The Rapunzel Dream: Maintaining Long Hair

Most women would love to have long hair but a lot of them have too many problems with maintaining it, styling it or even just keeping it. Here are a few tips on how to do that.

1. Washing It

   When you wash it, just wash the scalp not the ends. Scrub under your hair close to the skin. The shampoo molecule works by grabbing the dirt with one end and then the water pulls it out by the other end with the dirt attached. When you wash your whole hair shaft you are removing natural oils that help protect and maintain your hair. When you wash the natural oils off you are in effect leaving it open to damage. By scrubbing the scalp you are removing debris and dirt and when the water pulls the molecule off of your head it grabs and dirt left on the hair shaft without removing the natural oils. Scrub in deep to get any kind of build up you may have, get those fingers into the scalp and under the hair.

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   Try to avoid washing it every day. You want to give those natural oils time to make it to the end of the hair shaft. If you have oily hair you may be over washing and once you stop over washing the oil will balance out. The glands that produce that oil on your head have little sensors that tell it when to produce and when not to. Stripping that balance off causes those sensors to produce more to create the balance. Wetting your hair does not change this balance, however, if you water is hot it may effect the balance, so rinse with a cool temperature. If you go outside with wet hair, it reacts the same as your skin when it is wet and cold, in a way it chaps it. So be careful with the wet hair and temperatures.

2. Conditioning It

   Condition your ends, not the scalp. There is no reason you need to condition the scalp. In a sense the conditioners are made like a skin lotion but for hair. They work about the same and you could use them in replacement of each other except that skin lotions have a little more oil to them because your skin protects your organs and your hair doesn’t really protect anything important. Over conditioning the scalp can in a sense dry it out because you are telling those little sensors that you have enough oil so they don’t produce. Some flakes that you see on the scalp with long hair are either the dry scalp caused by over conditioning or conditioner build up that doesn’t get rinsed enough. Putting the conditioner on the ends will help the protective coating of oil on the ends and also fill in any spots that may be damaged.

   The type of conditioner you use depends on your hair type and what needs to be done. There is an article on BeyondJane.com called “Penetration Factors” that will help you decide what type of conditioners you need to use. You will need to experiment with these or decide your hair type. If you need help you can send me an email or comment below.

   As a side note to cleaning and conditioning, always rinse your hair with cool water. The outside of your hair shaft is very porous like a sponge, and like the pores on your skin, it reacts to temperature. Rinsing your hair with cool water will help close that up, using warm or hot water will open it. If you leave them open then you are likely rinse out any conditioning you just did, also it will leave those pores wide open and more susceptible to damage. Rinsing in cold water is best but most people can’t take that. Cool water will help release any excess conditioner from the sponge like hair shaft and close up those pores and help it to shine. Your grandmother was right about that.

3. Brushing It

   DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, rip through your hair from scalp to ends. All you are doing is pushing all those tangles into one big knot and then snapping you hair. You want to start on the ends and work your way up. Loosen the tangles first and do it gently. Especially when it is wet. Your hair is more vulnerable when it’s wet. It stretches farther and snaps easier.

   Brush it once a day when it is dry to help those natural oils down the hair shaft. Us a natural bristle brush. Plastic bristles do not grab the oil. You may not need 100 strokes like your grandmother told you, you may need more or less. When you hair starts to feel softer then the natural oils are spread enough and you can do less.

   You may feel like you are loosing more hair when you hair gets longer but you really aren’t. We loose approximately 50-80 hairs per day naturally, they replace them selves at intervals of about 4 years. If you are afraid you are loosing too much you can check for bald spots, it is a disorder called alopecia areata, which means spotted baldness. You should consult a physician about the condition if you have it. But what is usually happening is that your seeing more because your hair will wrap around things as it gets long rather than just dropping and not really doing anything cause it short. I am sure that you notice as your hair gets longer it gets caught on more things, same idea. You are seeing more hair because the hair shaft is longer, not because you are loosing more.

4. Styling It

   Depending on the length of your hair styling may be difficult. Using heavy products on the hair can weigh it down and depending on the length, the hair itself may weigh it down. Of course longer hair is heavier than shorter hair so if you have natural body you may feel a change in that as it gets longer, or naturally curly hair your curls will tend to loosen as they get longer and more weighed down.

   Blowing your hair dry when it’s long is a difficult task and I mentioned before the dangers of cold air and your wet hair. If you want to blow it dry start at the scalp and work your way out. It will make things a lot easier and it will keep the cold air from effecting your scalp on a extended basis. If you use product, apply it closer to the scalp first then work your way out. Most products are wet so they run any way and starting at the scalp will help it to run down the hair shaft rather than onto the floor, you will waste less product, plus when you are drying, scalp to ends, it will help you hold your style and have better body. Remember the cold water from the shower? Well the same applies to drying the hair. The hotter the hairdryer the more frizzy your hair will look, so keep it cooler if you can.

   Curling irons work good, however, you need to know which one to use. The newer irons have temperature controls and it is better to use it at a lower temperature first and then turn it up if you need to. Having it too hot can scorch your hair and cause tremendous damage. Here we go with the warning about warmer temperatures. Keeping the iron cooler helps with those pores again and keep them from opening too much and causing damage.

   As far as the size of the iron it would depend on the look you want. If you want the perfect curl for your hair you need to test your hair. You can do this by grabbing a section of your hair closer to the scalp but not on it, then use your other hand to grab towards the ends of that section of hair. Then you make a loop with the section, do not make a knot or pull it through itself. It would be like making a bow when you are tying your shoe, just not making the other half. Then pull it tighter. The point where you hair is looped and isn’t popping out straight again is the point of your perfect curl. If you are confused try it with an electrical cord first. Make a loop and pull it to make the loop smaller and it will pop out to straight again when the cord will not bend anymore. If you are still confused you can ask questions in the comment box below and I will try to explain it a different way. Once you find your perfect size you can find out how big it is by measuring it and then buy that size curling iron. Any irons that are smaller than that size may work but the curls will most likely droop eventually unless you add more products, then again you have the weight problem. If you want those curls to last then you need to go with the smallest size of that loop you made in the hair. Perming should be the same, if you want the tightest curl you can get without frizzing it then go with the tightest size of that loop before it goes straight. Perming will help you hold your style longer and more naturally but make sure that the stylist you go to knows how to perm long hair. If you put too much hair on the rod it can cause your curls to be different sizes on the ends then at the scalp. It can also cause a problem with the solution, sometimes it does not get to the center of the rod and you get straight or weak ends. A piggy back perm is the best for long hair but it is hard to find a stylist who does it right. The big loops rod, or boomerangs, are ok but again, they have to be done right or you can end up with straight spots in your curls. If you aren’t happy with your perm be sure to tell your stylist right away so they can make the changes you need. Perms usually drop or relax about 30% in two weeks. I always tell my clients that I guarantee my perms for the first three weeks because that is how long it will take to see how much it will drop. If it doesn’t drop enough then I condition it with a moisturizing conditioner and it drops it right down. If it drops too much I redo the perm or spot perm the curls that didn’t hold up. I usually don’t get people with any situations like that, knock on wood, but there are exceptions to every rule.

   As far as products to use that would depend on your hair and the desired result. I have naturally curly hair but mine sucks, curls here, waves there and even some straight hairs. Some days I scrunch it when it’s damp with a nice light scrunching spray and I start higher up and work my way down to the ends. Other days I dry my whole head and then use a light hair spray and a curling iron to make dramatic curls. I tuck any strays in with the light hair spray when I am done. Every once in a blue moon I straighten all of it. It takes me at least 45 minutes, but my hair is thick and past my bra strap. I use a product made to help the frizzies when my hair is damp, not soaking wet. My product contains silicone, which can build up on your hair, but I put a dab of baking soda in my shampoo the next time I wash it to help strip that off. Then I use a moisturizing conditioner on the ends to make sure to counter act the drying effect of the baking soda. Using a product with silicone helps to hold my natural curls straight even in moisture. When I finish my hair every time I use a spray glossing product. Sprays are easier with long hair because it spreads it over a wider area. Using a liquid that you put in your hand and then apply can give you clumpy areas and then areas that have no product. You end up wasting a lot of product just trying to cover you hair. If you have a liquid you like you can put it in a spray bottle to help apply it to your hair more evenly.

I sincerely hope that I covered everything that you need to maintain your Repunzal hair, but if you have any questions please leave them in the comment area below and I will answer them. I like to have them posted incase anyone else may be having the same situation. Thank you for reading and may all your days be good hair days.