I’m not going to lie- I don’t care for my hair every single day and I’m pretty certain that most natural ladies out there don’t care for their hair every day either. It’s not that I don’t want to care for it, it’s just that sometimes it has to take the back seat while other things, like work and mothering, take precedence. But I’m convinced that despite negligence or downright laziness, there are still a few lazy practices that can and do help to retain length.
Washing your hair every 3-5 weeks
Usually when clients ask me about tips on keeping their hair hydrated I always suggest upping the amount of times they saturate their hair with water through the washing process during a month. While I believe this is great advice, especially for the natural who is trying to regain lost moisture from heat processing or trying to see gains in length very quickly, I’ve found that you can do a very decent amount of maintenance and actually gain more length than you lose if you wash your hair less, but intensify your moisture intake on wash days.
So if you’re going to wash your hair less often, on the days that you do wash it you’ll want to be super intentional about getting all the moisture you need and sealing all of that in.
Keeping your braids in a tad longer than you should
It’s that moment most of us dread- the take down of of our 9+ week long protective style. While I don’t condone keeping in synthetic hair for that long, sometimes life just happens and you either can’t take them down now, or well, you’re too lazy to.
To ensure that your laziness works in your favor, I found it best to moisturize my braids twice a week. Mix a little bit of water with more oil on your palms and gently grab your braids and pat your hair down. This technique helps you to minimize potential frizz that comes from adding moisture to your styles, but ensures that when you finally take down you hair it won’t be crazy dry. The less dryness you hair has suffered throughout that “protective period” the more likely it is that you’ll be able to retain length.
Going to bed without taking down your hairstyle
Am I the only one who does this? I’ll wear the same undo for 4 days straight without taking it down once and just wrapping it up at night. While this maybe a strain to some ladies’ edges, this lazy practice doesn’t have to hurt you too much. The key is making sure your hair is well moisturized before you style it into that updo. After that it’s all about maintenance. I really wouldn’t even suggest doing anything more than spraying it with a little oil sheen on the second and fourth day of wear and not wrapping too tightly at night. Make sure you wrap it up with a satin scarf and use a bonnet and you should be fine.
We all make decisions in life based on many factors and sometimes our hair has to come last, but that doesn’t mean it has to ruin our desire for length. Sure, these methods aren’t ideal, but sometimes you just have to work with what you’ve got.
What are some ways you help your hair to retain length even when you’re being lazy or really just can’t tend to your hair?