Your hair grew because...

[bellydancer]

Protective styles are the biggest helper though. I meant to put that I wash my hair twice a week, but put once a week on accident.

 

[Ebony]

only when i started paying attention to the benefits of keeping it MOISTURIZED which has been consistant for a year straight now. i left my hair alone as i'm not one to be all up in it constantly. i also stopped trimming as i found it wasn't necessary. i used to trim every few months or before i got my weave and 3 mths later after taking it out which wasn't necessary for me. i decided the trim i got at the tail end of 2002 would be my last to see what would happen. in nov.2003, my stylist couldn't believe my ends weren't much worse. she said they weren't as bad as they should have been and i'd finally made it to end of bra strap. different strokes for different folks. there was an AA girl that I saw for years in my dominican salon with long, beautiful hair almost butt length. everyone was always in awe. after 2 yrs i finally asked her how often she trimmed...she said NEVER. i was shocked!!!

 

[cybra]

No heat and washing a little less (once or twice a week) is what helped me. I noticed my hair is sooooo much softer, healthier, and definately stronger. I'm not sure how relaxing with play into this since I haven't relaxed since last July...but I may this coming July to see the progress. Also, I think I'm getting a bit tired of the braids. I only started doing them because it took too long to do my natural hair each day before work...especially when the ends were relaxed and the hair closest to the scalp was natural...it was a nightmare But, I have gradually cut almost all the relaxed hair off, save 1/2 -1 inch and that will be gone by the time I return home. I want to start with a new head of hair. I think the vitamins play a good role in the growth too.

 

[bimbabe]

Tracy mentioned not getting trims with a relaxer. Why is this ?

I understand not getting trims with every relaxer but how come you should keep trims and relaxers separate?

 

[Maestradiva77]

For me, it is a combination of being natural, no heat, conditioning often, a good exercise program (I work out 5-6 days a week), watching what I eat, drinking lots of water, and taking vitamins.

 

[Karonica]

I've been trimming every touch-up since October (I get touch-ups on an average of every 6 weeks). My hair was growing nicely, even with the frequent trims, but I went to some heiffer last month who chopped off two inches.

Anyway

my last touch-up was this past Friday and this lady cut off about 1/4". I was truly pleased.

So, if your hair grows at a nice rate, it may not hurt to trim after each touch-up. And the main reason why I'm doing it now is because whenever I go longer without doing it, my hair looks a mess. One side grows longer than the other, and it isn't pretty. So, I benefit from regular trims.

 

[Tracy]

Okay I have no idea why the link adding thing won't work...

But if you cust and paste this url into your address window you should be redirected to SG's post:

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/s...85&bodyprev

Here's the reason bimbabe....and a host of other reasons to think about possibly limiting trims. Cathy Howse also espouses this theory and between her and Supergirl I've adopted it as a rule on my hair. I'm trimming more now because I genuinely NEED to (coloring 5 times in a 2 week period will do that

) but generally, many people don't need to trim if you do.

Of course, you still can, and some do like to trim more often, some may even require it - it all depends on your hair. On mine, it's wasn't nearly the necessity I had been lead to beleive it was, and playing with my trimming schedule is what I attribute my length to...

You can just never know what a stylist will do and there's nothing more frustrating than taking excellent care of your hair only to retain 2 inches of length a year (because you cut off 4 of the 6 you actually grew, or to have 4 inches hard earned inches, accumulated in 8 months tume, down the drain in 5 minutes.

The key is also finding a good stylist though who will NEVER scalp you - no matter how often you trim.

 

[ChoclatePrincess]

I use to trim every touch up but I stopped doing that because a friend of mine, who's hair is past her bra strap, told it is not necessary to trim it every time. You know beautician are so ready to chop off your hair if you tell them to trim your ends!

 

[melodee]

Not trimming as much has helped mine to reach greater lengths as well. I used to get trimmed about once every four to six weeks. My hair never got past 17 or 18 inches hairline to ends. My stylist would always say I got alot of growth, but I had nothing to show for it. Now I have longer hair, and hopefully it will get longer. I still get trims, but not as often. And I usually do it myself.

 

[hiza]

I have to say putting down the blowdryer and curling iron is number 1!
extending relaxers, lots of moisture especially on the ends.

 

[Candi]

Tracy,

Your hair is gorgeous! It looks like you can do just about anything to it and it still looks healthy!

How often do you visit the salon and do you take any supplements? Lovely pictures...I loved both colors, but I guess I was partial to the blonish red.

 

[Erica78]

My vote is for daily conditioner washes...and vitamins!

I am seeing excellent results with the co washes...and they are helping to keep my edges smooth.

 

[missykeyana]

I think that going natural was the main thing for me. I had long permed hair, but I couldn't retain length as much as you ladies here. Since I went natural, my hair has been growing like a weed!

Also, since I read the thread, I realized that I also get trims a whole lot less than I used to with the relaxer. I used to get a trim with every relaxer, which was every 8 weeks. Now I can go AT LEAST 3 months without a trim, and my hair shows length a lot quicker, even with shrinkage!

 

[Tracy]

Candi - everyone (including me

) is partial to the blondish red...

I'll PM you my regime so that we stay on topic on this thread.

 

[webby]

I used to go to Dominican salons religiously to maintain my mixed up hair (curly/wavey/course), but moved to Pittsburgh and was forced to learn how to take care of it myself.

I cut my hair off (was 4-5 inches past my bra strap - I'm 5'7) and started from scratch. I learned to rollerset, and blowdry my roots w/o burning my hair, but get a true trim about once or twice a year, however I go a white "cheap" salon for a dusting every 4 months or when I see that my ends look frayed.

Most of the time we don't need a true trim, unless color-treating or extreme damage calls for more frequent trimming. Dusting is when the minimum amount is chipped off of the ends. This technique has saved me several inches per year, versus what I used to get cut off every other month by the Dominican salons.

 

[Erica78]

Webby...I thought I was the only Pittsburgher on the board

 

[adrienne0914]

for me, it has been no heat, protective styles and what i call mega moisture!!

and i also only trim when necessary, which is usually 2x a year...

 

[unlvgirl]

I have been dusting my ends every six weeks. My stylist does a good job and has never taken off more than I want off. She has really long hair too, so she understands that I want to retain as much length as possible.

 

[Cinnabuns]

Great post Lorraine :
I choose heat because for my hair it was soooo damaging.

 

[candibaby]

I think my hair grew becase of..
(1) no heat
(2) great conditioning/vitamins
(3) because I developed and stuck to a consistent regimen.

 

[DangerouslyShy]

I say no heat because my hair always grew very quickly...but i used heat on my hair probably 1-2 times a day ....and than the whole color fiasco....

 

[Nenah]

I would have to say that no blow drying and flat ironing

 

[amy1234]

I chose conditioning because this is literaly the only thing that I have added to my regimen ever since I joined the board and my hair has been thriving ever since..in addition to less manipulation of the hair.

 

[Ebony]

Moisturizing, my vits & trimming once a year is going great for me. 2 yrs & growing long & strong!

 

[mytia]

My hair definitely grew due to no heat and conditioning also more moisture.

 

[bronxchick]

I would attribute my growth to eliminating curling irons and excessive heat.

 

[Valerie]

It was combination of washing once a week, conditioning rinses daily, using good products, vitamins and no chemical treatments (apart from colouring and highlighting). Plus trimming only when necessary.

 

[SherryLove]

because it is programmed to grow.........smile......the baggie method is helping me to retain more of my growth because i am not trimming as much.......

 

[aqualung]

My hair grew because I trimmed only once after March; I combed with the Tangle Tamer; I was VERY PATIENT fingercombing matted sections; and I wore braided buns when the new growth got dense.

 

[CocoaButterflyy]

I chose no relaxer natural. Because no matter what strength relaxer I used (mild, etra mild, kids) my hair would fall out and I knew from the first 18 years of life that natural hair was essential in my hair growth. This go round being natural along with no heat and washing more often has improved the health of my hair and growth