Before I begin, I have to give a quick disclaimer. From experience, I've found that the healthier my curls get, the tighter the curls get as well. This is called SHRINKAGE and is both a gift and a curse. And because of this, it gets more difficult to see the length. But trust me, disguised in all that shrinkage, you will find length! With that said, here I share with you 5 tips and techniques to help you on your journey to long, healthy curly hair:

1. Take care of your inside - What you put on the inside of your body is a true reflection of what you see on the outside. Take care of yourself by eating foods that are good for you and drinking lots of water. Hair needs nourishment. And just like the rest of your body, the more you make healthier choices in your day to day life, the more this will aid in healthy hair growth.

2. Clean scalp - Hair grows from your scalp, therefore it needs a clean, healthy and free of buildup area to grow from. Think of a farm. When a farmer takes care of the land by riding it of weeds, fertilizing it and watering it, the crops grow healthy and strong. The same goes for your scalp. It's like the land of the earth and it yearns for the things that keep it clean, fresh and a breathing ground for healthy, strong hair strands.

3. Healthy ends - Your ends are the oldest part of your hair; this means that they need extra love and attention. The older curls get the more they've taken on pollution, heat damage, and manipulation, just to name a few. So try to keep you're ends healthy by giving them extra moisture and protein when deep conditioning. I always like to saturate them with extra moisturizing products when applying treatments and stylers.

4. Protective styles - The less manipulation you can do to your hair, the healthier it will grow out. A protective style will keep your hair in a style for some time. Depending on the style, your hair can be protected anywhere from a few days to a few months. The reason why these styles are so good for curly hair is that the ends stay tucked away and protected, preventing breakage, split ends, and fairy (single-strand) knots. Although I love rocking my wash and go's, they do lend to many, many fairy knots, and I end up cutting my ends just to get rid of them! No bueno! Some common protective styles are buns, braids, and twists. You can also rock wigs, weaves and add extensions to your braids,  helping to take your protective style well into the months category. I stick to more simple styles such as buns and braids, but definitely experiment and see what works for you!

5. Heat and hair dyes - Stay away from heat, hair dyes and anything that can potentially harm your hair. Adding direct heat to hair that is stretched is basically training your hair that it should be straight and not curly. This is so dangerous as it is superrrr permanent and the only way to truly get rid of heat damage is to cut it off. Hair dyes are also very damaging to curls as they usually have many harsh chemicals in them. These chemicals also have similar properties as heat, where they loosen your curls to almost a bone straight texture. And honestly if you want healthy curly hair, natural (in every sense of the word) is the best way to go, in both texture and color. Diffusing your curls once in a while, here and there is ok. However, be cautious by using the lowest heat setting on the blow dryer (cool air if available) and by using a diffuser attachment to avoid as much direct heat as possible.



Although my hair has grown so much from 3 years ago when I cut it really short, I still have quite a ways to go before I reach my personal length goals. And I know if I keep following these 5 tips, I'll get there! So join me on this journey...let's stay curly, natural and healthy together for the sake of our curls ! :)