Ways To NOT Retain Length

Interesting title, eh? lol.

In the beginning year and a half of my hair journey, I  retained a measely 2.5 inches of hair smh. I started with about 1.5 inches and my hair grew to about 4 inches, give or take.This doesn't mean that my hair didn't grown, because hair grows, however, I did not retained the length that has grown.

On average, hair grows about 0.5 inch each month, totaling about 6 inches over a year. The ability to retain it is completely different and deals with how you are maintaining your hair. So I figured I'd share some of the hair mistakes I' made over the past year that have contributed to me still having the length of someone who's been natural for 6 months when I was been natural for over a year.

1. Overly trimming. Trimming is GREAT! Don't get me wrong. It's definitely needed. Butttt somehow, I think I've "trimmed" my hair just about every other month. Not purposely. I think sometimes we care SO much for our hair, that we overly care for it. If one of my curls seemed to not curl as well as it had in the past, I'd twist it up and cut a little off on the bottom. That's in addition to going to the salon for a trim 5 times this year. I think I'm still in the "I'm relaxed so I'll get a trim every 4-6 weeks mode", when that's not needed as much when you're natural.
   
   Also, notice that there's a difference when you trim your hair curly and when you trim it straight. When you trim it curly, your length is hidden, so clipping a snip off the bottom of a twist that's curly, may in fact be an inch even it doesn't look like it, because it's in a "shrunken" stage.
   
   
   
2. Over manipulation.Hands up if every time you see a style on a natural hair blog, youtube channel, magazine, etc. you try it? *raises all 10 fingers and 10 toes* lol. One of the best ways to retain length is STAY OUT! I've tried countless styles (many of which were a fail) which cause me to overly comb, pull, play in, etc. my hair. Constantly touching your hair will cause further breakage.
   Also, think about the germs on your hands. Not to insult you say and say your hands are dirty, but we use our hands for everything... literally. Constantly touching your hair and playing in it puts those germs right back into your hair.
   
   NOTE: There's nothing wrong with experimenting with your hair... I just wouldn't suggest doing it constantly, i.e. everyday lol.
   
   
   
3.  Jumping on bandwagons.I always tell new naturals to experiment with new products to find out what works for their hair and they should! However, if you've been natural for some time and are still heading to the store every day to buy a new product and try it out on your hair, then that can actually hinder your hair... where's the consistency? lol. It seems to be that being natural and having "new found liberation" makes it okay to buy any and everything... and that's not right *side eye* lol.
   
   Buy a product, use it AT LEAST 3 times before deciding whether or not it works for you, and if it works, use it up. If not, then find something else. If your hair is feeling perfectly moisturized and healthy, don't go buy another product just because another natural said she used it and her felt amazing... your hair already feels amazing, so why do you need something else to make your hair feel the same amazing it already feels? lol. SMH my whole bathroom cabinet is covered in products now and for awhile, poor Freedom had no clue what her routine was. It's probably why she was acting crazy lol.

***Nurture and love your hair, but note that if you pay too much attention to it, you can drive yourself crazy, you know? Think about it. If I am soooo into my hair that I know the exact moment when it grows because I feel it and see it (lol sense the sarcasm), I'll easily convince myself that when I haven't felt it grow in 3 days that something is not right and I'll try and find a way to correct it, when really, if I just sat down somewhere and found a hobby that was un-hair related, my hair would be fine.

Sounds crazy, but think about it. Think about what "obsessive" behaviors you have when it comes to your hair and think about whether or not they are causing you not to retain any length.

OH and if you have any suggestions for other ways to not retain length that you've learned, share them here!