It's been just about two years since I chopped off all of my hair and got a pixie cut. I didn't like it. I knew the process of growing it back out would be long and daunting, so I kept getting trims for several months before I started to grow it out again. I've spent the better part of these two years wearing wigs and hats, but I documented the growth almost every month for my one second a day video last year and thought I'd share the progress with you today! Here is where I started, with a super short blonde pixie:
If you're thinking about getting a pixie, be 100% positive that it's what you want to do. I did it on a whim and I regretted it so much. If your hairstylist can tell you if you have any cowlicks that might be hard to style with a pixie, try to find that out first. I had two really bad cowlicks that weren't too noticeable with long hair but stuck straight up once my hair was cut short.
I had this idea that a pixie would make my hair more manageable, that I'd be able to just wake up and be good to go! But my hair took so much more effort when it was short than it did at any other length. I shower at night, and by morning my hair was a mess. I'd have to re-wet it and restyle it. It took more gel and mousse than you'd imagine to tame my stubborn cowlicks. And about 1-2 weeks after each trim it would start to look unkempt around the edges. Sometimes I'd have my mom shave the back for me in between trims just so I felt like the cut looked clean.
I stopped getting it trimmed in September of 2017. Here is a look at the progress that I made over the last year and a half of growing it out:
If you got a pixie and you're trying to grow it out, just be patient. I can't even tell you how many tutorials I watched on youtube about growing out pixies, or how many supplements and shampoos I researched. I met with a stylist about getting tape-in extensions. I took biotin religiously and massaged my scalp like it was a full time job. I only bleached my hair once during the whole growth process (I missed having pink hair!) and avoided heat styling like it was the plague. In the end, your hair is going to grow at the rate it grows. Which is usually 1/2" every month. My hair stylist said that mine grew a little faster than normal, but I think that's just my normal growth cycle (based on how often I've had to touch it up in between dye jobs in the past, I don't think my efforts to speed up the pixie growth actually made any difference.)
And, honestly, if you're like me and you don't like the way your hair looks while it's growing, wear a wig! I had two wigs that I wore constantly, especially during the first 6 months that I was growing it out. I *hated* my hair at the time I went to Paris in 2017, so I wore a wig the whole time. I knew that I'd hate my travel photos if I was sporting a partially grown-out pixie, so I donned a long dark blonde wig and a knitted hat. And obviously I've been wearing a wig in my outfit pictures since 2017. My favorite sources for wigs are ebay (I try to buy from US sellers now since a lot of the ones I've purchased from China don't actually look anything like the photos in the listings) and Keke Wigs on etsy. My pink wig is from her shop and it's so realistic and durable. And I love that it's not super shiny, so it actually looks like hair.
After 17 months of growth, my hair still doesn't touch my shoulders. But it's *almost* there. I have some shorter layers in the back since I kept going in to get the back trimmed during the growth progress to avoid having a mullet. I'd say I'm about 3-4 months away from being able to do my favorite hairstyle, maiden twists. And I think my hair is long enough that if I can find clip-in extensions that match my hair color I can do top knots and high ponytails right now.
I'm not sure if I'll keep wearing my pink wig for outfit pictures. I've reached a point where I hardly ever feel like I have to wear my wig when I go out anymore, but I still feel self conscious about it in photos. It's still way shorter than I'd like, and since I'm still trying to baby it I've been avoiding bleach (so, no pink for a while...) Either way, I just wanted to share my story in case anyone else is contemplating a pixie or is going through the long tedious growth progress along with me. We'll get there... eventually! ;D
