My hair is not growing

Beginners guide to: ‘A holistic healthy hair care regime and lifestyle’

How we feel about our hair can have a direct impact on how we treat our hair and believing that your hair does not grow, can affect the relationship that you have with your hair, such as the care and attention you think it deserves. First things first you need to believe me when I say that: 

“YOUR HAIR IS GROWING”

In looking at why it appears as though your hair is not growing, you need to understand the difference between:

• Hair growth

And

• Hair retention – AKA – Length retention

Hair Growth:

Afro-textured hair grows an average of 1/2 inch per month, which works out to be 6 inches per year. As explained in previous Saffron Jade articles, your scalp needs to be cleansed regularly to allow your hair to come through in its best health. Other important healthy lifestyle practice for hair growth include: 

• Weekly or 2 weekly shampoo to ensure scalp is clean from product build up, natural sebum and dirt.
• Not putting heavy unnatural products on your scalp to block your hair follicles.
• Having a balanced nutritional diet and regular physical activity to feed your cells to ensure healthy hair growth.
• Understanding that hormone changes can affect hair growth. EG: pregnancy, illness and menopause.
• Having a balance of fun, laughter and relaxation to combat the everyday stress of daily life, as stress can cause serious hair loss.
• Ensuring your braids, weaves or hair styles are not too tight which adds stress on the hair follicle and ultimately leads to bald patches and can result in permanent hair loss.

Hair Retention:

Simply means adopting a healthy hair care regimen and practice to keep the hair that is growing from breaking off, which means you will then see the growth each month. So, let’s look at: 

What do we need to do to retain our hair? – AKA – Length retention

• Moisture, Moisture, Moisture: The main challenge for Afro-textured hair is dryness. (Also known as deficient in moisture), which is partly due to our hair structure. The best way to get moisture into our hair fibers is by regular washing and conditioning. The recommendation is anything between every 5-10 days. This allows the water to penetrate your hair fiber and fully hydrate the inner section of your hair, (known as the cortex) just the same as watering a plant regularly for it to grow and keep healthy.
• Always follow up with a moisture conditioner for softness. Leave on for at least 20 minutes.
• Your healthy hair care regime should also include a light to medium-strength protein conditioner to maintain the strength of the hair. This allows your hair fiber to withstand daily manipulation.
• Your regime should also include weekly-2 weekly deep conditioning with heat. Deep conditioning is like giving your hair, essential nutrition. Like us needing to eat green vegetables to support our overall physical health and well-being.
• Use Saffron Jade’s Rose Almond, moisture spray in between wash days to ensure your hair maintains a good level of moisture and hydration to protect it from becoming dry and breaking off.
• Use the LOC hydration method- (Liquid Oil and Cream) to keep moisture for longer within your hair fiber. 
• Choose healthy and good quality products to support your hair’s best health.
• Be consistent and Patient – Your hair needs consistent care and attention to stay healthy and strong.

Signs that your hair needs moisture:

1. Hair feels rough
2. Hair feels dry/brittle
3. Hair feels Hard
4. Hair looks dull
5. Hair is breaking