Hair growing

Ha ha Deloria, nothing says sexy like going to bed in a coconut-oiled head with a shower cap! I do apologise to my boyfriend for looking so horrible sometimes, and he probably sees me more often with a cap on or stringy-airdrying hair than it looking nice!  He needs to take me out more often,  lol.

And right, roots are a great indicator of growth! I really try to baby my ends too so the growth is apparent through the lengths as well.

Thanks for the reply on measuring hair length. I actually thought it might be from the back hairline at the neck,  down to the end. Ha ha...

I am getting fed up with my hair 🙁 Since I last used JoBaz in August I have been really struggling with it. I cut about an inch off, and have been giving it lots of moisturising treatments. Then I stupidly tried the Tresemme Split Remedy shampoo and conditioner, which actually made it feel worse. So back to moisturising treatments, but it still feels yuck, and is super tangly. Not a happy bunny. I am not sure what to try next, I think I might cut more extreme layers in (it is pretty much one length atm, as I think the bulk helps to protect it as it grows) which will get rid of the dry ends and reduce the volume of hair I have to deal with as I am getting fed up of washing/treating/dying it as there is so much hair. I am ridiculously over attached to it though, the idea of chopping some off makes me sad. So indecisive :/ I just want to like my hair again.
It is 28.5" from hairline to tips now.

Wicked Pixie, I really feel your pain.  I didn't even get nearly to the length you have before I got fed up with it and chopped it.  I stupidly double processed and caused my hair to be fragile... which meant I had to baby the crap out of it all the time.  I got so tired of it breaking and feeling generally terrible (and looking terrible if I didn't fuss over it).  I got tired of having to be extra careful with heat and not being able to anything with it... I ended up chopping it and I've not regretted it once... but I wasn't attached to it at all.

Having some layers put in might help you keep the length but reduce some of the bulk and tangles at the bottom, and may help your hair at least look and feel better?

I keep picking up the scissors and chickening out lol. I don't know if you remember me posting about it, but I lost about two thirds of my hair to a reaction to prescription drugs a few years ago. So growing it back has become my obsession.
I have pretty much always had long hair. I have had it shoulder length a few times, but I hate it that short. (It is curly so needs the length/weight to pull it into waves, or else a lot of styling.)
I have used mayonnaise, but not a true protein treatment, do you think splashing out on K-pak or similar would be worth it? I have never seen much difference with protein in the past.
I really need a new cut and colour, or at least a plan to aim for. It is a mess atm.

I've been wondering if hair generally feels worse the longer it gets because it's older? Seems like a stupid theory but my hair is beginning to feel drier on the ends and I'm pretty sure I haven't over processed it... hmmm.

Wondering if maybe it' tresemme, I changed to them because of the "naturals".

I've used the K-Pak hydration and reconstructor but never found the results have lasted all that long. Really nervous of protein reconstructors because over proteining sounds worse than under proteined...

The ends of your hair will sustain more cumulative 'mechanical damage' over time, as they are the oldest parts of your hair.  As for over-proteining, my hair loves protein, so I don't have a problem with it, but others do, and it's all about finding your level of preference.  There's nothing to say that you have to use protein treatments on your hair, especially if it isn't damaged, some people's hair responds much better to just moisturizing treatments instead.

I keep picking up the scissors and chickening out lol. I don't know if you remember me posting about it, but I lost about two thirds of my hair to a reaction to prescription drugs a few years ago. So growing it back has become my obsession.

I do recall having seen that now that you mention it.  I think I'd be inclined to be attached to the length as well!

I do think a trim would help.  I think Daftscrawl is onto something with the length of older hair sometimes just feeling dryer because it's older - and it's prone to more mechanical damage from being tousled by wind and just rubbing against your clothing all the time.

I personally find K-Pak to be helpful for my hair.  I went a little nuts with bleach and colour removers trying to get the black out late this summer.  K-Pak did help - but only if I used both the DPR and the Intense Hydrator.  Just using the DPR didn't seem to do much... it was the two products combined that really improved how my hair felt.  I think, given that you are so attached to your lengths, a little trim and trying K-Pak might be worth it.

EDIT: Mindi wins!  😛

I chopped off oh I don't even want to think about it-maybe 7 inches in January. Maybe more I don't know. I waaaay over processed my ends and they didn't even look like human hair anymore. But for the first time in maybe 10 years I feel like my hair is healthy yay! Now I'm being really careful and trying to let it grow. It's been growing about 1/2 to 3/4 an inch every month! The longest part in the back is an inch or two above my bra clasp. I can't wait for the sides to catch up and for the back to get longer! I've been doing tiny little micro trims and it looks great, who knew hair could make a person so happy right?  

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Good luck everyone!!

I think my ends have maybe just reached the end of the line. They were permanent black, so have been through several colour removers and a couple of bleachings more than the rest of my hair.
My sensible head says shorter hair in good condition will look better, but my less sensible head is still reluctant to cut hair that isn't absolutely ruined/fried/breaking off lol. I think a better cut will be more flattering too, I am getting concerned that all this hair is aging me.
Worst of all, the doctors want me to go back on the drug that made my hair fall out. So I might lose it all again anyway.

Could you try leaving a hydrating treatment in an upstyle for a whole day maybe? Some sort of protective style like pretty braids clipped up and see how it feels at the end of a day? And apparently zero processing or heat styling can help that as well but I seriously couldn't do nothing to my hair.

My sister (who is so ungrateful for her hair that I want to hurt her) has almost tail bone length hair that she has never coloured, rarely brushes just leaves down to air dry then plats once it's dry, she doesn't even own a hair drier or straighteners nor do I know when she last had a cut had quite dry ends and she just started leaving more hydrators in it because it was going static with her little girls toys :

Braids are a lifesaver for me these days, my hair remains silky and even that stupid knotty nape area is manageable.

I frequently leave coconut oil on all day. Luckily I mostly work from home, so the slimy swamp monster look isn't an issue 🙂
I maybe should keep it plaited in the day too, it is the nape area that gets knotty, and I am out in the wind and rain a lot. I feel a bit naked with my hair up, so generally leave it down if people are likely to see me.
I already brush as infrequently as possible and only use heat when actually dyeing. It has worked really well up until now. I used to be a frequent straightener, giving up the straighteners has made a huge difference.

I was going to say that I've read that once hair goes around bra-strap length, it's best to braid it to help protect it.  My hair's around that length now, and I'm forever catching it in my purse strap, so I'm going to start braiding it regularly to keep it safe and only wear it down on the odd occasion.

About hair growing, I do have to admit I was really expecting, when I first joined this forum, that there would be some conversation about keratin blow-dry treatments and was quite shocked that no one was talking about it.

Even though it requires heat-styling, something about the keratin has protected my ends for the last 3+ years.  Giving up heat-styling by itself may help your hair from becoming dry and brittle, but I've been using keratin religiously for the over three years, and my hair has never been longer.  I admit, a few times, I'd just put the keratin on without the flat iron - just used it as a styling product.  But most times, I used a flat iron.

Keratin + straightening... I'd say an average of 3 to 6 times per month over the past 3 to 4 years (considering the odd month here and there that I took a break + averaging up to 8 to 10 times per month), and I could not be more chuffed with the length, it has never been longer.

I truly wonder what people's thoughts are about keratin (to clarify, I mean the Brazilian Blow-Dry treatment) and why no one has tried it themselves or talked about it?  I have read a couple of posts here that people have gone to get it done at a salon, but why not learn to do it yourself - it's so much cheaper.

Sorry... I swear by keratin blow-dry. 😀

Alexia, probably because most of us avoid heat styling at all if we can and we already use protein reconstructing treatments to repair bleach damage.  Overuse of protein (aka keratin) often times contributes to hair breakage as much as from bleach and mechanical damage.