Shrinkage, Stretching and Growth

Last night I tried banding for the first time.  This is a heat-free method of stretching the hair.  It's officially been 3 months since my big chop and I wanted to really see how much my hair has grown. 

First, I sectioned my hair into 6 parts.  I spritzed each section with water, detangled and used ouchless hair bands to band each section.  I took pictures after banding just one side.  Comparing the banded and un-banded section you can already get a good idea of the shrinkage I'm dealing with.

 When I took the bands out this morning my hair was still slightly damp, but I went ahead and picked my afro out anyway.

 

For a comparison, here's my hair right after my big chop.

Looks to be about an inch of growth, which is perfectly average and completely predictable...LOL!

My final style for the day is a big high poof, made easier due to the stretching.