Tips for Managing Your Hair When On A Stretch

Hello ladies,

I really love writing educative posts especially when they give practical tips to help you manage your hair better.

Stretching your relaxer is something that is very beneficial for your hair.  It helps to minimise the risk of over processing and leads to stronger relaxed hair in the long run. Many ladies who stretch their hair tend to wear extensions ( wigs, braids, weaves, etc) when they are deep into their stretch to help cut back on the need for daily manipulation. This is because daily manipulation of hair with a lot of new growth can be time consuming and counter productive if breakage occurs when combing and detangling the hair.
The thing is this, even if you choose to wear extensions to manage your stretch, there will be days in which you still have to handle/manage/care for your hair and this can be a challenge. In this blog post I will share practical tips about how to wash, how to dry and how to style hair when you are deep into your stretch.

 

How to Wash Hair that has a lot of New Growth

Work in Sections
Okay ladies this tip may seem a bit recycled because it is something I always recommend for managing black hair and preventing breakage. For those who normally don’t work on their hair in sections, I assure you it will make wash day less stressful for your hair.
So on your wash day be prepared to detangle and pre-poo, wash and deep condition, apply leave-in conditioners and detangle and dry all in 2,4 or 6 sections. Working in sections helps to minimise tangles, helps you to be more gentle when combing your hair, helps ensure you apply products more thoroughly, and so on and on and on…..
The gist is that it helps you manage your wash day better.   Please note that some ladies still experience a lot of tangling when washing their hair in sections, such ladies my find washing in braids better. You can read how I wash my own hair in braids by clicking here.

 

Tips for Drying Hair that has a lot of New Growth

It is better for natural hair to be kept in a stretched state.  Even if you are relaxed and have a lot of new growth, it is better for your natural new growth to dry in a stretched state. This will make manipulating or combing and styling your hair easier.
After applying your leave in conditioners and detangling, it is best to dry your hair in a way that stretches out your natural new growth. If you are air drying you can try my banded base method which you can read about by clicking here

 

If you are blow drying,  you can try the tension blow dry method which you can watch in this video by hair care blogger and vlogger: Just Grow Already.

 

 

Tips for Styling Hair that has a lot of New Growth

If air drying, when your hair is about 50% dry, it can be put in large box braids or twists which you can unravel when your hair is fully dry. The braid out or twist out will help to camouflage the difference in textures between the new growth and relaxed length.
This style will only last for a few days and you may need to redo the twists or braids again to recreate the style, unfortunately this may be too much manipulation for hair with a lot of new growth.

If you prefer to blow dry , tension blow-drying will help stretch out the natural new growth making styling a bit easier.  Unfortunately the hair at the roots will start to revert and shrink during the week especially when you moisturise and seal your hair.
So what is the best style to help avoid daily manipulation and shrinkage of your new growth? The answer is simple, put it in a long term protective style, ie wigs, large box braid or weave but ensure you follow the correct hair care procedures for installing, maintaining and removing extensions. You can read about these by clicking here.

I hope you have found this post helpful. Are you on a stretch? Please share any tips you use to make your wash day easier.

My next post will be a quick tip on why it is not advisable to use water alone to moisturise your hair. See you soon.

x

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow