Waist Length Challenge 2015

I decided to straighten a small piece in the back... I feel like I'm #foreverfaraway from WL!

I know my hair is long, but I feel like my torso is long and it's taking FOREVER to get to WL. Anyway, I'm posting a pic before my trim next week.

Edit : it looks like I can't put photos up from my phone!
 
My journey will take a little longer. I cut a few layers in my hair because I couldn't stand my droopy hair. The longest layer is still MBL (for now), but it looks better when I wear WNGs. On the positive side, my hair tangles less because the layers are different lengths and there is less opportunity for the coils to tangle around each other.
 
So... I'm pretty sure I've been trimmed back to BSL, so I may have to bow out of this WL thing... I'm cool with it thouvh! My hair is layered at the ends/bottom, and it has so much movement!

And I keep having trouble posting photos!

So here's my IG post:
https://instagram.com/p/2cNLgdldqM/

I'll try to get one of the back too. And the filter I used makes me want blue hair!

You are gorgeous Iman! Your hair looks great, nice and healthy.
 
Hi ladies! I haven't been active as much...end of semester is kicking my ass. My Komaza Analysis revealed some damaged strands, dry hair, and diminishing roots, lack of protein. I will be drinking more protein shakes and trimming an inch off, then dust 1/4 inch over the next year to get rid of the damage.

@ImanAdero of course you and your hair are gorgeous! I've already recognized I won't make WL this year. Which is ok with me. MBL was my original goal and I need to get there first. lol After I combat the issues my hair analysis revealed, then I will be well on my way.
 
I had to trim an inch. I am hoping for a growth spurt. There is still a chance for me to make waist, but I have to take really good care of my ends and be consistent with scalp massages/inverting.
 
I just took my hair out of crochet braids, me ends are super dry and look a mess. I'm going to S&D tonight and co wash then baggy. I've worn crochet braids for about 7 out of the last 10 months, but I don't see any retention (I'll measure when I straighten next week). I had a trim back in November, but I know she didn't cut much. I may need to give up completely on long term protective styling and just go back to wearing twists during the week.
 
I'm in my 6th week crochet'd up and going for 7!
Taking them out for memorial day weekend.
This hair/scalp stinks but I feel the growth! Can't wait to see what's waiting for me under this mess.
I'll be clarifying with shampoo and doing a protein treatment (which means I need a hair dryer STAT). Then DC'ing with steam for an our with a moisturizing condish. Then LOC to seal my twists for a twist out over the weekend. Yesss.......
 
I legit forgot about this forum for a good minute. Whoops lol. So January on the left and today on the right. Now I'm going back to see all the updates I've missed.
Edit: and apparently you can't upload photos from the mobile version. Oh well.
 
Hair is still straight. Gonna try to keep it this way for another week. Been using flexible rods to change up the looK.

Wash day next weekend!
 
I think I'm technically waist length. The shirt ends at line 20, and that's where my waist is. I feel like I was stuck at line 17 forever! I must say, my hair doesn't feel long though, maybe when more of my hair reaches WL it will, and not just a little tail, so I won't "claim it" yet. It still feels MBL to me. WL was my ultimate goal, but I think I will go a bit longer, maybe TBL.
 

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I think I have heat damage...

Going to see if I can reverse this with an ApHogee 2 Step treatment... if I canr, I'll just chop off the few inches OR wear more protective styles for the rest of the year.
 
I think I have heat damage...

Going to see if I can reverse this with an ApHogee 2 Step treatment... if I canr, I'll just chop off the few inches OR wear more protective styles for the rest of the year.

Oh no. :( That really really sucks. Happened to me, too. This waist length journey is going on forever. I don't think I'll ever go to the salon to straighten my hair again. If I have to, I'll just do it myself...which is a daunting task in itself making me less likely to even attempt it.
 
I've had a minor setback: My ends are getting thin, plus I've had too much shedding & some breakage. I suspect it was due to the fact that my hair is fine, fragile and very dry, plus it's been 8 or 9 months since my last cut. I plan to cut about two inches to regain fullness (I don't want waist length hair with scraggly ends.)

To address the dryness and shedding, I finally committed myself to oiling my hair every night (especially the ends) and sleeping in twists. I didn't do this before since my fine hair never seemed to do well with oils, most are too heavy for me. For some reason oil also causes my fine hair to frizz a lot more--I don't understand this (?!!) Recently I started applying Jojoba oil each night since it's a lighter oil. The results: A major reduction in shedding, breakage & tangles compared to when I didn't use oil--I'm so happy about that--however it's frizzy and limp. I need to learn more about oils, how to apply them and what to do about the added frizz. For now I'm willing to deal with it for more growth retention and healthier fuller hair!
 
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Oh no. :( That really really sucks. Happened to me, too. This waist length journey is going on forever. I don't think I'll ever go to the salon to straighten my hair again. If I have to, I'll just do it myself...which is a daunting task in itself making me less likely to even attempt it.
See I adore my stylist! But this is the first time I've gotten heat damage... I didn't do my usual deep condition prior to going/in the salon though, which probably made a big difference. I'll deal though!
 
I think I'm technically waist length. The shirt ends at line 20, and that's where my waist is. I feel like I was stuck at line 17 forever! I must say, my hair doesn't feel long though, maybe when more of my hair reaches WL it will, and not just a little tail, so I won't "claim it" yet. It still feels MBL to me. WL was my ultimate goal, but I think I will go a bit longer, maybe TBL.

@sgold04 CONGRATS on making WL lady! More of it will reach soon!:toocool::drunk::dance7:
 
@ImanAdero Sorry about the heat damage lady. :hug2: Baby your hair and up the protein. I'm sure you'll be fine.

@ILuvCurls So glad you were able to pinpoint something to help with your hair. I'm still figuring that out right now. Do you prepoo with oils before shampooing?
 
Crisis possibly averted! LOL

I did the 2 step treatment and it looks like MOST of my hair has bounced back. I will DEFINITELY do another one in 4-6 weeks. In the mean time, I'm going to alternate with a moisturizing SSI conditioner or deep Conditioner with the SSI Okra conditioner. I may also throw in a conditioner mix I made just to use it up, but that's the plan for now.

I also want to do mini braids or twists this summer as a protective style, but if I get it professionally done I KNOW they're gonna want to blow out my hair, and I dunno how I feel about that right now... So I may just do the mini twists myself. We shall see. If ao, I'll do them next week for the first 2 weeks in June, then take down and redo.
 
I'm going to trim in 3 weeks, and I really hope I am close! I feel like I am because of where my hair falls when I'm in the shower, but I know I will have to do a pretty good trim since the mini braids I was wearing gave me more SSKs than I expected :-/
 
@ImanAdero Sorry about the heat damage lady. :hug2: Baby your hair and up the protein. I'm sure you'll be fine.

@ILuvCurls So glad you were able to pinpoint something to help with your hair. I'm still figuring that out right now. Do you prepoo with oils before shampooing?

@Froreal3 Yes, I do prepoo with oils if I have time. My favorite oil for that purpose is organic virgin coconut oil. But what seems to help me the most with breaking & shedding is nightly oiling with a light oil like jojoba (on dry hair) and sleeping in twists.
 
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Here's a mini update. My final date for this challenge is 12/31/2015.
This is also my first progress pic using a very, very bootleg tank. Each bar is 1" apart starting at APL. The only two markers on the tank are BSL and MBL. In March 2015 I was at line 4+ (it's not stretched out to the max IMO) and this May, I'm at line 6+ which is past MBL (hard to see. I might try for a better pic). Just count bars.
I wore crochet braids for 7 weeks starting in March.
I'm doing this again in the fall....
 

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Crisis possibly averted! LOL

I did the 2 step treatment and it looks like MOST of my hair has bounced back. I will DEFINITELY do another one in 4-6 weeks. In the mean time, I'm going to alternate with a moisturizing SSI conditioner or deep Conditioner with the SSI Okra conditioner. I may also throw in a conditioner mix I made just to use it up, but that's the plan for now.

I also want to do mini braids or twists this summer as a protective style, but if I get it professionally done I KNOW they're gonna want to blow out my hair, and I dunno how I feel about that right now... So I may just do the mini twists myself. We shall see. If ao, I'll do them next week for the first 2 weeks in June, then take down and redo.

@ImanAdero
Yay, hurray for you! I have yet to do a protein treatment and it has been 5 months since my last flatiron that caused me some heat damage. Maybe I should actually do it...

As for professionally done twists, perhaps stretch your hair with curlformers? Does your salon work with curlformer sets? I also noticed that you are probably around my area (the stylist you go to for your weaves is a close friend of my cousin's who is literally 5 minutes from my parents' home) and was wondering who do you go to for the twists and at what price?
 
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