I am new & frustrated with my hair can anyone help?

[Jamie Lynn 40]

Hi-
I am new and almost 40 years old & have spent tons of money on hair vitamins & hair products. I want to grow my hair to hip level ( am I too old?) but my hair never gets any length to it. It has been a little past my shoulders for a few years now. I do highlight it but only about every 2 or 3 months. I try to use good products on it like biosilk, tresseme, infusium 23 , paul mitchell super skinny, etc. I think I have tried about everything. I don't know why it doesn't grow. I try to only trim it when my stylist says it needs it but sometimes I just wonder if I should just not trim it for 6 months or more. Does anyone have any ideas as to what I can do to make it get a lot of length to it? I don't want hair extensions. Yesterday I started taking Country Life Maxi hair vitamins & Phyto hair & nail vitamins. Also, flax capsules, biotin ( 5000 mcg 2 x per day) & osco calcium pills.Does anyone know of anything that would work better? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.
Jamie

[mira-chan]

Welcome to LHC!

One, if you want your hair longer, then it doesn't matter what age you are as long as it make you happy. So no you are by no means to old.

Two, the easiest way to grow your hair faster is to not cut for a while and see how that goes. Keep a watch on the ends. If you see more splits or get more tangling at the ends, then get it trimmed. Unless your hair is very prone to damage or you want to keep the ends very blunt and it naturally grows uneven here is no need to trim very often. It is very likely that your stylist is cutting off most of your new growth every time you go in.

Be careful with vitamins, too much of a good thing is bad too.

Since you are highlighting your hair will need a bit of extra care to reach longer lengths but it shouldn't be a big problem. Justgreen and Carolyn highlight theirs and it's hiplenght. You may want look them up and ask them their hair care routines as that may help you.

Knowing your routine may help people recommend what may work. How often do you wash? Do you used heat styling?

[spidermom]

You are not too old. I decided to grow my hair long in my mid-40s and look what happened! I have fine hair that breaks easily, so I've discovered that I need frequent small trims to keep the ends in good condition. When I tried growing without trimming or with only very infrequent trimming - I gained little to no length. About 1/2-inch trimmed off every 3 months seems to be my magical formula for gaining length and keeping healthy ends.

[Jamie Lynn 40]

Hi-
Thank you so much for the info. I don't really have a hair care routine. However, sometimes I use warm olive oil on it & leave it on for about 45 minutes. I also have some indian hair oil but I haven't used it for a while because I am afraid it will fade my hair color. I think you are right about my stylist cutting all my new growth but she says I have breakage but I think it still breaks off after it is trimmed so I really don't know what to do or think. She told me to use a color treated hair shampoo so I bought Tresseme for blondes but I only wash my hair about every 3 days. Also, do you think putting coconut oil, olive oil or jojoba oil on my ends would help me to save on length? And do you know of any fast growing hair vitamins that anyone has tried with sucessful results or are they all about the same? Like I said, I think I have tried most of them but I have read good reviews on the maxi hair ( if they are true). Anyway, thanks again for all of your help.
Jamie

[Jamie Lynn 40]

Thank you Spidermom-
My hair really isn't fine or dry, but it seems to get split ends once it gets a little past my shoulders. Lately I get trims ( about 1 inch or 1/2 inch) every 2 or 3 months but I think my new growth is just getting cut off. Do you take hair vitamins to maximize your hair growth?

[justgreen]

Hi and welcome to the boards!

I used to be just like you, especially with the Infusium products. I could never get past bra strap length, getting the dead ends cut every 5-6 weeks. Then I found LHC and started reading labels and discovered how much silicone I was putting on my hair and sure , it was keeping the ends 'protected', but at the same time it was not letting ANY moisture in.

I had 2" of damage cut off, clarified my hair, and started using the CWC routine. A week later I did my first SMT treatment and this is what my hair looked like afterward!


My hair is cut in a 'u' shape and I get it dusted once every October. I have FEW split ends. My front hairs used to be arm pit length, now they are waist length and the back is *butt crack* length.

I get highlights on a regular basis and have my roots done every 4-5 weeks. I go to a salon and pay $40. It is WORTH IT because my hair dresser HELPS me keep my hair nice by abiding by my wishes. She uses a pick on my hair and I allow her to blow dry it using the pick instead of a brush. I just had my roots done on Wednesday and I'll try to get a pic up soon.

ETA: I use a homemade spritzer on my hair after washing. I keep the ends spritzed with it and keep them wet while the rest of my hair dries.

4 ounces distilled water
2-3 drops jojoba oil
4-5 drops sweet orange oil
Shake well before using

You can use your own favorite essential oils.

I found I had better luck using conditioner (silicone free) on my ends rather than oils.

[Xandergrammy]

I had just turned 40 when I decided to grow out my hair. I also think it's a good idea to hold off on trimming to get some length. Good luck to you.

[Jamie Lynn 40]

Thank you so much Just Green-
So do you only get a trim once a year then? Maybe I will wait about 6 months to get another trim. Did or do you take any vitamins or any supplements to help you grow faster length? I would love my hair to get waist or hip length. If you don't mind my asking, how long did it take you to reach butt crack length? So do you not recommend Infusium 23 ? My stylist acted like I should use it, but she also uses a brush to blow dry my hair. Do you use anything else besides the jojoba & orange oil for your ends? Thanks so much for all of your help.
Jamie

[Jamie Lynn 40]

Justgreen-
What is a smt treatment?

[mira-chan]

Justgreen-
What is a smt treatment?

SMT stands for Snowymoon's Moisture Treatment. It is a mix of a silicone free conditioner, aloe and honey.

SMT Recipe
4 parts conditioner
1 part honey
1 part clear aloe gel

Easiest to find silicone free conditioners are V05, White rain or Suave (original, some professional ones may contain silicones).

The reason Justgreen recommended against Infusium is because it is high in silicones. Silicone ingredients usually end in -cone, so they are usually called cones here. They coat the hair shaft and don't let moisture in or out. Hair that needs more or different moisture than the silicone conditioner provides can be damaged by this and break.

This " To cone or not to cone" article should explain things better. Some of the other articles there would help you in introducing the terms of the forum and some of the basic routines that are common here.