Is it normal to be stuck at SL for a whole year?

[sherrimberri]

How do u trim if your hair is multiple lengths? I would say im layered BSL. While i can trim the ends of my nape i have a difficult time trimming my crown and the back of my hair.

 

[BadMamaJama]

TracieBLovely no advice, but I love your blog!

 

[Chameleonchick]

I did, and I couldn't figure out why at first. I will NEVER recommend the BKT to anybody ever again. It ruined my hair it all broke off slowly over the course of a year and that is why it looked like my hair wasn't growing. Now that it is all out of my hair it still grows slow but at least I will get my 4 inches a year now.

 

[PinkSunshine77]

TracieBLovely no advice, but I love your blog!

aw thanks hehe I designed that border and this Signature myself.

 

[PinkSunshine77]

I did, and I couldn't figure out why at first. I will NEVER recommend the BKT to anybody ever again. It ruined my hair it all broke off slowly over the course of a year and that is why it looked like my hair wasn't growing. Now that it is all out of my hair it still grows slow but at least I will get my 4 inches a year now.

Im such a newbie, what's BKT?

 

[PinkSunshine77]

I had an epiphany today based on all of y'alls advice and I'm getting split ends. I don't know how but I'll see a strand once shed and the end is split, and sometimes split 2 or 3 times on one strand. I need to S&D more often. I was thinking no trimming was better but I have to get rid of these splits and stay on it.

 

[TheNDofUO]

TracieBLovely I have pretty much the same issue. I think another problem is that unlike the naturals on this forum we didnt start our HHJs with brand new healthy hair. We are still dealing with our old damaged possibly beyond repair ends that breaking and splitting and there's only so much we can do short of cutting it off.

I realised this a few months ago. My lack of progress doesn't feel any better.

 

[PinkSunshine77]

TracieBLovely I have pretty much the same issue. I think another problem is that unlike the naturals on this forum we didnt start our HHJs with brand new healthy hair. We are still dealing with our old damaged possibly beyond repair ends that breaking and splitting and there's only so much we can do short of cutting it off.

I realised this a few months ago. My lack of progress doesn't feel any better.

you know what? That cannot be more true. I have dyed it recently and did a nice Protein treatment but that was Months and Months ago. Plus I never did a huge cut since years ago and I don't plan on it any time soon except for the trim

 

[PinkSunshine77]

How do u trim if your hair is multiple lengths? I would say im layered BSL. While i can trim the ends of my nape i have a difficult time trimming my crown and the back of my hair.

I'm trying to find that out too. I attempted to do search and destroy but I kind of gave up when I got to the back

 

[Supergirl]

Well, first off, I do see some progress in your pics.

My next thoughts. You say you don't trim much. Maybe that is causing the problem. Maybe the trims would actually help. Also, you started your healthy hair journey a little over a year ago. I say this to a lot of people when they are feeling discouraged, but you must keep this in mind. Whatever you were doing to your hair prior to your healthy hair journey is still a part of your hair until you trim those parts of your hair off. It is great that you are babying your hair the way you do now, and it will pay off. But if the hair had damage prior to you starting your hhj, then your new hair practices doesn't make that damage go away. So that would mean you have X amount of hair on your head from prior to your hhj and only 1 year's worth from your healthy hair journey. You'll have to be patient and gradually trim away the old hair. Also, what brand and type of relaxer are you using? If you are using a no-lye, I suggest switching. I had a no-lye for the longest and one stylist advised me that no-lye was more drying than lye. I did make the switch, and later ended up switching stylists. My new stylist could distinguish my no-lye processed hair from my lye processed hair easily due to its look and feel. We gradually trimmed off those no-lye ends. It took a little over a year.

HTH

 

[Chameleonchick]

Im such a newbie, what's BKT?

Welcome! Its a Brazilian Keratin Treatment.

 

[BlackHairDiva]

I was in the same situation myself. I was stuck at APL for about 2 to 3 years. I thought I was loosing my mind not knowing what was going on. Then it hit me. I was stuck simply because I didnt master growth retention. My hair seemed in great health. Moiturized and all. I had new growth ...quickly. So i concluded that my ends where the problem. I was not babying my ends enough.

I decided to re- evaluate the tools ( combs, Blow dryer, flat iron, etc) that I used.

I also re-evaluated heat protectants and oils that I used. I found my staples and my ends, I always look and care for.

You might also want to try argan oil...on you ends...I know my hair thanks me for it.

I can't believe this. I started at NL a yr ago and hit SL May 2011. I just realized it's been an entire Year and I am still SL. It looks slightly longer and maybe I wasn't FSL, I don't know. I would think I'd be APL by now. My ends are neat and trim. I don't trim often and I don't use heat hardly. Maybe once every 5 mths if that. I stretch my Relaxers every 12-14 weeks. I M&S 2x daily and Protein 1x monthly. I do PS'ing 99% of the time so why in the world has my Hair seem like it hasn't budged for 1 whole year?I did recently trim maybe 1/4 or a little less off recently. Before that I hadn't trimmed for about 6 mths. I'm sorry ladies, I'm getting very discouraged. I don't notice any excess breakage and I am at a loss right now. Any words of encouragement or help would be good if you can. Thanks in advance

 

[virtuenow]

I bet if you examined your hair in small sections, piece by piece, you would discover some serious breakage. It looks pretty thin in those pictures. At one point in my jjourney noticed thinning and that my hair wasn't gaining length; so I did an inch by inch examination of my whole head over the course of a day or two. I just parted and skimmed each small block of hair. I was shocked to find short pieces and even a whole section in the crown that had broken down to less than an inch. I have not read anyones responses, but on another note, I could never get past shoulder length with relaxed hair. No matter how many months I stretched or how many professionals I went to, or top of the line products/reggie, it would never get beyond SL.

 

[PinkSunshine77]

Welcome! Its a Brazilian Keratin Treatment.

thanks Oh i've heard bad things about those. I'm protein sensitive too somewhat so a definite no.

 

[PinkSunshine77]

I bet if you examined your hair in small sections, piece by piece, you would discover some serious breakage. It looks pretty thin in those pictures. At one point in my jjourney noticed thinning and that my hair wasn't gaining length; so I did an inch by inch examination of my whole head over the course of a day or two. I just parted and skimmed each small block of hair. I was shocked to find short pieces and even a whole section in the crown that had broken down to less than an inch. I have not read anyones responses, but on another note, I could never get past shoulder length with relaxed hair. No matter how many months I stretched or how many professionals I went to, or top of the line products/reggie, it would never get beyond SL.

It looks thin in my last most recent pic? I don't think it looks thin. I know for sure I don't have any major breakage. That is something I would know, but I have been noticing split ends and I swear that's the only thing that's making sense right now. I wonder if my hair is fine, but then how can Coarse 4B hair be fine at the same time? Ugh, I have to do something about these splits but I will examine my Hair like you said. I have zero intention of ever being natural as it's not for me so I'll do what I can to work on these ends while relaxed. I've seen it done so many times so I know there's a solution. I was stuck at NL for years and have made progress so I have to believe that I'll get over this hump. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Mjon912]

I have no advice but I do see a change...it definitely looks healthier

 

[PinkSunshine77]

I was in the same situation myself. I was stuck at APL for about 2 to 3 years. I thought I was loosing my mind not knowing what was going on. Then it hit me. I was stuck simply because I didnt master growth retention. My hair seemed in great health. Moiturized and all. I had new growth ...quickly. So i concluded that my ends where the problem. I was not babying my ends enough.

I decided to re- evaluate the tools ( combs, Blow dryer, flat iron, etc) that I used.

I also re-evaluated heat protectants and oils that I used. I found my staples and my ends, I always look and care for.

You might also want to try argan oil...on you ends...I know my hair thanks me for it.

Oh no but i'm already an Oil Junkie! haha! yes thanks. Argan oil it is.

 

[PinkSunshine77]

I have no advice but I do see a change...it definitely looks healthier

thanks a lot

 

[virtuenow]

It looks thin in my last most recent pic? I don't think it looks thin. I know for sure I don't have any major breakage. That is something I would know, but I have been noticing split ends and I swear that's the only thing that's making sense right now. I wonder if my hair is fine, but then how can Coarse 4B hair be fine at the same time? Ugh, I have to do something about these splits but I will examine my Hair like you said. I have zero intention of ever being natural as it's not for me so I'll do what I can to work on these ends while relaxed. I've seen it done so many times so I know there's a solution. I was stuck at NL for years and have made progress so I have to believe that I'll get over this hump. Thanks for the advice.

Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe its not thin. That could be how it normally looks. Of course you would know. I didn't mean to be insulting. About coarse 4b hair, I always thought 4b people had thick as rope strands (like me) but I learned on this board that alot of 4b people have very fine, thin strands. I was quite surprised b/c I didn't think 4b came in the thin/fine variety. Like Nonie said, that means its more prone to splits & breaks. I couldn't make it past that length b/c relaxer seemed to disintegrate my hair. _Perhaps you can try longer stretches. That seems to help some people.

 

[PinkSunshine77]

Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe its not thin. That could be how it normally looks. Of course you would know. I didn't mean to be insulting. About coarse 4b hair, I always thought 4b people had thick as rope strands (like me) but I learned on this board that alot of 4b people have very fine, thin strands. I was quite surprised b/c I didn't think 4b came in the thin/fine variety. Like Nonie said, that means its more prone to splits & breaks. I couldn't make it past that length b/c relaxer seemed to disintegrate my hair. _Perhaps you can try longer stretches. That seems to help some people.

No I didn't think you were insulting me I figured let me look at that pic and make sure hehe. Yeah I think that my hair could possibly be fine and prone to splits. I already stretch my relaxers 12-14 weeks. The longest I've gone is 16 wks and this time around I'm trying to make it 6 mths. I'm 12 weeks post right now. Yeah that hair typing thing..4Bs could be so many different things haha, fine/thin fine/coarse etc. It's all so confusing sometimes. I'm learning more about my Hair with everyone's responses though. Thanks again

 

[LynnieB]

You have had good growth for a year! Apologies for using your pics but I think you really need to take a good look at where you were and where you are now!!!!

You should also keep in mind that the hair at the crown takes longer to show growth and increase overall fullness. Our napes, in fact any hair below the crown almost always appears to grow faster and the crown lagging when all the hair could very well be the exact or close to the same length. Most of us call this issue "natural layers" (however, it's a different story if your hair has been cut into a layered style). Crown hair would probably need several inches to "catch-up" with the other hair.

When breakage/damage has been ruled out, this may also be something you're experiencing.

The ladies have given you really good advice and you should def. try to incorporate some of those suggestions into your regimen and see if you see an improvement.

Good luck and HHG. I know you'll reach all your goals. Just remember that longterm PATIENCE and CONSISTENCY will be your keys!

 

[MystiqueBabe]

I know some ladies have stated this before but please, please, trim off those split ends. Also please keep up with regular trims. Don't trim "as needed" because that is just waiting for damage to occur. I was stuck at SL for 2 years because of infrequent trims.

If I were trimming regularly my hair would have been I bet BSL by now.

In March I cut my stringy SL ( but grazing APL) hair right off. MY ends were just horrible and effecting my growth. 3 months later, my now NL hair is about an inch or so away from SL. So in a short amount of time I am almost back where I started. My trimming schedule is every 3 months now like clockwork. I think taking off 1/4 in every 3 months is reasonable to maintain healthy, growing hair.

To answer your question, I know for me my armpit is around 4 in apart from my shoulders. My hair grows the average rate some months slightly more, I gain around 6in in a year. So it would take me and probably most other people most of the year to go from SL to APL.

 

[PinkSunshine77]

I know some ladies have stated this before but please, please, trim off those split ends. Also please keep up with regular trims. Don't trim "as needed" because that is just waiting for damage to occur. I was stuck at SL for 2 years because of infrequent trims.

If I were trimming regularly my hair would have been I bet BSL by now.

In March I cut my stringy SL ( but grazing APL) hair right off. MY ends were just horrible and effecting my growth. 3 months later, my now NL hair is about an inch or so away from SL. So in a short amount of time I am almost back where I started. My trimming schedule is every 3 months now like clockwork. I think taking off 1/4 in every 3 months is reasonable to maintain healthy, growing hair.

To answer your question, I know for me my armpit is around 4 in apart from my shoulders. My hair grows the average rate some months slightly more, I gain around 6in in a year. So it would take me and probably most other people most of the year to go from SL to APL.

I couldn't agree with you more. I thought about my Regimen, my styling and washing and the only thing that I wasn't doing was trimming regularly. I will definitely stay on those ends and get rid of the dead. Im not even going to do S&D because my hair is thick and that's takes entirely too long. Trimming is way easier for me. Thanks for your help

 

[chocolat79]

TracieBLovely, thanks for starting this thread! I've had so many setbacks that I seem like I've been stuck at NL forever. Thanks to Nonie for pointing out the regular trimming. I haven't had a good trim in a while and I definitely have fine strands. I frequently get splits, so I'll listen to all the advice given to TracieBLovely.

 

[fairyhairy]

yep thanks for this thread, jumping on the trimming schedule also.
Nonie that's a great idea about putting it on an alarm!

 

[PinkSunshine77]

You have had good growth for a year! Apologies for using your pics but I think you really need to take a good look at where you were and where you are now!!!!

You should also keep in mind that the hair at the crown takes longer to show growth and increase overall fullness. Our napes, in fact any hair below the crown almost always appears to grow faster and the crown lagging when all the hair could very well be the exact or close to the same length. Most of us call this issue "natural layers" (however, it's a different story if your hair has been cut into a layered style). Crown hair would probably need several inches to "catch-up" with the other hair.

When breakage/damage has been ruled out, this may also be something you're experiencing.

The ladies have given you really good advice and you should def. try to incorporate some of those suggestions into your regimen and see if you see an improvement.

Good luck and HHG. I know you'll reach all your goals. Just remember that longterm PATIENCE and CONSISTENCY will be your keys!

Aw thanks so much I love this group of ladies. I guess I have made some progress hehe

 

[PinkSunshine77]

Thanks again Nonie you were the key to the issue

 

[dancinstallion]

I feel your pain. This happened to me last year. I was in twists for 8 months and using growth aides. When I took my twists down it seemed like I lost lengtherplexed My feelings were hurt for a few months.