Year End: How much did your hair grow in 2013?

[CaraWalker]

this will be my first year in a long time caring for my hair one my own, and i want to see some more growth in 2014. i estimate about 2 full inches to reach bsl in the back, so my hair should really be in great condition by this time next year. but im a little afraid i wont be able to do it erplexed

for those of you that keep track, how much did your hair grow in 2013? include months, inch differences, and trims if you know it. before after pics!

 

[Nix08]

The first 2 years I tracked my length religiously and hit 6 inches each year. The last year and a half I haven't been tracking and I swear I've only retained a couple inches. 2014 will be all about the measurements

 

[candie19]

In Jan. 2013, I started at 1 inch past shoulder. Now I am 1 inch away from bra strap.......
Protective styles, vitamins, healthy diet, tons of water grew my hair.

 

[CarefreeinChicago]

Stress has left me with big bald patches at the nape and the crown I think I am going to big chop and start over again.

 

[Fine 4s]

I had some scissor happy stylists in my hair so I wouldn't say I retained much hair this year, otherwise I'd claim about 4 inches...or I'd like to believe.

 

[kxlot79]

I attempt to regularly measure the same patch of hair near my nape.

6/30/13 this twist was a bit past 10 on my LC tee.
11/30/13, approximately same twist was a bit past 14.
In 5 months, my hair retained approximately 4 inches.

I would say my hair grew 7-8 inches this year but so far retained about 5.
I am aiming for retaining a minimum of 6 inches next year. That means no big cuts (+1"), minimal trims (~.5"), and regular dusting (1/8"-1/4")

Sent using LHCF app

 

[ezina]

I attempt to regularly measure the same patch of hair near my nape.

6/30/13 this twist was a bit past 10 on my LC tee.
11/30/13, approximately same twist was a bit past 14.
In 5 months, my hair retained approximately 4 inches.

I would say my hair grew 7-8 inches this year but so far retained about 5.
I am aiming for retaining a minimum of 6 inches next year. That means no big cuts (+1"), minimal trims (~.5"), and regular dusting (1/8"-1/4")

Sent using LHCF app

Umm, reggie please (particularly for those 5 months). Don't skimp on the details.

 

[chrisanddonniesmommy]

I made it to MBL. Last year, I was BSL. I don't track my hair growth.

 

[kxlot79]

I try to keep my reggie pretty simple. Or as simple as a recovering LHCF PJ can keep things.
The main things I did differently during those 5 months were: (almost) daily massage ~5 minutes, NO big cuts, and long term protective styles (3 to 8 weeks per style).

My regular routine (in addition to the above) is:
-weekly shampoo (or non-conditioner cleanser): focus cleansing on scalp
-cowash as desired
-DC 1+ times per week
-Protein treatment 2+ times per month
-1-4 henna treatments per month
-checking/adjusting PH of ALL products
-no direct heat
-M&S at least every other day, spritz of water daily
-30-90 minute S&D every styling session (I have a LOT of hair)
-low manipulation &/or protective styling
-oil rinse loose hair
-cool rinses
-silk/satin bonnets, scarves, and pillowcases
-finger detangling 80+%, seamless combs otherwise

My main problems are: changing my styles too often/playing in my hair (which isn't bad, but I definitely notice doing so undermines my length goals), and cutting too much/too often. Given the fact that I am 90%+ heat free, use direct heat 0-3 times per year, and consistently use quality products, my hair is never as "damaged" as I think it is. I always regret big cuts. Maybe 1 or 2 days out of a month, my ends might feel a little rough or crispy, and rather than do a good clarifying shampoo and concentrated DC with protein/moisture balance, I previously would just cut my hair first. It's a knee jerk reaction. I could also say jumping from product to product is a bit of a problem too. I have a hard time sticking to what works. Experimenting throws off my hair's equilibrium but I just have to do some kind of extra to adjust.

TBH, I think the things that made the biggest difference in those 5 months was long term PS, and NO big cuts. But since I also did (almost) daily massage (and that's a relatively new addition to my regimen), I intend to keep this up for the foreseeable future.

HTH!

Umm, reggie please (particularly for those 5 months). Don't skimp on the details.

 

[Lilmama1011]

My hair has gotten way better with health and my hair grew a lot!. I'm looking forward to my hair increasing length dramatically next year because I didn't really focus on length just health. The back of my hair went from 2 inches long to a couple of inches off my back. ( I suffered a major setback where only back was really short )I'm in between apl and SL with my front cut even with my back, I'm so happy

 

[koolkittychick]

There was a similar thread posted earlier here. I grew 6 inches, retained 5 inches after a 1" trim in August. You can check out the other thread for regimen and before and after pics.

 

[EnExitStageLeft]

Ummmmm I went from APL/BSB'ish to a inch past MBL and cut a inch and a 1/2 back to right at MBL.

How much is that? erplexed

 

[Ogoma]

I cut a lot this year, way more than ever. Going back to babying my ends and cutting less in 2014. I don't think I retained much (I think only 3.5 inches), but I grew quite a bit comparing my hennaed hair to my non-hennaed new growth.

 

[Saludable84]

I went from APL to MBL this year. I also dusted very frequently so I'm surprised to see something. Not sure of the inches I've retained, but I think the progress was good.

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[sparkle25]

A lot. At least 7 inches because I wore corn rows for about 9 months out of the whole year. I did cut off about an inch or so of that a few days ago though.

My hair grows nicely. It's breakage that I have a problem with.

 

[greenandchic]

I had zero retention this year though I didn't notice much breakage. I am a slow grower so that didn't help. I may be at my terminal length.

 

[prospurr4]

When I began my hair journey, I religiously tracked my progress, trimmed on schedule, DC'd weekly, M&S often, visited this site constantly, maintained a fotki, and took lots of hair photos. Lately, I've been busy with other things and have just lost interest in doing all of that. Now, I take reasonably good care of my hair and leave it alone...a lot. I have seen the most progress doing the latter.

I was grazing WL at the beginning of this year and finally reached it around mid-year. WL seems to be my "sweet spot," so I'm happy to maintain this length. My buns are big, and since I am texlaxed, I can still do shrunken, natural-ish styles. I may grow to WHIP length, but that would be my max.

 

[BostonMaria]

When I began my hair journey, I religiously tracked my progress, trimmed on schedule, DC'd weekly, M&S often, visited this site constantly, maintained a fotki, and took lots of hair photos. Lately, I've been busy with other things and have just lost interest in doing all of that. Now, I take reasonably good care of my hair and leave it alone...a lot. I have seen the most progress doing the latter. I was grazing WL at the beginning of this year and finally reached it around mid-year. WL seems to be my "sweet spot," so I'm happy to maintain this length. My buns are big, and since I am texlaxed, I can still do shrunken, natural-ish styles. I may grow to WHIP length, but that would be my max.

I did EVERYTHING you mentioned and still have a fotki, which is now updated once a year LOL it's not that I don't care, it's that I'm in maintenance mode since 2010 so there's nothing else to track.

Anyway I didn't cut my hair this year and I retained about 3 inches of hair. I think this may be my terminal length.

 

[oneastrocurlie]

I'd say 3-4 inches. I colored in February so I can see it the growth. I don't think I did good in the retention department. This was my first year fully natural and I've done a couple self trims and a professional one. It's been a learning experience but a good one. My nape grows soooo slow I'm going to get a trim in January and start the year with fresh ends

 

[Dee Raven]

I get 6 inches of growth per year. I wish I had before and after pics, but the part of my hair that I'm re-growing out (heat damage incident) went from APL to within an inch of wsl. I trimmed 1/2 in June. Will do so again in the next week.

 

[CharlieEcho]

I'd say 3 inches. My hair grows slowly

 

[DarkJoy]

I went from a 3 inch TWA to just at CBL in the back layers. Unfortunately, my crown and sides grow slow and break like a mug. The layers were too deep. Chopped the back up to just longer than NL to even up things a little. My crown is still barely at EL.

My strands are extremely fine so dusting and SDs are necessary. Everytime I trim, my hair flies right back out. I just have to not cut so darn DEEP--it gets addictive. Soooo...
2014's going to be all about the Split Ender. Trimming 1/8 to 1/4 will help me retain better and manage the constant splits.

 

[whiteoleander91]

I cut my hair in late March/early April of this year (5+ inches, yes I measured lol). My hair was maybe an inch to two inches shy of APL (it was grazing BSL before I cut). Since then I have had 2 more trims in which I trimmed about an inch each time. Now I am BSB/Grazing BSL again. I'm reeeally grateful for this year's growth.

I cowash daily, shampoo 2x a week, did the inversion thing for 3 or 4 months, found out I'm extremely low in vit D so I have a high dose prescription that I take once a week, regular protein treatments and I'm more gentle with my hair when I detangle. It's also worth mentioning that I have insane summer growth spurts.

First pic is from early April, second is from late November (Black Friday)

 

[Rozlewis]

I started my journey in August 2012. It took me till about December of 2012 to get a regimen, understand the moisture/protein balance, get products that worked for me, understand ingredients, etc. It was a trial and error experience. Trying to figure things out I became a product junkie. However, this really helped me to know which kind of products worked for me. After 1.5 years I have a better understanding of what my hair needs. I managed to retain about 4 inches from December 2012 to December 2013. There was more growth but I had to trim off some bad ends along the way.

I look forward to another year of healthy hair growing in 2014.

 

[marta9227]

I went from waist length to hip, but I'm short torsoed, so that's only three or four inches. I'm satisfied though because it was very healthy growth, and I maintained my ends well. Looking for tail bone length in 2014!

 

[Diva_Esq]

I went from waist length to about an inch til hip length currently. Shooting for hip length to tailbone length by the end of 2014.

 

[bebezazueta]

Rozlewis AMAZING JOB! Your hair made a complete turnaround.

 

[uofmpanther]

I big chopped in March after a 7 month transition. I'm now just below shoulder. I'd guess that retained 4-5 inches through my BC and 2 trims.

 

[MzOptimistic]

I use to measure my hair but now I just let my hair do its thang. I can tell you that I'm getting all 6 inches a year probably a lil more and I retain all inches. Mostly, because I wore my hair in nothing but ponytails with my ends baggied religiously. I also co wash my hair every three days. I will admit I don't deep condition as much as I should but I have recently started back. Currently, I rock buns with my ends tucked and very moisturized. I'm taking my vits religiously and I wash my hair once a week and co wash once in the middle of the week or maybe more, my hair loves water, especially once I'm around 6 weeks post relaxed. I added new vits (collagen and hyaluronic acid) to my regimen around the time I last relaxed my hair (11/09). I kid you not my hair had new growth within 2 weeks prior to me relaxing and I relaxed my hair bone straight (by accident of course) so I think adding the new vits to my regimen will have me at MBL in no time then on to WL. Not to mention the vits has my skin glowing as well. Double Bonus

 

[Taina]

Here some pictures from december 2012 and 2013, with straight and curly hair.