PLEASE HELP: I have no idea what to do!

[Letta]

I've really gotten into doing my hair lately and its really thriving over the last few months. My problem is idk what to do with it. I used to cornroll it and wear a wig but now that I'm completely natural I dont necessarily want to wear wigs all the time. I'm also not very big on braids. But my mom always reminds me "but thats the only way your hair is gonna grow so either you not wear braids and dont get the length you want or you suck it up." Is that true? Should I just suck it up and just wear braids. I've been doing braid outs and twist outs but they don't last long and I can tell my hair is not responding to it well. I can't really bun because my edges in the front are ear lenth and the rest of my hair is almost APL. So I can't even do pony tails I would get a weave but i dont have $170 to get it done and the one person I know who can do it for free is so swamped with schoolwork and her job that it would b nearly impossible to do it.

My current reg is to wash my hair twice a week (I have seborrheic dermatitis so its necessary) and dc atleast once a week with Aubrey Oraganic's Honeysuckle Rose. I also use Cantu as a leave in. But lately I've been using various Oyin Handmade products such as Greg's Juice and my hair has never been softer. I seal my ends with Castor Oil.

I'm not used to being natural so I'm not really sure what I should do. I'm just kind of tired of hiding behind wigs. So what are my options?

TIA

Here are pix of my hair. Sorry for sum of the pictures I took them with my phone.
the last 3 are a braidout I did for my friends party and the first 2 is my hair literally right now after I'm combed it out and put sum Oyin Handmade in it.

 

[MrsHdrLe]

I have shorter hair in the front (growing out bangs) and the edges of many people's hair are finer and shorter, so I don't see why you couldn't do a pony. I loved your hair in the party pictures though. Why don't you want to continue to wear braid outs like that?

 

[Letta]

I have shorter hair in the front (growing out bangs) and the edges of many people's hair are finer and shorter, so I don't see why you couldn't do a pony. I loved your hair in the party pictures though. Why don't you want to continue to wear braid outs like that?

Thank you.

My hair tends to dry out really fast with braid outs & twist outs and because my hair is a drastically different texture in the front it looks more wavy and the back looks really curly so its never quite what I'm looking for. Its also because I'm also not a very good braider so I know it can look a hot mess some days

 

[Letta]

 

[Letta]

 

[krissyprissy]

Why not twist the front and wear a half curly wig in the back.