Why Long Hair?

Long hair is not something that just happens. It takes time.

I was one of the lucky ones. When I decided to grow my hair out long, it only took about two years. It went from shoulder length to buttock length in that time. That’s pretty fast.

The length of my hair is pretty stable now. I get it trimmed professionally for very special occasions (I think my sister’s wedding a year and a half ago was the most recent), but otherwise just trim off split ends.

There’s a trick to growing long hair, and I don’t just mean keeping scissors away from it. There are quite a few things you quite simply must not do to your hair when you want it to grow long and strong. Trust me, you will need the strong in order to get long hair.

Coloring and perming can be very hard on your hair. Avoid anything with peroxide or ammonia in particular. Hair colorants using henna are more gentle, so if you really need to color, look for henna. If you can’t find henna, then use a hot oil treatment to help your hair recover from what the chemicals have done to it.

Remember how your mother always said teasing wasn’t nice? Well, she meant it’s not nice to tease your friends, but teasing your hair is bad for it too. It weakens your hair, making it more prone to breakage. Not a good way to encourage your hair to grow long and beautiful.

Wear your hair loose when possible, and use hair-friendly products if you must pull it back or style it. NO RUBBER BANDS!! I can’t emphasize that one enough. Rubber bands pull hair out something awful. There are covered elastic bands made without metal connectors that are much, much kinder to your hair.

Some buttons and necklaces will tend to tangle your hair. If I’m wearing something I know will tangle my hair, that is when I tend to braid it or put it up for the day. It’s a matter of deciding what option looks best and is gentlest on my hair.

With summer coming, swimming is a big deal and can have a huge impact on your hair. If you swim a lot, give your hair special treatment to replenish it.

Brush it as gently as you can manage. Most important of all, don’t yank knots out by starting at the top. The knots will come out much more easily if you start your work at the bottom of the knot and work your way up.

There’s more to come on the topic of growing your hair out long, as well as product recommendations, but I have to go for now.