It’s almost that time of year, again. The time where we pledge our vows for the New Year to come with hopes of success, weight loss, and financial stability. The resolutions that we make are just small reminders of what we’re hoping to achieve within the year, but most of us tend to forget about our resolutions by the end of January.
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Since 2016 is a brand new year, how about we switch up those resolutions a little bit? Here are 5 hair resolutions that you should consider making for 2016.
Focus on Health, Not Length
We’ve all been guilty of wanting to achieve long, flowing locks, so much so that we blatantly disregard certain aspects of our regimen that aid in the overall health of the hair. Instead of focusing on length, make the health of your hair the primary focus this year. That means imparting certain techniques (finger detangling, recycling parts etc.) and possibly getting rid of certain tools and products in order to reduce breakage and keep the hair as healthy as possible.
Focusing solely on the health of the hair will require discipline, especially if you tend to become impatient or frustrated quickly, but the benefits of patience will definitely show if you’re consistent. Eventually you will find that you’ll begin to understand what your hair likes vs. what it doesn’t like, and your new hair regimen will become a breeze.
Try More Styles
Those of us who aren’t as adventurous as the next tend to stick to the same go-to hairstyles which may lead to breakage in certain areas. For example, if you always slick your hair back into a bun or puff, you will find that over time your edges will begin to thin out due to the repetitive brushing and pulling.
In order to prevent stress and breakage to one certain part of the hair, it’s best to switch up your styles every once in a while. If you wear buns all of the time, try a twistout or Bantu-knot out. If you always wear twistouts, give your ends a rest and try a nice updo or protective style. Sometimes your hair needs a bit of variety in order to flourish.
Baby Your Ends
Every natural already knows that you need to take extra care of your ends but do we always do it? No. Make it a point to keep your ends as healthy as possible by moisturizing and sealing them as often as you can. When deep conditioning the hair, slather some extra product on your ends in order to ensure that they are fully coated. Also, be sure to keep the ends trimmed and tucked away in a protective style in order to reduce breakage and retain length.
If you’re not someone who enjoys protective styling, try moisturizing your ends at the end of the day and twisting/braiding them up while you sleep. Showing your ends some extra TLC this year may be your key to length retention.
Use Less Heat
If you’re someone who likes to use heat tools often, you should try to cut down in order to give your hair a break. Using too much direct heat weakens the cuticle of the strand, making it limp and loosening the curl pattern (heat damage). Heat damage can lead to unnecessary breakage and since there are now weak points in the hair strand.
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By giving your hair a break from direct heat and taking the time to repair it and get rid of any damage, the hair will begin to flourish. Some women have even said that they’ve noticed that their hair grew faster when they reduced or cut out their heat styling entirely.
Bountiful Edges
Keeping the edges thick is a very strenuous process and will really test your level of patience, but the outcome is always worth it. If your edges are thin or thinning, then you may need to pay attention to how you handle them and develop a new regimen. Whether you pull you r hair back too much or install your braids too tight, these are factors that need to be changed if you’re looking to grow your edges back.
A great product to use to restore your edges is Jamaican Black Castor Oil. Rub a small amount on your edges before you go to bed each night and watch your edges fill in as thick and bountiful as ever.
So those are only a few of the many different hair resolutions there could be. Tailor your resolutions to your specific goal and situation and make them happen in 2016
Happy New Year Naturals,
Sabrina
Check out Deep Treatments and Fixes for your dry winter hair
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