Grow my hair to APL

The more I think about it and will it to grow.. the slower it seems to go. I went shopping yesterday and I couldn’t help but notice that EVERYONE else had longer hair than me except much older women.

I just wish it would hurry up and grow. :(

And yet so helpless to do anything to speed the process up.

I’ve been lurking over at the Long Hair Community Discussion Boards, and it’s a bunch of women with reaaaaally long, really pretty hair so I guess they must be doing something right. I’ve followed some of the tips on there by waiting longer between washes, “blowfrying” only two or three times a month, and using conditioner only washes when my hair isn’t that dirty.

I was doing cold water rinsing but now that fall has arrived, I can’t bring myself to get out of the shower already freezing my butt off.

All these things have helped the condition of my hair tremendously, but the actual length is taking foreverrr. :( My hair looks really awkward, both the cut and the color. Still, determined not to cut it until at least 2012!

On the bright side, working in food service, I’m now required to wear it in a pony tail everyday so maybe just leaving the flat iron and everything alone and wearing it up will help. I just can’t wait until it’s long enough again to all fit in a ponytail without weird short pieces still hanging out!

I go through a vicious cycle. I grow my hair out long, decide that I don’t like the hassle of long hair. I cut my hair short, and don’t like short hair. So in the last picture I posted my hair was at the romantically named “armpit length”. I since decided that I wanted to do something “new” and “stylish” and cut my hair into an asymmetrical bob about two months ago. It looks really good when I flat iron the crap out of it, but it’s even more work than having long hair because if I just wash it and let it dry, it looks BAD.

Anyways. Growing it back out now.

Taking:
- Hair Skin & Nail Vitamins
- Omega 3-6-9 Capsule
- MSM

The first two I took last time I grew my hair out and saw pretty good results (3/4 in per month). The MSM, or Methylsulfonylmethane, I’ve never taken before. It’s actually in a lot of joint and osteoporosis supplements to help with arthritis but apparently it also helps hair grow, so I’m going to give it a shot.

Goal is just to even out the horrible asymmetry on the side and get rid of the stack for now.

This was my hair in September of 2009..

And.. today (4/8/2011)

I’ve grown my hair by:
*Taking hair, skin and nail vitamins (Generic from CVS Pharmacy)
*Taking fish oil
*Not performing chemical processes on it
*Only using heat tools once or twice a week
*Using Dove Shampoo and Conditioner
*The most noticeable thing I’ve done is quit caffeine. I stopped downing Red Bull every morning and now instead I drink a ton of decaffeinated green tea. :)

From chin length to shoulder length was the hardest because it always looked really bad and I wanted to cut it but you have to stick it out and be willing to throw it in a ponytail/clip whatever to make it through that awkward phase. After shoulder length it gets a lot better. :)

So keep growing! My goal is bra-strap length and I’m about five inches away! :D