10 Tips For Length Retention For Natural Hair

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Have you been on a journey to try and grow your natural hair with minimal luck? It can definitely make you feel a little frustrated.

So today I’m going to share with you 10 tips that will help you with length retention for natural hair.

 

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Why Isn’t My Hair Retaining Length?

There could be several reasons why this is happening. A lot of it will come down to your personal technique in how you care for your natural hair but some of it will boil down to things that you may not even realise make a difference to your hair journey.

We will take a closer look into some of those things in just a moment.

 

10 Tips For Maximum Length Retention For Natural Hair

Length retention can seem like one of the most difficult things to do. Many of us believe that our hair can’t grow past a certain length. It’s simply not true. Everyone’s hair has the potential to grow long. In the same way you treat a plant in order for it to flourish and grow is the same way you have to treat your natural hair for it to grow.

 

Here are 10 things you should be doing to your hair in order to retain length.

 

1. Regular Trims

Learning to have your hair trimmed is such a key component in allowing your hair to grow healthily.

It seems to be a step that many of us would rather skip in fear of “losing” length.

What if I told you that by trimming your hair you actually stand a better chance of having your hair grow long and healthy?

Well, it’s true. Hair that is regularly trimmed is well kept and therefore less likely to have split ends which only weaken the hair and eventually cause your hair to break.

Get in the habit of assessing your hair and seeing when it needs a trim. Just remember “regularly” trimming your hair does not mean that you have to trim it every 3 months or 6 months. It just means trim it when it needs it.

After all, there’s no point in trimming healthy hair.

Please remember if you are going to trim your own hair use professional scissors like these.

 

2. Sleep With A Satin Pillowcase

If you have already been educated in sleeping with satin then there really is no excuse for not doing it.

Getting yourself a satin bonnet or a satin pillowcase for when you go to bed is reasonably priced to do and it doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to do either.

Sleeping with satin is best because satin won’t take moisture out of your hair leaving it dry and defenceless. Regular pillows have a way of absorbing too much moisture from your hair. You can see it for yourself when you wake up in the morning and see the stain on your pillow from all the moisture and oils from your hair.

You can pick up a satin pillowcase from here.

 

 

 

3. Moisturise

Learning how to correctly moisturise your hair is the key foundation block. Before you even begin to learn about any other strategies for looking after natural hair you MUST learn how to correctly moisturise your hair.

There are several ways you can do this but if you want something very basic and easy to understand then start with the LOC method.

The LOC method simply consists of moisturising your hair with Liquid, Oil and then a Cream.

You can read more about the LOC method here. Once you get a better understanding of the LOC then you can begin to tailor your regime to what suits your hair best.

 

4. Don’t Neglect Your Scalp

When most people think of their hair they don’t really think of their scalp being part of that process.

Today you are going to find out exactly why your scalp is just as important as the hair growing out of it.

Your scalp is where all the blood vessels are that circulate nutrients to your hair.

If your scalp is not happy then there is no way that your hair can be. For this very reason, that is why scalp massages are becoming so popular as part of a healthy hair routine as well as the inversion method.

If you look after your scalp your hair will naturally follow and be happy too.

 

 

5. Detangle With Care

There really is no escaping having to detangle your hair, it just has to happen at some point whether you like it or not.

Because we all have to detangle our hair, we need to find the best way of doing it so that our strands of hair don’t suffer.

One of the best pieces of advice I can give you when it comes to detangling your hair is, never do it when you are in a rush.

Doing so will only end in you unnecessarily breaking stands of hair in frustration as you try to whizz through the process.

The key here is that if you know you hate the detangling process then stick to hairstyles where you are less likely to get a lot of tangles.

Wash and goes are notorious for tangles whereas twist outs are much better because your hair is stretched and therefore less likely to tangle.

 

6. Find Out The Porosity Of Your Hair

Knowing and understanding your hair porosity will give you so much more information about your hair. You are much better off learning about your hair porosity than which hair type you are.

Your hair can either be low, high or regular porosity. Each has its own consequence for your hair.

Once you know your hair porosity you will understand how you can best treat it for better length retention.

 

7. Use Low Maintenance Hairstyles

Using low maintenance hairstyles was one of the best things that I ever did for my hair when it came to retaining length.

While others were doing lots of very imaginative things with their hair I kept mine very simple and to the point.

My go to’s were twist outs and wearing my hair in a bun. I never did very much in between.

If you focus on hairstyles that take a lot of manipulation you will find that you will be more susceptible to hair breakage and a loss of length.

At the same time, there is nothing wrong with doing something a little different every now and again. After all, you need to enjoy your hair too!

 

8. Seal Your Ends

Get into the habit of sealing your ends quickly. By doing so you are locking in moisture, therefore, helping to strengthen your hair at its weakest point, the ends of your hair which are the oldest part.

Oils such as castor oil and coconut oil are great for sealing your ends because they contain essential fatty acids that help to condition and strengthen your hair.

You can also use butters such as shea butter and mango butter.

 

 

9. Deep Condition

Deep conditioning your hair regularly will help to make sure that your hair is moisturised right to the core.

You can moisturise your hair in other ways but nothing can moisturise your hair, as well as a good deep conditioner, can.

If you have never tried deep conditioning before I would suggest you start with this one and use it in conjunction with a deep conditioning cap such as this for maximum penetration.

 

10. Protein Moisture Balance

Did you know that your hair needs a careful balance of protein and moisture? If you have too much of one and not enough of the other you will mess up the balance of your hair and could hinder your hair from growing.

Try to incorporate both a deep conditioner and a protein treatment into your hair regime.

You can get a good protein treatment for your hair here.

 

How Do You Increase Length Retention?

The above tips will help you to retain length but if you are after ways to increase your length retention you should definitely add things like scalp massages to your routine.

Incorporating scalp massages will stimulate the blood flow releasing hormones and nutrients to the hair follicles.

The great thing about this is that it only takes a few minutes each day.

 

 

 

 

The Secret To Retaining The Length Of 4C Hair

The secret to retaining the length of 4c hair is quite simple really and it needs you to focus on only 2 things.

1. Keeping your hair well moisturised
2. Keeping your hair from getting tangled

As 4c hair is so coily it’s easy for it to become tangled. When it gets tangled it can lead to breakage and therefore a loss of length.

 

How To Retain Length On Low Porosity Hair

Again moisture is going to be the key here but to make sure that the moisture penetrates your hair shaft really well you should definitely be adding deep conditioning to your regimen.

For extra benefit make sure you also use a heat cap like this one to ensure the cuticles of your low porosity hair can open up to allow the moisture to penetrate.

 

Products To Help Retain Your Natural Hair Length

 

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts On Length Retention For Natural Hair

There is so much advice out there on the internet about how to retain length for natural hair. A lot of it is really great but just remember not everything works for every head of hair. Make sure that you test things one at a time, once you know it works for you then you can begin to implement other methods in addition.

The above tips on length retention for natural hair are the bare basics that you need to do in order to see maximum growth and length retention.

Give them a try and let me know how you get on in the comments section.

 

Related posts:

Why you should be using a protein treatment in your hair

Is coconut oil good for natural hair?

How to care for low porosity hair