The Secret to Growing Long/Healthy Natural Hair

 In the African American community, there's a misconception about how long African American hair can grow. I can personally attest to this because as a child, I use to believe that my hair would never grow any longer than it already was, it was bushy, messy, nappy, etc. Now that I've undergone a thorough transition to the natural side and have educated myself a little more, I now know that those things are simply untrue. 

Now, it's time to spread the word and share the secret to growing healthy, long, natural African American hair.

The secret is...well there is no secret! There's no special technique or miracle grow product that will make your hair suddenly grow at substantial lengths. However, with a little effort, and a lot of patience, you can restore the health of your hair and retain more length than you have before.

These are what I think are the most important components to growing long healthy hair:

• Avoid damaging products. Be aware of the things you're putting on your hair just the way you want to be aware of what you're putting inside your body. When you go shopping for hair products, take an extra second and read the ingredients on the label. Common things to avoid are sulfates, parabens, silicones, petroleum, mineral oil, alcohol, etc. These ingredients in general can be drying to your strands, clog the pores on your scalp, and prevent good moisture from coming in.
• Avoid heat. Applying heat to your hair (blow drying, flat ironing, pressing, etc) can be extremely damaging, heat drys out your strands and causes split ends. This makes it hard to retain length. If you do apply heat to your hair be sure to use a heat protectant, and seal those ends!
• Be Gentle. It's pretty easy to get frustrated when you have to manage a full head of kinky curls. None the less, try to be as gentle as possible to avoid unnecessary breakage. This may mean laying off the brushing, combing, super tight hair styles, or too much manipulation of your hair. 
• Eat Healthy Foods. Although our hair is made up of dead cells, it's still apart of our bodies and is affected by the way we treat it. If you're not getting enough nutrients from your diet, it can show in the health of your hair. (I personally, have incorporated fresh fruits and veggie juice to my diet to help improve my overall health.)
• Know Your Hair. It would be easy for me to tell you when to wash your hair, when to moisturize it, how often to trim or seal your ends, how often to deep condition it, how to detangle it, blah, blah blah. What you really need to do is have an understanding of your own hair type and know what works for you. Yes, it means a little trial and error. Some things are going to work, and others not so much. Once you find what works, stick to it! It's that simple. As long as your hair is healthy, who cares what your regimen is?  There's so many resources out there to gain knowledge, ideas, and inspiration. You're bound to find something that works for you.
• Be Patient. No matter what your ethnicity is, hair doesn't just grow over night. If you do a length check every day, it'll feel like your hair will never grow. Just focus on keeping your hair healthy and strong and in due time, you'll see the results.

Well, I hope that helps you guys! If you like this article, please follow naturalsunited here on blogspot :)

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Feel free to leave comments and suggestions and remember: stay calm and love your natural hair ;)