Naturals...Why is My Natural Hair Not Growing???

[ScandalousBeauty]

I am really, really, really getting pissed off now. I take care of my edges. I don't mess with my hair that often. I wear it up most of the times when i'm out, otherwise my hair stays open and free. I wear a scarf at night. But I have been looking through Fotki's and monitoring other people's progress...and when they do 7, 8, 9 month comparison shots...we see a difference. I checked my fotki (link below) and you will see there is almost NO difference from May of last year until July of this year. I look at my pictures to see how "far" I've come...and I haven't come far at all. I have to say the weirdest outcome that I ever expected....I retained more length as a relaxed girl than natural. And I'm not going to lie...length was my ultimate goal, because I haven't had shoulder length hair or beyond since I was 13.

I don't know what the heck is going on, but as a relaxed girl, with my weekly or bi-weekly rollersets, I could see a difference in length all the time. As a natural girl, I observe my natural hair length with shrinkage, and without. I stretch it to see the length, and there has been almost no change at all in the last 6 months.

WTF is going on here? Please calm me down y'all....

[plastic]

are you sure the measurements have not changed ? Your hair is tightly coiled so it may not look as if it was growing !!!

ot: because of your videos ... im buying the billyb brush set .. ALL OF THEM. Well imma get them when customer service gets back to me

[Tenny]

IIRC, didn't you cut out the colour you had?

[ImFree27]

you should rollerset your natural hair that way you will be moisturizing your ends and you will have less tangles, thats what i been doing this month. i used to rollerset my hair when i was relaxed and it grew nicely, so i strated doing this for my natural hair

[ScandalousBeauty]

You know how you kind of pull the hair to see where it ends up?? Well my hair is still inches from my shoulders, MAJOR inches...my temples are still short, my nape is getting almost no growth. FRUSTRATING!!

And OMG, you are going to freakin' love the Billy B. brushes to death!! I have started to phase out my MAC brushes slowly but surely b/c Billy's paint brushes are taking over!!!!

are you sure the measurements have not changed ? Your hair is tightly coiled so it may not look as if it was growing !!!

ot: because of your videos ... im buying the billyb brush set .. ALL OF THEM. Well imma get them when customer service gets back to me

[plastic]

you know ? ... what sort of bands are you using when you do your puff ? maybe they are putting stress on the hairline ?

also how often do you rinse/cowash/wash with shampoo and brush ?

eta: you make billyb brushes look good .. you are a wonderful advertiser lol

[ScandalousBeauty]

We dyed over top of the light color, and she trimmed my hair just enough to make it even all the way around. My puff is STILL the length as is was in this pic in Nov/Dec!!! That would mean that it did grow a smidge since the trim, but only a tad!

IIRC, didn't you cut out the colour you had?

[Nonie]

Aww...there, there! What's your regimen? When I wore my hair out (high school days) I had a TWA about 3-4 inches long that would never grow. The only way I've been able to grow my hair is in braids...or when I had a jheri curl. Seems for me, little manipulation is key to retaining length. I'm sure your hair's growing, but perhaps retention is the problem? Could you rock cornrows or braids comfortably for a spell?

[sunshinebeautiful]

I don't know what to advise, but I hope you get the problem figured out. Do you wear protective styles at all? I was having the same problem as a natural, then I relaxed and started retaining length again, ironically.

[delitefulmane]

Im sorry I don't have any encouraging words but I feel like this too sometimes? I just wonder is some people's hair just naturally long? I get mad that I have to do backflips just to gain an inch that one careless mistake can take away. It'll grow!! And we'll both be swinging our long locks at in the face of all the optimists!!

[ScandalousBeauty]

Plastic-I am sure that the band is breaking off the back of my hair, I keep trying to move it around but it's not okay. I am dependent on it, but I may just throw them all out. I know that I've got to leave them alone!!! Tonight, I was working on twists so I could rock a twist out tomorrow without the band. But, the front of my hair isn't broken off like the back is, so I have no clue what's going on. I co-wash every other day or so, using Redken Extreme and Butter Treat products. I also rotate Oyin and a few other natural products as well.

LOL @ Billy B...I speak only my truthful opinion!!! You'll love them though!!

you know ? ... what sort of bands are you using when you do your puff ? maybe they are putting stress on the hairline ?

also how often do you rinse/cowash/wash with shampoo and brush ?

eta: you make billyb brushes look good .. you are a wonderful advertiser lol

[genesis132]

Dang, I feel like I don't qualify to come in this thread since I recently tex'd ....OH WELL.. I think it's normal for everyone to feel like their hair is not growing but everybody else's is! Hair constantly grows from the scalp whether slow or fast, but it does grow. So I guess my question is, what are you doing to hinder or retain your length? That's what I'm focusing on now, retaining my length as textrzd. My whole problem with retaining length as a natural is that I got impatient detangling and would "man handle" my hair and those knots didn't help me retain my length either when I was natchel....

[ImFree27]

Plastic-I am sure that the band is breaking off the back of my hair, I keep trying to move it around but it's not okay. I am dependent on it, but I may just throw them all out. I know that I've got to leave them alone!!! Tonight, I was working on twists so I could rock a twist out tomorrow without the band. But, the front of my hair isn't broken off like the back is, so I have no clue what's going on. I co-wash every other day or so, using Redken Extreme and Butter Treat products. I also rotate Oyin and a few other natural products as well.

LOL @ Billy B...I speak only my truthful opinion!!! You'll love them though!!

i was geting breakage from using the bands too and also when I would tie scarfs in the front of my head so i stopped doing the scarfs and I dont do the bands, I use a knee high stocking to do my puffs I like it better, because you can control how tight or loose you want it and i dont get anymore breakage.... you should try the knee hights

[ravenmerlita]

Are you sure that it's not the color breaking off your hair? I know color killed my hair like nothing ever did before. I eventually had to cut off all the color parts. In looking at the pictures and where the color line is, it definitely seems like your hair has grown from November to February.

I can especially see the difference in these two pictures:
http://public.fotki.com/Scandalous10.../dscn1325.html

http://public.fotki.com/Scandalous10.../dscn0828.html

I know the style is different but I think that your hair is growing pretty well, but that you may not be retaining as much length as you want.

[glamazon386]

I felt the same way. My hair is about the same length it was last year. But I have to stay away from the scissors. Could your color have contributed to it? Are you manipulating your hair too much?

[hopeful]

Can you achieve the same pulled back style with a scarf instead? I have never gotten any breakage from a silky scarf. Also do you ever just leave your twists in for days at a time, I have found that to be one of the best ways to get a lot of growth, especially if I keep them moisturized.

[HighlyFavored1]

I know I am not natural, but I have a few thoughts...

Sometimes it is really hard to see growth (especially in just 6 months) if you are just pulling a piece of hair and going by your last memory of your hair length. Are you taking length pics with a ruler? That might help you see growth that you did not know was there.

Also, I remember you liking Boundless Tresses-- is there a way that you can re-incorporate it into your regimen to speed up your growth results?

Good luck!

[ebzonix]

Girl, I'm at 6 months too and to be honest i havent noticed any growth. But I havent been exercising, or taking my vitamins faithfully. All these things come into play, and it takes time. Just calm down and think about all the different factors it could be.

[ScandalousBeauty]

Ravenmerlita,
The first picture is a stretched out, damp twist out. The other is the unstretched fro. I did my twists tonight and they still look consistently the same length.

Highlyfavored1-Nope, I don't use a ruler. I guess I should be that technical, but I want to see my results to believe it. Like, when I look at pictures of my hair a year ago, I don't want my hair to look the same now, Ya know?? I mean, I'm sure the ruler would prove some technical results, but I bet lots of other naturals do what I do every so often and pull their hair to see the length. And I know that the hair that I pulled in the back and sides are still pretty far from my shoulders! lol

Hopeful-Actually, I secretly hate twists. I think they look awful on me. Absolutely awful. I'll wear them over night and then unravel them to do a twist out.

Glamazon-It could be the color, but even back when I was colorless, my hair was almost the length that it is now. Check out this picture in July of 2007...almost the same length as it is now!!! This pic REALLY irks me...my hair is unstretched here!!!


I don't know y'all...I'm about to make a YouTube video..just to vent. They will probably chew me up, but that's a rick I must take. I don't know..I'm trying to listen to everyone's input, and I really truly appreciate it..but if my hair was getting any significant growth, I believe I would see it!

Are you sure that it's not the color breaking off your hair? I know color killed my hair like nothing ever did before. I eventually had to cut off all the color parts. In looking at the pictures and where the color line is, it definitely seems like your hair has grown from November to February.

I can especially see the difference in these two pictures:
http://public.fotki.com/Scandalous10.../dscn1325.html

http://public.fotki.com/Scandalous10.../dscn0828.html

I know the style is different but I think that your hair is growing pretty well, but that you may not be retaining as much length as you want.

[mwedzi]

Aww...there, there! What's your regimen? When I wore my hair out (high school days) I had a TWA about 3-4 inches long that would never grow. The only way I've been able to grow my hair is in braids...or when I had a jheri curl. Seems for me, little manipulation is key to retaining length. I'm sure your hair's growing, but perhaps retention is the problem? Could you rock cornrows or braids comfortably for a spell?

I was going to say something like this, but since I prefer twists myself that's what I was going to suggest.