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For all the hair grooming products on the market and the promises they make, along with the suggestions passed between women in search of beautiful, healthy hair, there is one truth that is ignored time and time again.

All hair growth is determined by what happens beneath the scalp.

For years I watched and listened as myths were spread from woman to woman on the virtues of cutting, styling, and braiding. The only way to have longer hair is to keep it from breaking or being cut more than 1/16 of an inch every 6 weeks.

Braiding

This only stretches hair shafts, often beyond the shaft's natural elasticity. It is a good way to encourage breakage as the hair is pulled and then held in place, unable to flex. What happens to that which cannot bend? It breaks.

Extremely tight braiding will result in the hair actually being pulled out before its natural shed cycle, which leads to thinning.

Cutting

Trimming the ends of the hair can be useful if it is only a trim. Anything more than 1/16 inch more often than every 6 weeks will result in the hair being shorter with each cut. When the hair is cut it might look thicker, because the ends are about the same length, but that is not growth or length. It is optical illusion.

Styling

Keeping the hair in a particular shape demands that it be cut, not trimmed. To maintain the shape, the hair has to be kept the same length as demanded by the style, which doesn't allow the hair to lengthen.

What Works?

Let simplicity be your guide when it comes to haircare products. You two best allies in the battle to keep hair on the head long enough to see good growth will be your shampoo and conditioning regimen.

Before you shampoo, pretreat with an hour under a plastic cap. Applying olive oil, coconut oil, or hemp seed oil helps to soften hair that is normally course and brittle. Once softened you can move the hair with less breakage.

Choose shampoos that are rich with their own moisturizers, and have panthenol as one of the main ingredients. This substance softens the hair even further while the shampoo does the job of cleansing. Avoid some of the traditional brands that your mothers and their mothers used in the past, especially if their hairs was always a problem for them. It is obvious that what they did wasn't working. Don't make those same mistakes. Remember to let the water to most of your detangling work as you rinse out your conditioner.

Be sure to apply a little Jojoba oil to your ends before gently picking through the hair before getting under the dryer. A little goes a long way so don't apply too much. The heat of the dryer will help its spread and absorption. You should only use a bonnet dryer until the hair is about 80 percent dry, then you need to switch to a blow dryer with a comb attachment so that you can stop and start as you gently continue detangling, which you really shouldn't have alot to do by this phase. Apply a bit more jojoba as you find places that need extra attention.

Always keep your styles simple. A loose twist that is pinned in place and keeps your hair off fabrics is the best way to keep your conditioning efforts from going down the tubes within a couple of days of your last shampooing. As your hair gets longer you will probably want to add hair ornaments to create interest and then wear your hair down for special occasions.

Avoid tension and overzealous styling, have a healthy diet and allow the hair to grow at its natural pace. If you care for it properly, its length and health will be obvious with time.

Learn more about this author, Sage Mother Raven.
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