How Did I Grow My Hair? 10 Simple Steps!

As many of you know, I grew my hair from nape length to bra stap length (so that's approximately from 7"to 17", or from 17.5cm to 42.5cm). And as I mentioned in my Black Hair Can't Grow post, people often ask how I've gotten my hair so long.

So here it is, finally!

My hair in its Dominican blowout fabulousness, circa 2010

Here are 10 major things I do to grow my hair:

1. I no longer wear micro braids (the extra small braids) with hair extensions. 
Wearing braids that were too tight & too small were killing my hairline. So I said "forget this!" and boycotted the braiding hairstyle completely, for the first 3 years of my hair journey. But now I'll wear only big braids/twists with extensions.


2. I wash my hair once every 2-3 weeks (I used to wash once a week, but my schedule is now way too busy for that). 
When dirt buildups up on your scalp, it'll clog your scalp's pores and won't allow for the hair to grow freely from the scalp. So a clean scalp is a must if you want long, healthy hair.


3. Immediately after every wash I deep condition my hair. 
Deep conditioning simply means that I put the conditioner on my head, cover my hair with a shower cap, and allow it to sit for 15mins-1hr before rinsing it out. This allows the conditioner to penetrate my hair strands thoroughly, which keeps my hair better moisturized until my next wash day.


4. I NEVER comb my hair with a small tooth comb when I'm trying to de-tangle! 
I only use rubber base brushes or wide tooth combs... or my fingers. :-)


5. And speaking of de-tangling, I NEVER tear through knots in my hair. If you're hearing snap, crackle, pop! sounds, then you are being way too harsh, girl! Those sounds are the sounds of your hair breaking. And the more your hair breaks, the less length you can keep on your head (because all those hair strands you pulled out will be on the floor, abi?). So take it easy; be gentle with your hair.



Your hair is going to grow regardless, so the aim of the game is to maintain a clean scalp & to keep the hair you already have well moisturized, so that it won't keep breaking off. All right, I'm going to pause here (just so this post doesn't turn into a whole book). One step at a time, ladies!

This is not my hair regimen/routine, per se though (which I'm currently re-vamping, but will share details of that soon). 

How Did I Grow My Hair? (Part 2) is coming too, so stick around. 

In the meantime, my question to you all is, are you doing any of these steps listed above? 

If not, try them and let me know if they work for you. 

Happy Tress Growing,

Many Hair