These 3 Hairstyles Can Be Keeping You from Reaching the Length You Want

Dianne Austin
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Dianne Austin

Dianne is the co-founder of Natural Haircare News and Coils To Locs.com. She's been blogging about natural hair ever since she made the decision to break free of the creamy crack in 2012.
Dianne Austin
Follow NHCN!

Latest posts by Dianne Austin (see all)

Gaining length is one of the top concerns of women with natural hair.

Although our hair is always growing, length gain is not that obvious in curly, kinky hair. On average, hair grows ½ inch a month or 6-inches in a year. But there are a lot of things that can keep you from reaching your goal length. You could be using the wrong products or not caring for it the right way or you could be wearing the wrong hairstyle. Some protective hairstyles are not as protective as you think!

It is important to consider the hairstyle you use because it could be the reason you are not seeing growth. This article from the Black Girl Long Hair blog discusses three hairstyles that may not be the best for gaining length.

These hairstyles are:

  1. Havanna twists
  2. The wash ‘n go (are you surprised?)
  3. The blow out

The wash ‘n go was indeed the most surprising to me. As I see my sister and NHCN partner Dianne’s hair length far surpass mine, although she went natural over a year after I cut my locs, I’m sold on the idea.  She maintains her mane through twist and braid outs.  I have been consistently sporting a wash ‘n go.

If you are wearing any of these styles and notice that your hair seems to have stopped growing, maybe you should consider switching to another hairstyle. That’s what I’ll be doing. You can find out what makes these 3 hairstyles a no-no when aiming for length and how you can minimize loss of length by reading the article here.

Author: Pamela

Comment on this article“Changing attitudes about natural hair” is what we do at Natural Haircare News. Through informative articles, podcasts and videos, we go beyond just sharing the latest advice and tips on kinky, curly, wavy haircare – We shake things up and focus on the realities of wearing our hair natural.

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2 Responses to These 3 Hairstyles Can Be Keeping You from Reaching the Length You Want

  1. Christina J says:
    February 16, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    Oh yes I can understand Havana twists and really any other long term styles…we tend to ‘set and forget’ during the duration of the style. I have to constantly remind myself to care for my hair like I would when my natural hair is out. also I’m still recovering from fine edges because the twists would be too tight

    Reply
    • Pamela says:
      September 7, 2016 at 11:50 pm

      Somehow missed your comment Christina so apologies for the much delayed response. I too am recovering from fine edges from abuse that happened years ago long before I went natural. I’ve written about it in some of my past blogposts. Happy and healthy natural hair growth to you!

      Reply

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