the official grow your hair out challenge

I'm joining. My goal is to get to shoulder length by July 1st. Right now I am transitioning and I have been unevely chopping off my permed hair, so I'm not too sure what length I am. I will estimate that I am chin length right now. I will be ps until god knows when. Right now I have in some marley twist.

I use herbal's HH poo and condish, a homemade leave in (water, Aussie leave in, squirt of conditioner, shea butter mix to seal, and hairfinity vitamins.

I made a mixture of megatek, MM, jbco, and the powder from a few hairfinity vitamins. I will apply twice a week to my scalp. I also wash and dc weekly. I will tweak my regimen when OT if my hair tells me.....

Wish me luck!!

This is also my first time visiting this section! ^^;

My hair is naturally dark brown and black, and over the past 5 years, I've bleached and dyed my previously untouched hair who knows how many times. It's such a disaster. I've had the hardest time breaking this habit and letting my natural colour come back in. As a result of all the colour and styling damage (I used to hot iron daily to have some kind of control over my messy hair, and even that rarely ever straightened it all day long.

So, now I'm on a journey to healthy, long hair! I don't have a pic right now, but I shaved the back of my hair months ago, and now the bottom of it's already down to the base of my neck (not quite to my shoulders yet). The front of my hair is down to my collarbones. I plan to cut the front part once the back grows in some more, to make it all an even length, and I hope to have even hair down to the top of my chest by...July maybe? Haha, it's quite a task, but if I can get my hair to grow as fast as it used to, it may even be able to grow past that point.

I've been taking MSM for about two weeks now, and it's definitely helping my nails! I'm fairly certain it's helping my hair as well, but I just dyed it back to its natural colour, so I can't see the growth from the dye. I plan on leaving it this colour for good! I already have plans to get a wig that I can dye instead of my natural colour. ;P (I'll probably go back to my old favourite of pink.)

Also, I don't know how common this is for hair growth, but I'm trying to find a way to completely cleanse my colon. I've become more and more backed up over the past 5 years, maybe longer, and it not only makes my stomach look terrible, but I'm certain it's causing many more problems with the way my body functions, including hair growth. As the problem has gotten worse, my hair growth has slowed more and more, and become more frizzy and lacks any bit of moisture or shine (I don't think this is just a bleaching side effect, as my nails have also become worse over the years).

I've used Magnesium Citrate the past two days, a half a dose the first time, then the full thing last night. I've already lost a significant amount in my stomach, and still have a long way to go. I'm going to buy Magnesium Citrate pills and taking them everyday to try to restore regularity (I believe I have a severe deficiency). I'm also drinking hot honey and lemon water every morning on an empty stomach, in hopes that this will help as well. Quite honestly, I'm not sure what all changes I'm going to see once I'm completely empty. I'm hoping my clogged pores will go away (they only showed up a year or two ago when the problem got much worse), and I'm also hoping my eyes will change colour or at least brighten up a bit (they're hazel and it's hard to tell if the green part is actually supposed to be green or if it's actually a dull shade of blue).

Also, I bought this Palmer's Gro Therapy stuff from Wal-Mart. I really want to use it on my scalp, but it makes my hair waaaayyyyyyy too oily. So I'm going to try using it at night when I know I have time for a shower in the morning (boy will it be a mistake if I don't have time!) I've also been using Profectiv Mega Growth lotion or something like that. It smells great, and does seem to help my hair's condition, but doesn't actually make it grow faster (which, after thoroughly reading the label, I realized that's exactly how it's supposed to work; the title's a little misleading). I may also try a hair growth shampoo and conditioner system and see if that speeds things along.

Oh, and to cut out styling damage, I've completely abandoned the straightener. I'm wrapping my hair when I get out of the shower now, and that usually makes it VERY soft, and fairly straight (the best part is it's straighter by the end of the day then when I actually straighten). I've also tried olive oil soaks a few times before, and might try it again. I use it as a reverse perm, and comb it straight with a towel over my shoulders as I let it sit. This also helps to straighten it some.

Well, I don't measure, because it's too hard to tell my roots from my dye now that I've dyed my hair back to its natural shade. BUT! MSM has given me wonderful results after just a few weeks of 1g a day!

Before:
No pics, but my hair refused to grow (it used to grow VERY quickly; I would trim my bangs every two to four weeks)
I haven't cut my bangs since...maybe September? October?
I shaved off my Chelsea Hawk down to a size 3 with a razor around the same time. The bottom of my hair by the nape of my neck had barely grown down to the top of my neck by the end of January.

In the past month:
The bottom of my hair has finally grown a little past the tops of my shoulders (when straightened). The hair along my crown is finally long enough that it doesn't poof up.
My bangs will probably need to be trimmed soon.

I know it's not much progress, but the fact that I was finally able to get my hair to grow again at such a low dose means that there is hope I'll be able to reach my temporary goal length (a little past my collarbone) by June or July.

Unfortunately, I've discovered that I most likely have Hypothyroidism. If that's the case, then THAT'S the cause of my dry hair, and it's not from over-processing (I've been bleaching and dying mine and my friends' hair for years now, and I knew my hair couldn't possibly be so damaged from using products). I wish I would have known this before chopping off my hair that was down to my nipples. SO HOPEFULLY once I see a dr. and get on some meds, my hair will finally retain moisture, and will also grow faster on its own again.

I also plan on trying Chlorella as well. I think it'll make a great addition to my program, and might even be able to get me an extra inch or two by summer! ;P

I have the solution to growing your hair out. The solution is within this message.

These are very halp ful tips for everyone.