Hello! I figured I would share my experience with growing out short hair and some science and haircare tips. This will be a long one....grab some popcorn! I have PLENTY of experience with this. I am a short hair veteran! Short hair is anything chin length or shorter, medium is from the chin to the shoulders, and anything beyond the shoulders is considered long. Growing up, I was rarely allowed to have a real haircut. I can only remember getting 4 REAL haircuts between 1st and 12th grades. I got a cute one length bob in 1st grade, again at the beginning of my 6th grade year, then a layered cut in 9th grade that ended up looking too much like Mrs. Brady from the Brady Bunch (not even kidding you), and another one length bob my senior year of high school. All the years in between, I had very long hair. At some points almost long enough to sit on. Of course I had every variation of bangs over the years. After all, I am a child of the 80's and 90's. I have had the giant puff-ball bangs, the thick, straight bangs, coke bottle bangs, etc.
Right after graduation, I moved up to Massachusetts and started cosmetology school. When that happens, you essentially become a live model for haircut and color demonstrations in class. That was 12 years ago. I have only had long hair (past the shoulders), for short periods of time TWICE in those years. I love my hair all lengths. I miss having longer hair and styling into curls, updos, and braids. My problem is patience. Growing out a short cut takes lots and lots of it. There is no magic growth secret. Hair only grows anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 inch per month. Sometimes more if you are one of the few people who's hair grows like a weed. It also tends to grow slightly faster during warmer months.
Fancy vitamins, a good diet, and water will only aid in new growth being strong and healthy. All hair is dead cells. Meaning, as soon as it sprouts past the surface of the scalp, it is no longer living. All the good stuff happens deeper inside the follicle where cells are alive. Keeping the strands in strong condition is key to noticeable growth. No, cutting your hair regularly doesn't make your hair grow faster. It is still growing the same rate, but it is important to trim about every 6 weeks to keep dry, splitting ends under control. Imagine the patience of letting it grow, then you don't get trims, then the ends split. That split will travel up the hair strand and break off. If your hair is breaking off, even though it is growing, you will not have any extra length. By the way, if a company promises their product will heal split ends, they are so full of doo doo! You cannot....I repeat....CANNOT repair split ends. You have to trim them off. Period! Use good quality haircare that doesn't dry out your hair. Also do not shampoo daily. Even if you get oily, use a dry shampoo on off days. You need natural oils for strong hair. Avoid heat styling as many days as possible and lastly, elastics are the devil! Use them sparingly. They hold the hair so tightly, that you will have breakage over time. Lounging around the house, use a soft, ugly scrunchy for ponytails instead.
This last haircut was the shortest I've ever cut it. I felt froggy one day this April and wanted a faux hawk style. I used the number 3 guard on my clippers and buzzed off the back and sides. Cut the top a couple inches long and texturized the heck out of it. This is the result:
It was super fun and took just a couple of minutes to dry and style with some hair wax. I soon decided that I'd had short hair for a few years now, so I wanted long hair again. So the process begins! This photo is 2 months of growth:
This one is 3 months (note the slick-back trick):
In this photo, I have obviously gone red again, but it's the 6 month stage of growth and at the dreaded mullet phase:
This happens because the nape of your neck is the lowest point of your hairline. The hair the grows here is typically longer than the rest. I thought I would deal with it (as I had many times before). You can do one of two things during the mullet phase. Leave it be and wear headbands or fasten the top and sides away from the face with clips and bobby pins. This works great. OR you can have the mullet tail cut up to your hairline to make your style more bob-like. I chose to cut off the tail! From this point, it will grow out much prettier and evenly. So here I am in October, 6 months into growing with a cute little bob:
Take note that I also blended the front bang area. This was slightly longer than you see. I cut this at an angle to blend into the section the covers the ear. If not, it would look like a gap or a hole in the ear area. Yes, it looks cutesy-tootsie, but it certainly beats that long stringy back that doesn't nothing but annoy the ever living hell out of you. That, my friends, is how this process begins. I will post an update as soon as some more growth happens. I may also purchase some nice clip in extensions in a month or two. I will definitely post a how to on how that process goes. Hope this helps some of you decide to either chop it off or tough out the growth. Remember, you are beautiful, always!
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