How To Grow Long Hair If You Are A Black Woman – smartesthairstyles.com – As a woman of African descent, you may think that your hair is too fragile to grow long. Don’t worry! You can grow long, shiny hair by putting more effort into your hair care and styling.
- Take care of your hair to make it grow
Groom your hair generously. Black women tend to have curly new growth. These curly roots make it difficult for your hair’s natural oils to travel down the hair shaft and moisturize the length of your hair.
Try co-washing (washing with conditioner, using only conditioner instead of shampoo and conditioner). Some women do it weekly, some after 5 days but not daily because the product can dry out your hair. Some women also find that laundry days are a lot of work and their hair takes forever to dry. Try co-washing weekly and shampooing as needed, but don’t wait more than 4 weeks – so shampoo at least once a month. There are some women who wash their hair every day, but only with water.
Deep condition with every wash. Hair treatments with olive, avocado, or sweet almond oil work well. Play around with different products and see what works best for your hair personally. Don’t be afraid to step down the “ethnic” hair course.
Apply heat to your hair and wear a shower cap while you wait – heat activates the conditioner. You can sit under a hood dryer or wrap your head in a towel soaked in hot (but not hot enough to burn) water; or you can let your body heat care for your hair.
Avoid getting deep conditioner on your scalp. Conditioner can clog your pores and cause alopecia, clogged and inflamed hair follicles, and hair loss.
Apply a moisturizer (that doesn’t contain petroleum jelly, petroleum jelly, or mineral oil) to your hair.
Dampen your hair with water. Start about an inch from the roots and work the moisturizer all the way to the ends!
Moisturize daily or as needed – you want your hair to feel soft and smooth. You may have to experiment to find what works for you.
Lock in the moisture. This can be done by using a natural oil like coconut oil, olive oil, etc. right after applying the moisturizer (which can be water), so even applying oil to damp hair without a moisturizer can work. Do it in sections, it’s easier.
Squeeze out excess water with a microfiber cloth. If you have a terry towel you have to be careful not to run it over your hair or strands of hair will snag the textured fabric of the towel and if you run your hand down you will hear a lot of popping. that’s the sound of hair snapping. To use the terry towel, take a strand of hair and with the towel over your hand, grasp the strand and squeeze. You should feel the towel getting soaked. Untie the towel-covered hand; don’t put it off.
Comb your hair carefully. Excessive brushing can remove the protective cuticle layer from your hair.
Comb your hair with a wide-toothed comb. Divide your hair into sections. Start combing at the ends and work your way down to the roots.
Don’t be afraid to put down the comb. Sometimes when you hit a bun or when the hair has a very tangled texture, all you have to do is use your fingers and detangle manually. If there is a knot that you can’t get rid of in your hair, add some to soften the hair like water or leave in conditioner to untangle the knot. If the knot still won’t unravel, use a good pair of hair scissors to clip it out.
If you are trying to smooth your hairline, brush gently and use a soft boar bristle brush. If your edges are still floating or curling up from your head, try wetting your hairline and grabbing a scarf or durag and covering your head. Let it dry until you have a tamed hairline.
Experiment with whether it’s best to do this when your hair is completely dry and moisturized, or whether it’s better to detangle while your hair is wet (you’ll find that it’s very easy for Your hair will break or be pulled out of the roots if you detangle when dry).
Treat your hair from within by taking a multivitamin. Use a hair vitamin that will increase your hair growth rate and prolong your natural anagenesis (growth phase).
Incorporate healthy habits.
Drink at least eight cups of water and eat healthy foods like fish, fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
Exercise regularly to increase blood flow to your scalp.
Manage your stress with relaxation exercises or meditation. Stress can cause your hair to fall out.
- Know your hair growth schedule
Expect to wait about a year to a year and a half for shoulder length growth once you start a clean shave. African hair grows at the same rate as any other person’s. You can expect about 1/2 inch (13mm) of growth per month if you take good care of your hair.
Wait another 6 to 15 months for your hair to reach armpit length.
Add another 9 to 18 months to reach bra strap length. Growing your hair out until the ends touch your bra strap takes about 3 years in total.
Expect hair growth to your waistline to take 3 to 4+ years. Every hair grows at a different speed. Make sure you don’t compare yourself to other people; You will only get frustrated. Just keep taking care of your hair and be patient. You get results.
- Style your hair as it grows out
Use protective styles that don’t require you to constantly restyle your hair. Some examples of good styles are twists or bantu knots.
Braid : Make a simple braid from the top and tie the end when finished. You can also add a hair band.
Twists : Part your hair in tiers. Then divide each row you just made into 2 separate sections.
Starting at the hairline, twist the two sections of the first row together.
Keep twisting your hair as you move towards the back of your head, grabbing a little more hair each time you go a little further down the row.
Bantu Knot : Using a comb, part damp hair into sections to create really precise parts.
Twist each section of hair into a “rope” and work some gel or pomade into your hair as you twist. Keep your hair taut until you have twisted the entire section into a rope.
Twist the rope a few more times until it starts to curl up. This creates a tight spiral at the base.
Wrap the section of hair around the base to form your bun. You can secure it by either tucking the ends under the knot, using pins, or using rubber bands.
Be gentle and watch out for traction alopecia. It is the constant force exerted on the hair follicles by wearing styles that are too tight, which leads to breakage and bald patches. The first sign is pain at the site and inflammation of the hair follicle, it feels like a bump. Take out the hair where you suffer from the inflammation and let the hair ‘breathe’.
Continue to condition your hair while in protective styles. The hair is still drying out and the scalp may also need some maintenance. Get a spray bottle and fill it with water, aloe vera juice, some natural oils (anything that helps restore moisture) and spray all over. If you have enough time, hold your entire head under the showerhead at the beginning of the day and let your hair air dry for the rest of the day. If protective styles are worn for long periods of time, co-washing can also be done, but it may require an application bottle to try and get under the braids.
Go of course. Natural hair can be long and beautiful if you know what you’re doing. To straighten natural hair while protecting it from heat damage, blow dry your hair with a comb on a damp setting before quickly sweeping with a flat iron.
Get a Brazilian keratin treatment. It straightens your hair or loosens curls without chemicals. They start from about 1 day to 6 months. Afro hair is washed less often, so the treatment takes longer than indicated.
Use a relaxant if you don’t want to go natural. Don’t relax your hair more than once every 8 to 10 weeks or 4 or 5 times a year. Remember that relaxers are harsh chemicals that can potentially damage your hair. It’s good to cap them to avoid overlapping and overprocessing.
Start by applying a scalp protectant or petroleum jelly to your scalp and hair shaft. Apply the relaxer to your roots according to the manufacturer’s directions. Be sure to follow the exposure time recommended on the product.
Wash out the relaxer in warm water with a neutralizing shampoo. Wash and rinse 3 times. For the fourth time, leave the shampoo on for about 10 minutes before rinsing out for the last time.
Use a protein reconstructor after using a relaxer. Both shampoo and relaxer remove needed nutrients and protection from your hair, leaving it dry and brittle. Protein Reconstructor helps prevent damage and makes your hair more resilient.
Trim your ends about every 8 weeks or every time you’ve relaxed your hair. If you have split ends and don’t trim them, they will continue to be split down the hair shaft, which will cause breakage. To keep your hair growth consistent, avoid shedding more than an inch to two inches at a time.