How To Grow & Maintain Healthy Natural Hair

In recent time, keeping and maintaining natural hair has become a trend which may also be likened to a movement, as at least 4 out of 10 ladies now keep natural hair.

In as much as it has become a massive movement, while some are doing it the right way and observing all the rules that have to do with it, others however are merely keeping it because it has become a  trend and a fancy thing for every lady to keep natural hair.

As beautiful as natural hair looks on a lady, it’s a sure thing to note that there is a big price she’s paying behind the scenes, which no one probably knows about. The price called maintenance.

In this article, I’ll be sharing with you a few tips on how to grow and maintain a healthy and long natural hair.

Understand the characteristics of natural hair

Natural hair has unique characteristics that you should know about in order to take good care of your hair.

People with natural hair produce tight curls, which can keep sebum (a natural moisturizer) from saturating all the way down the hair shaft. This can lead to dry hair.

Natural hair is prone to knotting when you comb it. Knotting also contributes to breakage, so some avoid combing altogether.

Natural hair often has a slower growth rate than other hair types. In addition, the highly curved hair shaft means that hair shrinks up as it dries; those with very kinky or curly hair may see up to 75% shrinkage!

Keep your scalp clean

Keeping your scalp clean is very important in maintaining natural hair.

No healthy hair thrives in a congested environment. You can’t expect your hair to grow healthy through tons of dirt and build up.

Shampoo your hair regularly to make sure it leaves your scalp clean and neat.

Avoid harsh shampoos.

Many shampoos contain chemicals such as ammonium lauryl sulfate, ammonium laureth sulfate or sodium lauryl sulfate. These create that luxurious foam when you wash your hair, but they can also cause dryness and breakage. Look for “sulfate-free” shampoos that will be kinder to your hair.

If shampoo makes your hair feel dry, you may decide to use a cleansing conditioner which is a nice balance between a shampoo and a regular conditioner.

Massage Your scalp

You can also do

head massages to get the blood flowing through your scalp and help to stimulate growth.

Keep it moisturized

Keeping your hair moisturized is really important.  In the same way, you need to keep your body moisturized and hydrated with water you need to do the same thing when it comes to your hair.

Make sure you are drinking plenty of water especially in the summer months and keep your hair moisturized with a  really good hydrating leave-in conditioner.

When choosing a leave-in conditioner its always best to go for one where the first ingredient is water (aqua).  Ingredients tend to be listed in order of percentage so you know if water is listed first that is likely to be the main ingredient of the product.

Avoid breakage

Whilst I know its ways to sit here and say avoid breakage its not so easy to spot the things that are actually causing your hair to break.

Some of the most common practices that cause hair breakage are:

Using heat without a heat protectant

Not know how to safely blow dry your hair

Being too rough with your hair

Allowing your hair to become overly dry

General lack of maintenance.  If you are not sure of a good hair routine you can check out how to put a natural hair routine together here.

Trim regularly

When most people think about trimming their hair they don’t like the thought of it, when in fact trimming your hair is one of the best things you can do to help your hair to grow healthy.

If you are a plant lover you will know how important it is to prune the leaves of the plant to help keep it alive.  Well, the same is true for your hair too.

When you trim your hair you get rid of the split ends, single strand knots and frayed ends.  This ensures that your hair stays looking and feeling healthy.

Never look at trimming your hair as a loss of length because it is not.

You can read all about the signs your hair gives when it is in need of a trim here.

Avoid Heat

Try to avoid heat drying and styling if you can until your hair is in better shape. If you are going to apply heat, use a heat protectant, keep temperatures low, and use a blow dryer with a comb attachment to prevent further damage.

Learn to detangle

Detangling is another important thing to do.

Detangling conditioners are good but they don’t actually detangle your hair.  When we talk about detangling your hair we are talking about separating strands of hair that are intertwined and need to be released.

If you don’t detangle, your hair will become even more tangled and may lead to lots of breakage from pulling hairs apart.

In conclusion, in as much as wearing natural hair has become a trend, you may be causing grave damages to your hair if you’re not deliberate about the maintain, because the quality of given to your hair maintenance determines whether or not it can stand the test of time.