I WANT LONG HAIR!!!

[Cesarina]

I'm a very grown up woman, (I won't see 60 again!), but I yearn for long hair!
My hair is very curly - not soft waves or ringlets, but frizzy curls. Left to air-dry it looks and feels like a Brillo pad and shrivels up. Looking at charts I would put my type of curl as a 2B/2C. It has always been coarse and is still quite thick.
My mum was Italian, and my natural colour was black, but now I have let the grey grow out and I love it.
Thing is - it has never grown past my shoulders, which is where it's at now.
I wash it twice a week, using good shampoo and conditioner.
Every few months I use a hair mask.
Sleep on a silk pillow. I use heat protection and blow it dry smooth, (air-drying or using a diffuser just results in frizz). When smooth, any rain or humidity causes it to frizz up.
I get the ends and layers trimmed every 10 weeks or so.
I have a good diet, but I'm about to research as to whether any vitamins may help.
No hairdresser has ever had anything to suggest, and I'm wondering if some people, (like me?), have hair that is just not designed to grow long?
I know I'm vain and this is a first world problem, but are their any MN hair experts out there? Please?🙏

Thanks so much everyone.
I didn't expect such a big and speedy response to what is, being honest, an issue concerning my personal vanity!
My first course of action will be to greatly increase the time gap between getting my hair trimmed.
The second will be to cut down on heat applied.
The third will be to do some research on follicles.
You've all been great❤️

I did the curly girl method and my hair grew loads. Like you it never really grew past my shoulders until I started looking after it properly. If you have curly hair you need to use curl creams and gels before you diffuse so it doesn't go frizzy.

That's so sad - I'm sorry.

Try taking biotin once a day too.

Definitely keep your hair hydrated with a lightweight oil ar the ends or very light curl cream. I use a rosemary and mint scalp oil weekly and massage into my scalp and leave for a while then wash out. Don't get it chopped. Try and source a curly cut salon for your next cut, they will also help with caring and styling to get the best out your curls. Where are you in the country and I'll check the curl stylist list.
Also when you wash and condition your hair make sure you flood the hair with lots of water when rinsing your conditioner and squeeze it into your hair, as if you're scrunching it. Add a hydrating curl cream to soaking wet hair evenly before you diffuse it, hopefully that will help with the brillo look. Wavy and curly hair can be absolutely beautiful and a flipping curse lol. Xxx

Hi

Everybodies hair cycles vary in lengths. It may just be that your hair has a shorter growth cycle, longer rest and shedding stage and your hair may just not grow past a natural length. If you were not to get it cut it may just break and shed, so if you do have a good diet, regular trips and take hair supplements then it this may just be the case. Sorry I don't have better news, I have hairdresser friends that have been trying to grow their shoulder length hair for decades and it just doesn't work. So it's better to find a style to suit your hair, keep regular maintenance eg shampoos, treatments and regular trips to maintain a healthy head of hair.

Trims* not trips !

Liquid collagen is the only thing that has made my hair grow

My hair is cut every 6-12m.

I had a trim every 8-12 weeks, it never grew. In lock down I let it go for 8-12 mths and its grew long! Now I only get a trim if it splits which it doesn't really, min 6mths, I try for a year. I invest in Sisley hair oil at great expense but one bottle last a year and it keeps my hair so smooth.

I cut my hair every 8-12 weeks. It’s been growing nicely.

Also recommend biotin and liquid collagen.

Have been reading about scalp cleansing lately too, and exosomes. I think that’s what it’s called. It’s a treatment that stimulates hair growth.

A few years ago I lost half my hair after being really unwell and I was devastated. Now I’m mid forties and it’s the longest and thickest it’s ever been (yay!!)

Collagen and Omega 3 and a trim every 12 weeks. It grows so fast now I can’t believe it’s my hair.

Haven’t read every post cos I’m tired and can’t find my glasses and I’m sure somebody will already have said upthread

however what is your diet like?

Since I went Keto my hair is even thicker and faster growing than it was.

also BIOTIN

My hair started growing properly after I stopped smoking and cut down heavily on drinking

It would never grow past a certain point but now it does

I do cook from scratch with healthy ingredients so that probably helps too

I also dye my roots regularly

If my hair were to get thinner and stop growing I'd probably get a wig.

There are some amazing ones I've seen as opposed to hair extensions which I'd worry would ruin the hair I've got

Hi op I echo the pp who say not to have your hair cut often. It works!

im 47 and my hair is the longest and healthiest it’s ever been, sits at the top of my bum and I don’t know how it’s got so long. I hardly ever have it cut and it’s in such great condition. I started a thread on here last year about having long hair as a friend of mine said we shouldn’t have long hair past a certain age. Pretty much everyone on the thread disagreed which made me feel better.

i allow myself a blow dry ( and will sometimes straighten my hair as it’s wavy ) once a week and it has no damage. Use heat protection spray. Good luck!

I'm the same, so I gave up and now have a pixie cut. So much easier to care for, and I love it (and it actually makes me look younger). If I ever went longer than 12 weeks without a trim it just looked awful.

Someone on here mentioned that your hair falls out if your ferritin is on the low end of normal. I have to get my iron checked once a year, and my ferritin is always high end of low, or low end of normal. This year I've taken iron every other day, and my hair is longer than it has been in years. I also don't heat treat, trim like once a year, and wash only twice a week. Would one of those hair wrap things work as a way for you to dry your hair that smoothed it a bit?

I agree with a PP, if you're growing your hair you need to get it cut less. My mum, bless her, has been growing her hair for about 15 years and it's never grown out of a bob 😂 but that's because she gets it trimmed every 6 weeks 🤦🏼‍♀️

I have always had long hair, except once when I tried a shoulder bob. It's taken my about 3 years to grow it back down. I've probably had it cut about 5 times.

I know it's recommended to have regular cuts to keep it healthy etc, but if you want to grow it just space them cuts out.

Your hair will feel different, but that's because it's growing 🙂

Brian May..........I know exactly what you mean 🤣

I have actually read about that - thank you!

@NippyNinjaCrab I'd be very grateful for info about curl stylists.
I'm in Heswall, a town on the Wirral peninsula. Thank you!

I've got 2C wavy hair and have finally managed to grow it to a point I'm happy with. It's now about level with the bottom of my ribcage. Things that have helped me are not washing it too often, probably once every 5-7 days on average. I do a 2 minute hair mask every other wash, and I use a leave in conditioner spray. I also trim the ends myself every so often, but apart from that I get it cut once or twice a year. But most importantly and the thing that has made the biggest difference has been giving up using my straighteners, or curling the odd few strands I wasn't happy with (which would happen far too often). This has been the hardest bit as I also have a fringe which I straightened every day for years so have had to learn to embrace it looking a bit wild whilst it grows and repairs

Increasing the protein in your diet significantly over a period of weeks/months, and scalp massages - you can get plastic massage tools on Amazon very cheaply to help (ideally do it with your head upside down off the end of the bed, to further boost the circulation). You will see a big difference over a few months.

I’ve been growing my hair from shoulder length for the past six ish months and it’s currently at bra strap level and growing fast. My top tips are:

don’t cut it! 😁(you can ‘dust’ the ends every month or so, which means hunting through with a proper pair of sharp hairdressers scissors and snipping off any obvious split ends). Because each hair grows at different rates and we’re used to seeing blunt ends in modern haircuts, your ends might look a bit wispy, but that’s not split ends.

Wash only when needed - I wash around 2-3 times a week and use leave in conditioner and hair oil on the mid lengths and ends after every wash. My hair is fine and wavy so your curly hair may be able to go much longer between washes.

Sleep - I oil my ends every night, then put my hair up in a loose bun on top of my head using a satin scrunchie, and sleep on a satin pillowcase

Protective styles - you know when you see photos of victorian ladies with ankle length hair? part of the reason they could grow it that long is because they wore it up with the ends tucked in 99% of the time. Buns, hair sticks, french twists etc are the way to go.