Slow Growers Unite 2019

faithVA

Well-Known Member
Hello fellow slow growers!

Let's support and encourage each other as we work to grow and retain in 2019.

If you are interested
Let's figure out ways to boost our growth rates.
Let's improve our retention.
Let's hang in there.

Please share

Current length:
Goal length for 2019:
Hair details:
Monthly growth rate:
Things you plan to do to speed growth rate:
Things you plan to do to maximize retention:
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
Current length: SL

Goal length for 2019: APL

Hair details:
Low porosity, 4B with high shrinkage and dry hair.​

Monthly growth rate:
Will know by the end of the month. Looks like 1/4" so far​

Things you plan to do to speed growth rate:
Eat 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Exercise 3 to 4 times a week.​

Things you plan to do to maximize retention:
Rinsing and conditioning every other day to keep my hair from drying out. Coating my ends with crisco when twisting up.​
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure it has been 30 days since I hennaed my hair. I measured this morning. I got 3/8 of an inch. So at that rate, I'm getting a little over an inch every quarter. That would give me 4.5 inches a year.
 

icsonia22

Well-Known Member
I was just thinking about a slow growers thread for 2019 and here it is!

Current length: shoulder length every where but the back. Barely neck length in the back.

Goal length for 2019: full shoulder length

Hair details: mostly 4b in the top and middle, 4a on the sides and very front and 3c in the crown, normal porosity (I think), about 60% shrinkage with a mix of fine and normal strands

Monthly growth rate: TBD once I get a tape measure. Normally around 4-4.5 inches a year

Things you plan to do to speed growth rate:remember to take my prenatal vitamins and take advantage of any enhanced growth achieved during pregnancy

Things you plan to do to maximize retention: keep hair stretched with revair, moisturize and seal weekly with whipped Shea butter to keep single strand knots at bay
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
I was just thinking about a slow growers thread for 2019 and here it is!

Current length: shoulder length every where but the back. Barely neck length in the back.

Goal length for 2019: full shoulder length

Hair details: mostly 4b in the top and middle, 4a on the sides and very front and 3c in the crown, normal porosity (I think), about 60% shrinkage with a mix of fine and normal strands

Monthly growth rate: TBD once I get a tape measure. Normally around 4-4.5 inches a year

Things you plan to do to speed growth rate:remember to take my prenatal vitamins and take advantage of any enhanced growth achieved during pregnancy

Things you plan to do to maximize retention: keep hair stretched with revair, moisturize and seal weekly with whipped Shea butter to keep single strand knots at bay
Thanks for joining. I could use someone to talk to. :yep:
 

blazingbeauty

Well-Known Member
Current length: BSB

Goal length for 2019: Grazing MBL

Hair details:
Normal to high porosity; Type 4a/4b; unevenat the moment.

Monthly growth rate:
About 0.33 - 0.4 inches (so ~ 1 cm).

Things you plan to do to speed growth rate:
Get adequate sleep regularly (7-8 hrs), exercise 4-6 days a week; eat balanced colorful meals; reduce/eliminate excess sugar intake and stress.

Things you plan to do to maximize retention:
“No” scissors; low manipulation protective styles (no kanekalon, no heat, no mini twists), alternating to avoid damage in one area; be consistent w current regimen (wash day every 2 weeks, be gentle, shea butter mix, dc w/heat, aphogee 2 every 6 wk, LCB, reduce unnecessary handling);
 
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CurliDiva

Well-Known Member
I want to join!

Current length: uneven Collarbone

Goal length for 2019: full APL

Hair details: neglected thick 4a/b, low porosity, suffering from some postpartum shedding

Monthly growth rate: TBD

Things you plan to do to speed growth rate: daily scalp massage and preening, prenatal vitamins, try inversion, and excel 21

Things you plan to do to maximize retention:

Weekly deep conditioning with HEAT, finger detangle only, keep hair stretched in mini braids, moisturize and seal with home-made whipped Shea Butter blend I plan to mix, mix, mix products to use up my stash-for instance mixing castor oil into my jar of Blue Magic grease made my hair super soft.

I also plan to document everything in my planner for accountability.

ETA: After two weeks I realized that my cute mini braids were too small and in danger of dredding up, so I unraveled all and just have my hair in four large bantu knots. No damage, do I'm glad I catch this early.
 
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long.hair.dont.care

Well-Known Member
Current length:
MBL

Goal length for 2019:
HL, but I'd be happy with WHIP length too.

Hair details:
Low porosity, 4B natural, layered.

Monthly growth rate:
I'm not sure of my "natural" growth rate, because I try to stimulate my scalp 2-3 times a week, and that brings me to just under 1 cm/month. Sadly, I have not measured on a month where I was slacking on stimulating, because I felt like the the growth was "insignificant"....

Things you plan to do to speed growth rate:
I do scalp massages a few times a week already.
I'd like to amplify the massages by using essential oils and infusing ayurvedic ingredients in the carrier oil.
Increase the scalp massages to 5 times a week.


Things you plan to do to maximize retention:
Sticking to the crown & glory method.
I'd like to incorporate tea rinses for shedding and moisture, possibly a henna treatment, and also maybe including grease in my sealing process.
 

charmtreese

Well-Known Member
Current length: Between MBL and WL


Goal length for 2019: FULL WL


Hair details: Natural 4b, Fine to medium strands, Medium to low density, Normal to high porosity


Monthly growth rate: 0.25 - 0.33 inch a month


Things you plan to do to speed growth rate: continue using Excel 21, Increase water intake, lightly massage scalp daily


Things you plan to do to maximize retention: Being gentle with my ends, using pomades on my ends, bunning hair in inclement weather (Mostly when temperatures are freezing or below, Extremely hot temps, Rain, & Snow), micro dusting knots, and being consistent with my current regimen.
 

Froreal3

haulin hard in the paint
My type of thread.

Current length: MBL
Goal length for 2019: None. Don’t care anymore.
Hair details: 4b, fine to medium thickness, low density
Monthly growth rate: not sure...I get around 3” per year in a good year.
Things you plan to do to speed growth rate: none
Things you plan to do to maximize retention:
continue doing as I’ve been doing. Regimen seems to work just fine. Wash and DC every couple weeks (lately it's been almost 3 due to being busy with baby), moisturize with APB leave in and/or glycerine water mix every few days/whenever it feels dry, seal with shea nilotica mix or APB hair butta.
 
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charmtreese

Well-Known Member
Happy Monday!!!

I hope everyone is growing well! :) I had two quick points (discoveries) to make and figured I would leave them in this thread!
  1. Every few years I rediscover that sealing the ends of my twist with a pomade gives me that best moisture retention and it keeps me free from SSK's. I'm going to commit to doing this for a year to help with retention. I've been using Qhemet Biologics Pomade for about a month now and my ends have been responding great! I was going to give all the praise to Qhemet...but then I started to think, and I was like "Angela every time you seal your ends with a light pomade your ends respond well." I think the key is to just use a little at a time and since pomade is heavier then oil, I may can skip a night or alternate sealing with pomade one night and oil or butter the next.
  2. Even though I'm a slow grower, the best thing that I could have done is to stick with my regimen despite the slow growth. I kind of compare this to my savings account. Once I established how I was going to save and stuck to it, my savings blossomed! It was just a matter of finding out what works and then sticking to it come hell or high water. For example I spent the weekend with friends and after having a full day and night of libations and celebrations everyone including myself was beat...but before laying it down for the night I did my hair routine. I've noticed unless I'm truly sick, I do my hair, and slowly but surely it pays off.
 

blazingbeauty

Well-Known Member
What’s your solution to trimming as a slow grower?

How often would you all say you dust/trim? I’m attempting another no trim challenge because I can never cut less than an inch. A few months ago, I tried to adopt dusting (1/4”) in mini twists, but it’s was not thorough enough bc my ends were a bit scraggly. I ended up having to trim more than I wanted.
 

CurliDiva

Well-Known Member
What’s your solution to trimming as a slow grower?

How often would you all say you dust/trim? I’m attempting another no trim challenge because I can never cut less than an inch. A few months ago, I tried to adopt dusting (1/4”) in mini twists, but it’s was not thorough enough bc my ends were a bit scraggly. I ended up having to trim more than I wanted.
Hi @blazingbeauty,

I don't have a set schedule for trimming or dusting. Ultimately, I'm trying to get my ends in tiptop condition thru regular, heavy sealing so dusting sessions are few and far between.
 

snoop

Well-Known Member
I'm checking in:

Current length: Grazing WL
Goal length for 2019: Graizing HL
Hair details: 4c, normal/high po, fine/medium strands
Monthly growth rate: 1/4" per month
Things you plan to do to speed growth rate: N/A
Things you plan to do to maximize retention:
Try to stick to my routine of almost exclusively protective styling. Too much manipulation and playing around last year, stunted my retention.
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
What’s your solution to trimming as a slow grower?

How often would you all say you dust/trim? I’m attempting another no trim challenge because I can never cut less than an inch. A few months ago, I tried to adopt dusting (1/4”) in mini twists, but it’s was not thorough enough bc my ends were a bit scraggly. I ended up having to trim more than I wanted.
I dust my ends every 4 months because my ends get raggedy I matter what I do. I've finally been able to extend my dustin's from 2 months to 4 months. If I dont dust often my hair curls back and grabs other hair.

Look at your past history and figure out how long before you had a problem and then dust 1 to 2 months before that. You need to find a schedule based on your hair and the frequency of splits

I also use a split ender so I can control how much I take off.
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
Measured my growth tonight and now I'm sitting at 1/2 inch. So it looks like 1/2" about every 6 weeks. I will check again at the end of February.
 

snoop

Well-Known Member
What’s your solution to trimming as a slow grower?

How often would you all say you dust/trim? I’m attempting another no trim challenge because I can never cut less than an inch. A few months ago, I tried to adopt dusting (1/4”) in mini twists, but it’s was not thorough enough bc my ends were a bit scraggly. I ended up having to trim more than I wanted.

I trim/dust every 3 months. If I stretch longer than that I tend to get more breakage.
 

icsonia22

Well-Known Member
So I finally found a tape measure and made an interesting discovery. My hair at the very top grows almost 1/2 an inch a month but not quite (the line before the half inch mark) but the very back grows 0.25 inches a month. I hennaed my hair almost exactly a month ago so that I can see where the gray hairs stop in the front. I did an undercut in June 2018 to the back of my hair and it is only a whopping 2 inches. Funny enough, the very back of my hair is actually the loosest texture yet grows the slowest. The kinkier hair grows faster. I'm hoping for a summer growth spurt or else it'll take me 3 years to reach APL in the back.
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
So I finally found a tape measure and made an interesting discovery. My hair at the very top grows almost 1/2 an inch a month but not quite (the line before the half inch mark) but the very back grows 0.25 inches a month. I hennaed my hair almost exactly a month ago so that I can see where the gray hairs stop in the front. I did an undercut in June 2018 to the back of my hair and it is only a whopping 2 inches. Funny enough, the very back of my hair is actually the loosest texture yet grows the slowest. The kinkier hair grows faster. I'm hoping for a summer growth spurt or else it'll take me 3 years to reach APL in the back.
I think my hair is similar. I know the front is growing and I can see the growth on the sides. But I seriously doubt the back is growing at the same rate. And the back is the loosest texture as well.

I'm hoping when my crown grows past the back layers that the back gets jealous and decides to grow.
 

icsonia22

Well-Known Member
I think my hair is similar. I know the front is growing and I can see the growth on the sides. But I seriously doubt the back is growing at the same rate. And the back is the loosest texture as well.

I'm hoping when my crown grows past the back layers that the back gets jealous and decides to grow.

Back in the day, you couldn't convince me that people with looser textures couldn't grow hair faster but the tape measure test determined that was a lie
 

blazingbeauty

Well-Known Member
@snoop @faithVA @CurliDiva

Thanks for the tips! It looks like you are all able to dust your hair without problems throughout the year. If your hair grows around 4 inches a year, are you all dusting an inch off total each year or unconsciously more? That’s my fear honestly (1/4” is so small it feels like it does nothing as a trim).
 

faithVA

Well-Known Member
@snoop @faithVA @CurliDiva

Thanks for the tips! It looks like you are all able to dust your hair without problems throughout the year. If your hair grows around 4 inches a year, are you all dusting an inch off total each year or unconsciously more? That’s my fear honestly (1/4” is so small it feels like it does nothing as a trim).
I don't use the words dusting and trim interchangeably. If I dust quarterly and take care of my ends in between there is no need for a trim. I try to keep dustings to 1/4 inch and then do search and destroys when needed.

If I didn't dust quarterly then I would need a trim of a few inches by the end of the year.

With such low growth rates I think dusting more often works better than a big trim once a year. With 4 inches of growth we really can't afford trims if we want to make progress. It's all about retention retention retention.
 

snoop

Well-Known Member
@snoop @faithVA @CurliDiva

Thanks for the tips! It looks like you are all able to dust your hair without problems throughout the year. If your hair grows around 4 inches a year, are you all dusting an inch off total each year or unconsciously more? That’s my fear honestly (1/4” is so small it feels like it does nothing as a trim).

With the way that I trim, it looks like I take off a lot, but it's really the scraggly broken ends and single strand knots. I'm scurred that if I silk pressed my hair to trim it, that I'll have to take off three inches or something.
 

snoop

Well-Known Member
I don't use the words dusting and trim interchangeably. If I dust quarterly and take care of my ends in between there is no need for a trim. I try to keep dustings to 1/4 inch and then do search and destroys when needed.

If I didn't dust quarterly then I would need a trim of a few inches by the end of the year.

With such low growth rates I think dusting more often works better than a big trim once a year. With 4 inches of growth we really can't afford trims if we want to make progress. It's all about retention retention retention.


Very true. In actuality, I dust not trim.
 

CurliDiva

Well-Known Member
@snoop @faithVA @CurliDiva

Thanks for the tips! It looks like you are all able to dust your hair without problems throughout the year. If your hair grows around 4 inches a year, are you all dusting an inch off total each year or unconsciously more? That’s my fear honestly (1/4” is so small it feels like it does nothing as a trim).

I agree with the other ladies! I only dust on an "as needed" basis with no set amount to cut since I'm in protective style 100% of the time. If my hair was loose or straighten then I would have to trim to get blunt ends. This year, I'm committing to heavy sealing and focused ends care for maximum retention!
 
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