Anyway, I decided I shouldn't thrive for longer hair or shorter hair or blue, red, green or blonde hair, what I should want is healthy hair. If that meant it was 2 inches long, or 12 feet, it shouldn't matter as long as it is healthy. So I told myself "Autumn, for a year, we're not going to cut our hair, we're going to let it grow. Let's see how long it will get in a year. Along the way, we'll find the best hair care routine we can possibly manage, and we'll work it out."
That December (2012) I started my hair care journey. I started watching "Hair Care Routines" on YouTube like it was my job. I started watching "Hair Care Journeys" as well as "Transitioning Stories." I was so fascinated by the world of hair care that I wanted to try all of the secret methods that these girls and women talked about. These methods for letting their hair grow out so long and healthy, and I wanted to be apart of that, so I started trying methods for growing out my hair.
The first thing I tried was Biotin. Biotin is a B-vitamin that is formulated to help with hair and nail growth and with skin healthiness. The one I picked up was 5000 mcg (although it's recommended that you start with 1000 and work your way up because it can break you out if you dive right into it). I don't know about normal people out there, but it's hard for me to take vitamins every day because 1. I forget they're there or
2. I become cocky and I act like "oh, I don't need these, bye." So I didn't take them for long enough to see the results. However, I stared at the almost full bottle of biotin under my sink, and realized I needed to take them so they aren't just a total waste of money sitting there mocking me, so I have started taking them again. With Biotin, it is important to remember to drink a ton of water everyday you take it because if you don't, then it may cause you to break out (and if your break outs are anything like mine, they're cystic so the happen under the skin and are incredibly painful! So I make sure to drink my water).
The next thing I tried was coconut oil. This little guy was/ is my holy grail. The first one I tried was off of Amazon, and it was a little bottle because I didn't know how it would treat my hair. I heard about it mainly from African American women on YouTube who were transitioning from relaxed hair to natural, and being the curious little bugger I am, I bought some (and soon everyone jumped on the coconut oil bandwagon). I used up the first little bottle of it in probably about a month- a month in a half, just applying it generously all over my hair and scalp, leaving it on for at least 3 hours, then washing it out about 3 times (about once a week or every other week). After I used that bottle up, I promptly forgot about it. So for about six months, I didn't use it. But now I have the big momma 54-ounce jar. I can honestly say, that I can notice a huge difference in the way my hair feels, and how my curls are defined after I wash it out. And not to mention all of the other incredible uses for coconut oil! (p.s. extra virgin olive oil and almond oil are great for this treatment too!)
The next thing I tried were scalp massages. For about five-ten minutes a night (I usually do this while doing tedious homework) I just massage my head. I start at the nape and work my way up making sure I massage all over. This creates blood flow in your scalp causing your hair to grow faster.
Then it was time. The most dreaded part of growing my hair out healthy. Going heatless. Now, I didn't go completely heatless in 2013 because there were days when I needed my hair straight or I wanted uniform curls rather than the mass of frizzy wave-curls I have naturally. However, I have found some wonderful heatless curl tutorials. All you have to do is go to Youtube and search "Heatless Curls" and there will be more tutorials than anyone ever knew. I don't know if this did to much, but by not using heat, I minimized damage, so I would say it worked out. Maybe if you use heat every day, then it would be a bigger change in the healthiness of your hair.
And now for year two of having healthy hair. I have decided to not cut my hair until graduation in May 2015. I want to see how long it gets. I'm too curious to see how long the cycle of hair growth lasts for me personally. I started taking biotin again, but along with iron and folic acid (but we'll see how long that lasts). The coconut oil is being kept around because I love it for my hair, along with scalp massages. I want to go completely heatless in 2014, and I am excited to see if I can do it. Another thing I'm adding this year is to eat healthier. What you put on the inside is what you get on the outside. Hair is made up of protein and water, so by eating more protein and drinking more water, then theoretically your hair will grow faster.
(p.s. I do still color my hair because I like to change it up. However, I have reduced the amount I color it. Instead of every six weeks, I try to stretch it to every 8 or 10.)
This was my hair before (December 2012-ish). It's slightly below shoulder length.
This is in Febuary 2014. It had grown past boob length, but it's so big and frizzy that the only way to gauge true length is in the shower when it's wet. there's too much volume to be contained by a straightener.
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