Not all of us will be able to fulfill their hair goals...

[sareca]

Barring genetics and medical conditions I think we can all reach our goals. You may not make it in the timeframe you wanted but if you keep on keeping on and are willing to do WHATEVER it takes... you'll get there.

 

[charmtreese]

I totally agree with the OP. When i was jumping on and off of bandwagons my hair grew, but I continued to have setbacks from using "the product of the month" and other techniques that just did not work for my hair. I also started my journey off with extremly damaged hair which I did not cut, therefore I was going thru a lot of growing pains. I now know what techniques and products work for my hair which has made all of the difference. Here is my 3 year hair care starter plan with the first 2 complete.

Year one: Trial & Error - Alot of setbacks and bandwagon jumping.
Year two: Discovery - Less Trial and error and more finding what works and sticking to it.
Year three: Perfection - Perfecting all of the techniques and products that work for maxium hair retention.

Patience is KEY, for me I had to understand that my hair did not get jacked up over night therefore it was not going to become long, strong and healthy over night.

 

[shynessqueen]

Ella, I agree with you.

When I was a newbie you couldn't tell me I wouldn't be BSL by now.

 

[AvaSpeaks]

I gotcha Ava but I have to say I just disagree with you.
If a newbie comes here expecting to go from nl to anklelength in a year by jumping on every bandwagon then yes this thread might be discouraging but then LHCF might be ain't the place to be

Oh girl! I was just acting pissy when I wrote the post. I was pissy because a friend of mine had just hurt my feelings and then I responded to your post right after

As far as I'm concern, as long as we try, then maybe we all can get our hair longer than it has ever been in it's life. If I can get my hair to full SL, then for me, I would be because that's the longest it has ever been for me, so I would be happy.

But for some people, maybe SL won't be a big deal or maybe they need longer. But's it's important for everybody to remember that our hair goals should be for our own individual tastes and not somebody else.

 

[AvaSpeaks]

I totally agree with the OP. When i was jumping on and off of bandwagons my hair grew, but I continued to have setbacks from using "the product of the month" and other techniques that just did not work for my hair.

I could be wrong but I think for some posters, the shorter their hair is, the less they may cut off the ends, because they are trying to save the length. Because they may have been short-haired for so long, they think their hair is not growing.

 

[sareca]

I could be wrong but I think for some posters, the shorter their hair is, the less they may cut off the ends, because they are trying to save the length. Because they may have been short-haired for so long, they think their hair is not growing.

ITA. I don't have ANY of the hair I had before I got here. It was damaged beyond repair and broke off. What was left was so scraggly I had to cut it off.

 

[lovenharmony]

This should be the post of the year! ITA with you ella. I know that not everyone will reach their goals...but I don't knock anyone trying their darndest!! Listening to your own head of hair (and scalp) is the best advice for reaching one's hair goals. I know it's a bit of a stretch with my goal for waist length hair, but I love challenges - in fact, I'll be happy if I can get to APL because that would be the longest it would be in my life!

Honestly, I don't believe I am setting myself up for dissapointment with having such a challenging goal. I'm pushing myself to work harder at taking care and understanding my hair.

Kinda OT, but this is the way I set and reach goals for anything I want in life. Personally when I wanted to get through boot camp, I pushed myself and made it through. I wanted to get my BA degree in Visual Communications, I pushed myself and accomplished that. I wanted to lose weight, I pushed myself and did what I had to do and I accomplished that...the list goes on!

It makes me happy to reach goals and this is one of my MAJOR goals that I have yet to accomplish mainly because I didn't think it was possible. I'd listen to the stereotypes that "black people's hair can't grow" or you have to have to have the genes to grow long hair. But I kept researching, never giving up because the majority told me to. I knew that many kinky, curly, coily haired women had long hair and the stereotypes were not the TRUTH. While researching I luckily stumbled into Cathy Howse book, which taught me many things about my hair type and why I thought it wasn't growing. Then I found LHCF, proving without a doubt that it's possible! So for myself, I say why not reach for the stars?

 

[AvaSpeaks]

I'm gonna go with past experience. My ultimate goal is SL. Why? Simply because I have never had hair longer than my neck and I'm 31.

However, I noticed last night that my hair is pushed past my neck so that is progress. Yet, however, when my hair really pushes from around the neck area and chin areas on the sides, then I know my goal for SL is attainable.

I know some may say that's piss poor but I have to see if my hair can do this. I have been ill for many years now so I have to see if I can change my hair around. Especiially since my mother, grandmother, great-grand and gret-great-grand had long hair.

Plus all the fellas tell me I got that "good hair"

 

[EbonyHairedPrincess]

I don't think that everyone that comes here will be able to fulfill their hair goals BUT
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I don't think because 4a/b hair or even type 3 hair is destined to NL hair.

First of all most newbies set unrealistic time frames and don't take into account that they might have to let go of their damaged ends.
Yes many people stay at a certain length when they first start out but their hair might be much healthier and fuller.
Instead of a over processed SL head of hair with no life the ends are thick and healthy it has sheen to it and so on.


Also I said it before I will say it again as long as your hair goal is between APL and MBL I'm 100% sure you CAN reach your hair goal.
Let me rephrase that, I'm 100% you can reach your hair goal as long as you try to get to know your hair and LISTEN to it.
Don't follow every band wagon just because but make sure that you *feed* your hair the right nutrients and pamper it with a good reggie that is made for YOUR head of hair and not xy's.

Many of us here are scissor happy and therefore it might take us a little longer to get where we want to be but I think it's all good.


Now I really don't believe that we ALL can reach our length goal(notice how I did not say hair goal, yes that is two different things) simply because some people have a reggie that works fine for XY but it doesn't work for their hair... again listen to YOUR hair and go from there.
Other people want a blunt perfect cut and constantly trimming your hair is not helping you reach your length goal unless you take into account that it will take you a lot longer to get there.
Most MBL and longer heads I've seen just dust their hair or are completely anti-trim.

However the gist of what I'm saying is:
It is IMO up to YOU if you will reach your length goal or not.
If you are able to listen to your hair and to sort your priorities... is length more important to you then the perfect blunt cut?
Do you have realistic goals?
Now I do think that all of us or at least 90% should be able to achieve a healthy MBL without major problems if we follow those basic hair rules.
I think everything beyond that is up to genetics and how much TLC you are willing to invest into your hair
Again I didn't say genetics are the end to all... you will never know what your limit is unless you try.

So please don't be discouraged.
I think some valid questions have been asked and this is MY take on it.

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I get what your saying but it seems a little harsh and counter the opinion of this website. I went through a 6 month period of trying everyone's regimen and took notes on what worked and what didn't. There is so much wisdom on this board I think I would have seriously limited myself and my potential if i didn't experiment ALOT.

It's true I have seen some ambitious goals but a year ago I would have said growing and keeping 6 inches of hair was ambitious/impossible. It seems like I wasted a lot of time and money but looking back I have benefited from the experiementing. It's like you said I will never learn my limit until I try.

I'll bump this thread in 2-ish years when I'm waist length just to keep others motivated.

 

[Kacie]

I'm gonna go with past experience. My ultimate goal is SL. Why? Simply because I have never had hair longer than my neck and I'm 31.

However, I noticed last night that my hair is pushed past my neck so that is progress. Yet, however, when my hair really pushes from around the neck area and chin areas on the sides, then I know my goal for SL is attainable.

I know some may say that's piss poor but I have to see if my hair can do this. I have been ill for many years now so I have to see if I can change my hair around. Especiially since my mother, grandmother, great-grand and gret-great-grand had long hair.

Plus all the fellas tell me I got that "good hair"

Sorry but I haven't heard that saying in a while .

 

[Gryphyn]

Thanks for having the courage to post this Ella. This is exactly why I changed my hair goal from MBL to APL. I know my hair way better now than when I first joined. Even if I were to pass APL and BSL, I know I wouldn't have the patience to sit here waiting for it to happen like I'm waiting for APL.

However, I would never have come this far if I didn't believe originally that I could grow/retain MBL hair in a few years.

 

[soonergirl]

good thread!!

 

[Serenity_Peace]

I guess you have to know your hair as well. My hair is fine. It's going to take a little longer to achieve health simply because it's delicate and prone to breakage. This is MY hair only. I have to be very careful with it. That means leaving it alone, essentially.

I have lofty goals but not unattainable ones. My hair has never been this long (APL) and my goal is BSL not longer. If it just happens to grow longer than that, fine. But for *me* I'd be very happy to be at a thick(er), healthier BSL.