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| Extremely Long Hair |
Tips for Healthy Long Hair.
Whether you're growing out your hair for the first time or have had long hair for years, if you want great hair, you need to take good care of your luscious locks. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
Get Regular Trims: This may sound bizarre if you're doing your best to grow out your hair, but it's a requirement for healthy hair of any length. Over time, your hair develops split ends that will gradually get longer and longer, damaging more of the hair shaft. By catching splits early, you can retain more of your hair in its pristine state. So when you start noticing split ends, book a hair appointment right away.
Brush Regularly: Your scalp produces natural oils that coat each hair shaft and protect it from damage. But if you have really long hair, these oils might not make it all the way down the length of your hair, resulting in hair that's fragile and breakage-prone at the ends. Brushing your hair regularly helps spread the oils all through your hair and keep it protected. But forget what your grandmother said: 100 strokes a day is usually way too many.
Use the Right Brush: Your perfect hair brush may vary depending on your hair type (fine, coarse, curly, straight) and scalp type (oily, dry, normal). However, as a general rule the best choice is a boar bristle brush. Boar bristles are gentle on your hair and are great at distributing your natural oils. Standard paddle brushes are a good choice for long hair.
Pamper with Product: The longer your hair gets, the more vulnerable it is to breakage. You can maximize your hair length and thickness by keeping it as healthy as possible with leave-in conditioners and the occasional deep conditioning. When you shampoo, concentrate on your scalp and just rinse the shampoo through the rest of your hair... that helps retain more natural oils.
Don't Over-Shampoo: Long hair needs a proportionally larger amount of natural oils to coat it thoroughly than short hair does. So the longer your hair gets, the less frequently you should wash it. If you hair starts to feel greasy, step up the brushing routine to distribute the oils more evenly. Or try a dry shampoo to remove excess dirt and oil without stripping your hair.
Be Gentle: Try to put as little strain on your hair as you can. That means you need to skip the blow-drying, harsh dye treatments, and curling or flat irons as much as possible. When you're detangling your hair, start with a comb to work out the worst knots before switching to a brush. The comb is less likely to break your hair as you detangle it.