Mark Your Calendars....I'm APL!

My hair journey started in December of 2007. I always believed that I couldn't grow my hair and that as long as there was weave, then that was the only way that I could achieve the lengths that I wanted.

I got serious about everything in 2008 when I started to get progress but where in the world would I get the motivation and what would I do to achieve that? Would I use wigs/weaves, buns, low manipulation styles? Since I had Hand-In_Hair syndrome, then there was no way that I would be able to achieve that. So I went stagnant for a while.

This was in 2008 when I started to get some traction.

This was 2008 in December when I creeped past neck length but look at the thin ends. I didn't care because I had length. Lots of women have thin hair. I was still perming my hair and I still hadn't learned my lessons.

I had just met shoulder length for the first time in my life. My hair was at my shoulders and I was geek. I went into superdrive at this time in 2009 because I had hair that was touching my shoulders. I knew that my hair could grow, its just that I was doing the wrong things to it. Had I known this years ago, my hair would be draping the floor.....!

I am embarrassed at this pic but that was the longest my ponytail was but it was so thin!!! I didn't think that my hair was too bad. I was again glad at the length. So yeah....this looks really bad here but you couldn't tell me that at this time. 

So I used sew ins from here on out. For years I covered up my hair and used sew ins extensively but they got really expensive to keep up. Then in 2010 I learned about the half wigs.....

So here I used the half wigs and they were lovely. I figured the best thing for hair growth is to just keep it out of the way. Don't touch it, don't even look at it, unless it's being washed and conditioned. And to tell you the truth, I didn't even do that often. I started feeling tired and sick. I got weary and drained.

This is me right after my diagnosis of lupus in March of 2011. This was literally days after I was diagnosed with lupus. 

I look shocked still but I had my hair blown out and I loved it! It was great!!! I was happy finally with my hair, even when the rest of my body wasn't cooperating with me.

This is me still shoulder length and still upset about it. I hadn't really gained much traction, especially since going to a salon and my ends being cut by 1 ½. I felt like I was going backwards, not forwards. 

Here I am thinking that I am cute wearing bantu knots. They didn't turn out that well but I tied them back in a scarf and pulled off the look wonderfully.  I was in a lupus flare but it was still beautiful when I put on the makeup.

THE LACEFRONT!

Wearing these lakefronts really boosted my confidence, especially with the hair loss that I was experiencing due to the lupus flares. My hair in the front of my head began to thin until bald spots starting showing up. It was not bad. I've seen worse, especially with the ones that suffer with discoid lupus. The hair loss I experienced I cannot complain. But there was enough where it was noticeable. 

 AFTER THREE YEARS OF WEARING LACEFRONTS...

This is my proud banded ponytail that I'm wearing after three years. I am almost at APL here in the early part of 2014. I am so happy that my hair is growing long and strong but it's just not where I want it to be.

I want to be at Beyond Shoulder Blade, or as commonly known as BSB in the hair world. So I'm a very happy camper here and my hair is doing well, with the exception of the small patches that can be seen at the front of my hairline. But will all that hair in the back, I can't complain!!!



AND NOW.........NOVEMBER 2014

 This is where I stand today. As you can see that I'm reaching APL! I'm so excited and I'm claiming APL. I've made a lot of mistakes on my hair journey because at times I didn't know what to do. But that's what a journey is. You'll make wrong turns. You'll make twists and turns. But then again, the end is what we all strive for and I'm very happy with it all.