Natural Curly Hair Styles with Longhairdontcare2011

Longhairdontcare2011 on youtube shares her tips for achieving long natural curly hair styles with us and gives great advice on how to grow longer hair.

Q. I just want to say thank you for sharing your hair tips with us. I know life can be busy with school. Where do you find the time to post videos?

LHDC- You are very welcome. I am always surprised that people find my very simple advice helpful. Last semester I didn't have very many classes since I took some of my courses in advance to enter into the Dental Hygiene program, so I was able to make vids here and there. With 7 classes this semester, I can't say that my video recording pattern will be the same lol.

Q. You have a hair growth progression video, which is so realistic because it shows that hair doesn't grow overnight. What did you do to cope with your short hair while waiting for longer hair since it's torture waiting?

LHDC- Well, I so happen to fall ill shortly after doing the "big chop", so my focus was on my health a lot of the time. During this time of illness I had to take many heavy drugs and it altered my physical appearance (acne, weight gain, edema) so I made sure that no matter how bad I felt that my hair was being cared for. My hair was definitely my crown and glory at that point in my life.

Q. What are five hair-saving techniques that helped preserve your ends and length for those five years you were growing your hair out?

LHDC-

1. not trimming unless my ends were thin or overwhelmed by splits
2. using the "cool" setting on the blowdryer once I am about 5-6" away from the ends.
3. Patience with knots and tangles so that I wouldn't create splits.
4. Cutting splits as I see them so that I dont have to get rid of all of the ends for a few "bad seeds".
5. Styles that are off of absorbent materials, such as cotton. Such materials will absorb the moisture from your ends and cause more tangling within the hair.



Q.What are some hair breaking techniques that you advise against for women who are trying to grow longer hair?

LHDC- I advise AGAINST:

1. blowdrying soaking wet hair
2.washing hair immediately after braid removal without having a plan for how you will manage it, because the wet, dead hair, dirt etc. can cause heavy matting/tangling and frustration in dealing with such hair thus equaling breakage of your hair when the style was supposed to be protective.
3. Trimming based on a time schedule. Time elapsed is not a reason to trim in my opinion, only the current state of the hair.
4. Using glue in weaves (I don't know much about weaves, but just in case women are still doing it, I say don't because it allows too much room for error)
5. Styling hair while frustrated
6. Being closed minded and unwilling to learn how to manage your own texture. People always message me stating that "I must be mixed", "I got lucky", "I was blessed". NO. I cared for my hair.
7. Impatience. Don't be impatient. I made the video compilation of my hair journey to show people that this doesn't happen over weeks or months. You must be content with every cm, 1/2 inch and inch that you get. Those inches add up if you're patient :).
8. Don't be afraid to keep a simple regimen, or to keep the same regimen for a long period of time. I believe that for some, using new products, homemade products etc. is a hobby and there is nothing wrong with that, but at the same time it's not for everyone. As a member of a hair forum I have read about women doing just fine until they hopped onto a hair trend. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" :D



Q. Now I know you use heat and I've sworn it off for 3-1/2 years more (yes I am counting); How did you use heat AND grow longer hair?

LHDC- I use the heat of a blow dryer 1x per month and I flatiron 1-2 times per year, so that is still quite minimal in my opinion. When I do blowdry, as stated previously, I make sure to utilize my "cool" button on the blowdyer. The older hair can't take as much heat as the newer hair because in most cases it's not as strong. The goal is to keep the ends for as long as possible so that it doesn't break and so that you don't need to trim it.

Q.Would you like to share anything about upcoming videos or projects you are working on that you would like our audience to know about?

LHDC- I started making the videos as a way to show people that you can be a woman of color and grow your hair out nicely and also to show women that it's not a requirement to be a kitchen chemist so to speak lol and you can use over the counter shampoos and conditioners with good result.

In the future I do plan on switching to organic shampoos and conditioners and or doing a few hair treatments based on the things that most people have in their cupboards and reviewing them for anyone who may be interested in watching...possibly a hair style tutorial here and there as well. The reason for switching the type of products I'll be using is because I want the best for my health and my body (nothing negative has taken place, it's a matter of health and wellbeing). The way I see it is, once you've found out that there are possibly harmful ingredients, or just a bunch of chemicals that are hard to pronounce within your products and there are more natural products on the market that it's natural to want the best for yourself. "When you know better, you do better" as they say.

I was a former product junkie and since I'm cheap, I promised myself that I'd use everything I have before switching over. Quick tip: If anyone has a shampoo that has just gotten the worst reviews, don't toss them, use them to clean your combs and brushes.

Thank you so much for spotlighting me on your blog. I wish you much success

Check out Longhairdontcare2011 on youtube and her tips for beautiful natural curly hair styles.