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NEVER Dry Your Hair With Towel and Use These Alternative Drying Methods Instead

Drying your hair with a towel is a no no

Hello Lovelies!

In the past, when I finished washing and cleansing my hair, the first thing I did once I stepped out of the shower was reach for a regular bath towel to dry my hair. BIG MISTAKE! Traditional bath towels are rough enough to actually lift the hair’s cuticle layer. The fibers on terry cloth towels act like little hooks and clasps that are small enough to catch the scales in the hair’s cuticle layer and separate them from the hair’s cortex. Drying your hair with a traditional towel will leave your tresses overly dried, frizzy, and broken. So opt for these alternative drying methods that will leave your hair smooth and well moisturized after your next cleansing session.

Microfiber Towels

As with most people, I associate microfiber towels with hours of cleaning and tidying up the house, but who knew that these heavy-duty cleaning towels are a great alternative to traditional towels for drying your hair. Microfiber towels are made of very fine and densely packed fibers that makes for a much smoother drying surface for our hair. Microfiber towels also absorb just the right amount of moisture from the hair, unlike terry cloth towels that absorb too much moisture from the hair, leaving it dry and susceptible to breakage.

Aquises’ Mimi Diva Dryer Hair Towel is a favorite among those who transition from traditional terry cloth towels to dry their hair to alternative hair drying methods. The Diva Dryer Hair Towel is super absorbent and claims to dry your hair in half the time. The DevaCurl Deva Towel is another microfiber hair drying towel that is popular among curly haired gals because it’s smooth surface dries the hair without creating frizz and makes curls pop.

An Old T-shirt

A microfiber towel is nice and convenient to have on hand, but if you don’t have one, an old t-shirt will do. Yes, an old t-shirt. Cotton t-shirts are soft, ultra absorbent, and perfect for drying freshly washed hair. If you have curly hair, drying your hair with a t-shirt will help your curls clump and form perfect and frizz-free ringlets. This technique, formerly known as plopping or plunking, involves bending over and flipping your head upside down into a t-shirt to scrunch the curls of your hair, and carefully folding up the t-shirt rolling up the t-shirt and securing it to dry the hair. Plopping/plunking helps curls form much more easily, and for some people, it helps to elongate the curls and mitigate shrinkage as the hair drys.

Paper Towel

If a microfiber towel or t-shirt isn’t handy and you’re in a pinch, paper towel is a great alternative for drying your hair. Hey, anything is better than a towel! I will note that lint-free paper towels are what you want to use because you’ll most certainly have to re-wash your hair if you use paper towels that lint and peel. Viva paper towels are my favorite brand for drying the hair. They’re smooth, soft, and they really absorb a lot of water. To dry your hair with paper towel, simply scrunch, squeeze, and blot excess moisture from your hair, never rub or roughly tousle your strands to remove water.

photo credit: stockimages

Hair Porosity 101 – Do You Know Your Hair’s Porosity Level?

By Renee Price

hair porosity 101

Hello Lovelies! I always strive to tie in a bit of science into most of my hair care advice, because it was ultimately the science behind hair, it’s structure, and how to care for hair that finally enabled me to grow my hair long. Well today, I ask you to recall a bit of grade school science to fully grasp the idea of hair porosity. In general, porosity is the measure of empty spaces in a material. Any medium that has pores, voids or openings, has a porosity. Since the cuticle layer of the hair strand can open and close to allow the passage of water and other substances into the inner workings of the hair strand, human hair is a porous medium.

What is Hair Porosity?

Hair porosity is human hair’s ability to absorb water and other chemicals beyond the cuticle layer and into the hair’s cortex. All human hair is porous, but depending on your hair’s current health and condition, and the integrity of the hair’s cuticle layer, the degree of permeability will differ. Similar to growth rate and other aspects of human hair, our porosity level is inherited and determined by our genetic makeup, but external factors, such as heat styling and hair dyeing, can alter your hair’s porosity level. Let’s think of hair porosity like a sponge.

A sponge has pores from which it can absorb water, swell with moisture and become super flexible. A sponge can also release water through its pores, and the rate at which it releases water depends on how old the sponge is and how often it has been used. A brand new sponge fresh out of the package will adsorb water and retain or hold water much better because it hasn’t gone through the wear and tear of an older sponge. As you use the new sponge and it becomes worn and tattered, it’ll take up water, but it releases water almost as fast as it absorbs it because the worn sponge has more holes and missing pieces. Human hair isn’t much different.

Hair porosity is measured in levels, low porosity, medium/average porosity, and high porosity. Hair strands with a cuticle layer that conforms well to the cortex are considered medium porosity. Hair strands with a cuticle layer that hugs the cuticle layer very tightly are considered low porosity. Hair strands that have chips, cracks and outright holes in its cuticle layer are considered high porosity or highly porous. Now remember your hair’s porosity level is genetic, but the way you manipulate your hair that can also affect it’s porosity level.

For example, high porosity hair can be inherited or your hair can become highly porous due to chemical damage from hair bleach, a relaxer, or some other chemical process. How can hair become highly porous? Your hair can start out with a normal porosity, but the the damage from everyday styling to frequent use of heat, chemicals and all other bad hair care practices can cause the cuticle layer on anyone’s hair strands to break down overtime. As the cuticle layer loses shingles and sustains irreparable damage, it loses it’s ability to protect the cortex and the delicate inner workings of the hair strand are always exposed and susceptible to more damage.

How to Test for Hair Porosity

So how does one test porosity? Well, there are quite a few “tests” out there, but I don’t think most of them are too accurate. The most popular porosity “test” out there is the float test. The float test involves placing a strand of freshly cleaned and dried shed hair into a cup or bowl of water and waiting a few minutes to see what the hair strand does. If the hair strand floats, this supposedly indicates low porosity hair, but if the hair strand sinks, this indicates high porosity hair. This “test” is inaccurate for a few reasons.

Hair is less dense than water, so naturally it’s going to float in water.
Water has a high surface tension, this is simply the attraction water molecules have to each other. The surface tension is so strong in water, it almost creates a film over water that is hard to break, so objects that have a lighter density than water certainly will not penetrate water’s surface tension and most likely will float.
Most hair has oil residue left behind, even after it’s cleaned sometimes. We know that oil repels water, so if your hair is coated with oil, it’s going to float in a cup or bowl of water.

The most accurate test for hair porosity, gas sorption, is a lab-based test that the average person doesn’t have access to. This test involves measuring the flow of gas/air through the hair to determine the volume of holes in the hair strand in comparison to the total volume of the hair strand. Gas sorption tests have been used to prove that certain chemical processes and UV exposure alter the porosity of the hair strand.

Even though gas sorption tests aren’t readily available to most people, you can still gauge your hair’s porosity level. So how do you do it? Simple. Study your hair. Examine your hair strands for shine, reflectivity, how well they retain moisture, and examine how your hair responds to products. One of the easiest ways to gauge your hair’s porosity is the Strand Slide Test. Simply grab a few strands of your freshly cleaned and air dried hair, and note what you feel as you run your fingers down the strand.

Hair Porosity Test Results

Low Hair Porosity

Does your hair feel smooth and balanced as you run it down your hair strands? Then you most likely have low porosity hair. Hair that is really shiny and not exposed to: frequent brushing, heat styling tools, bleach or hair dye, or the harmful UV rays of the sun is also most likely of low porosity. Low porosity hair is for the most part is really healthy. The cuticle layer is usually healthy and intact, and the cuticle layer hugs the hair’s cortex very tightly.

The downside of low porosity hair strands is the fact that it tends to repel water, oils, and conditioners, and the hair doesn’t saturate easily when it’s exposed to water. Because low porosity hair strands are resistant to penetration from water and other chemicals, it’s often hard to keep the hair properly moisturized. On the other hand, it’s easy for products to quickly “build up” on low porosity hair and make the hair strands limp and lifeless because products usually just sit on top of the hair strands.

If you have low porosity hair, opt for hair care products that are loaded with humectants, ingredients that helps the hair draw and retain moisture. Avoid hair care products that are heavy and full of oils to prevent build up and avoid conditioners that are full of proteins to prevent further drying and inflexibility of the hair strand.

Medium Hair Porosity

Medium or normal hair porosity is the sweet spot or happy medium most people should strive for when it comes to hair porosity. Why? Well medium porosity hair will have times when it feels moisturized and other times when it feels dry, but it’s fairly easy to keep medium porosity hair moist and manageable. If you have normal hair porosity, when you examine your hair using the Strand Slide Test, you may feel a few bumps and grooves, but for the most part, the Strand Slide Test produces fairly smooth results. Now your hair may not be as shiny as low porosity hair, but it should have s a moderate luster and sheen to it.

There really isn’t much of a downside to having medium porosity hair because almost any hair care product can efficiently penetrate the hair strand to keep your tresses moist. One thing I will note is that excessive heat use, bleaching and hair dyes, and other abusive hair care practices can easily transform normal porosity hair into high porosity hair if you aren’t careful. Additionally, the ends of your hair may be more porous than the hair near the root of the hair strand, which is normal and to be expected as the hair fiber ages. The ends of the hair strand are indeed older than the hair near the root of the hair strand, and since older portions of the hair have been exposed to more wear and tear, it’s natural to expect the ends of the hair to be more porous.

High Hair Porosity

High porosity hair or porous hair will feel rough, bumpy, and uneven as perform the Strand Slide Test and run your fingers up and down your hair strands. This uneven feeling is an indication of raised, lifted, chipped or even missing cuticles along the hair strand. Hair that saturates easily when exposed to or submerged in water or hair that is bleached, color treated, relaxed or permed is most likely highly porous.

The major downside to highly porous hair is the rate at which it loses moisture. Keeping highly porous hair moist presents quite the challenge because the gaps and holes in the hair’s cuticle layer allows moisture to escape almost as fast as they allow moisture to penetrate the hair strand. Think of a buck with holes, you can fill it with water, but it’ll eventually leak out through the holes and cracks in the bucket. This rapid moisture lost causes highly porous hair to lack shine, suffer from chronic dryness, become highly inflexible, often become frizzy, and even worse, result in damage and breakage.

Now high porosity hair can be inherited or a result of bad hair care practices. If your hair is just naturally porous, regular protein treatments are the best way to help high porosity hair retain more moisture. Protein will fill in the holes and gaps in your hair’s cuticle layer so that it can “act” more porous and keep moisture within the hair strand, sort of like patching up the bucket with holes. If your hair is highly porous due to chemical or heat damage, in my opinion, the best remedy is cutting of the damaged hair. The chances of repairing chemically or heat damaged, highly porous hair are very slim.

In addition to regular protein treatments, layering anti-humectant hair products and silicone-based styling creams will help keep just enough moisture inside your hair strands and keep excess moisture and frizz at bay.

Why Does Hair Porosity Matter

More than any other aspect of your hair, even your hair type or texture, porosity will determine the products you need to use on your hair and how you should care for it. Your hair’s porosity level will determine how much moisture and protection your hair needs to thrive. Everyone’s hair requires different amounts and types of moisture and moisturizing hair products to remain flexible and ward off breakage.

Hair porosity is also closely married to the hair’s pH level and the pH of the products you use to cleanse, condition, and style your hair. For example, low pH hair products will lower the hair’s porosity level by contracting the scales of the cuticle layer, thus making it harder for water and other chemicals to penetrate the hair strand, so if you already have low porosity hair, using hair care products with a lower pH will reduce your hair’s ability to absorb water even more. On the other end of the spectrum, if you have highly porous hair, you want to use hair care products that are lower in pH to help your hair retain moisture.

Your hair’s porosity level will also help you decipher how your hair reacts to protein treatments and other hair care products that contain protein. The higher your hair’s porosity, the more you can use protein treatments and hair care products with protein to patch up holes and cracks in your hair’s cuticle layer and make your tresses less porous. The lower your hair’s porosity, the less frequently you should use protein treatments and protein-laden hair products because protein will make it even more difficult for water and other chemicals to penetrate your hair’s cuticle layer.

8 Signs You’re On the Path to Long, Healthy Hair

By Renee Price

8 signs you're on the path to longer hair

Hello Lovelies!

So you’ve perfected your hair care regimen, you’ve nixed most of your bad hair care habits, and you’re on the path to long, healthy hair. Or are you? Sometimes in the beginning of your hair journey, it may be difficult to tell if you’re on the right path or wandering in the dark. You’re bound to make a mistake or two and possibly experience a setback on your journey to long hair, but these eight steps are surefire signs that your hair is thriving and will serve as a guidepost to your progress.

1. Fewer to No Split Ends

If you’re having a hard time finding split ends in your hair these days, congratulations are in order. Split ends are an instant sign of damaging hair care practices, so when you eliminate bad hair care practices, it’s only natural to experience fewer to no split ends. If you’re keeping your hair moist and keeping manipulation of your strands to an absolute minimum, split ends should be a thing of your hair care past.

2. No Broken Hairs on the Floor

It’s natural to see shed hairs in your comb or brush when you groom your hair, but broken hairs all over the floor or on your shirt is cause for concern. When hair goes through the normal shedding process, the shed hair is usually the length of your hair, and the root of the hair strand, a white bulb, is typically attached to the end. This indicates that the hair strand shedded from your scalp and did not break off. When hair breaks, the broken hair is usually shorter than your hair’s entire length and the root is missing from the hair strand. It’s normal to shed up to 100 strands of hair each day, but seeing little hairs all over the floor when you groom your hair is a sign of breakage and split ends. As you start to take better care of your hair, it’ll sustain less damage and hopefully breakage will come to a complete halt.

3. Your Hair is Always Manageable

Harsh shampoos and hair styling aids with all types of weird ingredients can leave your hair frazzled and hard to manage. This all a part of the cyclical plan many hair care companies have for our hair with the ultimate goal of keeping us dependent on their hair products to manage our hair, but that’s for another post. When you use hair products with a pH that is suitable for our hair’s needs, managing your hair will instantly become a breeze. Manageable hair is much easier to style, breaks less frequently, and ultimately retains length faster than hair that is unruly and hard to control.

4. You No Longer Suffer From Chronically Dry Hair

From a lack of deep conditioning to excessive heat styling, chronically dry hair has a variety of causes. Dry hair is the result of bad hair care practices but it’s also the culprit of many negative hair care setbacks. Although split ends have several causes, dry hair is one of the top culprits. Dry hair also makes your tresses harder to manage and style and just creates a cycle of negative hair growth outcomes. It takes time to fix dry hair problems, but if you work to figure out the cause of your dry hair and replace those practices with dry hair remedies, eventually you’ll notice your hair becoming softer and easier to manage.

5. You Handle Your Hair with a Patient and Gentle Touch

When you style your hair in a hurry or even while you’re angry, you tend to shred through your hair without a care for how this can affect your hair’s health and condition. This is the perfect makings of broken and damaged hair. Our hair’s condition is ultimately dependent on the things that we do to our hair, how we handle it mechanically. I like to think of our hair as a precious cashmere sweater. Cashmere, no matter how expensive, is ultimately a fiber. The gentler you handle cashmere, the longer it’ll last and the longer it’ll retain it’s like new appearance. We should strive to handle our hair in the same manner. The gentler you handle your hair strands, the longer you’ll preserve them, and the longer they’ll grow. Everytime you touch your hair there is an opportunity to create damage, but if you always handle your hair like a fine, precious cashmere sweater, you’ll submit your hair to much less stress and tension, and your hair will sustain much less damage.

6. You Have Noticeable Gains in Hair Length

Noticeable gains in length is the most obvious sign of being on the path to reaching your long hair goals, and it’s the sign that most of us look for. If you’re submitting your hair to so much damage that it breaks just as fast as it grows, your hair won’t gain very much length. When you’re treating your hair like the precious mane that it is, you’ll notice gains in length as soon as 4 weeks to a couple of months.

7. You Accept Your Hair’s Limits

This sign isn’t really measurable in outwardly apparent terms, but it’s still significant. When you really start to accept what your hair can and can’t do, you’ve really reached the pinnacle of doing only what works for your hair. Some people may be able to wear their hair down everyday, while others have to practically live in protective hairstyles to gain noticeable length, but that isn’t your concern. Your focus should only be on what your hair can withstand. On the journey to long hair, when you stop focusing on what someone else’s hair can and can’t do and only focus on your hair’s limits, you free yourself to the possibility of finally growing the long, healthy tresses you’ve always desired.

8. You Feel Good and Confident About Your Hair

When our hair doesn’t grow or is hard to manage, confidence in our hair tends to wane and neglect of our hair isn’t far behind. When you finally find out what your hair needs to thrive, something magical happens. You start to feel good about your hair. You’re confident that no matter what comes your way, you can always make your hair look its best and behave as it should. When you feel good and confident about your hair, you don’t neglect it and you make the proper care and handling of your hair a top priority.

Does My Family Genetics Determine How Long My Hair Can Grow?

By Renee Price

Do genetics determine how long hair can grow?

Hello Lovelies!

Laura L. sent me a great question that many people ask, so it should settle the minds of alot of people. Laura wants to know:

None of the ladies in my family on either side have ever had very long hair. Although I really want to grow my hair out, I wonder if genetics will keep my from reaching my long hair goals. Is there anyway my family genes could keep me from growing my hair long?

Hi, Laura! Thank you so much for your question! This is a question that I pondered at the beginning of my hair journey and one that I believe most of you ladies will ask at some point along your hair journeys. So does genetics play a role in how long your hair can grow? Well, sort of. You see, genetics doesn’t determine how long your hair can grow, but it does determine the amount of time your hair strands have the opportunity to grow. Hair length is not guided by genetics, but the length of time individual hair strands on your head stay in the growing phase, which is also known as the anagen phase, is determined by your family genetics.

The anagen phase lasts anywhere between 2 to 6 years for most people before the hair strand sheds, this is known as terminal length. Some people will have a shorter anagen phase and others may have a longer anagen phase. Even two people within the same family can have drastically different anagen phases. This stuff can get kind of tricky because some people will argue that if how long the anagen phase lasts can be translated into an actual length, then you can determine the maximum length someones hair can grow if you know the anagen phase, but it’s not that cut and dry. Scientists have found that on average most people have an anagen phases that lasts about 4 years, meaning your hair strands can at least reach waist length.

My advice is don’t go by the length of hair for the women in your family to determine if you can reach your long hair goals. For all you know, none of the women in your family ever wanted long hair and never tried to actively grow their hair long, so even they don’t know how long their hair can potentially grow. So I suggest that you just focus on developing a hair care regimen that reduces the opportunities your hair has to break and sustain damage and that will ultimately allow your hair to gain as much length as growth rate will allow within your personal anagen phase. Your hair care journey is yours and yours only, so just try to focus on your hair and giving it the tender love and care it deserves. Good Luck!

Can You Grow Long Hair Without Protective Styling?

By Renee Price

Can you grow long hair without protective hairstyles?

Hello Lovelies!

Ariella K. has a great question about protective styles. Ariella wants to know:

Love your website. I’m a bit resistent about this protective styling thing. I mean I know it makes sense, but I just don’t know about wearing buns and other styles like it all the time. I’m just so used to wearing my hair down everyday, and I’d much more prefer it. So is it possible to grow my hair long and not get split ends without wearing protective hairstyles?

Hello, Ariella! Thank you so much for your question. For those of you who don’t know, protective hairstyles are hairstyles that allow you to protect the ends of your hair and go without re-styling your hair for days at a time. Protective hairstyles are conducive to growing long hair because your hair is retains moisture better, it’s free from damaging hair care practices, and the most vulnerable parts of your hair, the ends, have the utmost protection. While protective hairstyles are the best styling option for ladies who want to grow out their hair, they aren’t the only styling option that will allow you to reach your long hair goals.

If protective hairstyles aren’t your thing, low manipulation hairstyles are an alternative styling option. Unlike protective hairstyles, low manipulation hairstyles, don’t involve tucking away the ends of the hair. Low manipulation hairstyles also don’t last as long as protective hairstyles without the need to re-style or tidy up the hair to make it look presentable. However, low manipulation hairstyles are simple enough where manipulation to your hair is kept to a minimum and will not cause unnecessary damage to your hair.

So to answer your question, you absolutely can grow your hair long without protective hairstyles. I just recommend them because they’re a foolproof way to get guaranteed longer hair. If your hair is up, protected, and has virtually no chances of sustaining damage, the only thing it can do is grow. Depending on your hair type, you may be able to get away with not wearing any protective hairstyles at all and still reach your long hair goals. Straighter hair types may have no problem retaining length without protective hairstyles because straighter hair strands tend to have a stronger cuticle layer and retain moisture better. Curlier and highly textured hair types may have more difficulty retaining length without the aid of protective hairstyles because curlier hair tends to be drier and more prone to breakage when it’s worn in it’s natural, unaltered state. Protective hairstyles help preserve the delicate hair strands of curlier hair types and place less friction on curly and highly textured hair strands.

You never stated your hair type Ariella, so I don’t know for sure, but if you have curlier hair, then I would absolutely suggest that you give protective hairstyles a try. Otherwise, if you have a straighter hair type, experiment with low manipulation hairstyles for a few months and see if they aid or hinder your long hair goals and adjust your hair care regimen accordingly. Good luck on your long hair journey!

Low Manipulation – The Key to Growing and Retaining Longer Hair Than Ever Before!

By Renee Price

Low manipulation leads to longer hair

Hello Lovelies!

Our hair is very delicate. That statement sounds so simple, but it’s very true, and it’s something that has taken me a long time to learn and accept. How many of us have yanked and snatched through our hair to quickly complete a style? How many of us blow dry and flat iron our hair day in and day out? How many of us wash our hair every.single.day? How many of us twirl our hair endlessly and mindlessly with little thought to how it affects our hair? These are all bad hair care practices that dramatically increase the opportunities for us to damage our hair. If you’re damaging your hair as fast as it grows, you’ll never see any meaningful amount of retention in length. The number one way to reduce your hair’s potential to break is to adopt a low manipulation hair care regimen.

What is Low Manipulation?

Low manipulation is a hair care practice where handling, styling, and maintenance of the hair is kept to a minimum. How you handle your hair on a daily basis has real effects on how well your hair retains length. Everytime you touch your hair, the wind blows through your tresses, or your hair comes into contact with any object, the hair strand sustains microscopic forms of wear and tear that adds up over time. Your hair doesn’t need much help from you to split and break, so imagine how much faster it sustains damage when you handle it frequently and without much care. Now imagine how much you can slow down damage when you keep manipulation and handling of your hair very low.

If you want your hair to not only be long, but also be long, healthy, and as lustrous as possible, let your hair be and leave it alone as much as you can. Refraining from unnecessary styling, touching, and twirling and simply letting your hair be will give it the opportunity to do what it was designed to do with no interruptions, grow!

Now I believe low manipulation is relative, and what one person considers low manipulation for their hair may be different for another person’s hair. However, I also believe that a low manipulation approach to hair care is vitally important the curlier your hair texture. The tendency for curlier hair textures to be drier, easier to tangle, and more prone to breakage makes regular makes everyday handling of the hair harmful to the hair strand over time. A gentle and patient touch is a must when handling curlier hair textures, and low manipulation is the perfect approach to handling curly and highly textured hair types.

Low Manipulation Shampooing and Conditioning

Now when I suggest only doing what’s needed for your hair, this includes cleansing and conditioning. When it comes to how you care for your hair, you should take a low manipulation approach at every step in your hair care regimen. How can you incorporate low manipulation into your cleansing and conditioning regimen? Well for one, no matter your hair type, it’s usually not a good idea to wash your hair everyday. Simply refraining from washing your hair everyday is one way to take a low manipulation approach to washing your hair. Another example is only shampooing your scalp, the portion of your hair that needs the most cleansing, and never piling your hair on top of your head while shampooing to prevent tangles. Another trick is using dry shampoo or baby powder on your scalp to extend the amount of time you can go without shampooing and manipulating your hair.

If you have curly or highly textured hair, you can really reduce the manipulation and handling of your hair during your cleansing and conditioning sessions by shampooing and conditioning your hair in sections. Instead of washing your curly hair while it’s loose and more susceptible to tangles, braid or twist your hair into two or more sections and cleanse and condition your scalp while your hair while isbraided or twisted to keep handling, friction to your hair strands, and breakage to a minimum.

Low Manipulation Styling

The ways that you can incorporate low manipulation into your hair styling regimen are practically endless. From how you dry your hair to the tools you use on your hair, there is always a low manipulation and less damaging alternative to how you usually style your hair.

Drying/Blow Drying

Personally, I think blow drying is how most women sustain significant damage to their hair. Many of us don’t realize how damaging this common hair practice is to our delicate hair strands. Many of us also don’t realize that there are several alternatives to using a blow dryer to dry our hair and there are ways to make blow drying less damaging. Air drying your hair is one way to make blow drying less damaging. Air drying simply means allowing your hair to dry on it’s own without the use of a blow dryer. Allowing your hair to air dry just 50% before blow drying it will reduce the amount of time you need to use the blow dryer to completely dry your hair and thus reduce the amount of time you need to manipulate your hair.

Another alternative to using a blow dryer is to style your hair while it’s wet and letting it dry on it’s own. You’ll notice a significant difference in the health and condition of your hair if you cut out blow dryers all together. Wet styling enables you to keep manipulation of your hair extremely low because you no longer have to submit your hair to the damaging heat and high manipulation required by blow drying, and wet styles tend to last much longer than hairstyles installed on dry hair.

Styling Tools

As you look for more ways to make your hair care regimen low manipulation, the tools you use to style your hair may also change. I think the best styling tool for a low manipulation hair care regimen is your own hands. Yes, your hands. Our hands can maneuver our hair in ways that even a comb and a brush can’t, and you can feel tangles and knots in your hair with your own hands before a comb or a brush can detect them. Your hands are also the best way to remove tangles and matting because a comb or a brush may actually make tangles worse if you don’t use it properly. Your hands are the safest bet when it comes to styling because your hands will put much less pressure and tension on your delicate hair strands than other styling tools. My only advice is to make sure your nails are smooth and free of rough edges to prevent snags and snarls while handling your hair.

If you decide to incorporate other styling tools, such as a comb, into your hair styling regimen, I suggest going for a seamless, detangling comb to keep manipulation of your hair to a minimum. The more teeth and seams a comb has, the more opportunities it has to break and damage your hair, but a seamless, detangling comb is specially designed to detangle even the thickest and highly textured strands of hair. I suggest that you avoid brushes all together if you want to maintain a low manipulation hair care regimen.

Low Manipulation Hairstyles

Low manipulation hairstyles require minimal handling to install and maintain. If you have to re-style your hair everyday to make it look nice and presentable, then your hairstyle requires too much manipulation. A low manipulation hairstyle should enable you to go at least a couple of days without having to even touch your hair. I like low manipulation hairstyles as well because they’ll also help you from obsessing over your length and how fast your hair is or isn’t growing and allow you to get on with more important things in life.

Protective hairstyles such as buns, braids, and twists are all great low manipulation styles, but you don’t always have to wear protective styles to keep manipulation of your hair to a minimum. There are also hairstyles that are known as “low manipulation hairstyles” in the hair care world that will allow you to wear your hair down, but keep handling of your hair to a minimum. These hairstyles aren’t as protective of the ends of the hair as protective styles, but they’re much less damaging than most other hairstyles that require daily maintenance and upkeep. Ponytails, roller sets, braid outs/twist outs, and heat-free curls are all examples of low manipulation hairstyles that can be worn for a few days without the need to re-style or tidy up your hair. Protective hairstyles may not be appealing to everyone, so low manipulation hairstyles are a great alternative.

So there you have it! Every aspect of your hair care regimen can be overhauled to provide for a low manipulation approach to how you care for your hair. When you start to do less to your hair in terms of handling it everyday, you’ll start to notice a boost in the health and length of your hair. If you want to grow your hair out longer than you ever have before, trust me when I say that less is more.

photo credit: stockimages

Is Long Hair Professional?

By Renee Price

Will long hair hurt my career?

Hello Lovelies!

Kellie M. has sent me a question about long hair that I’ve heard many times and one I’ve struggled with myself. Kellie asks:

I am in the process of growing out my long hair, and I’ve gotten many great tips from your site. The thing is, I think longer hair will hurt my career. I’m in corporate finance, and the women here all wear their hair really short, even the “feminine” women who dress really nicely and love fashion wear short hair. I used to think it was due to our busy schedules, but I now think that it’s due to the fact that our field is male dominated. One lady who I am very fond of made a comment about my hair getting long, but she said it in kind of a disapproving way. So, what should I do? Can my long hair still be professional?

Hi. Kellie! Thank you so much for your question. Wow! This is a big one. Unlike the desire to grow your hair long after a certain age, wearing your hair long while you’re working in a corporate or more professional field is a whole other ball game. This is something that will impact your income, not just your appearance, so you want to tread very lightly when it comes to long hair and the corporate world.

There have been actual studies that have proven wearing longer hair will hurt a woman’s career. Studies have shown that people actually believe women who wear long hair in corporate positions appear high maintenance, less powerful, and dare I say fertile, as in likely to take maternity leave in the near future. It’s one thing to say be confident and wear your hair the way you’d like. It’s another thing when peer reviewed studies show that wearing your hair the way you want will affect your career. Just check out Forbes Magazine’s List of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business, only 8 out of 50 of some of the most powerful women in the corporate world wear their hair past their shoulders. Eight out of 50! That’s very telling. I mean just look at the flack Hillary Clinton has received since she decided to grow out her hair. There are real consequences for professional women who dawn longer locks.

So here’s my advice, and it comes from experience. Can you wear “longer” hair in the corporate world? Yes. Can you wear super long hair in the corporate world? No. I would only wear my hair a few inches past my shoulders at most. Now if you decide to wear “longer” hair, I would never play with it or twirl it. I wouldn’t even touch it or do anything to draw to much attention to it while I’m at work. Speaking of attention, I would aim to take as much volume out of my hair as possible, too much volume and you’ll borderline on the bombshell look. Keep your ends perfectly trimmed at all times and keep your hair cut neatly shaped to avoid the frumpy and disheveled look. If you want to totally break the rules and grow your hair out longer, consider wearing your hair in a french roll, simple and neat up-do, or a sleek bun while at work, and enjoy your long locks when you’re off the clock.

I really hate that things are this way, and it’s part of the reason why I left the corporate world and opted to work at a smaller company. Corporate culture is already set and the pressure of corporate culture makes it hard to break the rules and win, so leaving the corporate arena or starting your own business is always another option, but it’s up to you to decide if a long hairstyle is worth the change. I hope this helps you make the decision that works best for you. Good luck, Kellie, and I wish you much success in your career.

photo credit: stockimages

9 Celebrities Who Prove Long Hair Can Look Good on Women at Any Age!

By Renee Price

Hello Lovelies!

Think long hair is only for younger gals? Think again! These 9 fabulous female celebrities break away from tradition and show that women can rock beautiful, long locks at virtually any age.

50’s:

Demi Moore – 51

Demi moore with long hair in her 50's Outside of her G.I. Jane period, we’ve only known Demi Moore to rock her sexy and mysteriously dark, long locks, and we couldn’t imagine this flawless beauty any other way.

Julianne Moore – 53

Julianne Moore's long hair Julianne Moore has worn her hair long for as long as we’ve known this graceful beauty, but the reason she opts for long hair instead of short hair may surprise you. The actress’s hair is naturally wavy and thick, so the weight of her lengthy locks is the only thing that keeps her hair smooth and neat.

60’s:

Christie Brinkley – 60

As a model from an era where big hair gave the illusion of a smaller body, long, voluminous hair has become just as trademark as Christie’s megawatt smile. Christie Brinkley loves long hair so much, she recently launched her own wig line to give other women the long, lustrous hair they desire.

Oprah Winfrey – 60

Oprah's thick, long hair Oprah Winfrey’s perfectly coiffed hair has gone through many style changes throughout the years, but in 2009 when comedian Chris Rock discovered Oprah’s long and thick locks were all her own, his shock and surprise was echoed by millions of people around the world.

Chaka Khan – 61

Chaka Khan's long red locks When Chaka Khan wasn’t noticed for her big voice, her big, beautiful hair stole the spotlight. The beautiful songstress has always rocked her hair long, big, and natural, and age hasn’t pressured Chaka to abandon her signature hairstyle.

Cher – 68

Cher's long, dark mane

Almost as iconic as those beautiful big eyes, Cher’s hair has spawned many a hairstyle trends for decades. Girls were literally ironing their hair with clothing irons to mimic Cher’s chic and dark locks, but little did those girls know, Cher often wore and continues to wear wigs to prevent damage and breakage to her real hair.

Goldie Hawn – 68

Goldie hawn's long, golden locks

Goldie Hawn first emerged as an actress with a short pixie cut on the television show Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, but longer lengths are perfectly suited for this buxom blonde’s beautiful tresses.

70’s:

Diana Ross – 70

Diana Ross hair!

If anyone is the Queen of big hair, it has to be the incomparable Diana Ross. The Boss has sported a variety of hairstyles throughout her 50+ year reign in the music industry and Hollywood, but it’s her big, beautiful mane that she is most recognized for.

Barbra Streisand – 72

Barbra Streisand's smooth locks

From short bobs to beach blonde highlights, Barbra Streisand’s been pushing the limits with her hair since she’s been a teenager, but it’s her longer, shiny locks that really seem to suit her best in her later years.

Am I Too Old for Long Hair?

By Renee Price

How old is too old for long hair?

Hello Lovelies!

Ruth M. has a very interesting question to ask, and it’s one I’m very eager to answer. Ruth asks:

Hi! I love your website! I’m over 50 years old and I’ve never worn long hair in my adult life. I had really long hair when I was young and into my teens, and my mother made me cut my hair a few weeks before high school graduation. My mother told me that my long hair would be a distraction from my college studies, and that people would take me more seriously if I wore my hair short. I unfortunately believed this for years, but now I feel it’s too late for me to wear my hair long. Do you think some women are just too old to wear long hair?

Hi, Ruth! I’m glad you asked this question! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an older woman approach me, compliment me on my hair and it’s length, then remark, “I wish I could grow my hair that long.” I usually go in to my spiel of how my hair wasn’t always this long and give advice about how they can absolutely grow their hair to long lengths if they just take care of it, only for them to abruptly stop me and reply with something like, “no, it’s not that my hair won’t grow, I’m too old to wear long hair.” I’m astonished every time. Every time!

I know there’s the idea that long hair is a sign of youthfulness and any older woman who decides to wear longer hair is hanging onto her youth, but everyone wasn’t made to sport the short hair look. I say wear your hair in the style that you most desire. The trick to pulling off longer hair when you’re older is making sure you have the right cut for the shape of your face. Face-framing, long layers will work best if your face is round, and super long lengths are best left to women with thinner, more oblong face shapes. Additionally, you want to keep your hair as healthy and neatly trimmed as possible. Keep in mind that as you age, your hair may not have the thickness and the natural shine it once had when you were younger, but a good hair care regimen will take care of what nature no longer does.

I know that it takes courage to go against the grain, so check out these 50+ celebrities who wear their long hair with pride if you need an extra vote of confidence before you decide to grow out your locks. Good luck, Ruth!

How Come Guys Can Grow Hair Faster Than Women?

By Renee Price

do men grow hair faster than women?

Hello Lovelies!

Lisa K. sent in a question that I’ve heard quite a bit, and perhaps I’d even believed myself at one point, and her question is:

Why does it seem like guys have an easier time growing hair? There are quite a few guys at my school who are going through a long hair phase in which they have decided to grow long hair sort of like all these guys trying to grow long beards now thanks to Duck Dynasty, lol. Well their hair grows so fast! Much faster than any of the girls at my school. Is testosterone making the guys hair grow faster? How come guys can grow hair faster than women?

Thank you so much Lisa for your question! To answer your question, it doesn’t. Men do not grow hair faster than women. Women and men have the same hair growth rate. Gender has no effect on the hair growth rate of humans. Testosterone does make individual male hair strands thicker (thicker hair strands have an easier time retaining length), but the key reason men are able to grow longer hair much easier in comparison to women is actually quite simple. Men and women handle and style their hair in very different ways, and these differences ultimately lead to disparities in the amount of hair men and women are able to retain.

Think about this; most men aren’t blow drying, curling, dyeing, or styling their hair everyday, if at all. When most guys decide to grow their hair long, the most they do is wash and condition it, then leave it alone. Most young ladies and women are applying heat to their hair and manipulating it on a frequent basis, which increases our odds of damaging our hair, getting split ends, and not retaining as much length as we grow.

So, no, Lisa, men do not grow hair faster than women. However, in an effort to grow longer hair we can take a cue from long haired guys and K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, sista. I never liked the stupid part of that saying, lol). We need to learn to just let our hair be and treat it like the beautiful crowned jewel that it is. Pamper it, protect it, and give it a rest! We can do this by putting down the heat styling tools, and crafting a hair care regimen that includes the proper hair care practices for our hair type to mitigate the chances of us damaging our beautiful tresses. Then and only then will we realize gains in hair growth and finally achieve our long hair goals.

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