Long Hair Care Tips

Avoid sleeping with tightly braided hair or hair in a tight ponytail. The stress can cause breakage and/or hair loss. When your hair is braided, make sure that it is not too tight or it could cause breakage and/or hair loss. If your hair is braided or you have a ponytail, use a specially treated band or scrunchie which will prevent breakage of your hair. Limit your use of clips, bows, and untreated bands. Even if you plan on growing your hair out further, you should trim your hair once every 3 months, if not split ends will cause your hair to break off and your hair will begin to lose it's beauty. If you plan on just maintaining your length, a trim once every month and a half to two months should suffice. Don't use a brush to detangle your hair, this will stretch your hair and may cause your hair to break off. Instead use your fingers, a pick, or a wide tooth comb to detangle your hair. When detangling your hair work your way from the tips of your hair up to the hair roots. Work on detangling one section of your hair at a time and go in a downward direction. Be gentle when detangling; pulling down on your hair too hard will cause breakage. If you detangle your hair before washing it, it'll be easier to dry and style as well as decrease the knots and tangles after you are done washing your hair. Don't rub your hair dry with a towell, instead blot the water out of your hair, when you rub, it'll cause your hair to tangle. Hair can get caught on cotton pillow cases and break when you are sleeping especially if you toss and turn a lot when you sleep. Using a satin or silk pillowcase where your hair will make it so that hair will slide across the pillowcase without getting caught. Another tactic to prevent breakage is to put your hair up in a ponytail on the top of your head with a scrunchie or specially treated band (that prevents breakage). An alternative to the silk pillowcase is to wear a satin or silk scarf over your hair before your sleep to prevent breakage. Brushing your hair is important because it spreads the the hair oils out across the length of your hair. Use long strokes starting from the roots of your hair when brushing and stroke your hand over your hair after you are done brushing to get rid of static. http://www.haircareguide.com/long.htm