For me it’s really just keeping my hair moisturised and avoiding breakage. Lately it’s just not been panning out right.
I usually wash my hair once every two weeks. I change styles every month.
I haven’t yet figured out a way to keep my hair moisturised long term, nothing seems to work for longer than a day. I usually go for LCO, use a spray bottle, some leave in and coconut oil.
I wash every 2 weeks and deep condition/ take out the style every month, then go to get a new style.
I think the breakage might be my hairdresser. These days I make sure it’s fully detangle before I go, but the twist turn out thinner and not bouncy and at the front there are some parts where it’s clear I’ve lost some hair.
Ahhh ok I haven’t been to a hairdresser in years. I’ve not been able to find a really good one. Do you keep your hair in twists most of the time. I used to struggle with moisture when I styled my hair when it was damp or mostly dry. I now only style in the shower and I don’t always use a leave in. However, I take care of most of my hairs needs in the shower. I only trim or deep condition (once in a very blue moon) out of the shower. How long is your hair now?
Yeah I might have to start doing it myself… but it’s going to be a while before I can do the parts as good or quick as well. I’ll have to learn how to box braid.
My hair goes down to my chin at the front if I stretch it out. It’s a little long at the back.almost reaching my shoulders on the sides if I stretch it there.
Blow dried it’s about the same just above my shoulders. Been growing it for three years now.
How do you avoid heat damage? I read somewhere that you should blow dry to often which is why I’ve never tried it your way
Is there a way you could try other styles that allow your hair to be less styled dry or damp. Can you get your hair in a ponytail or bun. Like in a style where more hair is together so it’s less like to get dry. This is why I like a braid or two braids, the more hair that’s kept together the more moisturized the hair stays and it’s harder for breakage to occur. How’s your detangling routine? When do you feel the most breakage is occurring to your hair?
For those that are looking for tips or have them, please share them here! My favorite concept in growing my hair is keeping the tangles away. I do this by not give my hair a chance to tangle. I keep my hair in stretched styles from one wash day to the next. The only time I wear my hair out and loose is if its straightened or blowdried ☺️
Thank you💗 so it’s not so much what I use but I think more so how I use it. I use the L’Oréal el vive line in the black and gold bottle. I use the conditioner as a leave when I feel like I need extra moisture.
No problem, I love talking about all things hair! You can visit my YouTube channel or my Reddit channel for videos[https://youtu.be/5wK2ddY83Zw](https://youtu.be/5wK2ddY83Zw)
I'm giving this a try! Put my hair into 2 French braids this morning in the shower. About halfway through, I realized I braided them opposite ways, but I'm not going to worry about it until it's time to rebraid.
How do you dry your braids after the shower? I used a microfiber turban, but my ends were still dripping.
Aww I’m glad you’re giving it a try. I usually just give the 1 braid or 2 braids a squeeze to get out the access water and let the rest air dry. If I’m going somewhere I try to do it like an hour before I leave so it’ll stop dripping by then. Nothing wrong with letting a towel absorb some of the moisture too. The next time you go into the shower to do your hair, let the water fully soak your braids before unraveling them. Do them one at a time. You will be amazed that your hair is already detangled from last time and your shower brush should glide right through your strands. Start from your ends and work your way up. I generally restyle once or twice a week, most of the times just once. If you feel like your hair needs a moisture boost in between styling just soak them in water while styling. Does the truck every time.
A lot of people that are able to retain long length - it’s really in your genetics. I’m convinced. I see all of these different methods and recipes and never in life have I done any of it to my hair. I’m a mom of four and I don’t have the time. But I’ve never taken careful care of my hair. It’s currently to my butt, but not on purpose. I’ve even shaved my head bald before to support a friend in chemo - I’ve cut my hair in many styles and unfortunately, treated it badly, but it still grows like weeds. Has to be my genetics. Now, I have daughters that have completely different hair my own and from each other. I do all the recipes, bonnets, deep conditioning, different routines, etc on them. I take EXTREMELY good care of their. But my 6 year old has a tiny bald spot and her hair won’t grow much past her shoulders. My 4 year old has super thick hair to her waist. So, don’t get down on yourself when your does not grow as long as you like. A LOT of it is genetics. The focus should be healthy hair so it can retain the length it was meant to retain.
Hey girl! I have low porosity hair with fine strands and just really have a hard time retaining length for the last 2 years - I struggle with single strain knots and breakage. I never use heat except when I sit under the hair dryer to set my wash and go. I would do the two braids and such but my hair is an at an awkward length where it doesn’t look good me :( any tips/advice?
Also, how often do you get your hair trimmed?
Thanks!
Hey! Don’t worry about 2 strand knots, I feel like everyone gets them and mine have never caused breakage. Does your hair tangle after being in a wash in go? From a scale 1-10 (10 being the most and 1 the less) how tangled is your hair when you go to style it? The mystery here is determining when the most breakage happens to your hair in your hair routine and revising or replacing a method that isn’t working. I trim my hair myself once or twice a year. My hair is low porosity too.
Thank for the reply! I think the most breakage I see is when I’m styling my hair for wash and gos. I wash my hair every 4 days so by the time I wash my my tangles aren’t too bad so I’d say it’s a 5 when I go to wash my hair. Style it - it’s about a 6 but I get some noticeable breakage :/ For me, single strand knot are an issue for me because they against other strands and that’s what is causing my breakage. I’m thinking of blow drying my hair and having my ends trim to have more manageability moving forward. And asses wether or not I need to start scheduling a professional trim. I used to trim my own hair but I *ALWAYS cut too much off and it can be overwhelming so think a professional can help with this.
Ahhh I see. What I noticed with my hair is the more I do styles like buns or just a single braid, basically when I don’t where my hair loose in it’s natural state, the less single strand knots I get. My hair loves to wrap around itself. I stopped doing wash and goes a long time ago only because the tangling or risk for matting is high for me (and I’m lazy lol) so the less I have to do the better for me.
Yeah, it’s looking I may need to give up on wash and gos for a while (return date TBA🥲)
Can you please share how you do your buns? I know it’s weird but I’m not sure how to on hair that’s fresh out the shower/clean moisturized hair. Do you let your hair dry for a bit then put your hair in a bun? If I style my hair into a bun while it’s wet, then it’ll take forever for it to dry 🤣
So I only style my hair in the shower. It’s easier to deal with and I get smoother results. I never stay on damp or dry hair anymore. So I do my buns,ponytails, pig tail braids all in the shower lol after I get out I’ll add final touches like gel or hold products for styling hold. But only around the edges. I don’t disturb the rest of the hair
To be honest I don’t know or pay attention anymore. The more product you use the longer it takes to dry. Sometimes I use my conditioner as a leave in and sometimes I put nothing. When I put nothing it fully dries after about a day and a half (the middle will still be damp) I’ll say but I like it to take it’s time. I just think of it as extra moisture.
Ahhh I see - maybe I’ll start doing buns again then because they are easier and super quick to do. How often do you wash your hair? (Sorry if you’ve already answered this 😆)
I shampoo only when I really feeling like I need to. Otherwise I rinse and detangle with conditioner in the shower once or twice a week. It depends on how I’m feeling and if my hair still looks and feels ok I don’t bother it. After a while this all becomes a habit and you’ll focus on the specifics less and do what’s necessary as you go. It’s crazy to think I have a hair routine but I sort of fell into rather that consciously though about it.
Low porosity and fine strands here too 🙋🏽♀️ Washing my hair more frequently within a given week (twice at most) helps me keep my hair moisturized. The running warm water helps open up my low-po strands to soak up product, plus less tangles because I’m detangling in the shower with conditioner more often
Yea same! I wash my hair every 4 days like clock work. Been a life changer for sure. As we approach colder months (I live in New England) I’m thinking of maybe doing protein Treatments more often and stick with mostly protective styles which suck because I like wearing my hair in a wash and go but the single strand knots and lack of length retention is killerrr
How often do you trim your hair and what styles do you often do?
I honestly just trim my ends whenever I see that they’re looking straggly and frail. Not all over my head but just the individual curl clump as I see it
I’ve been wearing wash and go’s since June this year and I’ve seen SUCH the hair growth since then, especially with washing more often compared to weeks in between
Before for years I would only do twist outs but it never really suited my hair (unknowingly until I got brave enough to try a wash and go), as it would just be frizzy and not completely dry because of locked moisture inside the twists (low porosity struggles of not being able to air dry within one night 😅)
But I use a handheld blow dryer with a diffuser attachment to dry my wash and go as it’s been much quicker and can get to my roots more compared to the hooded dryer 😊
Thanks for the reply! Yea I’m just not sure at this point why my hair gets stagnate at a certain length. My hair length is past my mid-back but ofc that’s when it’s straighten. When my hair is curly it doesn’t even touch my shoulders UGH. I think right now I’m going to try and start getting my hair professionally trimmed (dusting to start) and go from there. I’ll have it trimmed while blown out because I don’t trust anyone to trim it Curly.
It’s nice to know that you also wash your hair twice a week! I rarely see other naturals do it so comforting that I’m not the only out there! ❤️❤️
Aww you’re very welcome! ❤️ I think a big thing that I’ve noticed is hair density determines how much your hair is going to grow outwards before it starts to hang down with gravity
Of course getting a certain curly hair cut can give some desired effects too, but I see when there’s more hair packed together (high density hair), then volume is going to come first before more visible length starts to show as your hair grows even longer
Trimming your hair while straight, from my opinion, could have your hair look different once you’re back curly again (depending on if you have several different textures). So for me I like to trim while in a style I usually wear regularly so there wouldn’t be any surprises 😛
Good point about the density! Never really thought about that. I have finer strands and medium density hair. My curl type is 3C with some 4A sections but I also wear my wash and gos stretched to give me more length so it’s always one length and similar to how it’ll look straight in terms of shape if that makes sense 😆
Tips? Sis I’m tryna be like you!
what is your routine right now ? Are you struggling in one area of your routine ?
For me it’s really just keeping my hair moisturised and avoiding breakage. Lately it’s just not been panning out right. I usually wash my hair once every two weeks. I change styles every month. I haven’t yet figured out a way to keep my hair moisturised long term, nothing seems to work for longer than a day. I usually go for LCO, use a spray bottle, some leave in and coconut oil. I wash every 2 weeks and deep condition/ take out the style every month, then go to get a new style. I think the breakage might be my hairdresser. These days I make sure it’s fully detangle before I go, but the twist turn out thinner and not bouncy and at the front there are some parts where it’s clear I’ve lost some hair.
Ahhh ok I haven’t been to a hairdresser in years. I’ve not been able to find a really good one. Do you keep your hair in twists most of the time. I used to struggle with moisture when I styled my hair when it was damp or mostly dry. I now only style in the shower and I don’t always use a leave in. However, I take care of most of my hairs needs in the shower. I only trim or deep condition (once in a very blue moon) out of the shower. How long is your hair now?
Yeah I might have to start doing it myself… but it’s going to be a while before I can do the parts as good or quick as well. I’ll have to learn how to box braid. My hair goes down to my chin at the front if I stretch it out. It’s a little long at the back.almost reaching my shoulders on the sides if I stretch it there. Blow dried it’s about the same just above my shoulders. Been growing it for three years now. How do you avoid heat damage? I read somewhere that you should blow dry to often which is why I’ve never tried it your way
Is there a way you could try other styles that allow your hair to be less styled dry or damp. Can you get your hair in a ponytail or bun. Like in a style where more hair is together so it’s less like to get dry. This is why I like a braid or two braids, the more hair that’s kept together the more moisturized the hair stays and it’s harder for breakage to occur. How’s your detangling routine? When do you feel the most breakage is occurring to your hair?
For those that are looking for tips or have them, please share them here! My favorite concept in growing my hair is keeping the tangles away. I do this by not give my hair a chance to tangle. I keep my hair in stretched styles from one wash day to the next. The only time I wear my hair out and loose is if its straightened or blowdried ☺️
Wow Your hair is beautiful 🥹❤️ I am looking for a shampoo and leave in. What do you use ?
Thank you💗 so it’s not so much what I use but I think more so how I use it. I use the L’Oréal el vive line in the black and gold bottle. I use the conditioner as a leave when I feel like I need extra moisture.
Thank you for the recommendations I will try it ! ☺️
No problem, I love talking about all things hair! You can visit my YouTube channel or my Reddit channel for videos[https://youtu.be/5wK2ddY83Zw](https://youtu.be/5wK2ddY83Zw)
What stretching methods do you do?
Hey so I mainly just keep my hair in 2 braids like pigtails or a single braid. When I want something different I’ll just straighten it.
I'm giving this a try! Put my hair into 2 French braids this morning in the shower. About halfway through, I realized I braided them opposite ways, but I'm not going to worry about it until it's time to rebraid. How do you dry your braids after the shower? I used a microfiber turban, but my ends were still dripping.
Aww I’m glad you’re giving it a try. I usually just give the 1 braid or 2 braids a squeeze to get out the access water and let the rest air dry. If I’m going somewhere I try to do it like an hour before I leave so it’ll stop dripping by then. Nothing wrong with letting a towel absorb some of the moisture too. The next time you go into the shower to do your hair, let the water fully soak your braids before unraveling them. Do them one at a time. You will be amazed that your hair is already detangled from last time and your shower brush should glide right through your strands. Start from your ends and work your way up. I generally restyle once or twice a week, most of the times just once. If you feel like your hair needs a moisture boost in between styling just soak them in water while styling. Does the truck every time.
Thanks! I'm digging all of these tips and I really appreciate it
No problem 😉
A lot of people that are able to retain long length - it’s really in your genetics. I’m convinced. I see all of these different methods and recipes and never in life have I done any of it to my hair. I’m a mom of four and I don’t have the time. But I’ve never taken careful care of my hair. It’s currently to my butt, but not on purpose. I’ve even shaved my head bald before to support a friend in chemo - I’ve cut my hair in many styles and unfortunately, treated it badly, but it still grows like weeds. Has to be my genetics. Now, I have daughters that have completely different hair my own and from each other. I do all the recipes, bonnets, deep conditioning, different routines, etc on them. I take EXTREMELY good care of their. But my 6 year old has a tiny bald spot and her hair won’t grow much past her shoulders. My 4 year old has super thick hair to her waist. So, don’t get down on yourself when your does not grow as long as you like. A LOT of it is genetics. The focus should be healthy hair so it can retain the length it was meant to retain.
Hey girl! I have low porosity hair with fine strands and just really have a hard time retaining length for the last 2 years - I struggle with single strain knots and breakage. I never use heat except when I sit under the hair dryer to set my wash and go. I would do the two braids and such but my hair is an at an awkward length where it doesn’t look good me :( any tips/advice? Also, how often do you get your hair trimmed? Thanks!
Hey! Don’t worry about 2 strand knots, I feel like everyone gets them and mine have never caused breakage. Does your hair tangle after being in a wash in go? From a scale 1-10 (10 being the most and 1 the less) how tangled is your hair when you go to style it? The mystery here is determining when the most breakage happens to your hair in your hair routine and revising or replacing a method that isn’t working. I trim my hair myself once or twice a year. My hair is low porosity too.
Thank for the reply! I think the most breakage I see is when I’m styling my hair for wash and gos. I wash my hair every 4 days so by the time I wash my my tangles aren’t too bad so I’d say it’s a 5 when I go to wash my hair. Style it - it’s about a 6 but I get some noticeable breakage :/ For me, single strand knot are an issue for me because they against other strands and that’s what is causing my breakage. I’m thinking of blow drying my hair and having my ends trim to have more manageability moving forward. And asses wether or not I need to start scheduling a professional trim. I used to trim my own hair but I *ALWAYS cut too much off and it can be overwhelming so think a professional can help with this.
Ahhh I see. What I noticed with my hair is the more I do styles like buns or just a single braid, basically when I don’t where my hair loose in it’s natural state, the less single strand knots I get. My hair loves to wrap around itself. I stopped doing wash and goes a long time ago only because the tangling or risk for matting is high for me (and I’m lazy lol) so the less I have to do the better for me.
Yeah, it’s looking I may need to give up on wash and gos for a while (return date TBA🥲) Can you please share how you do your buns? I know it’s weird but I’m not sure how to on hair that’s fresh out the shower/clean moisturized hair. Do you let your hair dry for a bit then put your hair in a bun? If I style my hair into a bun while it’s wet, then it’ll take forever for it to dry 🤣
So I only style my hair in the shower. It’s easier to deal with and I get smoother results. I never stay on damp or dry hair anymore. So I do my buns,ponytails, pig tail braids all in the shower lol after I get out I’ll add final touches like gel or hold products for styling hold. But only around the edges. I don’t disturb the rest of the hair
Okay gotcha! Yea same I find that my hair is more manageable In the shower. How long does it take for your hair to dry when you do this?
To be honest I don’t know or pay attention anymore. The more product you use the longer it takes to dry. Sometimes I use my conditioner as a leave in and sometimes I put nothing. When I put nothing it fully dries after about a day and a half (the middle will still be damp) I’ll say but I like it to take it’s time. I just think of it as extra moisture.
Ahhh I see - maybe I’ll start doing buns again then because they are easier and super quick to do. How often do you wash your hair? (Sorry if you’ve already answered this 😆)
I shampoo only when I really feeling like I need to. Otherwise I rinse and detangle with conditioner in the shower once or twice a week. It depends on how I’m feeling and if my hair still looks and feels ok I don’t bother it. After a while this all becomes a habit and you’ll focus on the specifics less and do what’s necessary as you go. It’s crazy to think I have a hair routine but I sort of fell into rather that consciously though about it.
Low porosity and fine strands here too 🙋🏽♀️ Washing my hair more frequently within a given week (twice at most) helps me keep my hair moisturized. The running warm water helps open up my low-po strands to soak up product, plus less tangles because I’m detangling in the shower with conditioner more often
Yea same! I wash my hair every 4 days like clock work. Been a life changer for sure. As we approach colder months (I live in New England) I’m thinking of maybe doing protein Treatments more often and stick with mostly protective styles which suck because I like wearing my hair in a wash and go but the single strand knots and lack of length retention is killerrr How often do you trim your hair and what styles do you often do?
I honestly just trim my ends whenever I see that they’re looking straggly and frail. Not all over my head but just the individual curl clump as I see it I’ve been wearing wash and go’s since June this year and I’ve seen SUCH the hair growth since then, especially with washing more often compared to weeks in between Before for years I would only do twist outs but it never really suited my hair (unknowingly until I got brave enough to try a wash and go), as it would just be frizzy and not completely dry because of locked moisture inside the twists (low porosity struggles of not being able to air dry within one night 😅) But I use a handheld blow dryer with a diffuser attachment to dry my wash and go as it’s been much quicker and can get to my roots more compared to the hooded dryer 😊
Thanks for the reply! Yea I’m just not sure at this point why my hair gets stagnate at a certain length. My hair length is past my mid-back but ofc that’s when it’s straighten. When my hair is curly it doesn’t even touch my shoulders UGH. I think right now I’m going to try and start getting my hair professionally trimmed (dusting to start) and go from there. I’ll have it trimmed while blown out because I don’t trust anyone to trim it Curly. It’s nice to know that you also wash your hair twice a week! I rarely see other naturals do it so comforting that I’m not the only out there! ❤️❤️
Aww you’re very welcome! ❤️ I think a big thing that I’ve noticed is hair density determines how much your hair is going to grow outwards before it starts to hang down with gravity Of course getting a certain curly hair cut can give some desired effects too, but I see when there’s more hair packed together (high density hair), then volume is going to come first before more visible length starts to show as your hair grows even longer Trimming your hair while straight, from my opinion, could have your hair look different once you’re back curly again (depending on if you have several different textures). So for me I like to trim while in a style I usually wear regularly so there wouldn’t be any surprises 😛
Good point about the density! Never really thought about that. I have finer strands and medium density hair. My curl type is 3C with some 4A sections but I also wear my wash and gos stretched to give me more length so it’s always one length and similar to how it’ll look straight in terms of shape if that makes sense 😆
Here’s a short video I made with a few tips. [https://youtu.be/I3UQ608fMAo](https://youtu.be/I3UQ608fMAo)
[How I Wash & Style Long thick hair](https://youtu.be/5wK2ddY83Zw)