Day 203 - Growing for 28 weeks and 6 days

Yet again I took a picture of my hair a while ago and never got round to writing a blog post! So here's another late picture - I took this one on the 2nd of July, so just under a month ago. It was the best of a bunch of photos simply because it turned out the least blurry - however I have a big kink in my hair that looks a bit weird but it should still give you an idea of the length of it. I think I had just taken my hair out of a side plait. I have been doing a lot of side plaits recently, like plaiting my hair over my shoulder. This is something I don't think I was able to do effectively back in January, because my hair was too short. I'd love to have a plait over my shoulder when my hair is really long, it's a style I really like.

My hair is longer now than in the photo but not hugely so. Well it's hard to tell. It's still looking healthy though! I've been using Lush's hair moisturiser R&B almost every day, it helps to calm my hair. I still use it to moisturise the end of my plait at night too! I've recently been using a different conditioner from Lush - American Cream, which smells absolutely lovely, however I have to use quite a lot of it to moisturise my hair - it doesn't feel as smooth as some other conditioners when I'm putting it on. It seems to work well enough but I think in general a richer conditioner suits my hair better. I do love the smell though!

I've taken to straightening my fringe quite a lot. I should probably try to do it less, even though I cut my fringe occasionally! I tend to end up straightening other bits of hair around the side of my fringe, which is not good because those bits will grow out!

I haven't as yet had anybody say to  me 'Your hair is getting long!' or similar comments, but then, I had hair longer than this in the past it's not something they'd really notice! I'll keep you updated on when it gets long enough to fetch any comments! I haven't told anyone about my project, by the way! Not because I'm deliberately keeping it a secret, but because it just hasn't come up in conversation, and I haven't had a reason to tell anybody! It's just a little project of my own.

Day 151 - Growing for 21 weeks and 3 days

My hair on the 25th March

I haven't updated my blog in ages! But the hair project has not ended, don't worry! And what's more, my hair has grown significantly since my last post! So many times I have looked in the mirror and thought, wow, my hair really does look longer. I mean, it's not super long or anything, but I think there is a definite difference. I haven't taken any pictures of my hair since the 25th of March though. I would take some now but right now my hair is in a plait and would probably be quite wavy if I took it out the plait so it wouldn't show off the full length. But I'll upload a picture from the 25th of March, which is around halfway between the last time I posted and now, and when I get a chance I'll take a picture of my hair now and upload it. 

I wrote about wanting to use hair treatments on my hair. I have tried out some hair treatments from Lush - First I tried H'suan Wen Hua, and it seemed to make a definite positive difference to my hair! My hair seemed softer and shinier, and less fluffy. I am currently trying out their other hair treatment - Jasmine and Henna Fluff Ease. It seems to be working well too, although I'm not sure yet which hair treatment I prefer, or is the most effective. I have been using a hair treatment once a week, at the weekends. 

The weekend before last, I went up to London for a party with some friends, and I decided to straighten my hair for the first time in ages - the difference in length from before was definitely noticable! I'm so glad that my hair is really growing! I also trimmed my fringe a few days ago because it was getting too long and covering my eyes. That's the one part of my hair I don't want too long! Hehe! Also, I have some split ends, but they are not too bad, and don't look noticable from a distance. I'm sure I've had far worse split ends before, on having cut my hair more recently. They don't go too far up my hair, they are just at the very ends, and the appearance of them is lessened by the hair treatments, and I also use Lush's R&B hair moisturiser, which I find very helpful for smoothing the ends of my hair and making it less fluffy - I just rub a tiny amount between my fingers and gently pat and smooth it onto the ends of my hair. I also plait my hair at night and put a more generous amount of R&B on the ends of the plaits overnight. Even if I don't wash my hair in the morning (I tend to wash my hair every other day), the ends don't seem greasy in the morning - the moisturiser seems to absorb into my hair overnight, which I figure can only be a good thing!

Day 39 - Growing for 5 weeks and 3 days

I smoothed on loads and loads of Retread conditioner this morning, and today my hair is really soft and healthy looking! And the shorter bits at each side of my face are looking nice and tousled but soft, rather than their usual crazy look. So all's going well!

Day 38 - Growing for 5 weeks and 2 days

I just looked in the mirror and thought ''my hair is looking really long today'', so I decided to update my blog. My most recent hair product I have acquired is some 'Retread' conditioner from Lush. It's supposed to be their strongest one so I thought I'd give it a try, as I love all things Lush. I've found I have to use a large amount in one go, to make it smooth all over my hair, but it has had a great effect I think - my hair seems very smooth and less tangly, and perhaps even a bit thicker! Also I was examining my ends yesterday and I seem to have less split ends, so perhaps using all this conditioner is smoothing them down. At any rate, my hair doesn't look like it desperately needs a trim. So that's good, because I have no intention of trimming it!

In my last post, I mentioned that I plan to do some kind of hair treatment. On browsing the Lush website, I have noticed that they sell some hair treatments that seem to have good reviews, so I may get hold of one of those to try first, rather than making my own. It may be a rather more expensive option though! But I'll see how it works. When I can next get to a Lush, that is.

Day 27 - Growing for 3 weeks and 5 days

I just took some pictures! So I shall attach one. I think my hair does look slightly longer! Although it could be the angle of my head in the photo. But comparing all the photos I took today with the ones I took at the start of this project, I think it does look longer! Maybe my hair is straighter today though. My hair does feel nice and soft now, and it seems to be drying less frizzy, which is good! I have kept using lots of conditioner. I aim to do some kind of a 'hair mask' soon, with perhaps avocado and olive oil. I have kept wearing my hair in plaits a lot. Oh, last weekend I did straighten all my hair, for a meet-up with some friends, and it looked really nice, that day and the next, until I washed it. Nicer than it used to look when I straightened it. So that's a good sign - hopefully it's stronger and more able to withstand the straightening now as well! Anyway, here's a picture.

Also, I know the ends of my hair are really uneven. It's because I cut it myself, being a student and all. I don't know whether I plan to even it up, or just let it grow how it wants and when it's long it won't really matter anyway if the ends are uneven!

Day 15 - Growing for 2 weeks

In theory, my hair should have grown around a quarter of an inch since the start of this project, which is exciting. I can't really notice the difference, as it would only be small. But I do hope it has grown! It certainly feels softer now that I haven't been using heated tools on it, and have been conditioning a lot. I seem to be managing to get it to look presentable enough, without resorting to heated tools - it certainly helps that I've been towel drying it rather than letting it completely drip-dry - towel drying it seems to make it dry neater. Another thing - I seem to be getting better at doing neat plaits, from all the practice I've been having from wearing plaits all the time! I have worn my hair in a single plait whilst going out, sometimes, without feeling too unpresentable.

Day 11 - Growing for 1 week and 3 days

Sorry I have not posted for a while, I was away at the weekend and have had a busy week. I have continued to treat my hair as nicely as I can, I did on one occasion straighten my fringe, but that is the only time I have used any heated tools. I have been washing my hair gently with lots of conditioner, in fact, the other day I stocked up on conditioner, buying a bit bottle of Herbal Essences 'Hello Hydration' Moisture and Shine conditioner. I'll start using that once I've used up the other one. I have brushed my hair around once a day, when I wake up in the morning and it is very messy and a little tangled, after I take it out of my plaits. I have been wearing my hair in plaits for most of the time, and keeping them in at night. My hair feels soft, although it does frizz a little. I'll upload some pictures in a near future post!

Day 3

This morning I washed my hair, using Herbal Essences Tousled Look shampoo and conditioner. I used loads of conditioner. I towel dried my hair aferwards, to get most of the wetness off, so it didn't take so long to dry, and it seemed to dry a little less crazy and frizzy so I may keep towel drying it. I worry though that it might cause 'wear and tear' on my hair but I'll try to do it gently. By the way, if anyone has any tips or suggestions for me, or anything they think I'm doing wrong, please leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you! Anyway, today my hair has been very soft, probably from all the conditioner I used. I wore it in a plait all day. That's all I have to say about today really! Tomorrow I am going away for the weekend, and coming back on sunday, so I probably won't be updating until then.

Day 2

Just wanted to say that I'm not going to do a post for every single day, because that would be a lot of posts, and would get quite repetitive! But I'll do one when I have something interesting to say. But anyway, last night I slept with my hair in a plait, and I took it out this morning. My hair was a bit tangled so I teased it apart with my fingers, and then gently brushed it. I put it into two plaits, and kept it like that until the afternoon, when I let it down - it had some nice waves from where it had been in plaits. I read somewhere that plaiting your hair encourages hair growth, so that's another reason why I'm plaiting it lots, as well as to protect it. My hair is looking reasonably shiny today, without being greasy or anything, but it's a bit frizzy on top and at the sides of the front - the parts of it that don't go into a plait. My fringe hasn't been too bad though, it's reasonably straight in fact. I don't intend to grow my fringe out, I'll keep that trimmed, for the time being at least! I also may allow myself to straighten my fringe, on occasions where that may improve a bad hair day! At least I will be trimming any damaged ends of my fringe quite regularly. Tomorrow morning I'll be washing my hair, so we'll see how it turns out after that!

Day 1

My name is Sophie, and I have medium length, brown hair, which has a mind of it's own. I've decided to start a project, and attempt to grow my hair as long as possible whilst keeping a blog of my progress. This may sound like a bit of a crazy thing to do! My hair is currently just below my shoulders, but I used to have much longer hair. In the last few years I have been using heated styling products on my hair and it has made it dry and damaged, and it does not seem to grow as fast as it used to, probably because my hair is breaking off. I miss having really long hair and so that's why I decided to try this project, as well as to improve the health of my hair! I think that making a blog about it will keep me motivated to treat my hair nicely and not resort to things like hair straighteners when my hair is going a bit wild!

So, I have set out a few rules to begin with, although this is all a bit of an experiment so these may change as things progress and I try different things, and work out what is better for my hair! But from the research I have done, there are a few things that should definitely help my hair. Firstly, I aim to change my hair washing habits, by washing my hair in warm or cool water instead of hot, by using more conditioner, by shampooing more gently, and by letting my hair dry naturally instead of blow drying it, and to avoid brushing or combing my hair whilst it's still wet. Secondly, I aim to brush my hair less in general, and brush it more gently and pull tangles apart with my fingers, to avoid pulling my hair out, and I also aim to plait my hair more often, including when I sleep, as I read that this helps prevent damage. Thirdly, no more hair straighteners or curling tongs! Unless it's a special occasion and I may make an exception! (I shall also try and find other ways to make my hair look presentable without heated tools!)  Lastly, I shall try to eat more protein rich foods, and vitamins that will help hair growth - I need to do some more research on what these foods are though! I also aim to drink more water, as that's always a good thing! Basically though, I'm just going to experiment and see what turns out good for my hair.

So today was the first day of my project. I washed my hair this morning, with a Lush shampoo bar called 'Squeaky Green' - and I tried to smooth the shampoo into my hair without massaging it too much, to avoid tangles. Then I used a generous amount of conditioner - I believe it was a Pantene one. I gently towel dried my hair afterwards and then left it to dry naturally, rather than blow drying like I used to. Once it was dry, it was a bit curly and frizzy and all over the place, typical of my hair if left to it's own devices! I went into the kitchen and my mum commented that I looked like I'd been dragged through a hedge backwards and asked if I'd like to borrow a hairbrush. I declined.

Later on in the day though, my hair seemed to calm down a little. I put it in a plait in the afternoon, and it's been like that ever since. I'm going to take it out now though and attempt to take a photo to put on here!

Photos taken! Not particularly good ones... but it will be good to have a reminder of how my hair was on day 1! I look forward to the rest of this project and hope that somebody will enjoy following my progress and maybe learn some tips as well!