Have you tried to grow your hair longer and have gotten no results? Are you constantly seeking tips from family members, friends or natural hair bloggers? Many women feel that their hair does not grow at all. This is not true. Hair grows every month, however, if you are not seeing growth it may be that your hair is breaking at the same rate of your hair growth. Here are a few tips to consider adding to your hair regimen that may improve your hair retention and show you the length you’ve been waiting for.
1. Keep Your Hands Out of Your Hair
How many times did your mom tell you to keep your hands away from your hair when you were little? When it comes to hair growth she was right. When your hair faces excessive manipulation it is more prone to breakage. Although you may face the temptation to touch and play with your hair, it is best to leave it to its own vices in order for it to grow uninhibited and prevent hair breakage. Wear hair in styles that promote low manipulation and last for more than one day to help keep your hands away from your hair.
2. Detangle the Old Fashion Way
Many women find that their hair experiences large amounts of breakage during detangling. This is because as women of color, our hair is in its weakest state when wet. Because of this, extra care must be taken when detangling. A good way to detangle hair is to finger detangle. Finger detangling requires you to slow down your detangling process, thereby forcing you to treat your strands with more care. Also, use oils or conditioners to create slip and help ease the detangling process.
3. Protect your Hair Fashionably
Because it is important to keep your hair manipulation to a minimum, protective styling is a must. Protective styling both protects your ends from environmental elements and limits manipulation. If you are big on variety when styling your hair, choose protective styles that last two to three days which allows you to change up your look occasionally. For those of you who want to see extreme growth opt for styles that last longer (four to six weeks) to virtually eliminate manipulation. However, do not forget to moisturize your hair for the duration of your protective style.
4. Trim the Dead Weight
Trimming hair for many women goes against everything they know about hair growth. Actually in the long run, trimming hair improves your hair retention because it prevents damage from spreading along the hair shaft and helps ensure that hair does not break as it grows. Remember, it is important for you to take care of your hair because having to trim hair too often will prove to be counterproductive. If your hair is healthy you should only need to trim hair about once or twice a year.
Author: Mia Brumfield
Nommo Staff