advice for long hair?

[Larissa]

I've heard that everyone's hair only grows to a certain length. For some people that may be to their feet, for others it may only be to their waist. I had a friend who hadn't cut her hair since grade school and it never grew past her waist. Perhaps cutting it would kickstart it a bit, only one way to find out though.

Ouch, Stuart! Didn't you see the picture of my wife that I posted just three days ago?? She's got dreads and I love 'em.

Where are these pics of your lovely dreaded wife? I wanna see.

[Simply Joel]

I gotcher f*cking haircut right here, pal.

Cousin It!!!

Long time, no see, how have you been.

[Zephryus]

Murble greedle zhee!

[robbidobbs]

Cutting hair to make it grow is an oxymoron. Stop cutting it, condition the hair you have to keep it strong, stop fucking with it, stop even brushing it. The more you DO to your hair, the worse shape it gets. Throw away your blow dryer for starters. That's the behavior based advice.

There are two physical facts that will define how long your hair will get before it's too weakened to last past a certain length (ie your waist): the strength of the folicle (genetics & diet are factors) and the strength of the shaft. The folicle (root) has a lifespan, and tugging, or bad diet will weaken it. Thin hair shafts lead to breakage. The number of hairs per scalp centimeter will determine "thickness" as will shaft diameter. The average hair loss is 100 hairs per day. Whether your hair is 1/8th inch or 18 inches, doesn't matter.

Bottom line is if your hair has weak folicles, or has thin shafts it will either pull out after a certain "age" or will break off. You can prevent both through lifestyle choices. I choose to only brush my hair once per day, condition it at every shampooing, and otherwise ignore it.

[Bob]

Just cut it off. I'm sick to death of finding playa hair.

[awibs]

For growing it... braids are also good for that. That's how women in the 1800s and before did it. Only wash it only once a week if you can, twice if you must - be very thorough and use and anti-dandruff shampoo, as dandruff will become an issue. Then condition the fuck out of it and very, very gently comb it out. Let it dry *completely* before you run a comb through it again - still a wide tooth detangling comb, mind you, and use a detangler or leave in conditioner if you need, to be as gentle as possible. braid it into one or two long braids and wind them about your head. The more secure the winding, the less pins you have to use to hold it up, the less breakage. And leave it like that all week. Cover your head both day and night. That's the real reason people wore nightcaps back in the day. And why anyone with african braids still sleeps with a scarf on her head to keep the braids from getting fuzzy. If your going a whole week between washings, a mid-week rebraid might be permissable if neccessary. You can spray watered-down witch hazel on the roots if your scalp gets itchy.