Why I believe in the lead hair unicorn fairy.

LynnieB

Well-Known Member
My lead hair story from '07 to 05/12.

It didn't take long to realize that all the hair on my scalp DID NOT grow out all at the same time. It could vary by section or any particular patch of scalp all over and some months experiencing more growth than others. The most drastic example of uneven growth was 09/09.

I do not wear a high maintenance style or wear my hair completely pin straight, there's always some texture, curl or wave so trimming for aesthetics/maintenance was never a priority. I've found natural styles are perfect for hiding uneveness and just adding a little conditioner and water to my ends were all that was needed to make them curl up and hair to remain soft and moisturized.

No major trims. Largest trim was 1/2-3/4" in any one year. I went from BC to approx. 2.5 years without really trimming at all. I do use heat but only occasionally with the blowdryer being the most used and a press/flatiron less frequently.

The majority of cutting are limited to dustings, twist and snip and S&D method. I maintain an excellent moisture/protein balance and use a hard protein (aphogee 2-step) at least every 3 months followed by some sort of moisturizing conditioner. Aphogee reconstructor every other wash day (every 2 weeks or so) or hair mayonnaise or a cholesterol product to switch things up. My hair is not protein sensitive and I believe my hair has a very low porosity. Hair conditioning is done on either wet or dry "dirty" hair, just depends on how I feel.

I do condition my hair at every wash day. I use extra conditioner or oil on my ends and don't necessary keep them out of sight. I've found a specific product is not necessary just as long as it leaves my hair feeling well conditioned and not crispy.

I try not to overly manipulate my hair except if doing braid/twist outs where I will moisten the hair with water or water/con mix and make 4 plaits/braids at night then wrap with a satin scarf.

There is a huge difference between shedding, breakage and uneven hair growth. My advice to any one growing their hair out similarly to the way I do or uses Chicoro's methods, to recognize the difference and eliminate the causes of your breakage first! My breakage is very minimal to none (5-10, 1/2 inch or less curly q's in the sink after a comb out, shed hair fur babies blowing across the bathroom floor are typical and I'd say was normal considering the length of my hair :lachen:)

Most breakage occurs if being if I'm impatient or in too much of a hurry and yank combs through it or ripping apart ends of braids or twists.

K, got that out the way so here's the pics. I don't take great pics and I refuse to get all fancy just to document hair progress, especially when I've just finished washing/drying/blowdrying/pressing hair, sorry :lachen:. :

11/07

05/08

11/08 (showing natural layers as they grow out)

02/09

09/09

06/10

12/10

03/11

05/12
Lots of uneven clumps going on here. If the pattern remains the same as it has since the beginning, there should be some noticeable evening up. At the end of the year I will trim for evening.

06/12 Typical hair styles and why not doing large trims is not necessary for me and I can patiently wait it all out.





Hey - this works "FOR ME" and I'm seeing tons of success consistently. It may or may not work for you but please don't say that everyone's uneven growth is due to crispy, damaged hair and is always due to damage or breakage because sometimes it just isn't necessarily so.

Just know your own hair and it's growth habits then act accordingly ;).

HHG everyone - be patient and consistent and you will reach your goals!!
 

SimJam

Well-Known Member
lead hairs shmead hairs ... your hair is beautiful especially pic at 06/12 wow. I love love love big hair !!!!!
 

NJoy

Here I grow again!
Awesome post and right on time for me. Plus, it doesn't hurt to have all that eye candy! wowwee!
 

LunaGorgeous

Active Member
Great progress!!! I had to laugh at the 'shed hair fur babies' thing lol. I get those all the time. I look at the floor and see some black thing and I'm thinking 'NO A SPIDER!!!", grab my cedarcide and run over just to find out it was just hair.

Overall I'm not worried about other people's hair theories; ultimately I know my own hair best so I say as long as someone has something that is consistently working for them, great! It seems most people are using their own personal aesthetics (which pretty much have little to nothing to do with the actual health of the hair) to dictate what is healthy and what isn't on other people's heads. :lol:
 
Last edited:

texasqt

Well-Known Member
I read it and thanks a gazillion times over! I just trimmed about a month ago to even up my hair. Now it's uneven again but I also get growth spurts in the summer. It's not breaking but for how i normally wear my hair it can look like it. That's one of the reasons I started trimming my own hair because at the salon the stylist always wanted to cut it to the shortest length (I cut to eliminate see through ends). Like in your 3rd pic - she would recommend cutting your hair to shoulder length and growing from there because that's where the shortest layer is. CRAZINESS!

I'm going to wear my hair up or in a style that doesn't showcase my uneven ends and postpone trimming. You must be in my head because I was just thinking about washing and cutting tonight!
 

NaturalfienD

Well-Known Member
Great information OP! I cosign with TexasQT on some stylists seeing uneven growth, mistaking it for damage, and cutting to the shortest length. Retaining length would be a monster for someone trying to grow long hair if they had a stylist like the one I mentioned above (no judgment to stylists, just my opinion ...) :ohwell:

Your hair is to die for LynnieB! I am in love!!! :yep:

Off to learn more about lead hairs and heading to purchase Chicoro's book.
 

texasqt

Well-Known Member
Back to add that my ends make me a member of the V-Club that I keep cutting to a U or __ and I just need to accept the fact that the V will always return. Now, thinking in terms of lead hairs, if I leave the V alone, maybe the rest will catch up. If not, I just need to Be-the-V! Lol!
 

MrsJaiDiva

Embracing the Light
I had kinda been feeling the same way. I'm not looking for my hair to be a set uniform line...just healthy. I'm just letting it grow how it wants to grow right now. When I trim it's not to even it up, it's to clip the split ends. That's enough right now!

Hoping and praying my hair is like yours someday soon!! :love3:

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF
 
Last edited:

baddison

natural for good
Thanks for starting this thread. I struggle with this ALL THE DOGGONE TIME. My hair is sooo uneven. I have healthy hair, my ends are in tip-top shape. I trim more often than I would like but is still seems like the bottom sections of my hair are growing so much faster than the upper sections. It makes my head look like I have a purposely layered hair cut. I dont :wallbash: . And I for d@$n sure not gonna cut all my progress to my shortest layer. No way in H3LL :heated: !!!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20120414_132817.jpg
    IMG_20120414_132817.jpg
    474 KB · Views: 186
  • IMG_20120414_132843.jpg
    IMG_20120414_132843.jpg
    492.8 KB · Views: 179

Nonie

Well-Known Member
@LynnieB, your hair is beautiful. But I am not sure I understand how this proves the lead hair theory. I've always believed that hair will look full at the ends if ends are good shape. If not, ends break off and some may stick around which will show up as the so-called "lead hairs"--or all the hair may break off evenly and so it always looks uniform. Those hairs that stick out longer do not WAIT for shorter hairs to catch up. Rather they break off like the previous ones so you end up having hairs all the same length and those hairs now grow together. So it's not that ends fill in after being thin. It's the same fate that caused hairs to appear thin in the first place (and it's not some supersonic follicles that spewed hair faster than others) meets the other hairs that were still holding on so that those ends break off too to leave hairs all the same length. (I should mention here that how quickly hair breaks off depends on how strong one's strands are.)

If this were not the case and lead hair theory was really true...and there was no breakage happening then the hair at 12/10 would be way longer than that at 09/09. What we see here though is that the longer middle that was at the same point in 09/09 as it is at 12/10 is still there where it was...not because for over 12 months follicles in that middle part stopped growing hair. But the ends that are oldest have been breaking off gradually while the sides have continued growing so that you get back to the U shape you had at shorter lengths when your hair was "younger" with ends that hadn't withered much.

The way you guys talk about lead hairs makes no sense because either hair follicles that have long hair would have to know to slow down so that those with short hair can catch up. Or those with short hair would have to know they are running behind and speed up to catch up with longer hairs. That does not happen.

What happens rather is breakage of old ends causes some ends to stand out (which you label lead-hairs--I call them "hanging by a thread ends")...and then they too break off in due time, all hairs end up being uniform.

But LynnieB you are not a good example of lead hairs because your strands seem to be uniform for most of the growth which makes me think you have strong strands that can withstand grooming and not split and break off like fine hair does. The example posted in a different thread was a better example of "lead hairs":



But as you can see, there was no catching up happening there. The ends broke off so the hair appeared fuller later. That's what happens to all hair.

Your hair LynnieB has a natural U/V shape because of the circular shape of your head...and your ends break off very gradually so you don't really SEE the breakage...but it happens uniformly so you maintain that natural U-shape. The longer your hair is, the harder it is to see layers...er... naturally! Because when one has a TWA, a difference of a few inches is HUGE and very conspicuous...but when one has tailbone hair, the difference of a few inches is negligible.
 
Last edited:

havilland

Magical Mythical Princess
hairgasm!

i love your hair.......i want it's autograph! LOL:grin:

i agree with you. i have hairs that grow at different rates. period end of story. that's my hair. i know her. i've been watching her for years.
 
Last edited:

kblc06

Well-Known Member
I would have disagree Nonie. Based on the pic, Lynnie's hair, Chicoro's hair, and even my own I've noticed a pattern of thickening and lengthening. Comparing the two pics, the longest hairs are grazing the same spot, but the gap that existed in the first pic is no longer prominent because the shorter hairs have grown to fill it in. Each hair follicle goes through a growth phase, resting phase and shedding phase- follicles can enter growth and resting phases indefinitely before they shed.

@LynnieB, your hair is beautiful. But I am not sure I understand how this proves the lead hair theory. I've always believed that hair will look full at the ends if ends are good shape. If not, ends break off and some may stick around which will show up as the so-called "lead hairs"--or all the hair may break off evenly and so it always looks uniform. Those hairs that stick out longer do not WAIT for shorter hairs to catch up. Rather they break off like the previous ones so you end up having hairs all the same length and those hairs now grow together. So it's not that ends fill in after being thin. It's the same fate that caused hairs to appear thin in the first place (and it's not some supersonic follicles that spewed hair faster than others) meets the other hairs that were still holding on so that those ends break off too to leave hairs all the same length. (I should mention here that how quickly hair breaks off depends on how strong one's strands are.)

If this were not the case and lead hair theory was really true...and there was no breakage happening then the hair at 12/10 would be way longer than that at 09/09. What we see here though is that the longer middle that was at the same point in 09/09 as it is at 12/10 is still there where it was...not because for over 12 months follicles in that middle part stopped growing hair. But the ends that are oldest have been breaking off gradually while the sides have continued growing so that you get back to the U shape you had at shorter lengths when your hair was "younger" with ends that hadn't withered much.

The way you guys talk about lead hairs makes no sense because either hair follicles that have long hair would have to know to slow down so that those with short hair can catch up. Or those with short hair would have to know they are running behind and speed up to catch up with longer hairs. That does not happen.

What happens rather is breakage of old ends causes some ends to stand out (which you label lead-hairs--I call them "hanging by a thread ends")...and then they too break off in due time, all hairs end up being uniform.

But LynnieB you are not a good example of lead hairs because your strands seem to be uniform for most of the growth which makes me think you have strong strands that can withstand grooming and not split and break off like fine hair does. The example posted in a different thread was a better example of "lead hairs":



But as you can see, there was no catching up happening there. The ends broke off so the hair appeared fuller later. That's what happens to all hair.

Your hair LynnieB has a natural U/V shape because of the circular shape of your head...and your ends break off very gradually so you don't really SEE the breakage...but it happens uniformly so you maintain that natural U-shape. The longer your hair is, the harder it is to see layers...er... naturally! Because when one has a TWA, a difference of a few inches is HUGE and very conspicuous...but when one has tailbone hair, the difference of a few inches is negligible.
 

LightEyedMami

New Member
I believe in the Lead hair as well, and your hair is sooo beautiful OP!!!...I'm in love with it:cupid:.....even or not your hair is soooo :lick:!
 
Last edited:

tenderheaded

Well-Known Member
I'm relaxed, and the uneven growth is particularly noticeable. A few years ago I cut off 4 inches trying to even up, and the "point" still made a mad dash past the rest of my hair!!! I don't see any splits so I'm good. Besides, not a lot is visible is a braided bun.

Your hair is amazing!!! Thanks for the picture treats.
 

TaraDyan

Natural again ... this time for good!
Your hair makes me sick #YesImHating lol.

Ummmm ... yeah ... I'mma need you to hush with your unbelievably gorgeous mane, m'kay?!? I'm sitting here coveting YOUR hair!

:lol:
 
Last edited:

FoxxyLocs

Well-Known Member
OP your hair is gorgeous!

Your example looks like normal healthy hair that is not trimmed for evenness. My ends generally look the same way and I'm fine with that. That's different from Nonie & Baddison's examples where there is a huge difference between the bulk and the ends. In both cases I would cut. I just don't see the point in hanging on to those ends. If all of the hair will eventually catch up, why not trim and let the slower growing part dictate the length? Either way you will eventually get there, but leaving the thin ends doesn't look good (to me), and I can't imagine it's contributing much for styling purposes either.

Sent from my HTC Evo
 
Top