Why I believe in the lead hair unicorn fairy.

Thanks for starting this thread. I struggle with this ALL THE DOGGONE TIME. My hair is sooo uneven. I have healthy hair, my ends are in tip-top shape. I trim more often than I would like but is still seems like the bottom sections of my hair are growing so much faster than the upper sections. It makes my head look like I have a purposely layered hair cut. I dont :wallbash: . And I for d@$n sure not gonna cut all my progress to my shortest layer. No way in H3LL :heated: !!!

Just monitor your hair, make sure it's healthy and notice any changes, even small ones and go from there! If it's not important for you to keep a perfect coif and your hair's in otherwise good condition, go for it!

@LynnieB, your hair is beautiful. But I am not sure I understand how this proves the lead hair theory. I've always believed that hair will look full at the ends if ends are good shape. If not, ends break off and some may stick around which will show up as the so-called "lead hairs"--or all the hair may break off evenly and so it always looks uniform. Those hairs that stick out longer do not WAIT for shorter hairs to catch up. Rather they break off like the previous ones so you end up having hairs all the same length and those hairs now grow together. So it's not that ends fill in after being thin. It's the same fate that caused hairs to appear thin in the first place (and it's not some supersonic follicles that spewed hair faster than others) meets the other hairs that were still holding on so that those ends break off too to leave hairs all the same length. (I should mention here that how quickly hair breaks off depends on how strong one's strands are.)

If this were not the case and lead hair theory was really true...and there was no breakage happening then the hair at 12/10 would be way longer than that at 09/09. What we see here though is that the longer middle that was at the same point in 09/09 as it is at 12/10 is still there where it was...not because for over 12 months follicles in that middle part stopped growing hair. But the ends that are oldest have been breaking off gradually while the sides have continued growing so that you get back to the U shape you had at shorter lengths when your hair was "younger" with ends that hadn't withered much.

The way you guys talk about lead hairs makes no sense because either hair follicles that have long hair would have to know to slow down so that those with short hair can catch up. Or those with short hair would have to know they are running behind and speed up to catch up with longer hairs. That does not happen.

What happens rather is breakage of old ends causes some ends to stand out (which you label lead-hairs--I call them "hanging by a thread ends")...and then they too break off in due time, all hairs end up being uniform.

But LynnieB you are not a good example of lead hairs because your strands seem to be uniform for most of the growth which makes me think you have strong strands that can withstand grooming and not split and break off like fine hair does. The example posted in a different thread was a better example of "lead hairs":

Socalledleadhairsbrokeoff-vi.png


But as you can see, there was no catching up happening there. The ends broke off so the hair appeared fuller later. That's what happens to all hair.

Your hair LynnieB has a natural U/V shape because of the circular shape of your head...and your ends break off very gradually so you don't really SEE the breakage...but it happens uniformly so you maintain that natural U-shape. The longer your hair is, the harder it is to see layers...er... naturally! Because when one has a TWA, a difference of a few inches is HUGE and very conspicuous...but when one has tailbone hair, the difference of a few inches is negligible.

Nonie, I know it took time to write this and I really appreciate the effort it took to do so but I MUST tell you that my hair does not have the extensive breakage you are trying to associate with this.

Now if we were discussing my hair during my relaxed days, where it could barely reach midback at the longest, you'd have made some valid points. You'd be reading posts from me that start with the word HELP and include bits and pieces on my collar, in the sink, on my pillow, etc.

Not the case Nonie.

My hair has never been healthier; thicker or longer than it is now and when I say I've kept 95% of what I grew, I mean I've kept 95% of what I grew.

I can't see you in person. You can't touch, see or attempt to put your fingers through my hair but those closest to me can attest to everything I've said here. It grows. It thickens. It grows in its own wacky cycle at its own pace and I leave it to do what it do.

I used to take a boat load of pics back in the day but I've grown back everything I cut off and surpassed my goal length and it's no longer necessary to document that hard. Now we just grow on to see where it goes, as simple as that.

And for the life of me, I have no clue on why every answer you have to every topic of uneven growth must be breakage.

LynnieB

*completely off topic*

You are cousin it. I refuse to believe otherwise.

Stunning hair.

:lachen: That's ok, my grown son has similar pet names for it :lachen:
 
Ummmm ... yeah ... I'mma need you to hush with your unbelievably gorgeous mane, m'kay?!? I'm sitting here coveting YOUR hair!

:lol:

I agree!!!!

Good to see you too TaraDyan! Don't post much these days but I do keep tabs on the board. ;).
 
OMG! Your hair is just amazing!!!!

I agree, no need to trim hair that is not damaged just to have even hair.
I personally do not wear my hair straight more than a couple times per year so I don't trim often.
 
Your hair makes me sick #YesImHating lol.

ms-gg - one of my favorite naturals that kept me going. I remember wishing so bad to be natural like you and to wear it with pride and quit worrying what others thought!

Luv ya and thanks for being a beacon!
 
I had kinda been feeling the same way. I'm not looking for my hair to be a set uniform line...just healthy. I'm just letting it grow how it wants to grow right now. When I trim it's not to even it up, it's to clip the split ends. That's enough right now!

Hoping and praying my hair is like yours someday soon!! :love3:

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

^^^^ This is sooo me right now. "Imma let it do what it do".:lachen: Done tryna force the even hair. As long as my ends are verifiably healthy, I'm good. Perhaps when I reach full BSL, I will finally get an even cut.
 
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Love your hair :yep: Keep doing whatever it is your doing cause it's working.


I too know that lead hairs exist. I see no reason for cutting perfectly good hair :nono: You will never know your terminal length if you keep cutting your hair.

Talked to a white guy today who had a HL ponytail :lick: He hasnt cut his hair in 8 years. It was not stringy or thin :nono:
 
I'm officially leaving my hair alone. When I was barely trimming it, it was flourishing and reaching lengths that it never has. As soon as I started trimming more often and trying to make it look even, it seems to be stagnating and even getting a bit shorter. :nono: Going back to what works and leaving it the hell alone. I don't really wear it straight anyway and the whole spit end thing is a myth. Everyone has split ends here and there but for the most part, I don't really get them unless I use excessive heat. Going back to my old reggie.
 
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Thanks for sharing what you experience with the lead hairs. I notice this with my hair too. I remember meeting you at a natural hair convention in Richmond, VA. Your hair is even more amazing in person.

I hope the info you provided will help people to pay more attention to the health of the ends and not just go cutting them off hindering their overall progress.
 
i pay close attention to my ends and now i have become a dust bunny! i refuse to do big trims anymore. my hair grows in layers naturally, so thickness shows first, then length.

your hair is beautiful! my dd and niece would attack you with their plastic doll combs and brushes! :lol:
 
Thank you LynnieB,

Your hair is so looooovely! This is how I first achieved my length. And now after the shed and it started growing again the same pattern. It lengthens then thickens. I have always been a believer. Also thanks for the natural layer photo. I did not have them before but after my shed They are very noticeable. So far with my new growing phase the layers are remaining constant. But each layer does its own lead hair then thickening cycle:spinning: Keep growing and see you at Classic:yep:

P.S. I am growing out a Shih tzu and his hair does the same. I am going for floor length on him:grin:
 
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your hair is just gorgeous. *drools*

Basically! Meanwhile, all I can say is that the three times I grew my hair out to significant lengths, I boycotted professional hairstylists. That's the only time my hair ever grows, and it grows out looking quite healthy.
 
OMG I just cut back from hip (just straightened it) by two inches because about an inch of it seemed uneven (No splits, I looked ...basically all the protective styling and dusting keeps them at bay)...I'm going to stop the madness so that I can reach tailbone (or even classic, cause I think I'm changing my goal). I've cut off half my progress this year with my obsession for perfectly even ends. AND I've protective styled and only checked length (or straightened) 3 times this year, each time cutting off a chunk. This is just re friggin diculous. I'm going to follow your lead this year since I protective style 24-7 anyways so I can finally get to tailbone and then I'll worry about cutting more if necessary before then doing the same to get to classic.

Your hair looks amazing.
 
I set my hair up in a protective style (Braidout updo). Only restyling once a week. We'll see how that goes.
 
I think a lot of us cut our hair too often/much because we've been trained that cutting is an instant solution to problems that develop over time.

If we see a lot of single strand knots, we don't usually try to dust individual knots, moisturize our hair more, or switch to stlyes that don't allow the hair to tangle up on itself, instead, we cut off the bottom inch or two of our hair.

The thing is that an inch can represent a month or more of growth. My hair averages about a half an inch of growth per month. For me, a 1 inch trim represents 2 month's growth.

Also, if I was trimming "every 6-8 weeks" like we always here prescribed by salons, I'd never accumulate the length that I want at my rate of growth.

The other issue I see mentioned on the board often is the desire for even blunt ends. Speaking for my own head, see that my hair doesn't grow at the same rate all over. Some parts are always going to be longer than others maintaining that look require's that you cut the hair fairly regularly. Again, making it hard to retain length if your hair grows at average rates.

If I trimmed my hair even a 1/2 inch every 6-8 weeks, I'd be taking a step back for every step forward. It would look like my hair wasn't growing. I have to agree with OP's assessment about lead hair and trimming.
 
kinkycurlygurl said:
I think a lot of us cut our hair too often/much because we've been trained that cutting is an instant solution to problems that develop over time.

If we see a lot of single strand knots, we don't usually try to dust individual knots, moisturize our hair more, or switch to stlyes that don't allow the hair to tangle up on itself, instead, we cut off the bottom inch or two of our hair.

The thing is that an inch can represent a month or more of growth. My hair averages about a half an inch of growth per month. For me, a 1 inch trim represents 2 month's growth.

Also, if I was trimming "every 6-8 weeks" like we always here prescribed by salons, I'd never accumulate the length that I want at my rate of growth.

The other issue I see mentioned on the board often is the desire for even blunt ends. Speaking for my own head, see that my hair doesn't grow at the same rate all over. Some parts are always going to be longer than others maintaining that look require's that you cut the hair fairly regularly. Again, making it hard to retain length if your hair grows at average rates.

If I trimmed my hair even a 1/2 inch every 6-8 weeks, I'd be taking a step back for every step forward. It would look like my hair wasn't growing. I have to agree with OP's assessment about lead hair and trimming.

I just told some this exact thing this morning - I just figured out that all this time I was cutting my hair in the past it was really an issue of not knowing the real problem and in most cases just realizing my hair grows at a different rate and cycles in several sections. My sides grow extremely slow, top is pretty decent, left and right back pretty decent, middle back is very fast.

No more cutting or trims for me. I'm sticking to s&d and dustings. This is a refreshing thread.
 
kinkycurlygurl said:
I think a lot of us cut our hair too often/much because we've been trained that cutting is an instant solution to problems that develop over time.

If we see a lot of single strand knots, we don't usually try to dust individual knots, moisturize our hair more, or switch to stlyes that don't allow the hair to tangle up on itself, instead, we cut off the bottom inch or two of our hair.

The thing is that an inch can represent a month or more of growth. My hair averages about a half an inch of growth per month. For me, a 1 inch trim represents 2 month's growth.

Also, if I was trimming "every 6-8 weeks" like we always here prescribed by salons, I'd never accumulate the length that I want at my rate of growth.

The other issue I see mentioned on the board often is the desire for even blunt ends. Speaking for my own head, see that my hair doesn't grow at the same rate all over. Some parts are always going to be longer than others maintaining that look require's that you cut the hair fairly regularly. Again, making it hard to retain length if your hair grows at average rates.

If I trimmed my hair even a 1/2 inch every 6-8 weeks, I'd be taking a step back for every step forward. It would look like my hair wasn't growing. I have to agree with OP's assessment about lead hair and trimming.

^^^THIS!! I am no longer gonna trim HEALTHY HAIR & ENDS for the sake of even looking hair. I dont even wear my hair out, so it's really not an issue right now :yep:
 
Updating after my end of year even-up trim after flatironing and oiling really well with EVOO.

I took off about 1 inch from the faster growing parts of my hair so it's all even for a fresh start in 2013.

Self trimming wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it'd be - took both hands behind my back and pulled down, grabbed all the hair at the bottom into a ponytail elastic, pulled the entire thing over my shoulder and snipped so everything was even :lachen:

The hair is touching the top of my jeans pocket. I don't have anyone to help me take pics (raised arm throws it off) so you'll have to take my word for it that it's nice and even.

I'm thinking about getting rid of my many fast-appearing grays with a black rinse or color.......we'll see LOL.

2vcjq8h.jpg


Not sure where I'll end up in 2013 and even though I'm not trying to reach any hair goals anymore, I'm still curious. I'll be using exactly the same methods that got me this far, condition after every wash, deep conditioning, limit heat usage, etc. - basically no changes.

Soooooooooooo HHG everything!!!!!! May 2013 see all of you reach your goals!!

Be happy. Be patient!

:rosebud:
 
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