mabinogi;
How wonderful that your family is supportive of your choice to have long hair.  It is also great that you are comfortable with who you are and how you fit in with your group of friends.  Feeling a part of a group really helps with self-esteem - something too many young people don't have.

Thanks for sharing!

novusfemina is soo agree with you ( who doesn't in here!??)
and such a lovely picture!

I keep getting tired of my hairstyle.  I did get it cut a couple years ago for several reasons -- my all-male household wasn't giving me any feedback on whether my current shoulder length looked good or not , I was frustrated with it, and I figured I was getting too old for long hair anyway
Since then a friend of mine, who is several years older, has been growing her hair, and I finally realized I HATE short hair on me!  Also (after almost 25 years at the time) my hubby said he loved my longer hair and didn't like my new short 'do -- ARGHHHHHHHHHH)  Anyway, I figured if Linda could look so good with longer hair, and I liked longer hair on me anyway, go for it, girl!  I'm just glad to have found this board to help me take better care of it this time and encourage me to try out new styles etc.  Thanks to all of you, you're great!!!

Looking back at childhood photos, I see that I only ever had long hair until I hit the first grade.  What I had was mid-back length, fine blonde hair, with bangs.  My mother, who always seemed inclined to favor short hair, had my hair "shagged."  Now that I look at the photo, the haircut looked more like a mullet. That was the mid-80s.

Throughout elementary school, my hair never made it BSL.  I had scalp itch problems even back then.  When the doctor said I had seborrheic dermatitis, my mom was convinced that I needed to have short hair.  By fifth grade I had a Twiggy haircut, and in sixth grade, my mom decided I needed to have it permed.  What I was left with was a permed mullet.  All the girls at school with their long hair laughed at me.  The boys said I looked like a shaggy dog.  Not a fun experience.   



So throughout junior high and high school, I decided to grow my hair out, since I was caring for it myself and was making the transition to a different school.  I didn't let it grow consistently, getting haircuts here and there, but never anything severe.  By the time I graduated high school, it was about 4 inches BSL, and looked nice. 

Then I got into college and thought how nice it would be to have really blonde hair.  So I bleached it -- what a mistake!  My fragile fine hair broke off all over the place and was fried.  So finally I had it bobbed to my chin and dyed it ruby red.  It actually looked pretty cool that way! After a while, my hair made it BSL, again, but it was flat and straight, greasy and I figured that it would look fuller if I had it cut short.  When I went to the hairdresser, I asked for a chin length bob, like I had a few years ago.  The lady, (not the same one who cut my hair before,) totally had no idea what she was doing and cut my hair into cheek length layers that were uneven on both sides.  She  also "stacked" the back halfway up my head!      
The next day I went to another salon to have them fix it, and the lady there made it even worse (I should have known to leave when she said, "I just don't know how we're going to fix this!")  So within 2 days, my hair had been mis-cut twice.  It was the ultimate hair nightmare, from which I never fully recovered.  In the next few years, I wouldn't let anyone but my hairdresser aunt touch my hair, and then only for trims, so I guess that's when my long hair growing days began---born of paranoia! 
I had an awful time growing my hair out again.  The two haircuts that originally messed up my hair had many piecey layers, so it took forever to get one-length, BSL again. 

About 4 years ago I decided to stop messing with my hair and just let it grow out for good.  And no more dying it. I never became good at styling my hair with the hair dryers and round brushes that so many trendy cuts required. (No coordination!)  Not to mention that my hair can only hold a curl for about one hour, then it's straight again (and that's with lots of hairspray!)  I just gave up on styling and did the ponytail. 

In time I came to not only make peace with my hair, but also treasure it.  I love how feminine it looks long, as it is now 22 inches long.  But I have had to deal with certain family members bugging me to get it cut.  For example, "You look so CUTE with your hair bobbed!" and "Short hair is so practical, you should get it cut."  I almost gave in a few days ago, until I found this website.  I am now rededicating myself to staying the course in growing out my hair.  My goal is waist length, but if it will grow longer than that, even better!  I have always admired long hair on other women, and now I finally realize that I can have it too, despite having fine hair. 

That's quite a story, Ilovecats!

Yes, there are many who have fine, long hair. It looks different from thick hair, but in its own way, just as lovely. Where did the idea that all long hair should look the same come from anyway?
And you're certainly not alone with relatives who think that you should cut your hair. I guess that most longhairs get to hear that sooner or later. Then we can compare our experiences and laugh at them at longhair boards with our longhair cyberfriends.

And its especially hard because my younger sister just finished cosmotology school 9 months ago and LOVES to experiment on people's hair.  If I didn't live so far from her, I think she would always want to mess with it!  In all fairness, though, she is a great sister and has not been mean about me wanting to grow my hair long.  I let her do my nails instead!   

I will try to sway her  but I think she's stuck on short hair!  She told me that she hasn't had any clients yet with even bra length hair...   but I'll be sure to tell her there's a need for longhair stylists!  Thanks for responding!

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