Why long hair????

Hey guys.I;m not trying to offend anyone but I just wonder why everyone wants "long' hair. Personally, i hate my hair long (past my shoulders). Is it just to have long hair or cause you like the way it looks on your face??
Most men I know LOVE long hair just cause it's long. When I keep cutting mine, everyone is like "why did you cut it???" I"m like "cause i like this length on ME". Doesn't it make a difference to anyone if it looks right on them, or do you just want long hair just cause??? I'm just curious.

Well, for me since I have always had long hair until Istarted cutting it, long hair is easier for me to maintain. For me, short hair, requires way too many relaxer touch ups to keep it looking half way decent. When my hair was long, I could go 4 months without a touch-up. When my hair was mega short, I had to get a touch-up every 4-6 weeks without fail. Also, I miss my devastingly beautiful french rolls. Girl, I can wear a french roll like it's no ones business! With short hair, I found my styling options very limited. I, for one, could never walk around with finger waves ( gel makes me itch badly ) or with my hair slicked back ( that look never, ever could work for me). Having long hair means "options" for me. I liked being able to wear a french roll, wet and set, wrap....whatever. Too bad, I didn't realize how much I loved my long hair until I cut it all off /images/graemlins/frown.gif

For me, the only, and I mean ONLY, styles that flatter my face are really short hair (Eve's old length to Wendy Raquel Robinson's length) and longer than shoulder length. I grow tired of having to maintain really short hair. Hair wants to grow so why not let it? Personally I happen to HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE shoulder length hair on me so you can imagine how unhappy I am right now. But like I said, hair wants to grow so why stop nature? Hair is very personal. Everyone has their own reasons but for now I am just desperate to get passed this horrible length!

<font color="blue"> Hi kia!
Its just a preference for me. I think short a hair looks great! just not on me LOL . I'm very thin with a long face. I'd like to see how very long hair on me would look and to me long hair is much easier. I don't have to worry about constant cutting to keep the shape of the style or daily curling.
And when you think about it....don't people with straight hair want curly hair?? Why do so many people colour their hair?*shrug* i hope your understanding what i'm trying to say. I like coming here cause most of us are trying to grow our hair. <font color="blue"> ] Its nice to have support with anything that you wanta do. If you surf this board you'll find just a lot of great hair tips in general. Most of the gals in here are wonderful people. I'm sure you'll get a few responses to your question. I'm not sure if you've posted before but welcome to the board /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Before I got to cutting on my hair I had beautiful Bra strap length hair. Over the years the coloring treatments and perms have helped shorten my hair. I think Long hair si sexy and beautiful and I feel that it looks better on me. Not to long but long. I liked Aaliyah's length.

HoneyRockette that's just how I feel!

I am relatively tall (5'7") and I have a small head/face, and my body is very well proportioned and bigger in relation to my face and when I have shoter hair my head looks extra small to me. I also prfer how I look with longer hair and the syling options I have. The shortest I can go and love my look is is and ear legth bob. I think part of it too is just to see how long my hair can get.

I agree completely. This board has taught me soooo much on how to maintain my hair and keep it healthy (thanks to all of you). My hair means a lot to me and I know it does to everyone on this board. I just know with a lot of women instead of focusing on the health of their hair, they focus on length.

That is true as well but at some point they realize, like I realized, that it is better to have short healthy hair than long unhealthy hair. As much as it killed me to cut my hair back to the length I DREAD so much, I know my hair is better from it.

Exactly HoneyRockette. I guess that's the point I was trying to make. I think the focus should be on the health of hair rather than just the length.

One more thing (sorry). I just realized that I might be a hypocrite cause really my hair grows fast and I've never had any problems growing my hair. But I do know a lot of people that can't get their hair to grow past their shoulders. Just like someone else said, you always want what you don't have...I guess since I've had long hair all my life, it's not as big of an issue for me as having healthy hair. I took my hair for granted and did any and everything to it. Well...it finally took it's toll. If I took care of it 10 years ago the way I do now, the other half of my hair would probably still be there:-( Thanks everyone for your posts.

Hello Kia. That is a very good quesiton. My reasons are somewhat different from everyone elses. I do desire hair health first and foremost, but I just want to dispell all of the negative characteristics in relationship to growing black hair especially 4a/4b. All my life I have been told and heard from others that only certain types of hair can grow long. The straight hair types mostly seen on people not of African decent. Wavy/smooth curly hair-you know the kind the older black generation called good hair? The 4a/4b type was known as the bad nappy/kinky hair. This is the hair which is "unable to grow long." Well I believed these things up until I visited this board and hear of so many 4a/4b heads with past shoulder lenght hair. I have visited many boards and some of the others even quote those negative hair growth myths. Here I don't get that. Here all hair is "good hair" and has the potential to grow as long as there is persistence, good manipulation, and regimen. Thanks for your question.

Well, I think that Healthy Hair is the most important no matter the length. But I want my hair to be long becuase I have worn it short and medium, now I want to see how long I can grow it. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

My answer is pretty much a combination of everyone elses. I have a square face and I feel that longer hair suits me better. I've gone semi-short (short in the front, long in the back) several times, and each time my hair looked jacked up so I've finally given up and will just keep my long hair. I really do like short hair but I'm too lazy to keep it up. So long hair allows me be lazy and it give me more options that I can't get with short hair.

I want long hair (I'm creating a website to address this in part) because I have a spiritual belief that hair is God's gift to women to enhance their beauty. I'm not saying God is mandating long hair or anything - I just think it's kind of like how the sky could be dark all the time and would be no less awesome - but how breathtaking it is when it's a brilliant blue...

It's obviously more than possible to be GORGEOUS with short hair (I wore mine really short for years - and Halle Berry is a shining example of this fact) but I believe one thing that distinguishes men from women (along with great boobs /images/graemlins/grin.gif) is long swinging hair. It's very sensual and feminine to me and whether it's the best style for me or not I'm not sure at the moment but I think any version of "long hair", from shoulder length down, can make any woman feel and look more feminine. And that's my goal. I guess I've just been fascinated with all things "woman" for the last couple of years. Childbirth and pregnancy and hair and soft skin and a lovely figure... /images/graemlins/smile.gif

But I have issues with being and feeling like a GODDESS. /images/graemlins/smile.gif It's a constant quest for me. Long hair is my first step in this direction along with smooth, clear and luminous skin and shining eyes and a rosebud mouth... LOL!

Y'all get the picture. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I want to grow my hair long, because I would like to be able to wear it down and really have some length, AND I would like to be able to bun it up and have it look full and flattering. And if I can grow it healthy and long, it would show that the regimen and products I'm using are a sure-bet for me.

Yvette, girl I can wear a french roll like nobody's business too!! Actually, I think I look good and feel good with short or long hair, but I prefer longer hair because the maintenance is easier. I don't dig bad hair days with short hair /images/graemlins/frown.gif

Right now...for me I could go either way as long as it's healthy...I've had long hair most of my life until last year and all the 'stuff' I was doing to my hair took it's toll. Now that I've got it healthy again...I want long hair 'cause I can'...simple as that. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

I really do not care if may hair is long. I just wanted it to be health b/c a person could have long hair and it not health. My hair right not is not long it never been real long but it always have been thick. And I will take thick meduim lenghth hair then long then hair.

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Hey guys.I;m not trying to offend anyone but I just wonder why everyone wants "long' hair. Personally, i hate my hair long (past my shoulders). Is it just to have long hair or cause you like the way it looks on your face??
Most men I know LOVE long hair just cause it's long. When I keep cutting mine, everyone is like "why did you cut it???" I"m like "cause i like this length on ME". Doesn't it make a difference to anyone if it looks right on them, or do you just want long hair just cause??? I'm just curious.

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Hi kia!

My current length is an inch or two below my shoulders when pressed. My goal is to grow healthy hair down to my bra-strap. I've never had hair much longer than my current length and I'm curious to know what I'd look like with longer (bra-strap length) hair. I've seen photos of the styling options available and they only serve to pique my curiosity. Weaves, extensions and wigs are not an option for me.

My attempt at growing longer hair has been beneficial because I practice healthier maintenance techniques. In the past, when I wasn't trying to grow long hair, I would take more risks because I knew I could cut off any damaged hair and it wouldn't take forever for it to look like it did before the cut.

Last year I made a choice. My hair was damaged and some parts were shoulder length and others were shorter. I could have cut it and maintained a short healthy hairstyle or cut it, keep it healthy and see how much it grows. I chose to try healthy, long hair. Thus began my introduction to the hairboards.

Sometimes I do miss the advantages of shorter hair. It was a time saver when any maintenace had to be done. It was easier to curl. It kept me cool in the summers and I seemed to "play" in it more.

For the most part though, I'm enjoying the "grow it long" thing.

I agree with Tracy on pg.1.... I just think that long hair is more becoming of me and that it's so feminine and sexy. I don't have anything against short hair, you've all seen my pictures, I used to have my hair short and I loved it for that time.
But for right now, it's an expression of my femininity. I still think that while growing your hair you should focus on having long healthy hair, that's what this board is for!! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

Happy growing, y'all!

i personally like long hair better, and why not? it's all about choice...

adrienne

Why long hair? Why not? It's just hair.

I want to have LONG and HEALTHY hair. I also tend to identify with what cocoabrowngal said about the idea that women with certain hair type could not have long hair. My facial features are better suited to either very short hair or long hair. I have had the Halle Berry cut so now I want the other end of the spectrum.

I think long hair is sexy and very feminine and long hair is easier for me to style (especially if I'm i a rush). My aunts had hair long enough that they could sit on and it was very becoming on them even in their older years.

Hi, Kia. Why long hair? For me (and obviously other posters), the question is why not! But more specifically, I'd like to see how long I can grow it. At its longest, my hair was collarbone length when I was younger. At its shortest, it's been three to four inches, thanks to an ambush by a hair dresser. Now that I'm doing the right things, I want to see if I can reach that collarbone length and possibly go beyond that.

Healthy hair is important to me also. I had a roommate in college (a sister) whose hair was arm pit length, but it was extremely thin and stringy. She literally used five rollers every night to set it. I never understood that, and always said that I'd prefer health over length.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

I like long hair. I can now safely say I've had all cuts (except for the twa) and personally I like the way long hair feels on my back when I wear a tank top and I can feel it brushing against me. I can do a lot more things with it. I don't have to do it everyday so it looks decent (which is the stage I've been in for the past 6-7 months). It just felt good to put in a claw clip without having to curl it so the ends look o.k.

Finally I didn't have to use too many styling implements in my hair. I didn't have to curl or straigten because if my hair was long, even after a humid day my hair was full and went straight down, not everywhere like my hair does now. Don't get me wrong, I love short cuts on other people but I like a long look on myself.

Another reason why I like long hair, is because most people think that African-Americans only have short hair, and I hate that belief. I also think just because I'm black doesn't mean I have to reject long hair.

I personally just like really long hair. I always had long hair as a child and as I got older and began to get colors and cuts and different things I did a lot of damage to my hair and it just seemed that it would never be long or healthy again. So 3 years ago I cut off long, very badly damaged relaxed hair and went natural. I loved the way my hair grew so fast and was always healthy. My hair in it's natural state is nappy as I don't know what, so I am no longer natural, but my hair is still in great shape. I also think long hair compliments my face more. I have a really round face with chipmunk cheeks and short hair doesn't look good on me at all.

For me, it would be because we have always been told that our hair can not grow really long. I would like to see for myself if I can grow hair to my waist so that I can prove all those critics wrong. I love long and short hair as long as it’s healthy. The woman considered by many to be the most beautiful &amp; sexy in the world (Halle Berry) has extremely short hair so you can be beautiful and sexy even if you’re bald if you have a pretty face. I will not die if it doesn’t make it to waist length because hair will not make me as a person, but, it’s going to be fun trying. To tell you the truth, I know it’s going to surpass waist length, then of course, I will join a short hair forum to make another change. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Why long hair? I want to grow my hair long because it will balance out my look. With long hair I look very exotic. Hey, I was honest though, right?