LENGTH CHECK
to the right is my current length after trimming those straggly ends, this picture was just taken a day ago. as I said in my last post, "at first I self-trimmed an inch off by banding, but wasn't satisfied, and trimmed another inch and a half in the shower. (I only recommend trimming in the shower if your hair is straight or has just been permanently straightened.)" when I trimmed using that banding self-trim method, I trimmed my ends in a U/V-shape since that's how my ends have been growing lately. also about a week ago, I dusted and did the search and destroy method on my ends outside. the weather was nice and I thought trimming outside would give me good enough lighting. but holding up my ends to the computer screen's lightening, I see I missed spots, so I plan on doing the search and destroy method again soon. I just measured, and currently I'm a little pass 25 1/2 inches. SETBACK COMEBACK
I think it's safe to say I've made a comeback from mysetback, but I think I'm going to wait until next touch-up to say whether I fully concurred my thinning ends. my ends obviously aren't thinning anymore, but their health still isn't where I want them to be. my ends are noticeable unhealthier compared to the rest of my hair. and whose to say if I stop my stronger ends regimen that they will start thinning again. below I have done my best to align pictures so you can see the improvement in my ends. the second picture I added lines so the differences are more noticeable.
I'm very pleased with the improvement. I feel the biggest contributors in my comeback have been combing only on wash day, protein layering, protective styling, and doing the search and destroy method. I've also now passed my goal of blunt full ends at waist length, which is now at 23 1/2 inches on me.