2013 Hair Loss & Length Retention: Lessons Learned

Hair for sale :)

For the first time ever this year, I decided to go on a Hair (Length) Retention Challenge (HRC)) to see if I can actually do better this year with retaining more length. In order to retain about 4-6" of new length and reach bra strap length (BSL), I had to make some changes in my haircare routine. So I decided to do more LT protective styling, style biweekly instead of the usual weekly manipulation, improve my diet a bit, style my own hair 100% of the time, and to be more careful when handling my hair. And because I usually lose a lot of hair on hair days, I decided to save the shed and broken hair pieces that falls off through out the course of the year, so that I can do a thorough analysis on the growth behaviour of my hair.

aha! so that's where all the length went, the floor!

As you can see from pictures, my hair did grow, but due to my love of "fresh" ends, I somehow managed to lose most of the growth to my usual hair trims and routine search & destroy.

I don't lose a lot of hair anymore on wash days

I find it funny that I failed miserably this year because I actually did much better in the 3 years that I wasn't seriously tracking new growth. This is considering the fact that I was losing a lot more hair on a weekly basis, diet was just OK, I was living in Beijing ( a heavily polluted city), and was very adventurous with my hair when it came to trying new hairstyles and products. Only God knows what my hair wants from me still.

So what can I do better in 2014?
From Alice and Jc's comment on my last post, I will trim LESS. I will only trim 3 times next year, and will put my hair away in braids or in some sort of "bounded" hairstyle when my thinning ends and SSKs starts to bother me. 

I also need to do a serious study on the science of SSKs (single stranded knots) and how to minimize them, because I tend to cut off too much hair during

regular trims because i usually try to get rid of as many SSKs as possible. 
Other hair advises such as using less heat, less manipulation, exercising, eating right and protective styling are out ruled out because I did all these for most of the year and saw no significant difference.

From all my hardwork in 2013, I am still convinced that my hair is not a dead matter, if anything, it's ALIVE and has a mind of it's own. And it's sad that I haven't mastered my own hair like most people would assume, I mean, how can I when its unpredictable and always changing? *sigh*

I know my hair grow and it will eventually reach bra strap length (BSL), but until then, I will continue to enjoy the hair that's on my head.