Veterans- 4+ Years HHJ: Where Are You Now?

[Eisani]

Do u think it would be helpful for people to mention their height as well? I know growth is growth, but that info may be helpful to some. I'm 5'7".

 

[manter26]

Do u think it would be helpful for people to mention their height as well? I know growth is growth, but that info may be helpful to some. I'm 5'7".

Maybe posters can include how many inches of hair they have rather than height...I think that's more telling than how tall they are and we can compare to the chart.


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[MariposaSexyGirl]

I'm 5'8 my hair measures 26 inches from the crown and 31 inches from the front of the hairline. I know some people measure differently. I was lurking here in 05' and decided to get real serious in 06' when I joined. Forgot to add that info.

 

[manter26]

I'm 5'8 my hair measures 26 inches from the crown and 31 inches from the front of the hairline. I know some people measure differently. I was lurking here in 05' and decided to get real serious in 06' when I joined. Forgot to add that info.

I've never understood that school of thought...unless you wear your hair like this:

It doesn't seem useful to measure that way.

And at taller than average, you still line up with the chart, 26" and between WL and HL.

 

[geejay]

I've never understood that school of thought...unless you wear your hair like this:

It doesn't seem useful to measure that way.

And at taller than average, you still line up with the chart, 26" and between WL and HL.

I think the advantage to measuring from the front hairline, is that the hairline is a more easily identified spot. It's easier to do comparison measurements because one can line up the tape very precisely to the exact same spot to the centimeter.

While the crown is a little more difficult to pin down. On my head at least I think of the crown as an area that's at least an inch in diameter. So if I was taking comparison measurements over several months, it would be hard for me to be positive that the 1/2 inch of growth was real or just me placing my hand a quarter inch lower than last month.

 

[lwilliams1922]

The HHJ has been gradual for me. I had my last relaxer in 2006, mostly because I decided not to relax while I was preg. At that time I just wigged it up to hide what was growing. It wasn't until the following year 2007 that I decided to learn more about what to do with it. I started checking board but It was info overload.

So much to take in, it was like a full time gig trying to figure out what I needed to do. Then add in figuring out what MY hair liked an didn't like.

By 2009 I was on a roll. Gave up poo, started using condish as a leave in, PSing with twists. Hair grew out to BSL.

SETBACK
I started BKTing. It took 6 months or more to realize I was jacking up my hair. July 2010 had to BC again.

2011 -Think I'm back on track. Bunning and cowashing as well as biotin and iron (I'm anemic). I think after 4 years I've found my staples. Many of the things that seem to work for me are not expensive (Panteen) and others I mix myself (coconut oil and shea butter). I really need to look at selling or trading my stash (before I count up how much money I spent on them).

I should be back at APL by the summer moving onward and upward.

Setbacks suck, but I've learned a lot

 

[CrownCola]

Maybe posters can include how many inches of hair they have rather than height...I think that's more telling than how tall they are and we can compare to the chart.


Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

It would be much more informative, especially since length definition is relative.

 

[vkb247]

What's your current length?
longest layers are bsb

What major changes you went through during your journey?
i had a sl length wave nouveau for years after a bc '01/2. got my hair pressed and it literally turned gray from dryness (my hair had a bad glycerin habit) and my w-shaped hair broke off all down the middle in the beginning of '07. I found hair boards and hid my hair for a year and stopped getting the cold wave but didn't start taking good care of it until the summer of '08 when i started texlaxing.

Any major haircuts?
I never really bc'd just kept taking of the damaged hair a bit at a time but the last bit came off in 2009. i think. i've only had my hair trimmed 3 trims in the last 4 years. i only do it when it gets straightened.

Setbacks?
i could be more gentle with my hair for better retention and i need to start dcing like i used to. my hair still grows in a w shape because of my fragile crown thats more fine and prone to dryness but less dense too

Have you reached your goal?
No, seeing how far the journey goes. sometimes it already is a hassle because my hair is so dense although i love having longer hair than i've ever had before.
__________________

 

[manter26]

I think the advantage to measuring from the front hairline, is that the hairline is a more easily identified spot. It's easier to do comparison measurements because one can line up the tape very precisely to the exact same spot to the centimeter.

While the crown is a little more difficult to pin down. On my head at least I think of the crown as an area that's at least an inch in diameter. So if I was taking comparison measurements over several months, it would be hard for me to be positive that the 1/2 inch of growth was real or just me placing my hand a quarter inch lower than last month.

Okay, I guess I always measure the length of a section if hair from the scalp. That way the reference point doesn't change and you aren't counting layered sections.


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[Eisani]

Maybe posters can include how many inches of hair they have rather than height...I think that's more telling than how tall they are and we can compare to the chart.


Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

I only said height because I have never physically measured my hair. That's just a bit extra for *me* but to each their own.

 

[aquajoyice]

I joined this site in 2005 after lurking for about 1 year. I just had my hair cut from shoulder length to my ears in an attempt to grow my bone straight relaxed hair. 2006 I reached BSL and was relaxing every 8 weeks religiously. 2009 I decided to do my first 6 months stretch to make it to my ultimate goal of MBL which being 6' that isn't an easy task. But to my dismay I had a set-back that resulted in cutting my own hair above APL. I have been texlaxing every 4 months leaving a lot of texture in my hair. My journey has taught me a lot about natural products, cleansing without using shampoo oils etc.
With this 6 month stretch my new growth is healthy and my texlaxed hair is strong. I have a respect for my natural texture and will see where my journey takes me.

 

[manter26]

bumping for more responses! Please share your stories whether TWA or hip length.

 

[LynnieB]

According to the average rate of hair growth shown in this chart:

The average grower should reach waist length from bald in 4 years. I know that chart is a best case scenario. I'm curious about actual experiences. If you've been here 4 years or more, please share with us where you are now.


Thanks in advance!

What's your current length? Hip length - not sure how long in inches, about 24.
What major changes you went through during your journey (relaxed-> natural or natural -> bkt or relaxed) Relaxed to natural.
Any major haircuts? Big chopped w/7 inches of hair in May 07.
Setbacks? None
Have you reached your goal? My goal was to grow back everything I cut off and I've done that already. The rest is just gravy LOL

 

[4bslbound]

I love reading these, thanks for the great thread!

One question that I am interested in the veterans answering is "What was your starting length". Starting at BSL is alot different from ear length (plus it will put overcoming setbacks in perspective )

 

[manter26]

bumping (need a break from the kimmay threads)

 

[RZILYNT]

What year did you start and what was your starting length? 2006 Almost APL
What's your current length? Not quite Hipbone
What major changes you went through during your journey (relaxed-> natural or natural -> bkt or relaxed, etc...) currently transitioning.
Any major haircuts? Yes cut from Hip to APL in 2009
Setbacks? Yes, 2. Breakage from twisting my bantu knots too tight at the ends. Cut back to Apl to get a fresh start. Now I have see thru ends due to over processing from relaxers. So I am over relaxed hair and will transition.
Have you reached your goal? Yes twice. WSL

 

[Missi]

What year did you start and what was your starting length? Dec 06 -SL
What's your current length?

What major changes you went through during your journey (relaxed-> natural or natural -> bkt or relaxed, etc...) -relaxed to texlaxed
Any major haircuts? I went to SL twice before hitting bra strap
Setbacks? Yes...relaxed hair wen a section was damp. I had 1/16 inch of hair in that spot.
Have you reached your goal? No...my hair goal is Full APL or BSL.



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[tkj25]

What year did you start and what was your starting length?
2006 -- starting from a shaved bald big chop ... no more bc's for me lol

What's your current length? bottom layer in back is bsb ( just scraping it) the layers in the front are apl.

What major changes you went through during your journey (relaxed-> natural or natural -> bkt or relaxed, etc...)
natural

Any major haircuts? trimmed @ 3 in dec 2010, but it still grew back in uneven this year ... so no more major trims for me until at least full wsl -- just s&d or dusting. i usually wear my hair braided or twisted anyways, so uneven ends are unseen.

Setbacks? not this time around -- i had a bad run in with color & texturizer which resulted in the bc/shave of '06, lol, but now, just being patient & letting it do its thing. i set goals & get impatient sometimes, lol, but at the end of the day it'll get there when it gets there ... as long as i keep up the cqc & enjoy my hair at every stage, i'm good

Have you reached your goal? not yet, want at least ebl twists, but maybe longer

 

[january noir]

I've been on since 2006, but didn't really start doing my own hair until 2007. What a disaster. I had more setbacks than you can count! I always get my relaxers done professionally, but it was me who jumped on every bandwagon and my hair got so messed up.

I've had a lot of trims, plus one side of my hair grows more slowly than the other. No matter what I do it grows that way. Oh well!

In 2008, I finally began to figure out what the heck to do with my hair. It's been a slow go. In 2009 and 2010, I finally made peace with my hair.
Now it's 2011 and as you can see, I am finally beginning to see more thickness and length.

 

[beanie44]

What year did you start and what was your starting length? Aug 2009 a little below SL
What's your current length? lower APL
Any major changes you went through during your journey (relaxed-> natural or natural -> bkt or relaxed, etc...) No
Any major haircuts? No
Setbacks? Yes, in the last 2 months tried Shea Moisture Conditioning Masque for the first time it kept my hair moisturized but I started to have extreme shedding. I thought I was going through the change(peri menus) sp? but I took away new things I tried in last two months anyway and did black tea rinses my shedding was reduced. So far it looks like Shea Moisture is gone from my life for good.
Have you reached your goal? Not yet ultimate goal is MBL

 

[Supergirl]

What year did you start and what was your starting length?
I joined LHCF in 2002. I was taking good care of my hair prior to then, but after LHCF I got even better & learned to break away from scissor happy stylists and eventually stylists period. My length was 3 inches above bsl when I joined LHCF. I left my scissor happy stylist and started making great length gains.

What's your current length?
My current length is waist length (current avatar pic is not representative; it's almost a year old). This is my second time at waist length. Two years ago, I cut back to the bottom of my bra strap.

What major changes you went through during your journey (relaxed-> natural or natural -> bkt or relaxed, etc...)
relaxed the whole time

Any major haircuts?
Yes, as stated above, I cut from waist length to the bottom of my bra strap 2 years ago. After the cut, I continued to trim/cut my hair to maintain mbl rather than grow back to waist length. I have an 8 week old and did a lot of trims during pregnancy because I was using more heat (because I went without a relaxer the whole pregnancy). Despite all those trims, I still ended up WL after pregnancy--I suspect the pregnancy has something to do with that.

Setbacks?
a stylist using a rattail comb on my wet hair jacked up my ends; this is the reason I cut back to bbsl two years ago

Have you reached your goal?
My original goal was 29 inches which was mbl for me. I reached it and more.

 

[manter26]

What year did you start and what was your starting length?
2006 -- starting from a shaved bald big chop ... no more bc's for me lol

What's your current length? bottom layer in back is bsb ( just scraping it) the layers in the front are apl.

What major changes you went through during your journey (relaxed-> natural or natural -> bkt or relaxed, etc...)
natural

Any major haircuts? trimmed @ 3 in dec 2010, but it still grew back in uneven this year ... so no more major trims for me until at least full wsl -- just s&d or dusting. i usually wear my hair braided or twisted anyways, so uneven ends are unseen.

Setbacks? not this time around -- i had a bad run in with color & texturizer which resulted in the bc/shave of '06, lol, but now, just being patient & letting it do its thing. i set goals & get impatient sometimes, lol, but at the end of the day it'll get there when it gets there ... as long as i keep up the cqc & enjoy my hair at every stage, i'm good

Have you reached your goal? not yet, want at least ebl twists, but maybe longer

What's ebl? And do you most often wear your hair in twists? You plan to NEVER wear it short? Sorry for all just questions, I'm just curious about your motivation. I'm used to seeing long dreded hair, not so much long loose hair on men. The only long haired dude I can think of is Chance from VH1.

 

[manter26]

What year did you start and what was your starting length? 2006 Almost APL
What's your current length? Not quite Hipbone
What major changes you went through during your journey (relaxed-> natural or natural -> bkt or relaxed, etc...) currently transitioning.
Any major haircuts? Yes cut from Hip to APL in 2009
Setbacks? Yes, 2. Breakage from twisting my bantu knots too tight at the ends. Cut back to Apl to get a fresh start. Now I have see thru ends due to over processing from relaxers. So I am over relaxed hair and will transition.
Have you reached your goal? Yes twice. WSL

Very inspiring...especially for those who have dealt with SHS.

 

[hannan]

What's ebl?

Elbow length, girl!

I'd like to say that's my short term goal, too.

 

[manter26]

bumpity bump

 

[tkj25]

What's ebl? And do you most often wear your hair in twists? You plan to NEVER wear it short? Sorry for all just questions, I'm just curious about your motivation. I'm used to seeing long dreded hair, not so much long loose hair on men. The only long haired dude I can think of is Chance from VH1.

ebl = elbow length, , i made it up, but it's basically an inch or two above hip length on me. nope, i most often wear my hair braided. i like low maintenance, protective styles. but i usually wear twists in between braids -- & wear it straight when the feeling hits me -- which recently is about once or twice a year. as i'm still growing my hair out, lol, i'm motivated by the idea of reaching my length goals, and having a head full of thick, healthy, long hair.

 

[AlliCat]

What year did you start and what was your starting length? I started my hair journey in 2007 at extremely damaged neck length...i was flat ironing daily, never moisturized, rarely deep conditioned

What's your current length? BSL and more importantly healthy

What major changes you went through during your journey: In total I cut off 6 inches of damage. (one 3-inch self trim and random trims along the way at the stylist, self trims etc).

Any major haircuts? I trimmed 3 inches in Jan 2010. Not a huge deal but it took me fore APL to SL

Setbacks? No setbacks, just a lot of stagnation getting over the NL-SL hump

Have you reached your goal? My goal is always changing At first I wanted BSL. Now that I'm here I'm extremely pleased, but I want to shoot for waist length. Why not?

I want to add another question:

What would you have done differently in the last 4 years: I wish I wasn't a product junkie when I first started. that would have allowed me to be more consistent with my regimen and save money! Also, wish i discovered halfwigs earlier

 

[manter26]

AlliCat that's a great question to add. I think we all have regrets in our HHJ, no matter how long we've been at it.

I wouldn't have bought so much stuff at one time and not in huge bottles. I'm still stuck using herbal essenses ltr shampoo that smells like old socks and peppers. Hate that stuff but I'm not wasting the $2.50 I spent 3 years ago.

 

[AlliCat]

@AlliCat that's a great question to add. I think we all have regrets in our HHJ, no matter how long we've been at it.

I wouldn't have bought so much stuff at one time and not in huge bottles. I'm still stuck using herbal essenses ltr shampoo that smells like old socks and peppers. Hate that stuff but I'm not wasting the $2.50 I spent 3 years ago.

LOL did it start going bad? Or do you just not like the LTR smell?

 

[cutiebe2]

What year did you start and what was your starting length? 2006. I choped all my hair off (call it a BC) around June

What's your current length? APL
What major changes you went through during your journey I started after a BC so that was a big change but the past two years have been diffcult on my hair due to illness

Any major haircuts? No
Setbacks? I had some alopecia spots that are thankfully either fully grown back or on their way. Another setback was just that my hair was stagnant and didn't grow for basically two years.

Have you reached your goal? My goal is a bit below bra-strap so I hope to reach my goal before the end of the year. And I have added goals like getting a fuller/thicker look

What would you have done differently in the last 4 years I wish I had taken more time to really learn my hair and its needs. For the first two years I was in braids because I hated my short hair. My har grew like a weed. Once my hair was long enough to put in a ponytail, I wore it just like that for about two years and saw very little growth. I know now that my hair is thin thin thin (well I knew that but didn't make the conenction between that and braids being the best for my hair). My hair doesn't need LOW manipulation, it needs NO manipulation. Now between the Lady Paniolo method and C&G my hair is back on track. I also do henna more often not just for color like I did before but to strengthen my hair since its fragile. I iwsh I had been like KimmayTube and studied the science of hair etc.

I also wish I hadn't been cocky and thought that setbacks would never happen to me. They happen! Esepcially when you are not paying attention and get too comfortable with thinking something works. I took tons more pics in the beginging as opposed to now, thats also prob how the "no growth" period snuck up on me. But getting alopecia areata after surgery really made me realize its just hair! I feel great now that it has grown back

Also: Don't listen to other people. My mom still rants about me bringing mud in the house (AKA henna lol) she can keep ranting... menawhile my hair grows