Long hair is not only beautiful but it is also correlated with having hair that is healthy. It’s no wonder so many women (of all backgrounds) seek to attain more length at some point in their hair journey. The awesome thing about locs is that it has made it easier for kinky coil hair textures to retain length. Some loc’d beauties have grown their hair all the way down to their buttocks! Read on to learn how to grow long locs.
1. Begin with Healthy Natural Hair to Grow Long Locs
This means that you’ve had your ends trimmed, a proper dye job (if you like to dye your hair), and you have resolved your scalp issues (meaning you have found the right remedy to cater to it). These components assist with the foundation of your locs making them super important!
2. Watch the Manipulation
This means, sure feel free to style your hair. But any style that puts pressure or tension on the same area consistently, will cause damage to that specific area. For example, ponytail styles, cornrow styles, or barrel roll styles can all cause this if not carefully styled with minimal tension.
If you are getting your locs styled by a loctician, make sure to communicate to them how important it is for there to be minimal tension used when creating a style for you.
3. Keep a Close Eye on Your Hair Health
In other words…damage control. When you see something, do something. Is one loc on the side hanging by a thread? Time to repair that baby. Is severe breakage around the nape of your neck? Time to remedy that area.
Once you are able to see it then you can do something about it, so that you can confidently pursue growing long locs. If you have microlocks or sisterlocks, you can find tips on caring for them here.
It’s a good idea to touch your scalp daily and moisturizing regularly. This should allow you to get close and personal with your own hair and increases the chances of you noticing when something is “off” with your hair.
4. Regular Maintenance to Retain Length
In order to grow long locs, you will need to pay close attention to the needs of your hair and scalp. Put it on autopilot. Is your scalp dry or itchy? Maybe you need to moisturize it once a week, three times a week, or even every other week.
What about the products you are using on your locs? Do your locs actually “like” those products? How does your hair feel after using them?
This will be different for each person, but the important thing to remember is to be consistent with what your hair likes. A healthy moisturizing routine will reduce the brittleness that comes from having dry hair (brittle=breakage).
The ends of your hair are old. And they only get older each day. Make sure to care for them and nurture those ends.
Conclusion
Growing your locs long is absolutely attainable, as long as you are willing to care for them along the way!
Your hair will always be growing, it is up to you to retain all of that growth. By paying close attention to the well-being of your locs and being attentive to them, you will have long luscious beautiful locs in no time.
Are you practicing these hair habits already? Did I miss anything? Feel free to share your questions in the comment section below.
