How to Achieve Long Hair the Healthy Way

How to Achieve Long Hair the Healthy Way
  

You want long hair, but you’re frustrated that it still looks the same month after month. Hair vitamins have done little or nothing to help, and now you’re ready to try another approach.

It may not seem like it, but your hair is growing. Human hair grows at an average rate of a ½ an inch per month. The question is, how do you keep the growth? In this article, you’ll find helpful tips on how to achieve the healthy, long hair you’re dying to have. 

Do You Know Your Hair’s Porosity Type?

Knowing the porosity type is one of the first steps to growing long, lustrous hair. It’s a quick way to determine how your hair absorbs moisture. Once you understand porosity, you’ll be able to match the right kind of products to your hair. A great way to identify your porosity type is by doing a test. Place a clean strand of hair in a cup of room-temperature water. Does it float or sink?

 

If the hair floats on top of the water, you have low-porosity hair. Styling products tend to sit on top of your hair, instead of being absorbed. Adding heat while you apply products will get your closed cuticles to open and absorb moisture better.  If the hair sinks to the bottom, your hair is high-porosity and absorbs moisture like a porous sponge. But this means it’s easy for moisture to exit too. Your best bet is to keep hair continuously moisturized with leave-in products. You’ll want to coat your hair with healing butters and creams to strengthen the shaft.

Moisture is Queen

When dry hair breaks, you lose length. If you want beautiful, long locks, you must moisturize your hair every day. You probably know that the curlier the hair, the dryer it becomes. This is because it's hard for the scalp’s natural oils to travel down to coat the entire coily strand. So, you’ll need to do extra treatments to retain moisture. Also, the higher your porosity level, the more frequently you’ll need to deep condition. Aim to deep condition 2-3 times per week if you have high-porosity hair, and once a week if it’s low-porosity.

Be sure to focus on the ends when you apply products to restore and strengthen them as much as possible.Do you want a simple, easy-to-remember method for keeping your hair moisturized? Use the L.O.C. Method. It will lock in moisture and help define your curls. Here’s how it works:

L stands for liquid. Use water as the first step in your hydration method. If it is not wash day, have a spray bottle filled with water on hand to provide moisture. If you want to use a detangler at this point, you can.

O is for oil. The best oils moisturize, heal and protect. If you’re new to oils, start out with an easy-to-find product like coconut oil. You can add growth oils like rosemary, peppermint, and Black Jamaican Castor Oil to speed the growth process.

C stands for Cream. The cream works to smooth the cuticle and seal in the oil to the hair shaft. Many naturals use a curling cream for this stage like Shea Moisture’s Curl Enhancing Smoothie or Oyin’s Whipped Pudding, but you could even use a lighter cream like a leave-in conditioner for this step. Try Kinky Curly’s Knot Today or As I Am’s Leave-In Conditioner.

 

Wrap it Up at Night

Using a satin bonnet while you sleep will reduce shedding and will keep curls in place. An alternative to the bonnet is a satin or silk pillowcase.  If you follow these guidelines, you’ll be well on your way to long, healthy curls in due time. Have patience as you experiment and remember that growing long natural hair is a journey, not a destination.  

Sources

Feature Image Urban Cusp
Hair Porosity Image Shampoo Truth


Article written by Patrina . Patrina is the founder of Naturalhairqueen.net; a blog to educate and inspire women with natural hair. Patrina just celebrated her 10-year natural hair anniversary, and achieved her goal of waist length hair. With the knowledge she has learned over the years she is dedicated to share her knowledge, and experience to educate women who wish to have moisturized, healthy natural long hair.

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