How many inches did you retain in your first year?

[sherrimberri]

Hi ladies

March 31st will mark one year for me on my official hair journey. I straightened my hair and ive retained 3 inches this year. So i was wondering how many inches did you retain in your first year? Did you retain more inches the following year?

Im happy with my results but i want more. So for my next year im aiming for four or more inches.

Apr 2011



Mar 2012

 

[Nix08]

Good Thread topic

I don't have the numbers but here are my pics from start to about 1 year in:

sorry so big I'd say about 5" that included about 2 trims I think

 

[sherrimberri]

Good Thread topic

I don't have the numbers but here are my pics from start to about

sorry so big I'd say about 5" that included about 2 trims I think

Impressive. I hope to retain 5" this year.

 

[KurlyNinja]

BC'd last March to full NL and now I'm grazing APL. So I guess I retained most of what I grew? I dont know how many inches that is, but that is also including 2 trims. And I dont get .5" every month. Its a little less.

This was from July last year. (excuse the face, I know I look like a gangsta. lol. FB pic)

Length I am now is in my avi.

 

[ms.blue]

Congrats sherrimberri. I retain a lot during my first 1.5 yrs of my journey, mainly b/c I was straight psing w/ no break in b/w. Righ now I have a goal of retaining 4-5" this yr so I'm going back to straight psing no break.

 

[sherrimberri]

Congrats sherrimberri. I retain a lot during my first 1.5 yrs of my journey, mainly b/c I was straight psing w/ no break in b/w. Righ now I have a goal of retaining 4-5" this yr so I'm going back to straight psing no break.

Thanks! I think psing is key. I plan to only straighten my hair 3 times this year. Last year i straightened 6 times. Hopefully constantly psing and caring for my hair will give me the 5" i desire.

 

[sherrimberri]

BC'd last March to full NL and now I'm grazing APL. So I guess I retained most of what I grew? I dont know how many inches that is, but that is also including 2 trims. And I dont get .5" every month. Its a little less.

This was from July last year. (excuse the face, I know I look like a gangsta. lol. FB pic)

Length I am now is in my avi.

Nice. Im shocked you gals are retaining so much and this includes your trims. I only trimmed once. Maybe i should trim quarterly.

 

[wannabelong]

I don't know how many inches but I retained most of what I grew. I started with an above the ear pixie cut and was at NL the following year.

 

[Austro-Afrikana]

I retained over 6 inches in my first year. Now my hair doesn't seem to even grow as fast so the most I could hope for is 4-5 inches.

 

[MissAlinaRose]

Not quite sure what my inches were (I don't really measure by inch) but from a shaved head I was at SL/CBL for my first year. Keep in mind that was my longest layer.

 

[GaiasDaughter24]

6-6 1/2in.

 

[Aggie]

I'll say this one thing, I retained a whole lot more hair length as a straight relaxed head. I gave natural a year's run, I gave texlaxed 1.5 years run and honestly, I currently only have 4 inches of hair on my head due to massive ssks, major detangling issues and super splits.

When I was fully relaxed, I retained at least 5" of hair on my head every year and that's with 2 yearly trims.

I can't take it anymore and I don't have a whole lot of time to dedicate to the care of natural or texlaxed hair anyway. So I'm going back full force to my beloved creamy crack. Oh how I missed you so much.

I gatta tell ya, I have a whole lot of respect for ladies who can grow and retain natural hair. Seriously! You girls are awesome.

 

[bride91501]

With my trims included, I'd say somewhere between 7" & 8". I think my hair was in shock from finally being taken care of properly for the first time in its life lol. I haven't gotten retention quite that good since, but I'm aiming for close to 7" this year. We'll see

See below for my pics:


BC - May 31, 2010

1 year nappiversary - 2011

 

[alive]

something around 4-5 inches. i usually do a 1 inch trim every year in addition to dustings / clipping off SSKs

 

[lilyofthenile]

I'll say this one thing, I retained a whole lot more hair length as a straight relaxed head. I gave natural a year's run, I gave texlaxed 1.5 years run and honestly, I currently only have 4 inches of hair on my head due to massive ssks, major detangling issues and super splits.

When I was fully relaxed, I retained at least 5" of hair on my head every year and that's with 2 yearly trims.

I can't take it anymore and I don't have a whole lot of time to dedicate to the care of natural or texlaxed hair anyway. So I'm going back full force to my beloved creamy crack. Oh how I missed you so much.

I gatta tell ya, I have a whole lot of respect for ladies who can grow and retain natural hair. Seriously! You girls are awesome.

I'm not going to blame you for feeling this way, do what you need to do on your journey! I know how you feel though, my first year, I barely retained any length, I was at a complete loss.

Sometimes it can be so hard to take care of natural hair and the way we retain could be very different to how we retain when our hair is relaxed. I wish you all the best!

 

[NJoy]

9 inches.

 

[Meritamen]

I think I retained 5 inches in my first year. Currently coming to the end of my second year with two months to go and it looks like I will have retained 4 inches. I blame stress, taking poor care of myself, and experimenting with products (protein is not my friend ) for my hair growing so slow and poor retention this year.

Holy snap! @bride91501 it looks like your hair exploded out of your head. Wow. It's so pretty and fluffy. 7 inches? I wish. I think we have similar hair. My fro wants to be like yours when it grows up.

 

[Danewshe]

About 5" I think. Hoping to do a lot better this year by ps'ing.

 

[CurlsBazillion]

4-5 in, its the second year which I'm currently struggling with. So far since June of last year I only retained 3 in. I gotta get 3 or 4 more before my 2nd afroversary this June to get to full APl and beyond.

 

[Spongebob]

wow upto 9 inches in the first year

i'm 2.5 years post BC and my hair is only 12 inches. am I in the slow category

 

[AutumnDreams]

I retained 4". I did one trim. Went from just above apl to bsb. I will trim again once I reach full bsl. Ps doesnt work for me. I tried braid out, rollerset, twistout, airdrying, cowashing 2 xs a week - it was just too much manipulation for my hair and I should have retained more. Now I wash every 2 weeks, then dc, blowdry, flat iron, and just leave it alone afterwards . I lose so much less hair when its in a straight style. I find the longer it gets the less I have to do with it to keep it looking neat. I dont wrap it or anything, I just tie it down with my silk scarf at night. My ends look better and are easier to keep moisturized bc they are smooth. I clip it up or ponytail it when its hot or when I want it off my neck. Kiss is what is working for me now so I expect 6 this year. But my hair growth slows as it gets longer for some reason so we will see.

 

[sherrimberri]

wow upto 9 inches in the first year

i'm 2.5 years post BC and my hair is only 12 inches. am I in the slow category

No I think you are normal. I'm off to stalk njoy to see how she retained 9".

 

[iri9109]

the 1st year i think i retained almost everything i grew... 6''+...this past year, not so much lol but also trimmed about 3 inches so that contributed to it

 

[30something]

ZERO! Nada!
I did not retain anything my first year... In fact I went backwards.. I was a thin APL by that time next year I was slightly thinner SHL. Relaxer mix with convoluted regimens were not my friends, plus my hair naturally grows slow.

 

[pre_medicalrulz]

My 1st year I didn't retain a thing. My second year, I retained just about all of it.

 

[Phaer]

I don't know how much I retained in inches, but I was glad to see that my hair was a little past the lenght it was before i BCed, which was grazing my shoulders. This is my second year and I am hopping to retained enough to reach APL by the end of the year.

 

[lamaria211]

probably close to 4inches

 

[TheNDofUO]

I've gone from just above my shoulders to an inch below my collars bone. 3 and a half inches. And I havrnt finished the year. I'll have my hair-anniversary in August. I've got 2 and half inches left till APL. Come on Ire!!