New Year New Hair Goals – 7 Tips to retain your hair length

What a year 2020 has been. It has been a rollercoaster or what I like to call it, a yo yo of a year! A lot of unpredictable things were thrown at us beyond our control but still a lot of blessings came out of this. Someone may say: “well Afua you don’t know I really had a very difficult time in 2020”and I will say: “I know, but the fact that you are reading my very first blog of 2021 tells me that you are very blessed.”
Though we are still experiencing unprecedented times, there are so many things and areas of our lives we can still work on.

2021 is an opportunity to embrace the new year with new hair goals. Now, I know there are many hair goals I can think of right now but I want to focus on “how to retain your hair length”. Yes, I know I didn’t say “how to grow your hair “ and this is the reason why: I have been a hair stylist for some time now and I have seen many natural hair beauties being so obsessed with growing their hair that they miss the mark by doing all the wrong things. Did you know that our hair’s only job is to grow (besides covering our head and being our crown of glory)? unless something is really wrong internally. So the question is, if our hair’s only job is to grow then why is it not doing just that? How come so many of us are not seeing the lengths we want? And the answer is we are doing it all wrong. We are focusing on the wrong things.

So here are my 7 Tips to retain your hair length

1. Health

Before we can do anything with our hair we have to make sure we are healthy. Our body, mind and soul must be in a good place. Our overall health should be the number one with every hair goals we have. This is what is going to help us keep the hair on our head in the first place. Remember, our hair’s only job is to grow unless something is really wrong internally. Anytime there’s an imbalance in our life it’s our hair that gets the first blow. In fact, most of the time it is our hair that warns us if something is wrong in our body. So, if we want to see some hair length, we must get our health on point.

2. Know your hair

When I say know your hair I mean we must truly know and understand the hair that is growing out our own scalp. What it can do and what it cannot do.
Did you know that some hair grows in volume instead of length due to their hair’s elasticity (aka shrinkage)? If you are the person who’s hair grows in volume but you don’t know this, you can be waiting for the longer length your whole life but the length will not come . Also, please do not look at others and do what they are doing with their hair if you do not understand why they are doing what they are doing. This is so important that I can not express it enough. This is where many of us go wrong because we do not understand our own unique head of hair. We tend to imitate others, especially on social media, that eventually leads to us being frustrated and having headaches. Knowing our own unique head of hair will help us understand what our hair needs at specific moments. Knowing what our hair needs will help us choose the right products. Choosing the right products and using it the proper way will tremendously help us to reach our hair goals.
If you have a problem understanding your own unique head of hair, our consultation services or our new client services are a great way to find  it out.

3. Hydration

Hydration is very important for anyone who wants to see some hair length, especially for the natural hair community and the curly hair community. Besides the hydration that our body needs to absorb so our hair can grow from the inside, once the hair is on our scalp, we also have to give it the proper hydration in order to retain the length and not to forget get great styling results.
Before we can move on to how we can give our hair the proper hydration and get great styling results, we have to understand the meaning of “ HYDRATION “

What is hydration?

The word hydration has the Greek word “hydra” in it , which simply means “water”.
Hydration is the process of causing something to take in and hold water (Oxford dictionary).

In this case how do we cause our hair to absorb the right amount of water? Reading the meaning of hydration will make you think “that’s a piece of cake” right?

Would you believe it if I tell you that the reason why many of us are not seeing some length is because of our improper hydration process over the years? I AM NOT KIDDING YOU!! I see this all the time in the salon. Seriously, If you are to ask me, what is the most important thing in Hair care to grow and retain length?, my answer would be HYDRATION. Without any doubt.
So how do we make sure we are giving our hair the right amount of water? And most importantly, how do we keep the water in our hair for a longer period of time?
The answer is The HYDRATION PROCESS! After being a hairstylist for so many years, I have come up with my own definition for the hydration process, which is the process of giving your hair the right amount of water to hydrate and moisturize your hair and keep the moisture in your hair for a longer period of time/days, which results in great styling results and longer hair length over the years. Wow I really love that! It was really a game changer for me once I understood this and now I am trusting that reading this blog is going to be a game changer for you as well.

The Hydration process only involves 3 steps

1.  Proper Cleansing with the right cleansing product ( shampoo).

2. Proper Hydration with the best conditioner you can find on the market please don’t be stingy about this. trust me, it’s for your own good to invest in a good quality conditione

3. Proper Styling with the best styling products that will give you your desire look to enjoy for days and sometimes even weeks.

It took me years to figure this out. It is because of my understanding of this process that I am able to help many natural beauties around the world that are now embracing their beautiful tresses. (see our gallery https://www.naturalcurllove.com/gallery/ pictures). If you need more help in understanding the hydration process, our new client curl rehab service or our CURL LOVE EXPERIENCE DELUXE service are a great way to help you with it.
Don’t know what products to use?  Here are the links to the products I use in the salon from shampoo to styling for proper hydration and great styling results.

Shampoo

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/get-clarity-hydrating-grow-cleanser-8oz/

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/innersense-hydrating-cream-hairbath/

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/innersense-color-awakening-hairbath-10oz/

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/innersense-pure-harmony-hairbath-10oz/

Conditioner:

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/auto-correcting-masque-8oz/

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/innersense-hydrating-cream-conditioner-10oz/

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/innersense-color-radiance-daily-conditioner-10oz/

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/innersense-pure-inspiration-daily-conditioner-10oz/

Styling Products:

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/the-manipulator-creme-jelle-styler/

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/booster-butter-creme-hydrator-8oz/

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/curly-magic-32-oz-curl-stimulator-salon-size/

https://www.naturalcurllove.com/product/innersense-i-create-hold-10oz/

4. Find your Go to hair style

A Go to hair style is the hair style that you really like and meets your hair needs. I say this because sometimes you may really like a certain hair style but it may not be good for your hair. If your hair goal is to have long hair but you are wearing hairstyles that keep breaking your hair I don’t have to tell you that you can kiss that long hair good bye, right?
Need help in finding out which hair style will meet your hair needs? ask your hair stylist or book an appointment with me and I will be more than happy to help you with that.

5.      Cut Your Ends

One of the many questions I get asked a lot is how many times do I have to trim my ends or how many times do I have to cut my hair?
If you have sat in my chair before, then you should know by now that I do not distinguish between a cut and a trim. I know many are used to this term trim (puntjes knippen Ned) and a cut ( knippen Ned). But as a stylist, anytime I use my scissors on your head it is a cut. And it doesn’t matter the amount of length I take of your hair.
Now that we have an understanding of what a cut is, let’s look into why it is so important to cut our hair on a regular basis.

You see our hair, it’s like a fabric. Daily living and everything we do to our hair, causes it to become worn out.  Which lead to major tangling, which lead to unnecessary massive hair shedding.  I am not trying to scare you, well maybe a little, but seriously this is exactly what happens if we don’t cut those dead ends off. If you don’t remember any of the reasons why you should cut your hair regularly on time,  I want you to remember this: The same way we cut a thread to prevent fraying up the strand, the same way we cut the hair to prevent split ends (old weathered hair) from moving up the hair strands so you can retain your length.

How many times do I have to cut my hair?
Depending on your hair essential elements, I recommend if needed between 10-16 weeks.
This might seem a lot especially when your goal is retaining your length. But trust me, it is just enough time to see some growth if you follow my all the tips I am giving you and just enoughtncutting to maintain the health of the ends and retain a healthy length.
So a cut is nothing to fear when done by the right hands. That’s why it is so important to find a professional natural hair stylist to Partner with. See more in my next tip below.

6. Go in partnership with a professional stylists

Another important thing is to find a professional stylist:
⁃       who knows and understands your hair needs so they can help you in achieve your hair goals the PROPER WAY.
⁃       Who can assist your hair cut to retain a healthy hair and length
⁃       Who has the right training, the commitment and to learning your unique head of hair
⁃       Who continues to invest in their crafting to better your hair needs.How do I find the right professional hair stylist?

Well you are looking at one :). I am more than happy to help you achieve your hair goals. I have people all over the country to come see me and many times even outside the country.
Just in case you can not come see me, our virtual consultation or our virtual coaching are a great way to help you with all your care and styling goals.

Once you find a professional stylists, do your research on them that is backed up by images of their work with reviews. Go on their website and social media pages. You should see multiple before and after pictures of the curl artist’s work on textures that are similar to yours.

7. Enjoy your hair journey

My final tip for you on your journey to retain your hair length is to try and enjoy every step of the way.
And I am not joking about this. Don’t get too blinded by the length you are aiming for. This could cause you to not to enjoy and embrace your God given tresses. I have seen this happen many times. Can you imagine me spending a lot of time making the curl magic happen, (and boy I love it when the magic happens), but the client is not enjoying it because it is not at the right length yet? A very wise lady once told me to enjoy where I am on my way to where I am going or else I will miss a lot of opportunities. And this exactly what Happens when you don’t enjoy every step of your hair goals.

I hope these new year’s hair tips help you to reach your hair goals for retaining  your longer length in 2021. I wish you a very happy and safe New year.

I want to thank you for taking your time to read my very first written blog. I have no doubt you at least have one take way. If that’s the case, share your biggest take away with us after reading this post below. If there’s any topics you want me to write about, kindly let me know.

What are your hair goals for this year?