Growing Your Braids

In watching this man painstakingly grow his hair out for years there are combined techniques which have seemed to inspire his growth. The following is a short break down of what an African American can do to help their locks grow more quickly and healthy.

First, make sure you are healthy overall. A multi vitamin will help make sure you have the nutrients in your system for your hair to grow as fast as possible. Also, find a great stylist who can braid nicely, as shown above. As soon as your hair is long enough to get braids do so. The stying allows the scalp to breathe healthy and the growth comes from that factor. The maintenance of these braids is described below

Daily wear of braids:

• Wear a durag whenever possible. Sleeping, showering, shopping, driving. It is fine to use this as a protector. The growth will also be stimulated because the natural oils will be kept on your scalp and outside influences like weather or pet hair are kept off.
• Use an oil sheen once a day. This keeps the hair shining and healthy, again, promoting hair growth.
• When shampooing try to avoid daily scrubbing.
• If possible wear beads on the end of the braid, the weight will literally help some people's hair to grow faster!

Taking them down:

• Be gentle, avoid ripping or breaking the hair. You will lose enough naturally as it is!
• Try a de-tangler and comb gently at the ends or use small fingers.
• Comb out as you go to make hair more easy to manage.

Washing and Drying:

• When you wash un-braided try to lather, rinse and repeat. Condition after as well.
• If you want to dry your hair use a dryer that has a diffuser or is ionic. This seems to help make sure the hair does not have too much volume.
• Comb out into a style you enjoy, but make sure that if you do not like the heat you have your next appointment soon.
• Hair seems to grow faster while braided, so try to keep them in as much as possible.