The reason why we do not see a significant difference in the length of our hair is because of poor hair care practices that make our hair break faster than it grows.
Proof that hair grows(for those who do braids with extensions it's easy to see that the braids get looser at the roots, that's not the braid getting loose it is your hair growing) the same thing applies to colored hair and relaxed hair because you can literally track how fast your hair grows.
Now that we know that hair grows we need to learn how to keep that growth. A good place to start is to understand that the ends of your hair are the oldest, weakest and at the same time what you need to pay most attention to if your aim is to retain length. The ends of your hair are your length, the longer you keep them on your head the longer your hair will grow.
Here is how to keep your ends healthy for length retention.
- Trim your ends as needed
If your aim is to retain length you shouldn't over trim your ends but you should make sure that they are always in good shape. Trimming off 1/4 of an inch every 4 months is reasonable. But if you don't need a trim don't trim.
- Moisturize your ends!
Do not wait for your ends to dry out in order to moisturize them. Make it a habit to keep them moisturized (at least every two days)
- seal in moisture with an oil
After moisturizing please seal in the moisture with an oil or butter.
- Keep your hair stretched.
Wearing your hair in a shrunken state causes too much tangling and knotting which eventually leads to breakage.
- wear protective hairstyles
Protective hairstyles such as braids, weaves, wigs, buns, plaits, twists etc that keep your ends hidden, tucked in or up will reduce friction with your clothes and therefore encourage length retention.
Welcome to Grow African Hair Long (GAHL)