Growing hair back to BSL and beyond. Oct-Dec08

Due to the trim I had at the salon on 9/25, I had lost 3-3.5 inches of hair. However, because my hair was still VERY uneven afterwards and was oh so obvious, I had to trim some more hair off on 9/4, (1 to 1.5 inches in some sections-maybe more depending on where it showed the hair wasn't showing an overall thickness). Hey, I figured the length was already lost, why not cut some more, so the hair could to grow out healthier, I just hate that I paid $45 for the trim and still ended doing my hair again in the end. I think I did a decent job evening things out some, but I may have to get my hair flat-ironed at some point to get a precision trim as I do want my hair to be nice, healthy and more even as it grows out-not sure if this is asking for more trouble, so I'm still contemplating on that. However now, I refuse to let anyone with scissors come next to my hair who claim to be able to trim my hair in its natural state-two not so great experiences by two different stylist shows this is a very difficult task to achieve. Sorry, but most stylist in my humble opinion do not understand the shrinkage factor of 4B hair in its natural state to trim/cut it- what might look like 1/2 an inch to them could be inches of hair being cut off. So, I think for now I'll rather have my hair flat-ironed on low heat or blow-dried to avoid further cutting disasters/noticeable varying hair legths. When I was a natural in college, my hair used to grow/still be in good condition (no heat damage) when I used to get a blow-dry/trim every 3-4 months, so I'm opting to start going that route again.I think I should be fine If I deep condition my hair beforehand/use heat protectants before seeing a stylist for a flat-iron, still don't know if this is a smart thing to do considering it was a blow I used to get and not flat-ironing which would be using more heat???

I have to say I miss my previous length a tad bit, and while I'm the first to admit some length needed to go because I don't like the look of thin ends (not so sure if so much needed to go initially). But, I have to say I'm happy that now I could comb my hair and not see hundreds of broken/dead ends all over the sink--so who knows (shrugs), maybe I did need the cut afterall. Nowadays, when touching my hair there's no feel of crunchy/knotty/unsightly ends whatsover. My hair feel the best it's felt in a long while (ends wise), so I'm a least happy in knowing that in time my hair will grow out healthier/longer *sighs*...I just have to figure out how to keep it moisturized which is always an issue. Routine-wise, I'll just continue doing what I'm doing and will get trims as necessary. I'm not one to mess with my hair/style it much my hair just frustrates me at times, not to mention I'm really lazy about doing my hair. In the meantime, I'll continue to remain mainly in very simple/ protective styles, and very few "out styles"...just too time-consuming when trying to manipulate my hair. I want to get my hair braided, but my edges are still too weak for individuals, I'm too scared to take the risk considering they are FINALLY starting to grow. Maybe getting small cornrows with very little hair added to mimic the more natural look might be a better alternative.

Aya-yai, looks like I'm running out of space on Fotki-had to delete some pics. I'll have to create a second album soon I guess, "bostonsis1".

***Any tips/advice ladies is much appreciated esp. in helping me to keep my hair moisturized.


12/25-I took my kinky twist extensions out (only took about 4.5 hours w/ a friends help because they weren't small) and it grew a lot, and my edges were in tact. I'm really glad in knowing my hair is growing nicely again, thank goodness this time around, I was very vocal initially when I told the braider not to braid tight, and do not braid my edges--paid off:)