Not Much On My Mind

I've been feeling quite ill today, and to top it off, I had yet another poor night's sleep.

I can't quite think straight, and I just don't have it in me to write much at all.

I did try to do a couple of hairstyles so that I could put some photos in the blog today, but I couldn't get one to turn out right. It's just one of those days, I guess.

Fortunately, I haven't taken my feelings out on my hair, so it's still on my head, and not any shorter. And that's about all I have to say on the subject of hair today.

I really need a good night's sleep tonight.

I'm going to eat early, and go to bed early. Right now, I'm just looking at the clock, and trying to be patient until it's a decent time for me to turn in.

'Til tomorrow. Much love to all.
xo

Sunday Blues

I was up too late last night. I don't know why. I had no intention of staying up late, and I wasn't doing anything special or exciting, but nonetheless, it was close to 3 by the time I fell asleep. I was up at 7:30 a.m.,  and while that's a great deal later than I ordinarily sleep in the morning, it certainly wasn't enough sleep to keep me going for the day.

So I had a tired yet sometimes enjoyable morning, but I wasted the beautiful afternoon sleeping, only to wake up feeling completely out of sorts. I honestly don't know what's going on with me sometimes. I feel as though I have some grumpy, snarky entity taking over my body and saying and doing things that feel beyond my control. Is this something to do with pre-menopause? If so, I want to figure out how to fix it. Even if it's hormonal, it's no excuse. There has to be some way to get a grip on this moodiness. I've done a lot of research on the Internet, but I've found nothing terribly helpful.

Well, as I said yesterday, I changed the colour that I use to touch up my roots. I am quite pleased with how it turned out, but it was pointless to try to take a photo today, it was already too dark to take an outdoor photo, and as we all know my hair looks different in every indoor photo anyway. I don't even know if the colour change will show up in photos. In any case I'm pleased with it. It's just a touch brighter than it has been. I think after so long of using the same colour for touching up my roots, the length of my colour was just grabbing it more and more to the point that it was lacking in any life.

We shall see how this pans out in future.

I am feeling frustrated again by remaining in that hair length no-man's land where I'm still limited to what hairstyles I can do. I go over to my hairstyle website, and I look longingly at some of the styles I had done before, but even though I was able to do many of them at this length, due to my new increased thickness, I just can't do them again yet.

It's a bit discouraging. I know that my hair has grown a lot this year; I know that I am closing in on my next milestone, but I am getting bored of wearing my hair virtually the same way every day. I just have to keep on keeping on, I guess. It's just disappointing when I want to put a new style photo in the blog, only to find that it's not working for me

Maybe I'm just having a bad day, and things will look different in the morning. Right now, I'm just not feeling very good about myself at all.

Hoping to be more cheerful tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.

xo

Lack of Sleep, PMS and Damaged Hair Don't Mix

Sunday evening already! Where did the weekend go? It was rainy all morning and cloudy and cool all day. Today was the very first time that the house was just a touch chilly when I woke up. Not chilly enough to put on the heat, but chillier than I've been used to.

I slept a bit longer last night--until 4:58 a.m. That was just not enough to make up for my sleep deficit, and I have PMS. Not a good combination.

I did that lovely deep coconut oiling yesterday, with wonderful results. I love that the oil can be washed out with conditioner. It never ceases to amaze me how well conditioner cleans hair. In any case, my hair feels soft and lovely.

However. I have to admit that I've been obsessing again today about my thin, damaged ends. I honestly don't know how bad it looks to any of you, but I can tell you that I can really feel it.

When I pull my hair into a ponytail and slide my hand down, there is not a gradual taper. There is a very abrupt point where the hair palpably gets thinner.

I swear if it weren't for you all who read this, I may have given in to temptation and chopped off enough hair today to get rid of those last few thin inches.

I am so fortunate to be accountable to you who read my words, as well as to my family. It makes giving in to hormonal whims more difficult.

So, crisis has been averted, and I won't chop. But I have to admit to you that I wanted to.

Finding that balance between cutting out damage and still allowing my hair to grow is very difficult at times, and today was particularly hard.

I just have to remember that I cannot expect perfection. No one is perfect and my hair doesn't have to be perfect either.

Thank you all who read my blog. You all help me more than you'll ever know.

I hope that you all had a great weekend, and I wish you a happy week ahead.

Love to all. 'Til tomorrow, my friends.
xo

Not Quite As Cheerful As I'd Hoped

I really wanted to be more chipper and cheerful when I wrote today, but it's just not happening. I still have a migraine and that summer cold as well as hot flashes, and I feel like a bear with a thorn stuck in its paw.

I'm not feeling as impatient about my hair today as I was yesterday, but I'm not feeling great about it either.  AutumnLeaves, wouldn't you think we'd have learned our lessons by this age?

I do want to say hi and thank you to Linda, a new reader who left some lovely comments on my website.  Your kind words cheered me up, and we can all learn  to be patient together.

I've mentioned before that I used to use cone-free products, but that I am now using cones (products with silicones) on my damaged ends. I really like the conditioners that I've been using, but I tried another one yesterday that made my ends feel as if they're made of plastic. This is not helping me feel any better about those damaged ends.  I don't know whether it was a one-time thing with this conditioner or if I need to clarify and perhaps that's the problem. I have used this conditioner in the past, but I don't recall my hair feeling this way after using it.

I will be trying the conditioner again, but I do have to say that the last few inches of my hair feel like Barbie hair.  It's really not a good feeling. I'll go back to the usual conditioners and give this one another try at a later date.  It really could be other factors that is causing my hair to feel this way. We'll see.

It's going to be quite a while until I'll be able to go cone-free again, but I'm not minding it too much ordinarily. If I try to go completely cone-free now, I'd have so many tangles on the ends, and my hair would feel so rough. It's just not worth it to me.

With the heat and the humidity, as well as the hot flashes that I'm experiencing, I just can't say enough how happy I am that my hair is long enough to put up and keep off my neck. I'm not wearing it in any way fancy, but it's up and out of the way. I don't know how I would cope if I had hair on my neck during hot flashes.

On another note, they say that a mother is only as happy as her least happy child.  I believe that to be true. I won't say much, but I will say that one of my kids is going through a trying time.  It's only temporary, and it's not health-related, thank heaven, but it's a trying time nonetheless. I truly hope things get better very quickly.

Well, I guess that's about as much babbling as I dare do today.

Love to all.  'Til tomorrow my friends.

Just Grow, Dagnabbit!

Maybe it's because I woke up with a summer cold this morning and I still have a migraine, but I'm feeling very--er--irritable about my hair today.

I was just visiting The Long Hair Community, and one of my buddies who joined TLHC a few months after me, whose hair was much shorter than my starting length just posted an update, and her hair, which was always beautiful, is now half way down her bottom and still gorgeous.

All I can think about is the fact that my own stupidity has set me back so far.  My hair right now is not much longer than it was when I started the journey 4 years ago.

It's true that my hair was damaged when I first started the journey, and that highly processed, heat-treated hair would likely have had to have been cut off eventually.  However, I really did myself in when I had the bright idea of dying my hair brown.  I know I've moaned about this several times, but today it's really getting to me.

I damaged my hair so much getting it back to my blonde colour, and I've had to cut so much of that damage off. I still have a few inches of that damage left.  It's not visibly damaged really, but I can feel the damage.

Yes, yes, I've ranted about this before, and I know that I can't go back in time and undo my mistakes, but sometimes it does get me down.  I guess today is just one of those days. I just need to whine and get it off my chest.

Intellectually I know that my hair will be at waist length a year from now.  I also know how swiftly a year passes these days.  But here I am frustrated yet again. Logic just doesn't always work.

Patience, PATIENCE, PATIENCE!!!  That has to be my mantra for the rest of the day. I'm sure I'll be over this frustration after a good night's sleep.  And now I'm off to have some green tea and take some vitamin C.  What kind of fool catches a cold in July?  Okay, don't answer that.

I hope to be back tomorrow feeling more chipper and cheerful.

Love to all.

Nothing Works For Everyone

Wouldn't it be nice if hair care tips that worked like magic for some people worked for everyone? It's just not the case though. It's such a matter of trial and error when it comes to hair. 

Even people with the exact same hair type can often have radically different results with various products, methods and treatments.

I remember when I first joined The Long Hair Community, I was overwhelmed with all of the products and methods that seemed to work like magic for some people. Someone with the same or similar hair type would rave about a product, and so I would run out and buy it and it just didn't do anything for me. Sometimes another recommended product would work like a charm.

I've come to the conclusion that every head of hair is as unique as a snowflake, and there really is no one thing that works for everyone.

If that wasn't bad enough, I've also realized that what works for me in the middle of winter does not work as well in the summer.  The change of seasons can often mean a couple of weeks of unhappy hair until I adjust my routine.

It can really be frustrating to look for that shampoo, conditioner, deep treatment or hair tool that will give the results one wants. I've finally settled happily into a routine, but not before trying many products and methods that just didn't work.

I still can't say that I've found the holy grail of hair products, but I am getting much better at knowing what will and won't work for my hair. I no longer seem to be spending money on products that don't work. My routine has become very minimal. 

If you're reading this and you're new to the long hair journey, just remember to try only one new thing at a time, and see how that works.

Don't try to change your routine too drastically with several different products, deep treatments or methods all at once, or you'll never find out just what is or isn't working.  Yes, it requires some patience, but you'll figure it out. You may also save yourself some money.

Above all, remember that growing long hair is a very, very long term project and you have time to figure these things out. As I've said before, it's a journey, not a race.

As for me, I still have that migraine that I mentioned yesterday. We did get the thunderstorms and there are more on the way.

Even though thunderstorms induce migraines for me, I do love them. There is something magical and so beautiful about hearing the tinkling of the rain, seeing lightning and hearing thunder and feeling safe and sound in one's home.

Luluj, if you live in the Niagara Region, then I imagine you live somewhere less than an hour from where I live.  I hope you did get that rain.  AutumnLeaves, I hope you get some rain too. It sounds awfully hot where you are. It's very hot and humid here as well. I'm hoping that the thunderstorms that we are getting today and over the weekend wash away some of that humidity as they nourish the earth.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful and happy weekend.

Love to all. 'Til tomorrow.

100th Blog Entry Already

I noticed today that this is my 100th blog entry. I honestly find it hard to imagine that for 100 days I have written an entry every day, mostly on the topic of hair. I'm glad I never thought this far ahead, or I don't think I would have thought I could have done it. Therefore, I likely never would have started.

What I've learned though, is that this blog is less about hair than the lessons it's been teaching me. I guess I've realized that the hair journey thing is a metaphor in many ways for the life journey in general.

I discovered fairly quickly that how I felt about my hair was often a reflection on how I felt about myself or about my life.

For example, I have learned that perfectionism is not necessary, often is destructive and can literally paralyze and stop me in my tracks. Sometimes "good enough" really is good enough. I don't have to be perfect. I would have thought that I would have figured this out a long time ago, but actually, it only became crystal clear for me during the process of blogging about my hair.

Patience.  I never really realized what a gift of grace patience truly is. And I have discovered that I have far more patience than I ever knew.

I also have learned that I am capable of stepping way outside of my comfort zone, which is what I've done by making my little videos. They may not look like much, but for me, it was a big breakthrough to be able to make the videos, let alone release them to the world.

What a wonderful thing it's been to actually follow through on writing every day. Some days I really think that I have nothing to say, but I write anyway. Somehow, something always comes out. They may not be pearls, but I manage to write every day anyway.

I honestly didn't think I had the stick-to-it-iveness to write on a daily basis.  But I have!

I have also learned that frustrations come but then they go. It's not worth getting hung up on something unimportant when in just a day or two it seems completely irrelevant. I'm finally starting to see what is meant by "don't sweat the small stuff".

Have I taken all of this to heart and integrated it into my personality and my life as yet? Well, I'm afraid I've still got a long way to go, but I'm seeing the path more clearly now.

So thank you blog, for these and the other lessons you've taught me, and above all, thank you to my readers, who help to keep me motivated. You mean so very much to me.

Love to all. 'Til tomorrow.

Sometimes I Scare Myself

Wow, it's really hot and humid here today.  The temperature as I write this in late afternoon is 91F/32C but it feels like 107F/41C with the humidity.  It's soooo not my kind of weather. Of course, thunderstorms are in the forecast, but I doubt that it will wash the humidity away.  We're looking at hot temperatures for the rest of the week as well. There is a smog advisory in effect here too as often happens when the humidity and heat are so high.

I have to admit that this kind of weather makes me a bit cranky. If conserving electricity were not so important for both the environment and the pocketbook, I would keep the house cooler, but I can't do that in all good conscience. So it's hotter and more humid in the house than I would like, and my mood is not wonderful.

Now I'm going to sound like a broken record, but if I don't get these thoughts on the page, they will be trapped in my mind, and right now, that would not be a good thing. I guess what I'm about to write is one of the reasons that I call this hair journey of mine a bumpy one. The road never seems to be smooth for terribly long.

Once again, I find that my mood leads me to strange thoughts about my hair. Dissatisfaction kicks in again, and perfectionism rears its ugly head once more. I have a compelling desire to start all over again, to get rid of the damage that I caused two years ago, and to get rid of the breakage that has now grown to just below the nape of my neck.

Of course these are just thoughts.  However, they keep coming back over and over today.  I have promised that I will not cut my hair without mentioning it here, invoking the 2-week rule, and allowing you, my friends, to remind me that it would not be a good choice.  I have no intention of breaking that promise, and I'm not even close to invoking the 2-week rule.

Yet, I keep imagining just how nice it would be to start afresh.

Realistically I know that I would not be happy starting my long hair journey for a 4th time in as many years, and it would be just another act of sabotage. Having an ear-length bob is not where I want to be. I am now getting so close to being able to do more styles with my hair in the coming months.

However, it gets a little scary when I realize that if I were not holding myself accountable not only to me, but to all of you, I could undo years' worth of growth in a matter of mere seconds.  And I wouldn't be able to take it back.  There are no take-backs when hair is cut.

So, while I have had these thoughts today, I will not do any cutting or even trimming until my next scheduled 1/2 inch trim in September or October.  I will do something nice for me and my hair today, and tomorrow, I'm sure that I will be feeling back to normal once again.

I just wonder if and when I'll ever come to a point when I don't have these evil hair days.  I really hope so.  It's not very pleasant.  Was I always like this?  Is it something to do with being menopausal?  Does anyone else go through this?  Am I really this neurotic? I just don't know. Perhaps I'll figure it all out one day. I'm just not there yet.

Love to all.  'Til tomorrow.

Seeing My Hair The Way It Really Is

If there's one thing I've learned during my long hair journey, it's that I often don't see my hair the way others see it. Sometimes my hair gets longer and I reach new goals, but for some reason it just doesn't feel long. 

I know I'm not alone. I read posts by people all the time at The Long Hair Community, who have achieved even extreme lengths, and they don't feel that their hair is actually very long. To the rest of us, it really does look lengthy, but to that person, it just doesn't. Those same people will look at photos of others with the same or even shorter length, and think that the other person's hair looks longer than their own.

When my hair was closing in on waist length a couple of years ago, I really didn't have the sense of having very long hair. It's only in retrospect that I look at old photos from that time and I think to myself, "wow, my hair was really long then!"

I don't really know why this phenomenon occurs, but it does. It takes the edge off of reaching certain goals. Perhaps it's that the length sneaks up so very slowly. Perhaps it's just that we never do see ourselves the way others do. I think many of us are more critical of themselves than others are.  I know I am.

Right now, I do have long hair, in real world standards.  In Long Hair Community standards, it's really not very long.

I think I really need to learn to observe my hair in photos as though I were looking at someone else's hair.  I think that might be the only way to see my hair the way it really is.

Feeling that my hair is "less than" is really quite destructive thinking, and could really lead to giving in to a chop out of frustration.

Don't worry, I have no plans to chop, it's just that I recognize now when I have a false sense of the length of my hair. I need to learn how to detach and be able to see it as it is.  I don't want to reach BSL in a few months and still feel that my hair is too short.  I don't want to reach waist length next year and yet still feel that my hair is too short.

So that's the latest thing that I realize I need to work on in this journey. I need to learn to be as kind to myself as I am to others. This is a hard lesson for me, but I really want to get there. It will certainly make reaching goals much more rewarding.


I want to wish all of my American friends a very Happy Independence Day. I know how good it feels to be able to collectively celebrate the love of one's country. I hope you're all enjoying the day, and all that it means.

'Til tomorrow.

Love to all.

Almost Update Time

Although in the past, I have admitted to experiencing a certain girlish glee when it comes to my monthly progress updates. This month, not so much.

I have mentioned that I trimmed the "v" from my hemline.  Although I really only trimmed a small portion of my hair to do that, it made a real impact on what my length will be.

It seems so silly, in a way.  I know I've made growth progress this month, and most of my hair will be longer, but the very centre of the back of my hair will not be.  Yet, I still keep feeling that my hair is so much shorter.

I don't really know why this bothers me.  The "v" had to go some time, so it was probably better sooner than later and is it really reaching a new length milestone when just a tiny "v" of hair reaches a certain point, but most of the hair doesn't?  Not really, in my opinion.

I think my negativity today has a lot to do with the fact that I woke up at an unholy hour this morning, so I'm a bit sleep-deprived, we are under a severe thunderstorm warning, and I have quite a bad migraine going on. Also, I've had more than the usual number of hot flashes today, likely to do with the humidity.  Even at this hour, it's very hot out, and the air is so thick with humidity that it feels as though you could cut the air with a knife.  It's very humid in the house too, even with the A/C.

Any one of these things on its own might make me feel somewhat down, but with all of it, I really do have the blues today. Of course, whenever I'm blue, it tends to magnify anything that I'm not happy with about myself.  Well, it's just past 7:00 PM, and to be honest, I'm counting the hours until I can go to bed, hopefully get a good and full night's sleep, and perhaps everything will look better in the morning. I hope so.  I hope to be more cheery when I write tomorrow.

I also hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend.  Love to all.

I Need Hairstyle Inspiration

I'm in a rut.  I think it's because my hair is just at that length where it's growing out of many of the shorter styles that I love, but it's still about two or three inches too short to do some of the many updos that I've been waiting so long to do again.

Also, my hair is thicker than it ever was previously at this length.  I attribute that to better hair care leading to less breakage.  That's a great thing. I dreamed of having thicker hair and actually having it means that my hair care is really paying off.

However, thicker hair means needing more length to do many updos that I used to be able to do at this length. I can't yet do a Celtic Knot, except in a half-up.  The same goes with the Infinity Bun and one of my favourites, the Rose Bun.  There are many others too numerous to mention.

I was looking at my website longingly today, seeing the styles that I have done before, but can't yet do again.

Really, there are many alternative hairstyles that I can do at this length, but nothing is really grabbing me.  So I end up in the same old French Twist or Cinnamon Bun most of the time.

Does everyone hit a length when they get bored with their hair? I hope it's not just me, and I really hope that it passes very soon.

Maybe I'll run across a new hairstyle to try and become inspired again. I really hope so, and soon, because feeling as though I'm in a rut is not helping my patience level at this point.  And as I've mentioned many times before, even yesterday, patience needs to be my best friend in this long hair journey.

The Mystery of the Missing Hair Accessories

Over the past four years, I have amassed a fair sized collection of hair jewelry and hair accessories.

From time to time they tend to wander.  I do have a special spot for each and every hair stick, barrette, hair clip and hair fork, but from time to time I get lazy when I undo my hair and I put my hair accessories in a “safe place”.  Apparently the place is so safe that even I can’t find it.

I am in that world of lost hair accessories today.  I was looking for a lovely pair of Mei Fa hairstyx that I really wanted to wear, and they are not with my hair stick collection.  What’s worse, is that the other pair that I got at the same time is missing as well.  Clearly, I put them somewhere for safe keeping, and I played a joke on myself and forgot where that somewhere is. 

I decided to look through my collections, and I realize that I am also missing a much loved barrette and hair fork.

The Mei Fas are irreplaceable, as they are no longer to be found in that size and style.  Aside from that, I can’t afford to replace them.

The barrette and fork are replaceable, but again, I am not shelling out good money for something that I am quite sure is somewhere in this house.  But where?

I looked in all of the likely places and even some very unlikely places.  All to no avail.

Now, I have to admit that I do have many other lovely hair sticks, barrettes and forks, but these missing items are eating away at me.  What’s worse is that I now realize that they must have been missing for quite a long time before I noticed that they aren’t where I thought they were. 

This makes it even more problematic, because who knows what I may have surrounded them with after putting them somewhere for safe keeping.  I may have a year’s worth of items camouflaging them more than they already were.

So okay.  Lesson learned.  No matter how tired I am at night, or no matter how much of a hurry I may be in, I must remember to put any and all hair accessories in one place and one place only, if I can’t put them in their proper home.

I don’t know why I’m so upset about this today, but it’s driving me mad.  I think hormones may be at play here, but it really doesn’t matter.  I don’t need this aggravation that I clearly caused myself.

Well, I’m going to do some activities to distract myself from this obsession I’ve had today about these missing items.  And I have to remember that one day, when I least expect it, they’ll turn up.

Tomorrow I hope to have a new tutorial for you.  It’s an easy but elegant protective style.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.  I don’t want to have to come here tomorrow as I did on Friday and say that I can’t make a style work yet again.

Now, I’m just going to breathe deeply, relax and perhaps another movie is in order.  It really did the trick the other day.

Love to all!

Today Is a Bad Hair Day

All I really wanted to do today for my blog was a style tutorial.  However, my hair is not in the mood to cooperate.

My hair is just too slippery today.  I tried a French Twist, and it slumped.  I tried a Figure 8 and it fell out.  I did a 5 Strand Braid Half-up, and it just drooped.

I won’t say I’m not frustrated, because I really am.  Yet as I wrote in this post, we all have bad hair days from time to time. 

Why is my hair so slippery today?  I washed the same way, with the same conditioner that I always do, and I thought that I had rinsed it as long as usual, but for a reason that eludes me, my hair just doesn’t feel the way it usually does.  That’s just the way it is today.

So, I’ve settled for just wearing a messy Wrapped Hairstick bun, which is one of my bad hair day go-to styles.  One really can’t go too far wrong with this one.

It’s meant to look messy.  One day this month, I’ll give instructions on how to do the Wrapped Hair Stick Bun, but for now, I’ve had enough of attempting to style my hair. 

I’m pretty sure that if I tried to document this hairstyle step-by-step today, I would get more frustrated than I already am.  I’m not about to do that. 

I think I’m going to forget about anything to do with hair for the rest of the day, and just watch a movie.  Yes, that is just what I’ll do.

Good Day, Bad Day

Sometimes I have to go back and read some of my own words in order to keep from backsliding on this journey.

This morning, I was suddenly keenly aware of that patch of breakage from 18 months ago near the crown of my hair.  It’s much longer now, but it’s still so far from the ends,  creating a false layer. It was sticking out of my updo this morning as if in mockery of my past foolishness.

I also felt very frustrated because it seems as though the trek to mid-back will last forever. I just couldn’t see any progress.

I had a very strong urge to trim, but my regular 1/2 inch trim is not scheduled until July. Annoyance was really setting in.

I went back and read some of my more enthusiastic blog entries in order to try and change my frame of mind.  Then I hopped in the shower and washed my hair.

To my surprise, when I took my hair out of the towel, I could feel my wet ends touching a spot on my back that I didn’t feel last week.

While I can’t see any progress, today I could actually feel it.

Once again, thank heaven for those tiny little milestones. They always seem to provide encouragement just when I need it most.

Goals and Expectations

Growing your hair from short to long can be a very long process. It can also be frustrating unless you set manageable goals and have realistic expectations.


If your hair is currently an ear-length bob, and you ultimately want tailbone length hair, it feels like forever until you get there. So set mini-goals. A great way to set mini-goals is by using body markers.  In the case of the ear-length bob, your next goal may be to lip length, then chin length, then grazing-the-shoulders length.  Keep those initial goals manageable and within reach of a few months to a year.  This really helps keep you going. You don't need to lose sight of your ultimate goal, but keeping it on the back-burner saves a lot of frustration.


I've mentioned before the importance of taking monthly length photos. It's highly unlikely that you'll see much difference from one month to the next, but you definitely will see progress when comparing this month's photo to a photo from 3 or 4 months ago. Seeing definite progress will really help to keep you motivated, and when you start to think that your hair isn't growing (and it will happen), you have those old photos to look at and they will remind you that no matter how slowly, you are making progress.


Also, have realistic expectations about what your hair is going to look like when it's long. Don't compare yourself to someone who has a completely different hair type. If your long hair inspiration is someone with thick, wavy, coarse-textured hair, and you have straight fine hair, you have to know that your hair will never look like that wavy person's whose hair you so admire.


As your hair is growing out, learn to appreciate the unique beauty that is your own hair.  Believe me, beautiful hair can be thick or thin, curly, straight or wavy. Now is the time to embrace your own individual hair type.  Look for inspiration from people whose hair is similar to yours.


These tips will keep your long hair journey less frustrating, more fun, and you'll be less likely to want to give up.


Happy growing!

Sometimes I Just Want To Give Up

Growing long hair is a really long-term commitment.  Sometimes I feel stuck and it feels like there's no progress at all.  Sometimes I look at the flaws in my hair and want to cut it all out, so that my hair looks perfect.  Right now I still have some residual damage and the perfectionist in me doesn't like it.

Even though my hair grows more quickly than some, it can be a discouraging process.  Even thinking about when I will achieve my next goal seems so far off and unreal.

So how do I keep going?  Well, there are a few things I do to help when I feel discouraged.

One thing I do is take monthly progress photos.  While I don't often see any progress from one month to the next, if I look at a photo taken three months earlier, then I do see that there's been growth.  This is a great tool for me, and often keeps me going when I get the urge to chop.

Another thing I do to distract myself from the impatience of growing hair is to try new styles that I can do at each new length.  I enjoy practising different braids and updos, and it's always a revelation when I learn something new or when I discover that I can do a style that just a month ago I couldn't do just because my hair was that tiny bit shorter.

Sometimes it's necessary just to put my hair up in any old updo and forget about it.

The biggest thing I have to get over is my need for perfection.  Yes, I have some breakage from my last big lightening that remains and there's a slight colour demarcation line from where my hair was dyed lighter.  In the past, I would have just cut my hair off either the level of the breakage, or the level of the slight colour change.  I'm learning to live with the imperfections of my hair.

That's a hard thing for me to do.  It really is.

So I have a plan to rid my hair of damage, and that is to trim about 1/2 inch off every three months.  That way my hair still grows, but I'm gradually getting rid of damage.  Also, it helps keep my ends looking neater and fresher.

Anyway, as humans, none of us is perfect.  Why must I expect my hair to be?  I'll be mulling that one over the next time I get frustrated.

So there are no big chops looming in my future.  I've been there and done that and I know it's not what will make me happy.  I think I'll just put my hair up now and forget about it.

Tomorrow I'll be posting a quick and easy hairstyle.

I hope everyone is having  a wonderful weekend.