hair short, unhealthy hair .........I never thought my hair would grow as it has, I just wanted healthy hair and no shedding, so I started with the Dominican stylists, who treated my hair well, (I learned the process from them and now do it at home for now) With the hair salon I saw a difference immediately then I just added to the program and saw more results....


This( website) has been my "final" destination in that I'm inspired by the other ladies and how long All of our hair can be.....This site definitely changed my perspective on hair types and growth....Hair is Hair....the way you Care for it is what matters!

CONGRATS and WELCOME!!!