I I found this site looking for instructions on rag-curls through google, hadn't really thought about growing my hair long again until I read some of the postings here. Granted,I've never had really long hair, only to my waist or so, but it's been just below shoulder blade length (or BSL) for quite a while. Yet I suddenly feel inspired and informed my fiancé so, and asked for support. Although I couldn’t say he was excited, I certainly know he was very encouraging. Yet the reason why I'm writing now to all of you is, A) I need support from women!, and, B) My hair is shiny and soft, but it is so very fine that it breaks if I look in the mirror, let alone comb it or put it up (even in the gentlest way). Well I feel rather silly writing this but I've read some of your posts and you seem so lovely, and so supportive—hopefully I have something to offer too!

K.

Welcome, Ollave!  :)

The members of this board are great so I don't think you'll ever be short of support here. I know what you mean about being inspired after looking at this forum. When I first joined I was only going to grow my hair to my waist, but after a few weeks I changed that goal to tailbone length and will probably grow it longer than that.

Good luck growing! I hope we can help you with your hair goals.

Welcome  :)

You found a wonderful place of hair-wisdom and every day advice. I am sure that you will receive lots of ideas and suggestions on what and how to treat your hair before this day is over.  :)

Hi and welcome!  :D

  It sounds like your hair is quite similar to mine. I thought too that my hair is extremely fragile. But, during the year I've spent on this board, I've learned that there are great many things that can be done to protect and strenghten fine hair. Now that I know what my hair needs and what to do with it, I've found out that it's actually quite nice a hair and easy to take care of too! Small changes can result in huge improvements.
      Wearing hair in an updo is very protecting and good for hair. If your hair breaks when you put it up gently, the main problem lies probably elsewhere.

Maybe you could tell us in detail, how you treat your hair and what products do you use? Have you permed or colored your hair? Do you use heat styling tools or blowdry regularly?

Your hair sounds already lovely and I'm sure that in no time you'll start noticing improvement in its condition!  :)

[glb]Hello and Welcome[/glb]

You've arrived at the temple of the hair goddesses. :) If support and expert advice is what you need, you've come to the right place.

Welcome!

I'm glad you've become inspired to grow your hair longer.  I think that many have visited us and suddenly realized that they really wanted long hair, but didn't know how manage it.  This is the place to find out and to get the support you need to reach your goals.  Tell your fiance' to hang around too - we can turn him into a hair minion!  ;D

Welcome!  ;D

Thank you all for such a warm welcome!

Oh no, I don’t mistreat my hair in any way – no dyes, perms, hair dryers, curling irons, nothing. I had some sun damage (my hair is coppery but was turning blonde) and cut it off two months ago, hardly any split ends since then. I use Nature’s Gate Shampoo and Conditioner, vitamins, and Aveda oil. But all of the women in my family have the same problem with breakage so I just assume it is genetics. Yet I’ve noticed after just two days treating my hair like a new-born that it is even softer and looks healthier, but it certainly isn’t as thick as when I was younger. (If anyone has advice for strengthening and protecting fine hair I’d love to hear it.)

As for fiancé, well, he’s always loved my hair, and when I told him I was growing it longer and asked for help he said it might take him four hours to braid but he’d do it!

P.S. Can anyone explain how to insert an image under my username?

wrote on Nov 16^th, 2005 at 1:43pm:

P.S. Can anyone explain how to insert an image under my username?

Check out the Tips for the Week area.  There is a topic for Using a Picture for Your Avatar.

hello ollave :),

  welcome to the boards. you will have fun growing your hair long here with all this wonderful support. goodluck and happy hair growing!

caui

Welcome ollave!  So nice you have a hair minion already lined up.  You at least know you can get to waist length with your fine hair.  With some more patience and time, who knows what will happen???  It will be fun to be on the journey with you ;)

Welcome!  Everyone here is very supportive and inspiring.  I think you'll find some good ideas here.  

Cynde

Ollave, welcome to Longlocks! You're going to love it here. Another cool thing about this community is the interactive hair journals we have. So if you're looking for a lot of support in your hair journey I highly recommend starting a hair journal to keep track of your trials.

*Hugs*

Anais

Hello and welcome!  Everyone here is so helpful and friendly, I am sure you will get lots of good suggestions.  

I also have fine hair, although not as fragile as yours sounds.  Since I started using henna to dye, it has become noticably stronger.  Henna contains a protein that bonds with the hair shaft and strengthens it.  So there is one possibility. :)

Greetings, Ollave  :)

My apologies for the delayed response.

I certainly know something about fine hair and breakage! My own hair is as fine as spiderwebs (hence, my screen name) and I have semi-recently been experiencing a lot of breakage. Do you use any type of strengthening complexes on yours?

You've definitely come to the right place for support - especially from women! My hair used to be waist-length several years ago, and I consider that long!

Hopefully we can both reach (and hopefully surpass!) that once again.

Glad that you could join us. Look forward to seeing more of your posts.

Welcome aboard! :)  I hope you like it here.

Wow, thank you all for the welcome!

Anais, I’ll definitely consider starting a journal – though I’ve never been very diligent about such things.

Sasha, I’ve actually been using henna (colorless) for fifteen or more years. I find that although it does help make my hair stronger it is also quite drying so I don’t use it very frequently.

Angel spun, other than the henna I don’t use anything to strengthen my hair. I’d love to hear any suggestions.

Again thank you all so much for the welcome, it is so heart warming!  :)

My chance to say a formal hello to you...HELLO & WELCOME!  Thanks for the advice in my thread about migraines, I'm taking everybody's advice into consideration.  I'm happy for you that you can grow your hair so long,  as far as I know I am not able to go much past BSL, but I'm really trying this time.  Have you ever tried any kind of hair vitamins for strengthening?  I never have, but am considering starting.  Maybe someone can jump in with some input on that... :D

Welcome, Ollave!