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Grow Waist Length Hair That Looks Amazing! (My 5 Top Tips)

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Most people in the natural hair community want to grow their hair long.  The moment I decided it was time for me to go natural my desire to grow my natural hair long was evident.

I watched youtube videos for months on end just trying to see if I could pick out the secrets to growing black hair long.

As far as I was concerned my hair would only grow as far as my shoulders and that was it, I was basically out of the race.

I was watching women grow their hair past their shoulders and all the way down to their waists.  I thought this length of hair was only for Rapunzel.  I was so intrigued by it that I decided to start my own personal journey just to see if I could do the same.

I wasn’t very hopeful but I knew my hair would at least get to reach my shoulders if nothing else.

The task at hand was to learn  “how to grow hair to your waist”

Well 6 years later and I am almost there, some would even say that I am there but I disagree because some parts of my hair are a little shorter in areas.

I say all this to encourage you that if I can do it so can you too. Growing waist-length hair is not impossible even if you think that it is.  If you treat it right, it will GROW.

Let’s take a look at some of the things that I have learnt along the way that have enabled me to grow my natural hair so long.

 

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Natural hair growth tips for waist length hair

Over the years after trying to work out the secret to growing long natural hair I finally discovered that there is, in fact, no secret at all.

That might shock you because it did me.  Sometimes hearing the truth is more liberating than hearing what you think you want to hear.

The truth is that there is no secret that is being kept away from you but rather there are little things that if you implement into your daily and weekly routine will help you to grow your waist-length hair.

 

5 tips to help you grow your natural hair

 

1. Moisturise

Moisture is the foundation of all things hair.  Without moisture, your hair just won’t grow it’s as simple as that!

It is comparable to trying to get a flower to grow by refusing to give it any water.  It just won’t happen.  In fact, the flower WILL die.

Your body is made up of up to 60% water so it stands to reason that your hair will need water to grow.

For the longest time, we have thought that our natural hair should stay away from water but in fact, quite the opposite is true.

You should have a routine where you are adding moisture on a regular basis.  It doesn’t have to be every day but it does have to be regular enough.  I would say aim to moisturise your hair every 3-4 days to begin with.

As you get to understand your hair more you can adjust the number of times to more or less depending on what your hair likes.

When we talk about moisture it means water and not hair grease which is not moisturising at all.

It’s a good idea to use the LOC method when moisturising your hair to make sure your hair does not dry up too quickly.

 

2. Low maintenance

Having a low maintenance hairstyle is really important.  The number of people that I see changing up their hair and doing very labour-intensive styles on a regular basis always shocks me.

The problem with always trying to create something new and intensive with your hair every day is that there is more chance of tension and breakage to occur.

Wearing high ponytails or buns every day is putting your hair under too much stress.

Keep your hairstyles simple.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy it because that would defeat the purpose of growing it long but it’s a good idea to do hairstyles that don’t require a lot of tugging and tightness.

If you have enough length twist outs can be a great low maintenance hairstyle.

By low maintenance, it means that you don’t have to necessarily redo it every day or put a lot of work into it.

 

3. Wash

Try to have a regular wash day routine.  The sooner you start this the better it will be for you because you will create a really good habit that you will stick too.

Some people like to wash their hair every week which is great if you can maintain that but for personally I can’t do it.  My life is just too busy to commit to washing it weekly.

I prefer to wash my hair every 2 weeks but I make sure it is well moisturised in between this time.

Washing your hair regularly will leave your hair fresh and free of product build-up encouraging it to grow and keep your scalp nice and healthy at the same time.

 

Related post: How often should you wash your natural hair?

 

4. Deep condition

Deep conditioning is my secret weapon when it comes to moisture.

Doing this during wash day makes sure that my hair is well conditioned and that the shaft of each hair strand is well penetrated.

These are a few of my favourite deep conditioners that I have used in the past.

           

 

5. Trim

Trimming my hair was one of the hardest things for me and it probably will be for you too.

It would appear that when you trim your hair you are losing length so it makes you reluctant to do it.

Don’t be, trust me. Just go with it.

You don’t need to trim your hair every month or even every 2 months.

The more you get to know and study your hair the more you will notice when your hair needs a trim.

I tend to trim maybe every 6 months.

Trimming your hair regularly ensures that your hair grows healthily.  You can get rid of split ends which tend to move up the hair strand if they are not cut off with proper hair trimming scissors.

If you want your hair to grow and look healthy then trimming is a must.

 

How long does it take for your hair to grow 12 inches

This varies from person to person but generally speaking, hair tends to grow 1/2 inch per month.

Depending on how you treat your hair you should be able to retain all or most of that hair growth.

That means to grow your hair 12 inches will take an average of 2 years.

Do remember this is an estimate and some people may see more growth and some will see less than this.

Genetics also play a part in how quickly your natural hair will grow.

 

Can you speed up the growth of hair?

There are little things that you can do to encourage your hair to grow.

Head massages are great for that purpose as it stimulates the blood flow and encourages hair growth.

Some people also believe in the inversion method which says that hanging your head upside down increases blood flow to your scalp and promotes hair growth.

You can definitely give these a try if it takes your fancy.

 

How long does it take to grow your hair to waist length?

As mentioned before it can vary from person to person.

It took me 6 years to grow my hair to almost my waist.  I started from the very beginning so if you haven’t started with a TWA (teeny weeny afro) then it may not take you as long.

I felt that I needed a fresh start when I decided to be natural so went for the big chop.  I knew it would take a while for my natural hair to grow to where I wanted it and I accepted that.

Depending on your genetics and how you treat your hair it could take a good few years to get waist-length hair.

 

How to grow hair faster in a month

I always find it really funny when I read about people trying to grow their hair a certain length in a month.  Not because it is laugh out loud funny but because there isn’t really anything that you can physically do to make your hair grow any faster.

You are much better off focusing on retaining the length that you are already getting.

Most of the time when someone is not seeing the growth that they had hoped for it is because they are not retaining growth.  Their hair is growing but they are losing the length through breakage and other things.

 

Do hair growth vitamins really work?

Yes and no.

Yes, because if your body is lacking certain nutrients that it needs then taking vitamins can help you with that.

If you already have those nutrients in your body then it won’t really make any more difference to you.

If you want to try out some vitamins for hair growth then you can try some of these.

 

 

Will cutting my hair make it grow faster?

No, not necessarily but what it will do is to make sure that your hair grows healthily.

If you have tons of split ends and damage then each time your hair tries to grow it will simply be breaking leaving you with what seems like no growth at all.

If you want to see your hair grow then trimming is a must for you.

 

What’s the best thing to do if you have heat damage?

If your hair already has heat damage then there is not really a whole lot you can do about it except to cut it off.

If that seems too much for you to handle then perhaps you can think about trimming off any damage slowly until it is all gone.

Holding on to heat damage serves no purpose  It may make your hair look a little longer but it does not benefit your new hair growth.

To prevent heat damage in the future make sure you use a heat protectant like this one.

 

Final thoughts on how to grow hair to your waist

One thing that I have learned in all my years of being natural is that trying to grow your hair to waist length is a slow and steady race and not one for the super quick.

It is a process that will take time and there is not much that you can do to speed it up.  You can only treat your hair well and retain the length that you get each month.

I’ve heard countless people in the past ask me why I had cut off my permed hair to become natural with much shorter hair.  A few people even laughed at me but that was fine by me because I knew what I was looking for.

Today I get asked all the time if my hair is real or if I am wearing a weave.  People want to know how I grew my hair to be so long.

Well…now you know the secret to growing black hair long!

 

Related posts:

 

Waist length hair

 

How to grow waist length hair

Kimberly Dempsey

Friday 3rd of July 2020

These tips you gave definitely work and I grow my hair using these same tips, you simplified the process that everyone makes so difficult.

Shruti Riya

Monday 1st of June 2020

So true article. No false expectations. All you've to do is take care of hair. Have patience.

Avian Joseph

Tuesday 12th of May 2020

Really very realistic, sensible guide to growing natural hair.

Ann

Friday 7th of February 2020

This is the best article I've read on growing natural hair. Thank you for sharing.

Curls and Cocoa

Sunday 9th of February 2020

Glad you found it helpful!