My hair grows best when.....

My hair grows best when I leave it alone!

I once went to an expo and I met this woman with beautiful thick two strand twist that came down to her shoulders. I admired her beautiful twist which looked like locks and I was in awe. I had never seen a person with natural hair who had twist that looked as full and healthy as locked hair. I interviewed the woman and this is what she told me.

1) Once a month, I wash my hair with Aubrey Organic Shampoo and Conditioner and then I twist my hair.

The woman did not mention protien treatments or mosturizers etc.

Her routine was so simple I missed the secret, low-manipulation.

There was another girl on youtube, Long hair dont care. She had long beautiful hair that was natural and straight. She did indeed press her hair which was a no no in the natural book. She said that she washed her hair once a month and then braided it. Once again I missed the secret, low-manipulation.

All this time I thought the secret to hair growth, aka hair length retention was in a magic product like a mositurizer or some magic shampoo, or even a so called protective style.

Now I know for sure that the #1 secret to hair length retention is low-manipulation! It matters less how often you wash your hair with or what you wash your hair with, but more how often do you put stress on your hair by combing and pulling it.

Manipulation is detangling and styling the hair. Detangling my hair weekly, or styling it weekly is the reason I have not retained as much length. By simplying washing, detangling and styling my hair on a once a month basis I will stop unnecessary breakage. I dont have to wash my hair if I do not apply any products to my hair on a daily basis. Oils do not moisturize my hair they simply add dirt to my hair and scalp,there is no magic moisturizer, simply by leaving my hair in a twisted or braided state it will help my hair to remain soft, smooth and not as dry. The only investment or products that I think are necessary are a good cleanser that doesn't completely strip the hair and leave in conditioner with slip that will make the detangling process as simple as possible. In general I think the best low-manipulation hair style is medium sized box-braids or twist. Since my hair is short I have opted for mini twist which I will remove very carefully. I will continue to use the mini twist as my style of choice until my hair gets longer. I want the hair to be long enough to gather into a simple bun while twisted or braided. I believe I will have achieved my goal using my new method by Dec 2012.

CLM