Tangled - To be a real Rapunzel

[Miqo'te]

Hellos! Yes I am serious... but realistically so haha!

I have been growing my hair a long time... its about 3 feet (1 meter) long.

I get it trimmed maybe once a year, perhaps I get 2 inches taken off. I do this when the ends no longer hold a 'wave' and start to look a bit dry.. actually i am due for one now.


I would like to try get it to the back of my knees, its currently just below my buttocks. (maybe 4 feet long in total)

I do not treat it with anything other then washing it every second (sometimes every third) night. No straighteners, no colours. I DO use one of those lighteners here and there (spray in and sit in the sun types) to try even out the colour because my hair refuses to be the same colour! its darker blonde underneath and a vastly lighter one on top depending on how often I am in the sun ... so i use it on the 'middle layer' to try blend it a bit...

I use tresseme ... i have no problems at all with it. My hair is pretty soft, sometimes it gets a little bit frizzy.

I would like to know recommendations that will help me achieve the next level of length without my hair having that icky dry ends look. I have only met 2 people with equally long or longer hair but they really look like they needed 5 inches trimmed off... yuk.

 

[-sophisticutz-]

The only way to achieve that is to get your hair trimmed more regularly. 2 inches, once a year, is not enough. You wear your hair everyday, and like a pair of jeans, wearing it everyday, wears it out!

Getting it trimmed every 8-10 weeks, around 1/2 an inch, will make a difference.

A reconstructing treatment every week would help keep the moisture in those ends and stop them breaking off.

Laying off the spray in lightener is a must. These sprays are worse than any colour I know. They are very strong and as you spray it in, you have no control over where it lands. You will be just layering it on, which will in turn weaken your hair.

Very few peoples hair have an indefinite growing length. If it doesn't seem to be getting longer after taking these steps, you may have to accept you have reached your limit.

 

[paulette]

Very few peoples hair have an indefinite growing length. If it doesn't seem to be getting longer after taking these steps, you may have to accept you have reached your limit.

I second that, people need to be aware that not everyone can just grow their hair to the floor! Hair growth does slow down for a lot of people, mine wont grow much beyond my shoulders, some clients I have had, they are lucky to get it to their shoulders.

I think you have done very well to get it to the length you have, but to keep it nice as said before regular trims are a must and forget using the old sun in lighteners they are awful, bad news for damaging your hair.

I recommend using a deep conditioning treatment.

 

[Miqo'te]

Ok, so what I gather is that a person has an individual limit to how their hair grows?

Isn't it a myth that cutting it more often helps it grow faster?

When you say 'conditioning treatment' what specifically are you referring to? Do you have recommendations?

Also... snaps off at ends? My hair does no such thing? I cut it is if can no longer hold its natural wave because to me it does not look healthy. It certainly is still relatively soft but not the same condition of 'new' hair if you understand what i mean ^_^.

Also, I did not know the lightener could be worse then a dye. I use it very rarely in winter or 'non sun' seasons you see. Perhaps 4 times a year and even then I control it very well... I do not spray on my head i spray on a small comb and i comb it on the under layer of my hair so it is only just damp with it. Sit in sun for 30mins. Shampoo out and done ^_^

On an off note... I saw a commercial for some shampoo that claims to make your hair longer... and my bull**** meter went right off! Even in the advertisement the 'tape measure' was at a different distance to the model to distort the effects...

 

[NeelieGel]

So you are wanting it to grow down to your knees I wonder if you are aware of just how hair grows and why some people can grow their very long and most can get to shoulder length at most.

Hair grows for a certain length of time before falling out. So logically the hair will only get so long before it gives up and leaves the follicle. Some people's individual hairs will stay there for a long long time, I think 9-10 years is about the longest and some people's hair will only get to say 3 years before giving up and falling out.

So obviously the longer it can hang on in there the longer it will get. Those with the 9-10 year life span are the people that can grow their hair really long. On top of that clearly the longer you leave it between cuts the more differences there will be in the bottom line with so many different hairs at so many different stages of their life cycle. You with me so far? I'm not sure how clear I am making myself.

Having it trimmed will give it the appearance of being longer due to having a stronger line along the bottom. It will not make it grow faster, stay in longe, grow longer or or anything like that. it will just make it look healthier and therefore longer. How long your hair will grow is purely down to genetics. No amount of treatments of the hair outside of the follicle will change that. You have the hair you born with and thats it.

There are very few people in the world that can grow hair as long as to the back of the knees. Mainly asian hair can grow this long I believe. Very rare that European hair can do this.

With such long hair I think it essential that you condition your hair every time you wash it. A conditioner is any kind of conditioner that coats the hair making is feel a bit slimy enabling combing to remove the inevitable tangle to b removed with minimal damage. That way you minimise damage during combing, brushing and drying. I also think you should cease trying any kind of colour altering treatment altogether if you want to grow your hair really long. Colour by all means but keep it trimmed. Grow it really long but if you want it to get to its max in good condition you will have to stop trying to alter the colour. You can't have both. You say you only do the colour during the winter months to brighten it. But do you realise the damage you did to the ends and mid lengths will still be there the next winter and the winter after that? Any kind of lightening treatment is permanent and don't let any product seller tell you otherwise. Once you have lightened you have lifted the cuticle of the hair and they never go back to the position they started off at as virgin hair. Once the cuticles are lifted on the hair shaft that hair is weakened and compromised. You never get rid of that until it is trimmed off. You can smooth it with treatments but the hair is never completely back to its original state again.

Being lighter on the top is natural. Just about every head of hair is darker underneath. Whether short or long. Natural is what you should allow your hair to be if you want it to stay strong enough to reach its optimum length.

Leave it alone, keep it trimmed every 8-12 weeks, take care of it at washing time and avoid anything but natural drying, but do try and accept that your target may be unrealistic.

 

[-sophisticutz-]

Sorry, I wasn't concise enough. Trimming the hair will keep it healthy not help it grow faster.

If your hair is only being trimmed once a year, it will be breaking off at the ends. The only way it wouldn't is if you kept it wrapped in oil 24/7 and didn't brush or handle the hair. You probably don't notice it because of it's length. The fact that it starts to lose it's wave is an indicator. It will be losing moisture on those ends, they get brittle and come away. This is extremely common with long haired folks!

Even if you are putting the lightener on 4 times a year, putting on these products once is enough to cause damage. They are permanent lighteners and you should never layer these. You mid-lengths an ends are old now (5 years+), 4 x 5 = 20 applications, at least. The shame is, if you wanted a hairdresser to professionally lighten it, they probably wouldn't do it. These products are full of metallic salts, which are horrendous to work with.

 

[HairSquared]

A couple misconceptions you have stated.....
agree wholeheartedly with ditching the lighteners! These are the worst for metallic content, you as a non-pro are administering them on yourself with no knowledge of how they work. You mention the top layers being lighter (which yes, occurs naturally in all hair) but you are also more than likely putting more lightener here than anywhere.....making for a damaged dry outer layer......
Hair at extreme lengths needs extreme care....tresseme is not what you should be using....extra moisture is neede thru the mid and end of hair shaft. Change to a shampoo AND conditioner that has strenthening qualities, as 3-4 foot long hair is going to get more brittle as you go....
The need for regular trimming is essential, even if it is 1/4 inch twice as often as 1/2 inch clean up. You will not even need an explaination, as you will feel the difference immediately.
I have two regular clients with hair this long and try to drive home the importance of keeping it in optimal shape, as theres no point in growing it that long if you arent going to do everything essential to keeping it tip top.
And eat your greens!!!!!:green: Healthy hair starts on the inside.

 

[6886]

I so second everyones comments here, personally your hair needs cutting more often and deep conditioning, i would recommend MATRIX instecure spray it comes in a 400ml spray so it is a large size bottle and this is great for detangling and acts as an intensive conditioner too, infact it does 1001 things i use it before perming and color service to even out all color tomes on the hair, i sell this in salon at £9.95 and it last ages, just a light spray all over will do