Hair Stretching: Adding Length To Natural Hair

Facebook

Twitter

Author
Recent Posts

Follow NHCN!

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.

Follow NHCN!

Latest posts by Dianne Austin (see all)

New England Patriots and MGH Cancer Center Give a Shout Out to Coils to Locs on The Sports Hub, 98.5 - January 24, 2019
Video Sharing: HOW TO GET CURLY HAIR (TUTORIAL) - April 6, 2018
Entrepreneur Tonya Cross Is Making Waves in the Natural Hair Space: NHCN Podcast #0026 - November 4, 2017

Image from YouTube user @Naptural85

Hair stretching is a simple technique that adds length to natural hair through stretching, or non-chemical manipulation.

After shampooing, natural hair can experience varying amounts of shrinkage – a reduction of hair length – once dry. Because natural hair can have a variety of curl patterns, from coils, to spirals and curls, our hair, which may be very long when wet, can shrink as much as 75% when dry as our curls start to tighten.

Depending on individual preference, some women like to stretch their natural hair as a way to manage the length.

Here are a few tips for hair stretching:

1. To keep your hair in top condition, opt for non-chemical stretching techniques instead of chemical texturizing.

2. Braid outs and twist outs are great ways to stretch your hair and add more length. Do a braid out or twist out while wet to get the most definition and a long lasting hold. Your style can last for a week or more depending on your hair using this method.

3. Hair banding is another great way to add length by taking medium to large sections of dry hair and adding ponytail holders to different sections of the hair.

Check out the videos below to learn these hair stretching techniques. There are so many twisting/braiding/banding methods on YouTube, but we think that the videos below are particularly helpful!

Do you have a special way not mentioned here to stretch natural hair? Leave a comment below.

Twist Out Tutorial:

Hair Banding:

Author: Dianne Shaddock

“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.