A lot of people don't think Nigerian hair can grow long and soft unless they are mixed or their hair is relaxed...that isn't true.

Nigerians can have soft and long hair too whether relaxed or natural.

The problem is that we don't really know how to care for our hair type.

The Indians know how to care for their coarse straight hair (coarse being that their hair strands are thick ...people confuse coarse with 'the feel of the hair' not the strand thickness...your hair can be coarse and feel soft).
The Brazilians, the Chinese, the Caucasians all know how to care for their hair type but unfortunately many Africans don't know how to care for their hair.

They'll use products and methods suited for the hairtypes of other races ....and when their hair revolts by being hard, dry, break and such....they blame the hair....not the products or methods!

The key to growing soft, long Nigerian hair is this "NOURISH THE SCALP, STRENGTHEN THE HAIR".

Avoid products and methods that clog or dry out the scalp.
Avoid products and methods that damage the hair strands.

Most Nigerians have hair (in it's natural state) that is
-very coily
-fine stranded
-porous

which make it prone to dryness (reason for the hard to touch) and breakage (reason we don't have long hair).

Even if your hair is relaxed, it can't change the fact that our strands are much thinner and flatter than the straight hair of other races and the chemicals make our hair even more fragile.

Here are simple tips to grow Nigerian hair long and soft.

1.Nourish the scalp

-Natural oils and butters contains nutrients that nourish the scalp.
The scalp is the soil from which hair grows.

-Scalp massages with oils know to stimulate hair growth is beneficial not only to growing hair but also to growing stronger, healthier hair that can withstand styling and be less prone to breakage (which is the reason why one is stuck with one length forever!!!!)..

- Washing the scalp with harsh products dry it out leading to scalp problems and poor hair growth. So use good quality products.

The Indians know it. The Brazilians know it!


2. Strengthen and protect the hair:
- The hair that grows out of your scalp is relatively is not living tissue.Healthy, soft hair starts from the scalp.

- Because our hair is super coily, the natural oils on our scalp cannot flow down to the ends of our hair. (same thing even when you're relaxed. You can't get all the kinks out without damaging the hair).
So a light coating of natural oil daily helps lubricate and protect the strands and retain moisture.

- Speaking of moisture, dryness is the reason our hair feels hard to touch and the reason it breaks.
It's important to use hair products that draw moisture to the cortex of the hair strands keeping it supple, flexible, soft and less prone to breakage. (meaning more visible growth).

- Also don't rip through tangles with a comb (never use those blue rat tailed comb!)
Use a wide tooth comb and detangle from bottom to top as carefully as you would detangled your treasured Brazilian/Peruvian/Indian weave.

- If you're relaxed, make sure your hair is completely dry and oiled (I love coconut oil) before detangling. If you're natural, damp or wet detangling with slippery conditioner will save your length.

Here's a picture of my hair using the right methods and products for my Afro textured hair and I hope to grow it even longer!

Your hair is beautiful and healthy.
I hope you use products that are readily available in Nigeria.
*following*

demelza: Your hair is beautiful and healthy.
I hope you use products that are readily available in Nigeria.
*following*

Thank you.
Yes I do use products that are readily available in Nigeria ..... for Do It Yourself (DIY) and for Buy It Yourself (BIY) hair care.

NappilyNigerian:

Thank you.
Yes I do use products that are readily available in Nigeria ..... for Do It Yourself (DIY) and for Buy It Yourself (BIY) hair care.

I will be waiting for you to post the products here alonside your haircare regimen.

And I thought my hair is long. Nice one OP.

demelza: I will be waiting for you to post the products here alonside your haircare regimen.

My current products are

Shampoo : Keracare Cleansing Cream. It contains shikakai,neem seed oil,amla oil and argan oil. It's really gentle and doesn't strip your scalp or hair. I got this from Twentysix85.com

You can substitute with Creme of Nature sulfate free shampoo or Organics root stimulator creamy aloe shampoo..use diluted and on scalp only.

Conditioner: VO5 Strawberry and Cream conditioner or Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship or ORS Replenishing conditioner (love the fragrance)

Leave In Conditioner: Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream

Oil : Coconut oil, castor oil and palm kernel oil

Seal and styler: NappyGirl Pudding


Hair regimen

I'm currently following the Indian method of haircare to maintain the length of my hair and it's working really well.

Everyday, I apply a light coating of coconut oil to my hair after misting it with water (since I'm natural). If you're relaxed, apply to dry hair.

Then every three days I give my scalp amd edges a light massage with castor oil.

The night before wash day, I'll coat my hair with coconut and palmkernel oil completely saturating it. Then cover with a showercap and a scarf for bed.

On wash day, I'll shampoo with Keracare massaging my scalp then rinse.
Then I'll pour a 1:3 solution of ACV to my hair, wait for 5 mins then apply conditioner and rinse with cold water.

Blot dry with a microfibre towel or T shirt (prevents breakage).

Then I apply coconut oil, then Cantu , then NappyGirl Pudding in that order. If you're relaxed coconut oil to damp hair is fine.

That's it.

Don't do any tight style and always wrap your hair before bed to protect it at night.

If you feel your ends are dry, apply Cantu lightly and seal with coconut oil.

Atk 01: And I thought my hair is long. Nice one OP.

Thanks. It'll be interesting to know your regimen. Since you've been able to retain length, you must have some tricks up your sleeve! Spill!!!

**Following!

***Following closely***

@Nappily could you be so kind as to post a pix of your hair when its not packed?

demelza: @Nappily could you be so kind as to post a pix of your hair when its not packed?

My hair is in a protective style at the moment but here are recent pictures of my hair prior to the blowout.

Wow, cute.
We need more natural hairdressers and stylists. I can't be doing all these by myself. Too lazy for that.

@Nappy, thanks for the pix.

stillwater: Wow, cute.
We need more natural hairdressers and stylists. I can't be doing all these by myself. Too lazy for that.

^^^^^

stillwater: Wow, cute.
We need more natural hairdressers and stylists. I can't be doing all these by myself. Too lazy for that.

Lol! ....but in their absence, this babes hair needs to grow....and don't worry, it's longer in words than action...I'm a lazy gal too! hehehe

Wooooow!
Two questions!
One are u nigerian?
And has ur hair ever been damaged?
because it looks like u have naturally long hair! because irrespective of what some ladies do or add to there hair it will still break! Or won't ever grow to half of your hair!
So I think ur gene factor is @ work here

^^^^ hair gets damaged usually because the way its treated. ANYBODY can grow long hair they just have to learn to properly care for it.

AlbinoNinja: ^^^^ hair gets damaged usually because the way its treated. ANYBODY can grow long hair they just have to learn to properly care for it.

#truetalk

olympus: Wooooow!
Two questions!
One are u nigerian?
And has ur hair ever been damaged?
because it looks like u have naturally long hair! because irrespective of what some ladies do or add to there hair it will still break! Or won't ever grow to half of your hair!
So I think ur gene factor is @ work here

Yes, I'm full blooded Nigerian.

Yes, I've experienced breakage to the point I had to chop it off.
Once after consistent heat styling. Another time after using harsh products (student things!) and the next time after a series of weaves left in too long.

My hair strands are fine and break easily. They break if you look at them wrong!

I agree the type of hair you have is genetic (mine's the weakest of the bunch) but growing it long by retaining length is up to you.

@ happily nigerian

How long do you have sew-in weaves before taking it off?

funkybaby: @ happily nigerian

How long do you have sew-in weaves before taking it off?

Maximum of three weeks...if your hair doesn't get dry by that time, you can stretch it to a month but not more than that.

Before you fix, deep condition your hair. It will help it stay moisturised for longer so it won't be breaking by the time you take down the weave.

Page bookmarked!!!

How long would you advise someone with a relaxed hair to wait before every re-touching?

I haven't used relaxer on my hair since July cus someone advised I always wait for six months interval before I apply relaxer on my hair.

I'm also contemplating the natural hair journey but nna mehn,,,, its not gonna be easy I guess

Apples and Oranges salon in VI have some natural hairdressers and O Naturals have opened up a salon in Ogudu that caters solely to natural hair (it's owned by 2 sisters whom have natural hair). I don't have their addresses but if you google them, it will come up.

mitchyy: Page bookmarked!!!

How long would you advise someone with a relaxed hair to wait before every re-touching?

I haven't used relaxer on my hair since July cus someone advised I always wait for six months interval before I apply relaxer on my hair.

I'm also contemplating the natural hair journey but nna mehn,,,, its not gonna be easy I guess

It's really not about the time between relaxers but how long your new growth is. The longer your new growth is, the less likely it is to overlap your relaxer. Overlapping relaxer is applying relaxers to already relaxed hair and that is the major reason for breakage and discoloration of relaxed hair.

Your new growth should be at least 2-3 inches long before retouching and only retouch new growth only.

Stretching relaxers for 6 mths allows enough growth to avoid overlapping of relaxers but if your hair grows 3 inches in less than 6 mths, its still safe to relax it.

Onegai: Apples and Oranges salon in VI have some natural hairdressers and O Naturals have opened up a salon in Ogudu that caters solely to natural hair (it's owned by 2 sisters whom have natural hair). I don't have their addresses but if you google them, it will come up.

O'Naturals Salon
No 54 Ogudu Road,
Ogudu
Lagos.


Apples and Oranges is a Salon and Spa located
at 10 Balarabe Musa Cresent, Opposite 1004
Flats, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Pls OP,i have a long relaxed hair too,bt pls i need you to upload d pix of ur hair when its used for weaving or when its unpacked.pls

NappilyNigerian:

Lol! ....but in their absence, this babes hair needs to grow....and don't worry, it's longer in words than action...I'm a lazy gal too! hehehe

Lol, in the long run while I wait for my hair to grow longer, is there anything like a natural hair ponytail extension I can just attach to my hair? I'm tired of seeing a tiny puff puff bun when I pack my hair up. I would like a ponytail like this...

stillwater:

Lol, in the long run while I wait for my hair to grow longer, is there anything like a natural hair ponytail extension I can just attach to my hair? I'm tired of seeing a tiny puff puff bun when I pack my hair up. I would like a ponytail like this...

I don't really know about special natural hair ponytail extensions except for half wigs but you can improvise with kinky or Marley braid extensions. They are closest in texture to natural hair.

NappilyNigerian:

Maximum of three weeks...if your hair doesn't get dry by that time, you can stretch it to a month but not more than that.

Before you fix, deep condition your hair. It will help it stay moisturised for longer so it won't be breaking by the time you take down the weave.

Okay. Thanks. I always deep condition overnight before braiding or getting a sew-in done.

One more week for me and it's back to natural hair.

Anniebissy: Pls OP,i have a long relaxed hair too,bt pls i need you to upload d pix of ur hair when its used for weaving or when its unpacked.pls

I've posted pics of my free hair earlier. Here's a clearer pic. Because my hair is natural and I'm working towards growing it longer, my hair is usually in a protective style.

So, I just washed my hair and discovered I had little to no breakage. To reduce breakage I've been finger detangling exclusively.
ACV rinses at the end of shampooing also helps with the tangles.

Your hair is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing your regimen!