First of all, hiya!

Now, onto the hair stuff.

Basically, I used to have really long hair, until I did modelling and my hair got hacked off and dyed horribly, so I had to cut off even more to save it. It got dyed badly again several months, so I got the dead ends cut off this morning. It's now back to my natural colour too (dark brown), and I don't intend to dye it again for a long time.

I've had it trimmed to about 2 inches past my collarbone, so to me it looks terribly short and crap and I'm desperate to get my long, healthy length back.

Lately I've practically stopped straightening my hair (say, the last 3 months or so). I'll straighten it once a week, after I wash it and let it dry naturally, while using protection serum. I also only wash it once a week, and tend not to tie it back in tight ponytails and things. I also use completely natural shampoos from Lush as well as conditioning treatments. However, this wasn't making any difference because my hair kept snapping off, so I had it trimmed today to start all over again (I realised where I was going wrong with the lack of trimming).

I want to get it down to at least boob-length. If I carry on only using heat on it once a week, and taking good care of it in regards to the products I use, how long do you reckon it'll take before I see a significant change in growth?

I'm also taking vitamins for hair and nails from Boots.

Can anyone give me any input or advice, please? :) Thanks.

Welcome!!  ;D

Have you tried oiling your hair?

Welcome to LongLocks!

Hair that snaps off indicates damage and I would guess the damage is from the straightening.  Anytime you apply heat to the hair, you run the risk of damage.  When you heat the hair, you could be causing the moisture that is in the hair shaft to boil.  When this happens, the hair will burst to release the steam.  This is where it will snap and break.  If you must use heat, try to reduce the temperature of the applicance.

Deep conditioning and/or oiling might also help prevent additional damage.

I tend to deep condition my hair every time I wash it. I haven't used hot oil treatments before, however, mostly because they're quite pricey.

But seeing as I've had it chopped to where it's healthy and got rid of my split ends, will carrying on the way I do benefit healthy growth and that?

Your new growth gets the benefits of the changes in your routine.  You will still need to watch for split ends, etc., as they can/will occur with even the best of routines.  

True that! It's such a shame that I dyed my hair blonde over the summer, however. If it hadn't been for that I'd still be growing relatively decent hair instead of having to get all the split ends cut off. :(
Oh well, I've learnt from my mistakes now, and intend to have the absolute minimum of damage happening to my poor hair.

For your oil treatments, you can even use Olive Oil from your kitchen - which is actually great for dry hair. You can leave it overnight or apply to ends 20-30 min. before you wash, and if you like you can apply heat in order for the oil to penetrate more deeply. There are a variety of oils you can use, many that you may already have. There are a lot of posts in the Long Hair Care section about oiling, if you are interested.

Hey there and welcome, Spartanette.

Alright, how to break this gently...

The first thing I must recommend is that you stop using heated appliances altogether. Really...just stop. They will absolutely kill your hair over time and it sounds like you're just now beginning to figure this out.

Perhaps you should seek counseling or read through a few self-help books to find out why you have trouble accepting your natural color and texture and why you feel the need to change it so often.  ;D

All joking aside, you'll need to make peace with your hair before you can grow it long. Working with your hair rather than against it is a huge part of the equation.
   Patience is another. You're not going to have long, healthy hair overnight and you'll need to accept this as well. It's a process that takes most of us several years.

Since there is already damage from previous hair abuse, you'll need to get regular trims and use deep conditioning treatments at least once a week. If your hair likes oil, you could experiment with that as well.

But overall, remember that there is no magic pill that's going to take away all of the damage and give you long, gorgeous, flowing, healthy hair in a day. And you're going to have to relinquish your bad hair habits if length is what you're after. Hang in there, hon.

Oh, my hair is it's natural colour now. And my natural hair type does just look very unattractive - there's no set shape to it, and it's not a nice wave. It's just messy and horrible and makes my hair look even shorter. In my defence, when I do use my straighteners, it is literally once a week, and used with copious amounts of hair protection sprays.

Before I dyed it blonde during the summer (it's my natural colour now), I only straightened it once a week then and it grew really well. It was just the blonde dye that ruined it.

Cheers though.

WELCOME!! :D

So heres my only tip: I agree with Angel Spun, applying heat to the hair can be very damaging. But it's your hair, so you can choose to go with its natural type or not. In the long run though, I think you'll be much happier with the condition of your hair if you dont. I would just like to pop in and say that I have not applied heat to my hair for almost 4 months, ever scince i decided to grow my hair long. Woohoo!  ;D(If you dont count that one time i was having a bad day a couple weeks ago, and I stole my sisters curling iron- she should keep that drawer locked- and attempted  to curl the very front pieces of my hair. I am probably the worst at curling ever. It didnt turn out that well.) But we dont have to count that, right? It was only the very front and i did a terrible job!  ::) ;D

Anyways, I wish you good luck and hope you enjoy the board!  :)

         -Jilayne

If you complain about shrinkage keep it to a minimum please.My hair shrinks 60% as supposed to when its straightened. Highly textured hair like kinky and the tighter end of curly does that. Whats your current length, i can assure you my hair will have to be midback to end up shoulder length dry, the same for chin it'll have to be shoulder straight.

Just learn to love your hair and it'll grow like a weed from you doing what it wants.

By the way this is my round about way of agreeing with angelspun!