How To Grow Natural Hair
How do you grow long natural hair? It’s the oldest question in the natural hair community and it’s the reason why newly naturals and long-time naturalistas alike turn to hair growth challenges and methods such as the Baggy Method, the Greenhouse Method and the Inversion Method to gain those precious inches. They all claim to grow long natural hair by targeting different setbacks you may encounter on your natural hair journey. But for me, the true problem areas run deeper than dryness and breakage, so allow me to share how I grow my natural hair.
1. Learn to love your natural hair – Natural hair is incredibly unique and versatile. It can be manipulated into countless styles and with the right techniques and precautions, it can still thrive. One of the most distinctive features of natural hair is its ability to shrink. This also means that you can’t always see the true length of your hair. Just because you can’t see your progress, doesn’t mean it’s not there and it certainly doesn’t negate the brilliance of your natural curls and the different ways you can express yourself with it. Before I learned to embrace my natural hair texture, I used to straighten my hair regularly and so I have first-hand experience when I tell you – people will have an opinion or judgement when it comes to your hair regardless of what you do, so do what makes you happy!
2. Patience is key – There are no shortcuts to success. If you want to make progress you have to be consistent and devoted to your hair care regimen. You won’t get results overnight, but you will establish what works well for you so that can use it to your advantage. Nothing worth having comes easily; but when you’re willing to work for it and there’s nothing stopping you from enjoying your hair at every stage of your natural hair journey. Many people are so consumed with their end goals that they forget to make the most of the process and the time getting there.
3. Understand why you want long hair – I’m going to dispel the myths that natural hair doesn’t grow because they are simply untrue. Healthy hair grows. However, growth in kinky, coily and curly hair types is less apparent because it grows out and not down. You will often notice an increase in volume before you notice a change in length. This has a tendency to skew our perception when it comes to our hair because it falls outside of mainstream desirability, and we often fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to society’s idea of “perfection”. Long flowing locks are a Eurocentric beauty standard that exclude the true nature of afro hair. There is absolutely nothing wrong with long hair but there is definitely something wrong with having any kind of ill feeling towards your hair because it doesn’t match what society dictates. So, ask yourself: why do you want long hair? Is it so you can see the health of your hair? Or so you can have hair like your hair crush? Or are you adhering to beauty standards that have consistently denied our kind of beautiful?
4. Care for the hair you have, not the hair you want. If you’re anything like me, your hair is an expression of personality. So, when I see my hair grow, I see the dedication and the care that I’ve invested in myself to achieve it. I have personal goals for my hair – I was very keen to grow my edges back after they were snatched by box braids and I was relieved to see my curls popping after I cut the last of my heat damaged hair off. But as for “hair crushes” and “hair goals”, the only person I want to be better than is the who was so desperate to change something that made her so unique.
Join me on my journey and subscribe, if you're not already!
Love, Chlo xx
References: Kobena Mercer – Black Hair/Style Politics
Ingrid Banks – Hair Matters: Beauty, Power and Black Women’s Consciousness