Ah! The age old question, how to get amazing hair growth?. Now it's common to hear (thankfully) women say "Black women can have long healthy hair!" but, the question is, how? With so many women touting this fact you would think everyone seeking longer hair would have it, right? Wrong. There is such a thing as too much information. As with all things we make things way harder then they need to be, hair growth is no different. This post is going to simply if all for you in 5 easy steps.
If you're not seeing hair growth, remember these 2 hair facts:
1. Your hair grows. If you are relatively healthy, have no under lying damage to your hair follicles (like Alopecia and/or baldness), your hair is growing. In fact, it is growing about 1/4 to 1 inch a month.
2. Growing your hair is not the problem. The problem is retaining what you've grown. If your hair has been stalling at the same length for months or years, your hair is breaking off. More specifically, it's breaking off at the same rate it is growing out. For example: If your hair is 5 inches long and grows and 1 inch a month but, breaks 1 inch a month (probably little 1/4 inch pieces at a time), your hair will stay 5 inches month after month.
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Now here is how to start seeing some hair growth; retaining length:
1. Trim off all damaged, scraggly ends. If you are confident in your own skills, you can trim your hair yourself but, going to a professional for this cut would ensure all the damaged weak hair is cut off. Even if you're 100% natural, if your ends are breaking, your ends are probably weak and a trim will get rid of split and weathered ends. It's easier to maintain healthy ends, weak ends will look thin and get weaker over time.
2. Establish a solid hair regimen. This can take up to a month or 2 to establish but, it's worth it. Find out how often you need to shampoo, condition and deep condition your hair. How long does your hair stay moisturized? By the end of the month you should have a regimen that looks similar to this (fitting your hair needs of course, this is just an example):
Regimen:
Detangle 1x a week on damp hair.
Shampoo 1x a week
Alternate protein and moisturizing conditioner every other week.
Deep Condition 2x a month
Use spray leave-in, cream moisturizer and seal ends 2x a week.
3. Be consistent. Once you find out what works stick to the same regimen week after week. You can switch up products but, research them first and switch products only AFTER you've learned your hair. Learn what ingredients your hair likes and then venture out of your box.
4. Low manipulation. I have to say most women, who are able to retain almost all of their hair length use very low hair manipulation. Most stick to twist outs, braid outs, protective styles, buns, etc. Remember the more you comb and pull your hair, the more damage you're doing to it. It's like wearing and washing the same clothes every week, over time they will get raggedy, same with your hair. When you're trying to grow out your hair, you want it to be as healthy as it can be to avoid unnecessary trims and breakage due to weak over manipulated ends (that's what breaks off).
After you've done all of this....here is the last step:
5. Stop researching. What!? Yes, stop. Once you find what works for you, don't keep looking for new things to do with your hair. Concentrate on staying consistent. There is so much information online about hair care and arguments positive and negative for just about every hair technique you can think of, that you will never get a solid regimen and you will second guess everything you do. If it's not broke don't fix it or try to.
That's it! That's all! I promise you every woman I have come across who is trying to grow out their hair, comes to these same 5 conclusions. Try it and then let me know how much hair you grow 6-12 months. :)
Originally posted 2/28/12
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