My Hair Journey: How I grew my Hair Long

Growing up I've always had short hair. I'd have my hair cut monthly taking off about an inch every time. I'd always have my hair layered with a fringe and the back looking like a V shape. I washed my hair every other day and would blow-dry my hair as my layers kept flicking out and going wavy.

Year 9 (Feb 2011)

Year 11 (Jan 2013)

During Year 9 I decided to stop cutting my hair so often as my hair wasn't getting any longer than just past my collar bone. As my hair was so layered the longest layer was very thin. There wasn't much of it to grow out.

Year 11 (Oct 2012)

Feb 2013

I started colouring my hair in Year 8, so by the time I managed to grow my hair long the ends were blonde and damaged. They kept breaking and thinning out. As the dyed hair from 2011 started to grow I had a slight ombre as my roots grew out black. During 2012 I began to lighten my hair ends so that I had a light blonde ombre. I would constantly dye it a light ash blonde colour as it would get orange and brassy quickly. I dyed my hair at home with box dyes eventually my hair became very dry even though I had stopped heating my as my hair constantly dried straight due to how damaged it was.

May 2013

Aug 2011

Aug 2013

Ash Brown

Apr 2014

I decided to cut my long layer off in May 2013 with a straight cut so that my hair was all the same length. I then dyed my hair all over into an ash brown colour.  I wanted to grow my hair out thick and healthy this time hence the straight cut. I started to sleep with foam rollers in so I wouldn't apply any heat.

Throughout the year I kept dying my roots ash brown but the dye I used was ash blonde as I have dark hair so the ends of my hair kept getting lighter and lighter. 

July 2014

Apr 2015

Oct 2014

June 2014

Aug 2014

Oct 2015

Nov 2015

Eventually in April 2014 I stopped touching up my roots. I used dark brown dye to extend my roots to create and ombre look meaning I wouldn't have to constantly touch up my roots.

I would always towel dry my hair and apply serum to the ends. As the ends have been dyed blonde so many times they became damaged so it would always dry pin straight. I was happy that I had achieved the goal of thicker longer hair however I was upset with my addiction of touching up the blonde ends. I was making the blonde higher and higher every time I dyed my hair to make the tone more ashy.

Feb 2017

Nov 2016

The ends were starting to feel very dry again as I would only trim my hair once every 6 months. In October 2015 once again I did a straight cut, cutting off more than 24 inches. A year later and I've managed to grow out my hair avoiding temptations of using blonde dye. Now you can see my blonde is only at the very ends of my hair. My hair is now long, thick and shiny. 

In February 2017 I got my cut at the hairdressers as I was satisfied with the length and thickness of my hair. I had the Olaplaex treatment and got layers cut in. They used the L'Oreal Steampod and it made my hair feel so soft and silky. I was tempted to purchase a pair but it would defeat the purpose of healthy hair.

July 2017

July 2017

Oct 2017

Now I plan to get my hair cut every 6 months with long layers. One the blonde ends are gone I don't plan to dye my hair again. I'm very happy with the current condition go my hair. I wash my hair 3-4 times a week with Tresemme Platinum Strength Shampoo and apply Tresemme Keratin Smooth Conditioner just to the ends, comb it through and rinse put after 5 minutes. I leave my hair to air dry as luckily even though I have layers they still dry pin straight. My hair is very strong and shiny however I lack a lot of volume.