APL & BSL Naturals

[TGrigley]

Hey, ladies. I've been natural for 20 months. I am anxious to make it to APL by the end of the year hopefully. My hair grows an average of 5 inches a year...I think. Anyway, I was just wondering how long did it take you ladies to get to APL or BSl? What things do you think contributed to your length retention? Hope to hear from you soon, and thank you in advance.

 

[kmn1980]

It takes me a little less than 2 years from about a 3" TWA to make APL. I keep a very, very, very, very low manipulation regimen though and use water-based moisturizers.

 

[Janet']

Low manipulation styles are what got me to APL...I am on a quest for BSL before the end of the year and I will continue with my low manipulation styles...hopefully, this will work!

 

[my-everything]

My hair grows slower than average so it shouldn't take you as long to reach BSL.

1st April 2007- April 2010 (please excuse my 3 week old twists lol)

I wore braids back to back for the first year and as soon as i could put my hair in decent size puffs, i rocked those for a while!! I believe the key to retaining length is moisture and low manipulation.

You don't have to keep your hair protected 24/7 in order to achieve great lengths. To this day i swear by thoroughly detangling with my denman every 2 weeks and moisturizing whenever needed hth...

 

[MizzBrit]

took me about 2.5 years for APL but that including a couple of setbacks that caused to me cut.i will be doing low mani. and ps for bsl

 

[spacetygrss]

It took me 2 years from a 1/4 inch TWA to APL. It's always harder for me to get past APL (I get fidgety and start cutting my hair).

 

[SummerSolstice]

i was bsl but i just chopped off some damaged ends

 

[Firstborn2]

It took me about 2yrs because I couldn't put the scissors down. What is helping me with retention is tea rinses and juice.

 

[nikolite]

Its taken me 5 yrs to get to APL, haphazardly. During that time I wasn't trying to retain length, just enjoying my hair. There were a lot of things I didn't care to do and I wasn't diligent with anything. I also trimmed a lot, prob too much. Every time I took down my twists I carelessly snipped off knots or tangled ends to speed up the process.

So I think I would have been maybe BSL w/ proper care of my hair (a few locks of my hair do reach that point but it is very thin and sparse there while the bulk of my hair stops at APL).

I just got serious with retaining length only about 2 mths ago.

I'm going to start using the protective styling method more, especially since I am in grad school and am over the phase of playing in my hair (most times I just want it out of the way). But honestly, it seems my hair retained the most length when I wore WNG's and puffs daily, but it was shorter then too. After SL, its hard to keep the ends protected without purposeful intent.

 

[loulou82]

It took me 3 years from my last relaxer to make APL. That's 12 inches of hair. 16 inches will be me at MBL.. woohoo!

After my 15 month transition I lived in puffs and twists. Now I'm protective styling with a sew in. Low manipulation has helped me the most because my hair is fine and fragile and will break with the slightest tug.

 

[virtuenow]

My hair grows slower than average so it shouldn't take you as long to reach BSL.

1st April 2007- April 2010 (please excuse my 3 week old twists lol)

I wore braids back to back for the first year and as soon as i could put my hair in decent size puffs, i rocked those for a while!! I believe the key to retaining length is moisture and low manipulation.

You don't have to keep your hair protected 24/7 in order to achieve great lengths. To this day i swear by thoroughly detangling with my denman every 2 weeks and moisturizing whenever needed hth...

Wow, your hair looks just like mine (hair type, level of shrinkage, length and all!) I am taking my 3 1/2 week twists out today. I don't do the length thingys yet-- it seems catch 22-ish for me. But I'd say around 4 years if your hair is like mine

 

[lilsparkle825]

I had my last relaxer in June 2007, and I reached all-natural APL in March 2009, so 21 months from bald. I should be BSL now, but my hair is braided up so I can't get to it to check till next month. If I am, then 35 months from bald. I trimmed a lot last year (and these were actual trims, not dustings), otherwise I probably could have been BSL months ago.