Photo by João Paulo de Souza Oliveira on Unsplash
The phrase “less is more” strongly applies to hair. Many of us are so focused on our vision of the “perfect hair” and the “perfect product” that we obsess over products and styles while our hair routine becomes convoluted—inhibiting length retention and hair growth.Spending countless hours per week doing your hair and using products just adds stress to your strands and to yourself. With more frequent styling, comes more hair damage and the more products you use, the more it builds up on your hair and scalp, which doesn’t help your growth.
By simplifying my hair regimen and removing all unnecessary products and manipulation, I have essentially and unintentionally grown my hair to tailbone length. My length retention is the direct consequence of my minimalist approach and listening to my hair. Here are some tips to help you simplify your hair routine so you can start retaining more length:
Choose your staple products based on need
Many women don’t listen to their hair; they just do what they are told they should do with it, but everyone’s hair is different and if you listen to it, you will be rewarded. The key to the minimalist approach is to first identify what your hair needs. Identify any problems you may have, i.e. chronic dryness, breakage, weak hair, dull hair, etc. If you identify your hair challenges it will be easier to decipher the process and the products that are needed to simplify your regimen in order to retain length.
Develop your go-to styles
How often are you restyling? Do you incorporate any protective styling? Finding styles that have more longevity or that transition into other styles easily—for example, twists to a twist out—will also simplify your weekly hair routine and save your hair the unnecessary stress.
Create a hair schedule
Even if you don’t follow your hair regimen to a tee, roughly planning what days you will wash and style your hair will make your week much easier and save you a lot of time. I tend to plan my hairstyles on the weekend, particularly on Sunday, so that when I go back to work during the week I have a fresh hairstyle I can wear for at least the majority of the workweek.
Oftentimes, people make hair growth more complicated than it needs to be. They see the girl with the long flowing hair and think she must be doing some miraculous things to it or, that she is using some magical products to get her hair that long. The truth is, she is just listening to her hair and her “secret hair routine” is probably less complicated than you realize. The “secret” to long hair is that there is no secret. Just give your hair what it needs and keep it simple.
