Longer Locks

The allure of long hair is a strong one in every society, with long hair signifying virility, fertility and youth. Many Black women are convinced that they can’t grow their hair long, telling themselves that their hair will always be short. Well, it is possible to grow your hair to a good length, but you're going to have to work hard at it and for quite a long time.
When your hairdresser suggests a trim resist the temptation to throttle her and accept her advice about taking off split ends. This will prevent any damaged ends creeping up the hair shaft. Just make sure she takes off only the merest, tiniest amount - about quarter of an inch will do.
According to Renee Lagrange, a leading London trichologist, many Black women go to her with the typical complaint that ‘My hair just won't grow!’ Renee knows that there's much more to their complaint than meets the eye. She says, ‘All hair will grow. It's just that their hair is breaking, so it doesn't gain length.’
We inherit our hair texture and cycle of hair growth, including length, from our parents.

Although you may not have identical hair to your parents, the way their hair grows influences your own. The hereditary factor means that some people's hair is destined to be longer than others. Even if your hair is short and broken now, you have the potential to regain the length you once had.
Surprisingly Renee has a positive opinion on chemical treatments and relaxers. She believes that chemical processing can benefit hair in colder climates. But with one big proviso - ‘That hair is properly treated afterwards.’
Renee explains, ‘In Britain the best option can be to use chemicals. This is because even if you want to achieve a natural look, you will have to texturise the hair in order for it to be manageable.’
So, what can go wrong when you're having your hair relaxed? Renee says there are three main culprits. ‘Badly applied relaxer that overlaps the hair that has already been relaxed. Or the wrong strength for the hair. Black hair is very varied and it's easy to use the wrong type of relaxer.’
The colder weather in Britain and other parts of Europe, means there is far less humidity in the atmosphere than in Africa and the Caribbean. This makes the hair prone to breakage, as the dry environment deprives hair of its moisture causing it to lose elasticity. Regular conditioning and moisturising treatments can combat this.

Natural hair
The structure of Black hair prevents the hair’s natural oils from travelling easily down the hair shaft and also presents many breaking points. Every turn of the curl makes it weaker and this is why Black hair has to be handled with great care.
According to Renee, ‘Putting moisturisers and conditioners on virgin or natural Afro hair has a very limited effect. It’s a bit like water off a duck's back.’
It is possible for natural hair to reach a decent length. A regime of braiding and oiling the hair, keeps it soft and easier to manage. Also by using wide tooth combs to comb hair and avoiding excessive blowdrying, you can limit hair breakage.
Braiding can help grow hair especially if it isn’t too tight, as the hair has a chance to rest without the breakage caused by combing. Many women also find that their hair has grown after wearing a weave especially where the hair has been braided underneath. Unfortunately the length gained can be lost by not regularly conditioning afterwards and relaxing too soon. ‘Women are inclined to use heated appliances such as tongs, irons and hot combs to get their hair into shape. Which is so destructive,’ says Renee.
This combined with chemical use, compounds the basic problem by adversely affecting the hair’s tensile strength, resulting in the hair structure being eroded, causing it to progressively break, ultimately affecting the hairline, overall density and length of hair.

Looking after your hair
Take time to chose the right sort of hair brush or comb. Make sure when you run the comb through your hair that it doesn't tug the strands too viciously.
Despite its problems, Black hair is very versatile and can look healthy and shiny, and gain length if it's well looked after. You need to learn how to take care of your hair, whatever style you choose to wear, whether it’s natural, texturised, relaxed, braided or weaved.
The most important element of having healthy hair is boosting its moisture content. So, daily care and weekly treatments are needed to maintain the natural balance of moisture and protein, and to restore strength and resilience, so you can achieve a greater length of hair.
Weekly and daily hair care, such as moisturising, steaming and using oil treatments, sustains hair quality and allows a variety of styling techniques to be achieved without fear of damage.
A new product range has just been launched in the UK called Profectiv, formulated by ex-Carson chemist Mario de la Guardia. The range aims to tackle the problems that cause hair breakage, helping to strengthen and re-moisturise hair, preventing and correcting damage caused by heat, dry scalp and chemical abuse. Available from afro retailers.