Grow Longer Hair Today
My not so little secret to achieving my latest hair goal: reaching waist length natural hair.
The pictures above showcase my hair journey from my initial big chop to the growth I have experienced from following a flexible hair regimen. For the first time since 2011, I am focused on length retention. After reaching mid-back length in 2011, I cut my hair!
Seeing that I have been natural for so long (since 2005!!!), I would account half of the first few years as simply trial and error with more focus on the latter.
My 2014 – 2015 Hair Goal is… to reach almost WAIST LENGTH!!! First I want to say, just having the audacity to even make this my goal is scary (but I’ve almost reached it before)!!!! But I am ready for the challenge. I’m ready for waist length hair because my hair shrinks to about 70-80% of its length when straightened.
My Not So Little Secret
I plan on getting there with the help of protective styles, which does miracles for the health of my hair. Without protective styling, I would never have been able to achieve the length retention that I achieved.
Protective styles give your hair the opportunity to be left alone, with minimal manipulation. My hair is very fine, and i find it extremely prone to breakage. Protective styling will be difficult, but I have my eye on the prize. I will challenge myself to do protective styles for 6months, and I will do a monthly check in of my progress.
Inspiration Photos – Although my texture is much curlier, as it grows it also loosens
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| My Hair Goal When Curly {Source} |
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| With proper protective styles I hope to retain this length in about 18 months. |
Current Hair Regimen
The basics of my hair regimen can be found here.
Wash Routine
- I typically wash with Giovanni shampoo ( Tea Tree | 50 50 Balance ). I suggest using the best natural shampoo you can find for the best results.
- Oil rinse my hair with shampoo – Olive Oil
- Apply Giovanni Conditioner and Detangle with wide tooth comb
- Create about 6 braids ( 3 on each side) and apply shower cap for deep conditioning – 2 hours with shower cap alone (My hair is currently in Twists)
- Rinse out ALL conditioner and apply leave-in
- Create Protective Style
- Box Braids
- 2 Strand twists
- MAYBE roller sets
- Fake it till you make it – Sew in!
Daily Regimen
- Take a multivitamin every morning – These gummies are a treat, I’m excited to have my dose daily
- Take one biotin vitamin nightly with a full glass of water
- Drink your weight in ounces – your body will thank you!
Weekly Regimen
- Once a week I treat myself to a scalp massage with peppermint oil
- Seal moisture into my protective style
3 Comments
This is an admirable goal! I find my biggest issue with retaining length is the upkeep and protective styles that will prevent breakage. Part of the source is being lazy with managing my natural hair, and not always knowing what to do with my hair. I will stay tuned for your tips, and progress with you hair goal.
Thank you for your blog and your courage to set such an amazing goal. Your weekly regimen looks amazing but I did have one question. Can you please explain to me what an oil rinse is? Thanx for your words of wisdom.
Nia
Thanks Nia!
Check out this post: http://www.reignelle.com/2011/02/oil-rinsing-say-bye-bye-to-single.html
It breaks down how to do an oil rinse. Hope this helps. And thanks for checking out the blog.