African American Waist Length Hair: 5 Inches in 7 Months

Waist Length Hair: Coily, Fine Textured and LONG!

January 2012

August 2012

Seven months has certainly given Miss Dimples lots of growth! In the picture on the left, taken January 2012, her hair lays about 5'' away from her bottom. In the picture on the right, taken in August 2012, her hair rests right above her bottom. I did a small trim recently, and plan to step up her deep conditioning treatments until the next trim (probably in October).

•  I never really get her hair "dead straight", because I'm still learning what the correct/safe flat iron temperature setting is for her hair. Her hair is very fine, while being tightly coiled--so this gets kind of tricky (avoiding heat damage).

• She seems to have exceeded her 1/2'' per month! It makes lots of sense, as she's a very active girl. It's said that good old cardiovascular activity helps promote hair growth, due to the blood circulation and all that good stuff. 

• Something that may have attributed to the length retention is that we don't do much with her hair, besides weekly wash/co-wash and style. Her hair maintenance is very low manipulation. Her heat sessions are probably every 6 months. So I'd say the recipe for her hair length retention is that I just care for it, and leave it alone.

Standard two strand twists still remain my favorite length retention styling/texture. So many styling options, easily moisturized, and very hard to damage. Most of all, a style like this can last all week (or two--if times get rough LOL), maybe freshening up the hairline. Also, a style like this is easy on the hairline (very important). If you haven't heard it from me yet, I promote two strand twists for all curl textures that I've ever come across. Using two strand twists to grow long hair is pretty much a surefire way to set about getting the job done.

Week FOUR: Ultra Defined Twist Out & I'm Having A BALL

Twistout on Natural Hair Using Jane Carter Nourish & Shine, and 3 weeks Low Manipulation Styling

Today is week four of my "no wash" twist and twist out styling. My hair feels so soft, my scalp is not complaining, my hair smells great, and styling has never been easier. I love to experiment and share what I find, so I hope you find this post helpful for your hair care journey. My main goal has been low manipulation, or better yet--no manipulation. These past 4 weeks have been the ideal setting for little or no manipulation of my hair strands, especially the ends. 

With that thought, I may well retain the 1/2'' that hair is said to grow over a four week period. On top of everything, I actually LOVED the styles. Sometimes in the past I've done low manipulation styling that I wasn't to in love with, and that can mess up your whole week.

Basically, my regimen while wearing the two strand twists was as follows:

Leave In Moisturizer: Jane Carter Nourish & Shine

Seal With: Jojoba Oil 

Wash: NONE

Condition: NONE

Anything Extra To Note: Sometimes I would allow steam to go into my shower cap, just for enough moisture to keep me soft and unbreakable. 

Night Time Maintain: Nothing Special. Just Moisturize with the Jane Carter Nourish & Shine, then sleep on a satin pillowcase. Sometimes I would ponytail with a scrunchie, just to get the hair out of my face.

The twistout seems to be a little more difficult to maintain. I used Castor Oil to keep my ends soft and moist. I still let a little steam pass through my shower cap. 

NIGHT TIME MAINTAIN: "Pineapple" Method (really I just put my hair in a high ponytail on the top of my head with a satin scrunchie). To moisturize, I put Castor Oil on my twist out.

I think I can get through the rest of the week with this twistout, but that will be the end of that! And that will take me to a full 35 days of low to no manipulation styling. I love it.

Ultra Defined Twist Out on Natural Hair

Want Guaranteed Results with Your Hair?

WILL YOU KEEP 6 INCHES OF HAIR LENGTH IN 2012?

So, you--like me...want to grow long hair. 2012 I plan to get results.

Be it "natural" or relaxed, or any other chemically treated tresses, we just want it long-- we want results. Regarding hair growth: The fact of the matter is that our hair grows between 1/4'' to 1/2'' or thereabouts in a month's time. So figure that your hair grows 1/2''...within 6 months, your hair could be about 3'' longer! No big excitement there...that's pretty much what's been happening for all of us. 

And with that squared away, we move on the length now, not growth. Regarding length: It's all about the ends, baby. Of course the hair shaft is important too, but the ends are where the hair is most vulnerable. It really is the oldest part of the hair because it's been on the head longest, blah, blah...it's subject to fabrics, heats, and being at the end (where we really try to lay it down), it truly takes a beating! So if the ends are so important to length, what do we do to care for and pamper it? There's a lot of things you can do to save your ends and retain your length.

The ends of our hair are most vulnerable--but that's what we need to save

Wash N Go's are Great Low Manipulation Styles. Add Conditioner & Spritz Daily

1) Moisturize with a leave in conditioner, and seal the moisture in with your favorite oil.

2) Deep condition your hair as needed, I deep condition 1 time each week.

3) Pre-poo (oils or conditioner before you shampoo), to prepare the hair for any harsh shampoos

4) Wear hair styles that put your hair into sections (for instance, two strand twists, finger coils), because there truly is strength in numbers.

5) Protect your ends by tucking them away into a style that you love. This is not mandatory, but it will yield you quicker, more sure and guaranteed results for keeping your length.

6) Detangle properly. Use detangling tools as needed (combs, brushes, etc). What I mean by this is to start detangling with your fingers, then use a wide tooth comb, then use a brush that is suitable for your hair. Most of the time you will not have to "go over your hair with a fine tooth comb" LOL Unless your styling plans call for that kind of detangling. 

7) Do not detangle every day. Keep your manipulation minimal. Styling options such as braidouts, twistouts, wash-n-go's, buns, etc can all be excellent low manipulation styling depending on your maintenance and care.

8) BE CONSISTENT. If it's working, keep doing it.

Well folks, gonna wrap it up for the day, this post was long enough. But if I forgot something, please share what you do to keep your length. No tricks to the growth, just tricks to keeping it on your head.

Two Strand Twists & My Low Manipulation REGIMEN For Length Retention

Using Two Strand Twists To Grow Long Length Hair

I just got through putting two strand twists (small sized) on my hair. I really love two strand twists. I go to sleep at night on a satin pillowcase. I wake up in the morning, wash my face, put a little make-up on, maybe moisturize a little bit on the strands---and go. 

That's the very reason I didn't mind spending the 6 hours to do the twists. I'm planning on keeping these for about 3 weeks. I'm gonna try the kinky curly queen's way (no washing)!!!! That's going to be hard for me because my scalp starts to pile up oils and whatnot's by day 6. So we will see.

I've retained so much length from doing low manipulation styling. If I was to be styling my hair daily, I would have to cut/trim often. 

MY LOW MANIPULATION REGIMEN:

1)  I wash my hair one time weekly. If I need to wash before then because of a sweaty/itchy scalp, then I will co-wash.

2) In regards to detangling. I only detangle with a tool (brush/comb/etc) once a week. This means that I only detangle with a tool 4 times A MONTH. In between that, I will finger detangle. For some reason, fingers seem like they were designed specifically for detangling hair!

Wash N Go As a Low Manipulation Style

 3) When I do a wash n go--- that will last me about 5 days. I do not comb my hair during the time I am wearing my wash and go. 

Braidout as A Low Manipulation Style

4) When I do a braidout, I will wear it for about 5 days. During that time, I may re-braid it one time. Have you ever went to "section" your hair to re- braid--and hear the "ripping" sound when you reach your ends? That can't be good.

It is my belief that hair that is so twisty, springy, curly, coily does not like to be detangled often. The very nature of this type of hair is to curl around itself. constantly. I mean, right after you THINK you just untwisted it from it's neighboring hair. 

If you're not already trying this routine and are seeking additional ways to secure your ends, give this a try for about 2 months. You will save valuable time by not spending each day fighting with the natural behaviors of your hair. Also, you will see your length through the lack of broken/split ends.

 I

10 Things We Love About Wash N Go's on Natural Hair

 10 Things To Love About Wash N Go's.....What do you Love About YOURS?

Wash N Go's: The Summer's Answer to Cute Hair!

When we don't have a clue what to do with our hair, we do "wash n go's" around here. I mean the for real--just wash your hair, condition and go. Sometimes we use conditioner to define our coils, and sometimes we use gel. Each time we do wash n go's for some reason they come out different. There's 3 of us here, each with totally different curl patterns, hair textures, hair densities, and hair porosity. All of that determines what our wash n go is going to look like from day one.

Each of Our Wash' N Go's Look Unique

Carefree Wash N Go On Natural Hair

I'm finding out that there are ways to do wash n go's without having to sleep with soaking wet hair. You especially don't want to sleep with wet hair in the winter. For right now, we do our wash n go's on wet to damp hair in the morning, so that by bed time, everything's dry. The wash n go is a great low manipulation styling option. You can preserve this style for on average about 3 to 4 days, while not needing to comb, brush or disturb the hair too much. Meanwhile, you are able to moisturize daily. This is a great length retention method!

Different Natural Hair Types Will Show Different Wash N Go Results

Natural Hair Wash N Go's Are Quick and Easy Styling

10 THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT WASH N GO'S

1) IT'S A QUICK AND EASY STYLE SOLUTION

2) NO ONE ELSE'S WASH N GO WILL LOOK LIKE YOURS

3) IF YOU USE CONDITIONER TO DEFINE YOUR COILS, YOUR HAIR STAYS MOISTURIZED

4) IT SHOWS WHAT YOUR HAIR DOES ON IT'S OWN ACCORD

5) EASY TO KEEP MOISTURIZED, WILL HELP TO RETAIN LENGTH

6) LOW MANIPULATION STYLING

7) IT'S SOOO CUTE!

8) EVERYBODY ASKS "HOW DO YOU GET YOUR HAIR TO DO THAT?"

9) YOU CAN WET YOUR HAIR DAILY!!

10) NO FEAR FOR THE RAIN OR HUMID WEATHER!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you haven't figured out the way to do your wash n go exactly how you love it....it's okay. The fun thing about natural hair is the experiments that you can do on your hair to figure out what your hair likes. I have a technique for a wash n go on wet hair, dry hair, and damp hair. They each produce different results!

SEPTEMBER 2012 UPDATE!!

Hey Beautiful! I Recently Lost My Last STUBBORN 8 Lbs!! 

When the weight started to drop off, I was encouraged to continue my weight loss/toning routine--and document my progress. Want to hear how I lost 8 pounds in 4 weeks? Check out how I simply changed 3 habits and lost 8 pounds safely. DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR THIS INFO PACKED ARTICLE BY ANGELSRINGLETS on hubpages.  http://hubpages.com/topics/health/2155

Products and Natural Hair: What Do You Put In Your Hair?

 IS YOUR HAIR SOFT ALL WEEK? WHAT DO YOU USE?

I've had the most easy styling week with my coily haired princess this week. I usually deal with single strand knots, tangles, shrunken hair that won't allow me to change up her style, and the usual curly haired shenanigans. Yeah I love to style her coily hair. But when we want to do some styles that require a little length, we are usually looking at her coils while they look right back at us and ask "what's up?" For school, I mostly use stretched styles on her. In the past, I noticed stretched hair that feels really dry. I can make her hair look real good. But can I keep it healthy, and soft? Yeah. Now I can. Let me tell you how..

Twist Outs are a Great Styling Option For Little Girls Too

Hair is Soft and Manageable. Use Natural Ingredients--(not to be mistaken for products)

Night Time Maintain: 5 Minutes Moisture and Plait

1) Minimize products. I found what works for her, and that's all I use in her hair. I will outline her products and regimen in another post.

2) Minimize Manipulation. After her wash day detangle, I don't detangle again. I will smooth out her hair nightly with my hands (that have shea butter mix on them). Night time regimen is simply twist big or plait big. Takes about 5 minutes (a little bit longer now that her hair is getting longer).

3) Use Natural Products. I'm not talking name brands. I mean actual 1 ingredient things. For instance, I use Aloe Vera Gel and Castor oil on her hair mostly. Then if I want to stretch it, I use Shea Butter/Mango Butter/Jojoba Oil mix. Keepin' it Real Simple. It doesn't even have to be expensive.

I think that keeping a simple product listing and simple regimen will eliminate product build up. It will eliminate the need for you to use harsh shampoos to take out the products you put in. And not having to use harsh shampoos is definitely a start to soft, maneagable hair. So is her hair soft now? Yeah. Is her hair maneagable now? Yeah. Does she scream when I style it in the mornings? No. Is she cute? I'm real sure of it. But then again, I'm her mama.

Using Two Strand Twists To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Hair!!

 

You ever notice how long loc'ed hair gets--and how quickly? I think the same growth/length maintenance rules apply to two strand twists. This "low manipulation" styling is the perfect storm for length retention. Lets establish that your hair is growing. It was easy to see all of that "new growth" when your hair was relaxed! But why isn't the hair length going down my back? Mostly because of the hair ends. The hair ends have been on the head for the longest time as compared to the rest of the hair. It's been subjected to the environment (sun, wind, clothing, etc). It snags easily with each comb/brush friction. It's pretty much being beat down daily. BUT two strand twists require that your ends are twisted together (forming a thicker bond). 

With this thicker bond, your ends are better equipped to sustain the environmental abuse. Also, when you wear two strand twists, you don't comb through or brush through at all during that time. If you keep the twists moisturized, alternate with protective styles, then you can pretty much be assured of seeing growth over a two month period of time. A few challenges are: 

1. Keeping them moisturized  
2. Having the patience to take down all of the twists safely  
3. Re-doing the twists again in another 2-3 weeks.

The longest I've ever kept my two strand twists in for is about 3 weeks. I co wash my hair approximately 2 times a week while I have my twists in. Once your twists are wet, they are suseptible to "loc'ing". Many people who are beginning dreadlocs often begin with two strand twists! So be watchful of your twists during the time you wear them. Watch the roots for tangling. Some two strand twist wearers "refresh" their twists on a daily basis by re-doing a section at a time. Do whatever works best for your hair.