Have you been natural for a while yet you feel as if your hair is just not growing? I certainly felt like this for the first five years of wearing my hair natural–I am now seven years natural and I have started to pay more attention to the habits that were preventing my hair from retaining length. The first step I took was to stop dying my hair. Hair dyes can make our hair even more fragile, brittle and prone to dryness. Within a few months after dying application you may begin to notice breakage if you use color treatments. The hair color you see in the video below was my last hair dye and I was growing it out. The step I took to retain length was trimming split ends on a regular basis.
I would like to stress that damaged ends cannot be permanently reversed, no matter how much you try to smooth the ends and no matter how much a product you use. Products assist with anti-breakage–in other words, maintaining healthy strands that prevent our ends from thinning out or splitting anywhere from the middle to the ends of the shaft. There are products that can help your split end stick together and decrease the rate at which it splits further, using a complex known as PEC. But neither of these product categories will actually fix the hair permanently once the end is split. In the video below I demonstrate how split ends work by using a piece of electrical wire and outline 3 steps you can take to be split end free.
Tip 1: Avoid daily activities that may cause split ends
Try to minimize daily manipulation of the hair, for example excessive brushing and combing or manipulating it into a hairstyle every day.
Tip 2: “Poo on top.”
Use the technique “Poo on top, condition on bottom.” In other words use shampoo on the scalp only and add plenty of conditioner and leave-in conditioner on the ends of the hair.
Tip 3: Detangle your hair properly with good detangling tools.
If you like to use a tool to detangle then use wide tooth combs on wet hair, but if you have the patience finger detangling is your best option.
Tip 4: Dry your hair properly with a T-shirt or a Microfiber Towel or Turban.
Traditional terry cloth towels will remove the much-needed moisture from your hair. Next time you shower use an old t-shirt to dry your hair instead of a towel, you should see less frizz and dryness right away.
Tip 5: Skip that blow drying your hair after you wash it.
Instead style your hair wet and let air dry. If you absolutely need to use the blow dry, then turn down the heat and blast at low temperatures.
Tip 6: Learn to have second and third day hair.
Styling and re-styling your hair every day is manipulation that can lead to damage. The less hair manipulation the less you’ll experience rapid split ends.
Tip 7: Protect your hair from the sun.
Learn how to effectively prevent your hair from getting sun burned.
Tip 8: Use ouch free hair accessories and tools.
Stay away from accessories that has metal connector or doesn’t have elasticity. Do not use hair tools with metal edges or brushes that tug and pull against the elasticity of the hair.
Tip 9: Stop using chemicals.
Hair dyes, chemical treatments, and hair products with alcohol and drying agents will only aggravate any dryness in your hair. If you currently use any of these treatments you will find a noticeable difference when you stop using them.
Tip 10: Treat your hair 50/50.
In order to have healthy hair strands it is important to give your hair moisture and protein treatments on a 50/50 ratio. What I mean by that is alternate between moisture and protein treatments every time you wash your hair. I wash my hair every two weeks, so every month I give my hair 1 moisture and 1 protein treatment.
Tip 11: Trim your ends right now.
The best time to start preventing your hair from Split Ends is right after you get your hair trimmed. So if you haven’t trimmed your hair in the last 2 months then this will be Step 1 for you. If you follow these 10 Hairlove Tips to the T, then instead of trimming every 8 weeks, you can go a bit longer, not exceeding 16 weeks at a time.
Tip 12: Stop wetting your hair every day.
Consistently adding water to your hair every day. Water is a natural humectant but too much of it every day can affect the strength of the hair shaft, causing it to weaken, split or break.
