:)Here's the begining of my journey.  It's New Years Eve - what an appropriate time to start, allthough it is unintentional.  I measured my hair and I hope it's accurate - 20" right now.  I'm hoping for 4" more by my wedding in July and 6" by next January.

Some of the changes I am currently trying to make:
washing my hair less often - every other day to start
airdrying as much as possible
conditioning/oiling my hair to keep it in good condition

Sounds like you're on your way to a fine start.

And congrats on starting your hair journal.  :)

Well of all the new things I've been trying with my hair, oiling with jojoba oil and the microfibre towel are my faves and air drying and washing only every other day are my least favorite.  Yesterday I kept fiddling with my unwashed hair - a losse pony tail, a hair band, a loose braid - I can't wait for my scalp's oil production to go down.

On a positive note, I found a great deep way to fit in a deep moisturizing treatment.  I don't like the idea of putting stuff in my hair at night.  I don't like to get oil on my pillow and I can't stand the idea of a shower cap or towel around my head at night.  Plus it kills all romantic possibilities. So, instead I put lots of jojoba oil (and a little rosemary EO) into my hair before heading to the gym.  Sure my hair looked greasy, but who cares, it's the gym.  Then I just wash it out after my workout.  I figure my increased body heat might enhance the treatment too.

Still have alot of questions about good hair care.  I've got alot to learn.  Also, I hope all this care pays off.  My sister has similar hair as mine (she's 19) except hers is a little longer than BSL.  She doesn't treat her hair this special - she washes and blowdries every day has highlight done every couple months and uses drugstore hair products.  Her hair is in gorgeous condition.  Maybe damage will show up as her hair gets longer?  Maybe some people have geneticially resilient hair?  I hope this is a good sign that my hair will look gorgeous when it is really long, especially because I'm taking good care of my hair.

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Plus it kills all romantic possibilities.

LOL! I would imagine so. The heavy oiling before working out is a novel idea, though. Good thinking.

My younger sister tortures her hair in many of the same ways that yours does. She doesn't wash it every day, but whenever she does, she blowdries too. Her hair is layered, and the longest layer falls at about BSL on her...and she does the highlights + lowlights. She uses salon S&C, but her poor hair is frriiieeedd!! Do you know how long your sister has been -er, processing her hair this way? If it hasn't been that long, that might account for her hair's resiliency. Believe me, all of that damage will surface in time.  :(

I once read that "pampered hair is healthy hair." So your good care should pay off eventually.

Yesterday I airdried my hair and actually liked it!  I used little soft rollers (no velcro, no spikes) on my damp hair and had curly hair for an hour and pretty waves the rest of the day.  Those curls at my temples which drive me crazy when I airdry regularly blended in when my hair was curlier/wavier.

Today's another tough no-wash day.  I have a tucked under loose french braid today with a thin black hairband.  It seems to hide the greasy roots ok and looks cute and modern at the same time!  I'll definitely do this again.

Still trying to find a dry shampoo/hair powder to try to help inbetween washings.  

I had a weird dream last night of laying naked and very pregnant with very long hair.   :oStrange, I know.  Especially because I'v never been pregnant and don't intend to be for several years.  It was a very peaceful dream though.

I've been noticing other women with long hair recently.  I think it is just beautiful.  I can't wait for my hair to be long enough that it is impressive.

Hi Amanda, and welcome to the wonderful world of journaling!

Last night I went swimming at the pool and I was a little worried about my hair.  I have a bathing cap, but I find it damaging on my hair - I know because when I take it off there are many hairs inside.  I just let my hair free, but oiled well before with jojoba oil.  After I was finished swimming, I went and rinsed out my hair and put in a generous amount of conditioner.  Then I went bck out and enjoyed the hot tub and sauna while the conditioner was in my hair.  I havn't noticed any extra friziness because of the chlorine yet, so I think it helped!

:-/I'm not feeling like my hair is very long today and I over oiled it last night after the pool (good for my hair, bad for my hair's appearance.  I'm also worried that when my hair gets longer, past damage is going to become more obvious.  My hair is in good condition now (my stylist said it's very healthy), but I know that I have colored, blowdried, straightened and curled my hair without thought for years.  even though I'm being so careful now, I'm worried that after all my hard work, I'll need to cut last 15" or so when my hair gets very long.

Hopefully things will look up tomorrow.

(((Hugs))) hang in there girl!

fell to the temptation to blowdry today, because I'm going to a party tonight.  I only used the coldest setting, though, and I oiled beforehand.

There was alot of sun coming through the window this morning and it emphasized all these short little hairs sticking out.  I hope that's not a sign that I have bad hair damage.  I never thought my hair was damaged until I came on this site.  I thought my hair looked pretty healthy, but now when I think back to all the blowdrying and coloring and just not being gentle with my hair, I'm worried that my bottom 15" are ruined and that I'll end up having to cut them off and then it will take forever to reach my goal length.

I got some 99% pure aloe vera gel yesterday and used it when I french braided my hair this morning.  It worked very well!  It controlled flyaways without looking greasy or stiff.

I also got some supplements that I hope will make a difference in my hair and skin (Biotin, zinc and Omega 3-6).  We'll see if that does anything.

Aloe vera gel is my favorite "hair tamer".  I regularly use it on my braids to help contain the fly-aways.

I don't know if my scalp is starting to get used to being washed less (I really only started cutting down on washing a week and  a half ago) or if the aloevera gel did some magic, but for the first time my second-day hair doesn't have greasy roots!  I wouldn't say my hair looks as good as on the days I wash it, but usually my roots are so greasy by day two that they almost look wet!  I also have a lot more volume than I do on a no-wash day - maybe that's the aloe vera gel.

I tried using aloe vera gel on my face too and it makes a very nice moisturizer with a little jojoba oil and lavender EO.

Overall - good day! :)

Congratulations, Amanda and hang in there!!  It is the toughest just starting out.  It will get better-remember that "relaspses" can happen from life in general-hormones, stress, weather etc so keep up the good work!!!

I've been doing good!  I haven't shampooed since Monday! I mean I've showered several times since then, and I conditioned only my hair on wednesday, but I can't believe it!  I never though I would be able to survive without washing my hair everyday.  Granted, I still think my hair looks much nicer on wash days and I still end up reverting to braids, hairbands and pony tails on second/third day hair.

It's so weird to plan out hair washings.   I keep trying to plan it so that wash days are days where I go out visiting or to a party.  I going to Florida on Wednesday, so I'm thinking that the travel day should be a non wash day, because I'll want my hair to look it's best while I'm there.

I'vebeen mixing aloe vera gel and jojoba oil and putting it in my hair after washing.  It's made it easier not to over-oil, but still get the oil spread over all my hair.

I think my hair is looking great!  I can't wait to get it colored, though.  Right now my roots seem (to me) so different than the rest of my hair.  I can't wait to get the ends colored the same as my roots, then I'll never have to color again!  Well, maybe when I go grey, but that won't be for a while (I hope!)

Well last night I blowdried my hair because I was going out with some friends.  It had been three days since I shampooed it, though, and I airdried it most of the way and the blowdried on warm just to finish it off.  I got back that smooth sleek look that I've been missing since I stop blowdrying my hair.  I think it's ok to blowdry once and a while for a special occasion.  Once per week vs once per day is an improvement anyways.

Just got back from florida.  Despite the sun and chlorinated pools I think I took care of my hair.  I conditioned well and let it airdry most of the time I was there.  I was amazing that my hair seemed almost curly in Florida!  Maybe it's the humidity, allthough I live in a humid place too.  Actually, it was probably the water.  I stayed at a high-end resort and even there the water had a yellow tinge to it.  We were told it was the natural mineral content in the water.  I've never had such volumous hair!  Along with the volume came tangles though and my hair, which I usually can run my fingers through easily, wouldn't even handle a wide tooth comb.  

Well I did my first search and destroy split end dusting yesterday.  I found some, but not alot.  I don't know if I have healthy hair or if I'm just not using small enough pieces of hair and missing alot of split ends.  My hair doesn't feel significantly different after doing it, but hopefully the trim will help avoid more split ends.

Planning to color my hair (for the last time) soon, as soon as my stylist is available.  I'm looking forward to having all my hair one color - my natural color, but at the same time, I'm nervous about damaging my hair by coloring it.

Don't fret too much over coloring your hair.  If it helps, the ends of my hair fall in the "over abused" category, yet they are more than 8 years old and still hanging on!  You just have to be more careful with them.  

Good luck - take pictures!!  (and share them  ;) )

I got my hair colored and it looks good, but it's not quite the right color.  I'm meeting my stylist on Friday to add a semi-permentent toner to my hair to cut the brassiness.  My hair feels in great shape considering I just colored it.  My stylist assured me she would be as gentle as possible and she has done great.  I took before pictures and I'll take after pictures too.