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Tips to Grow Long, Healthy Black Hair

Black hair is naturally prone to dryness. The reason why our hair is often shorter than other cultures is because our ends break off quickly due to its dryness. As quickly as our new growth comes in the breakage of the ends counter acts any growth. This problem leads many African American women to believe that our hair doesn’t grow. The most important part of our hair growth practices should be keeping our ends moisturized.

Tips to alleviate dryness to your ends:

1. Eliminating or at least reducing its usage will make an enormous difference in maintaining the health of your hair and its ends. (blow drying, flat iron, hot curling etc..)

2. Keep your ends protected and moisturized daily.

3. Prevent your hair from rubbing against your clothes and being exposed to the harsh weather. By keeping ends tucked away in a bun or up-do will alleviate ends from becoming dry and breaking off. Fabric like wool is a hairs worst nightmare so keep it away at all costs.

4. Dyeing hair causes dryness and breakage.

5. Deep condition hair each time you wash, with or without heat.

6. Use a moisturizing shampoo or substitute shampoo with moisturizing conditioner. Shampoos including sulfates are very drying and tend to strip the hair of moisture. Shampoos are made to wash the scalp not necessarily the hair shaft, which is why Conditioner is needed.

7. When washing the hair try only concentrating on the scalp. Rinse with cool water, hot water strips natural oils from the hair. Washing hair multiple times can cause dryness.

8. Leaving your weave or braids in longer than 3 months is a no no. You must wash and moisturize your hair daily even while in weaves, braids and underneath wigs. Using a braid spray or spraying moisturizer and redoing every 3 months will help reduce breakage. Washing every 1- 2 weeks is important even while in braids & weaves. Doing so with watered down conditioner in an applicator bottle directly to the scalp will keep hair clean and moisturized while in these styles.

9. Reduce combing and brushing your hair. Detangling should be done by starting at the ends and working your way up with a wide-toothed comb.

10. Average hair growth for all ethnicities is a ½ an inch per month. The treatment of your hair determines how much growth you will retain.

#1 Hair Myth: Hair does not need to be trimmed every 6-8 weeks even if the ends are split (there are other methods to handle split ends). Cutting off the ends counter acts the growth process. How are you expected to retain your ½ inch of growth per month if you trim the progress away every salon visit?

About the Author

Learn more tips at Beauty N Brainz and find more tips on How To Prevent Damaged Hair

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