Hello ladies

I hope you have had a chance to read part 1 of this blog post.  I’ve had some emails from a few of you telling me they were anticipating the second part so I am glad to be getting it out.  In this blog post I will discuss why planning ahead is important for a successful stretch, why increasing the length of your stretch should be gradual and my personal tips of stretching.

I must warn you, its a long post!

From sleek to thick on one of my stretches.
My freshly relaxed hair vs my hair on a stretch
The way our hair feels, looks and its length changes on a stretch.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING AHEAD FOR A SUCCESSFULL STRETCH

Stretching your relaxer should not be accidental.  It should be something you decide to do and have a game plan for.
I say this because if you are not aware of how your hair is going to change and do not have a hair care plan for the stretch, you are likely to become overwhelmed and may not have anticipated the challenges that comes with stretching.  This could result in a stretch gone wrong.
When you decide to stretch your hair, it is best to consider the following points

1) Decide roughly how long you want to stretch for.  You can review and amend this as you go along.

2) When you decide point one, try to estimate how your hair is going to change over the stretch period and the challenges that may arise, e.g., how much new growth you are likely to have before you relax, are you willing to detangle more frequently? How are you going to style your hair when you have loads of new growth?

3)  Decide how you are going to overcome those challenges.  For example consider if you going to wear your hair out for the entire stretch or are you going to wear a long term protective style (wigs, braids, weaves).  Will the hair products you use now still be effective when you are 16 weeks post or will you need some products to help with your stretch? etc.

I don’t want to make a stretch seem complicated and rigid.   You don’t have to have a written plan.  Simply being aware of the three points above will help prepare you for caring for your hair effectively whilst on your stretch.

WHY INCREASING THE LENGHT OF YOUR STRETCH SHOULD BE GRADUAL

Picture a lady who usually relaxes her hair every two and half months.  She hears about stretching and its benefits and decides to stretch her relaxer for six months.  There is a very high chance that she will have a setback because, simply put, she will be way over her head.

Experience is important for a successful stretch. If you don’t have experience of stretching your hair, you will not be able to predict how YOUR hair will change during your stretch; you will not have a rough idea of how much tangling you will experience, if your hair will matt easily, if the hair products you normally use will be effective.

If you usually relax every 10 weeks and decide to try stretching for the first time, it is best you aim to stretch for maybe 12 weeks.  Because it is not too different from what you normally do.  You will be familiar with how your hair feels and should still be able to care for it without too many surprises.
If your stretch is successful and you decide to stretch again you can then aim to stretch for maybe 14 weeks.  At your third attempt you can aim for 16.

Off course the above timelines are not rules.  It is just an example to show that you should build the length of your stretch gradually. This will help you become familiar with how YOUR hair reacts to stretching and whether you are able and willing to cope with stretching.
By building your experience gradually, you are more likely to succeed at stretching.

MY TIPS FOR STRETCHING

1) If you are wearing your hair out during your stretch, try to wear hair styles that work with the state of your hair.  Be realistic about how your hair is going to look, don’t expect your bun or any style to look the way it did when your hair was freshly relaxed.
Remember you can always use natural gels and products to help keep your edges tidy and flat.

2) When you have a lot of new growth and it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage the two textures, it may be best to switch to a low manipulation and long term protective style.  Daily manipulation and styling should be avoided when you are deep into your stretch to minimise the risk of breakage at the line of demarcation.

What do I do with my hair??? You’ve probably already guessed it; Wigs.
From 10 weeks post, I wear wigs and put my hair in box braids under the wigs so I don’t have to comb or manipulate my hair on a daily basis.  This really helps take the stress out of stretching for me because I only wash it once in three weeks when I am wearing wigs.  Please see my regimens for more information.

Some ladies use braids and weaves to help them stretch. If your hair, scalp and hair line can tolerate such styles then you can use them to help you stretch.  Please ask your stylist to be careful when creating such styles to minimise breakage.
Braid outs and bantu knot outs are other styles that some ladies wear when stretching.

3) Keep up with your hair regimen and make amendments to it if necessary, for example,  I have two hair regimens because I stretch.  Don’t forget to keep balancing the use of protein and moisture products.

4) Be aware that your natural new growth is likely to feel dry may need to be moisturised more often than your relaxed hair.   Products like braid spray allow you to mist your new growth quickly.  Alternatively you can put your regular moisturising product in an applicator bottle so that you can reach your roots easier.

5) My hair overwhelms me when I am stretching.  Working in sections is a must; it makes detangling and moisturising my hair from root to tip easier. Sometimes I blow dry (cool air) in sections when stretching.  this helps to stretch out my roots a little.

6) On wash days, stretchers usually experience more tangling than when their hair was freshly relaxed.  I am a firm believer of washing hair in braids when on a stretch to minimise tangling.

7) Be flexible.  If you are starting to struggle too much, are finding it hard to cope or simple just bored of your stretch then just relax, it’s not a failure and it’s okay to quit.
(So long as it has been at least 8 to 10 weeks since your last relaxer)

I hope you’ve found reading this long post worthwhile.

I think it’s time to thank you for visiting Hairducation and to encourage you on your hair journey.  I will be having my first give away soon so come back for more info about whats up for grabs.

X

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Hello ladies

I realised a little while ago that although I have mentioned stretching in previous posts, I haven’t written a detailed post the subject.  Stretching can be beneficial to ladies who relax their hair, however if you don’t know what you are doing, it can do more harm than good.
In this blog post I will explain what stretching is, its benefits and the risks involved.

WHAT IS STRETCHING

Extending the amount of time between your relaxers for more than 8 weeks is known as stretching.  For example, rather than relaxing every 8 weeks, several ladies on healthy hair journeys stretch their relaxer touch ups to every 10 to 12 weeks, or more. I relax my hair every 20 weeks.

I am currently on a stretch and I am 25 weeks post at the moment.
I have been wearing my Hair by Type 4 wigs for the last 10 weeks or so.
I wear my hair in box braids under my wigs and unravelled one for an impromptu length check.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF STRETCHING

1)     Relaxing your hair less frequently will lead to stronger hair over time ( in comparison to a lady who relaxes very frequently)
During the relaxing process, some of the product will come in contact with previously relaxed hair thereby over processing that spot.  This means that every time we relax our hair we create a point of weakness.

As an example, a lady who relaxes her hair every 4 weeks (I know ladies who do this) would have created 12 weak spots ( over processed spots) in a year.  Alternatively, lady who stretches and relaxes her hair every 12 weeks would have only created 4 weak spots in a year.   Over the years, which of these two do you think will have stronger hair and less breakage?

2)     With stretching,  our hair and scalp has less exposure to relaxers which can be extremely damaging.
Relaxers weaken our hair; however relaxed hair can still flourish (unless you are abusing it).  Limiting how often we expose our hair to relaxers is a good idea.
Ladies who are able to stretch their relaxers successfully usually see improvements in the look, feel and length of their hair.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF STRETCHING

Let me be start by saying point blank that stretching can lead to a setback on your hair journey.  A stretch that goes wrong can lead to thinner, damaged and shorter hair.   Challenges often faced by ladies who stretch their relaxer includes:

1) Shedding.  Some ladies who stretch their relaxer notice an increase in their shedding rates. I have explained how to reduce shedding in a previous post.

2) Breakage at line of demarcation.  The point where the relaxed hair and natural hair meets tends to be fragile and can break if not handled with care.

3) Hair care is generally more challenging.  Ladies who stretch their relaxer tend to have a lot of new growth as well as their previously relaxed hair. Managing these two textures on the same head is very challenging.  The difference in textures can lead to an increase in tangles and matting.  Washing, conditioning, detangling and styling tends to take longer the further you go into your stretch.
The most common setback a lot of ladies experience when stretching is extreme matting that occurs during washing.  In some cases, the hair actually forms locs which are very difficult to unravel and often leads to a lot of breakage.  This has happened to me on more than one occasion (before my hair journey).  It’s really not pretty but it can be easily avoided.

So there you have it, the basics of stretching, its pros and cons.
In part two, I will explain why you must have a game plan if you decide to stretch, why you shouldn’t try to run before you walk and how I’ve gone from having setbacks to comebacks with stretching.
Stretching successfully helped transform my hair so please come back for part two in which I will share my personal tips for stretching.

X

Lade

Learn | Chang | Grow

When it comes to black hair, trimming usually equals drama.
I remember avoiding certain hair stylists in salons because they were known to be scissor happy and always cut too much hair off.  I also recall seeing ladies refusing to trim off extremely thin ends.
In this blog post I will discuss why hair needs to be trimmed, common myths about trimming and my personal approach and advice on trimming.

The first thing I want to set out is that if you trim off more hair than you grow, over time your hair will get shorter and shorter.  However damaged ends should be removed for hair to thrive.  A balance between these opposite positions must be achieved for success on a hair journey.

WHY HAIR NEEDS TO BE TRIMMED

Trimming is the only real solution to damaged and split ends.
Products that claim to repair damaged /split ends can only seal and strengthen the ends temporarily.  The fact is that damaged hair cannot be repaired and will eventually break off.  It is better to remove/trim off damaged ends because healthy ends look better.  More importantly, healthy ends are better able to resist breakage and tangle less which helps with retaining hair.  Remember that retention (minimising breakage and damage) is the key to long hair.

COMMON MYTHS ABOUT TRIMMING

1) In my opinion, the number one myth about trimming is that it makes hair grow longer.  This is not true.  As I mentioned above trimming off damaged/split ends helps with retention.

Trimming helps with hair retention in two ways:
a)Split ends can latch on to each other which causes tangles. Tangles can easily lead to breakage.  More split equals more tangles and breakage.  Less split ends will result in less tangles and breakage.
b) There is strength in numbers, when all ends are neat and roughly at the same level it can withstand wear and tear and will resist breakage better.  For example, it is very easy to break one or ten spaghetti sticks; it would be more of a challenge to break 1000 spaghetti sticks.  So when creating styles or handling your hair, the fuller and healthier  your ends are,  the better they will at withstanding  tension and pulling in comparison to thin weak ends.

For these reasons people tend to see progress in their hair retention and length when they trim off damaged hair.  It is not the trim itself that causes the hair to thrive; it is simply that they have removed damaged ends thereby reducing the risk of breakage.

2) A second myth is that black hair must be trimmed every —– weeks to thrive.  Some say it’s every 6 weeks, others say it’s every 8 weeks.
I believe that black hair should be trimmed when it needs to be trimmed.  It should not be trimmed solely because a certain number of weeks has passed.  If a lady has perfectly healthy ends, trimming it just because 8 weeks has passed will not make her hair grow longer.  Her hair isn’t just going to fall apart because she did not trim it at 8 weeks.  I will expand on this in the section below.

MY APPROACH TO TRIMING

Sorry for the picture quality.
The picture on the left was taken 6 months into my hair journey, you can see how bad my ends were.
The picture on the right was taken almost a year and half into my hair journey.
It took me that long to sort my ends out.

It is not my intention to change how you trim your hair.  I simply want to share my view and method on trimming.

For the first year and half of my hair journey, I trimmed often because my hair was badly damaged. To be honest my hair needed a cut not a trim but I just couldn’t cut off that much hair in one go.  So I trimmed one inch off every 8 weeks because my ends were damaged.  This adds up to 6 inches a year.

When my hair had improved and was thicker and healthier, I made sure my ends were well taken care of and kept in protective styles.  This way, I reduced the risk of new split ends forming and minimised damage.
The effect of this was that I could reduce how often and how much hair I trimmed. I began assessing my ends regularly and trimmed when I felt it was necessary.  During this period, I was trimming about 2.5 inches a year.

Currently I trim my hair 2 or 3 times a year based on what my hair needs. I am trimming roughly 4 inches a year because I have reached my goal length and I want to remove ends which are naturally thin from age.

My advice for ladies who want to maximise hair growth is that if you have just begun your hair journey, cut off split and damaged ends.  As you progress on your hair journey you should see an improvement in your hair. You should then monitor your ends and trim them when they need trimming.
But please don’t lie to yourself; if your ends are damaged and split, don’t hang on to it.  If you can’t stomach trimming a lot of hair in on go, trim it gradually.
If you go to a salon for trimming do not be scared to stand your ground on how often and how much hair you want to trim.

I hope you have found this post useful.

Are you scared of trimming your hair? How often do you trim your hair currently and what are your methods? I would love to hear your stories and views on trimming.

In the next blog post, I finally discuss the art of stretching.  I hope you’ll be back soon.

X

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow