NoelS

Hello, I'm a 16 year old Hispanic male
Last year I decided to let my hair grow for the first time and I realized that My brothers and sisters have type 3C hair while I have 4A hair.
About a year has passed since I decided to let my hair grow and my hair has grown to a length of about 5-6" when I pull it out. It is really curly when I don't do anything so it looks like I only have 2" of growth.

I have 3 questions.
1. When I pick my hair it looks like it is 6" then after a few minutes it shrinks back down to a mini fro.

My second question is why is the hair in the back of my head longer than the one in the front?
This school year I use to be lazy so I would just comb the front of my hair with a brush quickly (Which hurt!!) and my friends tell me that most likely I kept pulling the hair from the front out so the back out grew the front. Could this be the answer?

My third question is, that I recently have gotten cornrows and they are getting really itchy. Its only been 2 days and I want to keep them in for at least 2 weeks, is there anyway to stop the itching?

Edit: Also, I read that biotin increases growth, does biotin really work or does it basically produce a placebo affect and one believes that their hair is growing faster.

Edit edit: I didn't know which section to post this in, sorry if it is wrong >_<

Thank you in advance!

moo49

Okay, I'm a teen to. I have 3c/4a hair type. I have the same issue with shrinkage. When you pick it out do you do so when it is damp or dry? The back grows faster than the front for me as well. I think it has to do with the gravity pulling down on those hairs so its a bit looser. When I would get cornrows it would be super itchy for me as well. It's best to shampoo your hair, that gets out any weird silicones/etc. in the hair that could be causing irritation to the scalp. Also applying olive oil helps to.

NoelS

I try picking my hair a little bit after I let it dry from a shower since I don't want to pull to hard on the hair.
I'll try the shampoo this friday, I'll wait a week so that my cornrows don't get messed up.

Stupid question but when you say olive oil, do you literally mean olive oil? Like the type used for cooking?

moo49

Yes, I use the extra virgin olive oil. Things like peppermint oil, rosemary, etc. can also soothe the scalp as well. hmmm Does it take a long while for your hair to dry? Sometimes closer to the root the water/moisture is still heavily trapped there so then its not done drying and shrinking up entirely yet.

NoelS

Thank you I will try the olive oil treatment this weekend.

When I take my braids off I usually wet my hair everyday so that I can use hair gel to get curls. Is this bad for my hair(I'm male btw ) Wetting and Gelling my hair is that a bad thing I mean? I've heard that hair gel is bad for hair, and Supposedly I'm not suppose to wet my hair everyday.
But it is nappy so if I Don't wet it I can't do anything to it X_X

moo49

Okay, gel with alcohol is very bad for the hair. Non CG gels are super bad. Wetting your hair everyday varies from person to person. I wet my hair everyday to combat dryness. Some gels you can use are giovanni L.A. Natural Styling Gel (thats in the organic section of target) and the LA Looks gels are good. Do you have a picture of your hair?

NoelS

I don't have a picture of it at the moment. I can take one but it is in corn rows,or does it need to be loose?

moo49

You can post it with the corn rows and when you take those down then take another.

NoelS

Bah I can't take a picture until my sister finds out where she placed the camera USB wire.

Its been a whole year and the hair in the front of my head is maybe 4' while the back is approx. 5".
This seems like it is really slow growth. I have a friend that has 3A hair and we started at the same time and his hair is already under his nose. My hair is hardly over my forehead when I pull it.
I've read around and It says that this is normal but from what I've seen on the forum ( and youtube) I have extremely slow growth =/.

moo49

I understand you totally. My back is always longer than the front. I have a multitextured head so it looks like i have a mullet. xD I think when your front catches up slightly with the back so that it looks evened out you won't even noticed the slight difference that much and it wont be so bothersome. I use to really hate that because it looked akward. but dont give up, in the end it will all be fine. atm my hair isnt loose its tied back for awhile so idk if the front caught up with the back. ill check in a week or so. When did you start your growing journey? I started mine 2 years ago. Don't be upset about slow growth. My hair grows at a normal rate but since its very fine and fragile it breaks off easily so that slows things down. Have you tried joining a growing challenge? I'm doing the to BSL challenge. Those are really encouraging. What's your hair routine?

NoelS

^ I started my hair growth exactly one year ago in june.

I don't have a hair routine I just wash it every other day with shampoo/Conditioner. I guess thats a bad thing >_<

My hair was very coiled a moth ago, my sister would open up my hair and would pull these long coiled up hairs which I'm guessing places me in the 3c-4a/b range?
The thing is that last month my sister convinced me to get my hair relaxed a bit so that it will be "easier" to manage.
I let her do it but only kept the relaxer in for 5 minutes because I didn't want to have straight hair like a girl that would have looked weird. I'm thinking that that decision messed up a years worth of growth since the hair feels really dry now =/.
Should I keep going with the relaxed hair and just cut it off later?
What challenge/routine do you recommend for a boy that doesn't didn't even know what Co-washing? meant

moo49

Cut it off, it's sounds very damaged. That could be why it seems to be growing slowly. I'm a 100 percent natural and it isn't hard to manage once you know what you are doing. Properly detangling, moisturizing, etc. Don't shampoo every other day. Only once a week. You should go CG and cowash. Basically a cowash is when you only wash your hair with conditionar. I recommend getting some of this stuff. http://www.organixhair.com/
i use the shea butter conditionar only. I don't really shampoo my hair, only once a month or when it feels too oily and coated. Definently cut off all the relaxer and don't keep getting them if you want to grow it out longer. It's harder to take care of relaxed hair because it gets damaged and breaks very easily.

NoelS

Aww can't I keep my relaxed ends until my hair grows to atleast 5' then I chop? Or will it slow down the growth?

moo49

well you can if you take really good care of your relaxed ends. If not they can start splitting and split all the way up the strand to the natural hair and just damage it.

NoelS

Well I created this : Cornrows to substitute twist outs?
I was wondering if I keep it in cornrows will it prevent split ends?

moo49

take multivitamins and keeping it in cornrows will prevent the split ends as long as you moisturize the ends of your hair.

NoelS

Ahh when you guys say moisture what do you mean?
Moisturize with Water? ( Sorry for all the questions i really am new to the hair thing =/)
Also is there any guide or tips that can help me maximize the hair I retain?

moo49

Okay moisture as in water but you also need a moisturizing product. I could recommend some if you would like. I'll find a guide for you to use. hold on.

NoelS

Thank you!
Yes Recommend anything you can and I will try it =3.
I want my hair to be at shoulder length by my senior year in High school ( I'm going to be a junior this year)
I hope my growth speeds up X_X

moo49

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