Tips for Growing Long and Healthy Hair
If there's one thing I always get complimented, it's my waist-length hair. I take pride in it, and I always get asked how I grow it so long and what I do to keep it this length. Crazy because despite the length, my hair didn't always look so good. I took advantage of it's length and didn't take care of my hair. Sure, my hair reached my butt, but I would have sometimes over 6 inches of damage from heat and bad hair habits that required a major chop at my yearly hair cut! I never cared because my hair grew so fast, but it took some new habits to help revitilize my hair so that I could have long and HEALTHY hair.
Truthfully, genetics do play a large role in how fast and long your hair grows, this became obvious to me when I look at my sister's curlier head of hair that's never really made it past her shoulders. But the real secret to long hair is healthy hair, and your tresses may not be reaching it's full potential because of damage! So I've decided to compile a list of all my hair care habits so that you too can grow your hair to its full potential and enjoy long, healthy, shiny hair!
While ANYBODY can adopt these habits, I wanted to share my hair type just for references. I have dark hair with and thin-medium thickness and a very slight wave pattern. My hair is most similar to native american hair, which make sense due to my indigenous puerto rican ancestry. I wash my hair every 6 days but by day 4 it's starts to get a bit oily and this is normally when I use updos or slicked back hairstyles to hide it. I hope this helps! Now let's move on to these tips!
Use a leave in conditioner after every wash. We moisturize our face and body after showering, we should be moisturizing our hair. A leave in conditioner is essential for keeping hair healthy. I apply a generous amount to sections of my hair while it's damp and comb through with a wide tooth comb. I most work from the middle of my hair down to the ends as this area tends to be the driest and need the most TLC.
Protect your scalp From Sun with hats or scarves. The scalp ages 12x faster than your head, and excessive sun damage not only speeds up greying, but may also thin the hair or make it shed more. If you dye you hair, this will also keep the color vibrant and from fading too much! If you don't wanna sacrifice volume, opt for a scalp sunscreen.
Oil your hair or use a hair mask at least twice a month before washing your hair.
Don’t wash your hair too often but don’t wait too long either! Dirt in your hair can block your pores, damaging the hair follicles! I personally wash my hair every 6-7 days, and those I know with the finest hair usually wash their hair every 3rd or 4th day.
Use satin bonnets and scarves at night to preserve your hairstyle if it's curled or blowdried that way you don't have to worry about going over it with more heat the next day!
Braid hair loosely at night to prevent tangles. The more tangled your hair is, the more damage it's prone to from trying to brush it out
When possible, opt for loose hairstyles over tight and slicked back styles.
Go heatless whenever possible especially for curls!
If you blow dry your hair let your hair dry a bit first instead of immediately doing it with soaking wet hair to prevent heat damage.
Always use a heat protectant before using heat on hair and do NOT use oil, you may actually end up burning your hair more!
Collagen supplements are great for helping grow your hair. I used this collagen powder from Amazon when I was experience postpartum balding, and my edges grew back in within 3 months!
Do not be afraid to do a big chop and start fresh. Healthy hair looks so much better than long damaged hair and once your ends are split you cannot reverse the damage.
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