For those that have never hair past their shoulders growing up

[FemmeFatale]

And are now getting to BSL, MBL and beyond, how are you maintaining your new found length? Im closing in on BSL (relaxed) and feel like it's brand new territory for me and that my own hands aren't used to this length, plus I've been wearing weaves as a protective style (weaves are very different, they can take abuse) but pretty soon I'll be wearing my own hair out and down and I'm afraid of mysteriously losing all my hard work, lol.

I almost feel like I tricked my hair cycle into getting to that length because "naturally" my hair length stops somewhere between SL and APL. I guess there's a part of me that still believes that genetics plays a hand the hair length game...and that when my hair hits the elements it'll realize that it's time to go :-(

I know these feelings are almost taboo here but I just wanted to share them and get some thoughts..

 

[Froreal3]

Not sure I'm understanding...you are afraid that your hair will get shorter once you get rid of the weaves? You said your hair is closing in on BSL, so it doesn't "naturally" stop between SL and APL. Just continue to PS and take care of your ends and your hair should continue to flourish after you rid of the weave.

I've always worn extensions (braids) in my hair because I like throwing it up and out of my way (laziness) and my hair was always around neck length because I didn't have a clue about taking care of the hair underneath or once it was out. At the time, I couldn't care less about my hair.

These days I'm still lazy with styling (99% of the time in a twist updo) but I'm actually taking care of my real hair instead of throwing braids or weave on top of unhealthy hair. Now my hair is thriving and is almost BSL.

 

[NefertariBlu]

I would like to know how you got it past shoulder length. my hair never got past my nose and at the back didn't get past shoulder. I thought l would make it to apl this January but is still colar bone length. It seems to be breaking for the past couple of months. I am just starting to retrain my length in the past two months. I am trying. I am still working things out. What did you do?

My length goal is apl. Anything longer will be a bonus. Oh and l have been growing it for nearly 3 years and its no where near the length of where l see others who have been growing it for the same time. Its really frustrating.

 

[FemmeFatale]

Not sure I'm understanding...you are afraid that your hair will get shorter once you get rid of the weaves? You said your hair is closing in on BSL, so it doesn't "naturally" stop between SL and APL. Just continue to PS and take care of your ends and your hair should continue to flourish after you rid of the weave.

I've always worn extensions (braids) in my hair because I like throwing it up and out of my way (laziness) and my hair was always around neck length because I didn't have a clue about taking care of the hair underneath or once it was out. At the time, I couldn't care less about my hair.

These days I'm still lazy with styling (99% of the time in a twist updo) but I'm actually taking care of my real hair instead of throwing braids or weave on top of unhealthy hair. Now my hair is thriving and is almost BSL.

Yes I'm afraid that once I start wearing my hair out it'll get shorter. The only reason why my hair is this length now is because I PS with weaves 90% of the time.

 

[FemmeFatale]

I would like to know how you got it past shoulder length. my hair never got past my nose and at the back didn't get past shoulder. I thought l would make it to apl this January but is still colar bone length. It seems to be breaking for the past couple of months. I am just starting to retrain my length in the past two months. I am trying. I am still working things out. What did you do?

My length goal is apl. Anything longer will be a bonus. Oh and l have been growing it for nearly 3 years and its no where near the length of where l see others who have been growing it for the same time. Its really frustrating.

Honestly I've retained all that length from wearing weaves. Just taking my vitamins and not manipulating it.

 

[Froreal3]

Yes I'm afraid that once I start wearing my hair out it'll get shorter. The only reason why my hair is this length now is because I PS with weaves 90% of the time.

I understand. I would start off with simple protective styles. It is clearly the protective styling of the weave that has gotten you this far. I would look at threads like this or the relaxed bunning thread if you haven't already. Get your non weave reggie and styles together before you take down the weave for the last time. You can and will do this!

 

[Foxglove]

Your hair doesn't naturally stop between SL and APL and you didn't trick it into reaching BSL. You obviously were having a lot of breakage and leaving your hair alone allowed it to reach longer lengths because you weren't doing what you normally do that would have caused breakage. You need to figure out a regimen for your real hair so you can continue retaining your length

Start here for your new regimen
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=389082
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=255441

 

[futureapl]

Growing up I always thought the longest my hair could get.is full neck length. Now I know that it can and has grown a lot longer. The things that have worked for me are bunning most of the time, staying away from heat, using moisturizer and essential oils, and drinking water.

 

[Killahkurlz]

I would like to know how you got it past shoulder length. my hair never got past my nose and at the back didn't get past shoulder. I thought l would make it to apl this January but is still colar bone length. It seems to be breaking for the past couple of months. I am just starting to retrain my length in the past two months. I am trying. I am still working things out. What did you do?

My length goal is apl. Anything longer will be a bonus. Oh and l have been growing it for nearly 3 years and its no where near the length of where l see others who have been growing it for the same time. Its really frustrating.

Do u trim ur ends often? How do u wear ur hair most of the time?

 

[AmiJay]

I see what you're saying. I feel like the only thing that really works for me is 100% ps'ing. My hair would always get to collarbone (longer than nl) then start thinning or breaking. I now know that it was the relaxing every 4 weeks.
I grew my hair out wearing halfwigs and wigs and it thrived. I dyed my hair and it didn't break off but thinned out gradually so now I'm doing a transition to grow out the color treated hair. Now I'm thinking if I go back to wigging it for a year, I'll retain everything. I'm feeling like that's the only way I can retain and keep length.