1. You are doing too much to your hair
Manipulation will get you. It has been said time and again, do not mess with your hair unless it is absolutely necessary. Owing to the fragile nature of our strands, it is our hair’s natural tendency to break off if it is not given a chance to rest.
This uncontrollable urge to mess with your hair all the time is commonly called HIH (hand in hair) syndrome.
Perhaps you enjoy the feel of your new growth or you can’t wait to try that cute style you saw on YouTube but you must resist the urge to unnecessarily touch your hair and I use the term “touch” loosely because most of us will tug, braid, smooth, pull and twist all in one day!
2. Your regimen is too complicated
Keep it simple. If your regimen is made of the stuff of Sherlock Holmes mysteries and security codes, chances are you may be skipping some things somewhere and not even be aware of it.
It could also mean that your hair is not adapting very well to this elaborate high tech regimen. Take it down a notch by getting back to basics; figure out what main practices generally make hair grow, ensure you are drinking enough water and you are getting the correct intake of nutrients to balance a healthy lifestyle that will in turn yield favorable results for your hair growth.
3. You are not deep conditioning* often enough
Like many other things, hair thrives under the right conditions. Deep conditioning* is a must if you are going to get the topical treatments into your hair strands to assist with the strengthening process.
Generally, it is recommended that you do a deep conditioning treatment every week. Perhaps you are overlooking this because you feel you haven’t got the time to get it done, but if your goal is to retain length, you might want to start paying more attention to this aspect of your regimen. In the words of Nike Just Do It!
4. You care more about having a cute hairstyle than protective styling
Unfortunately, cute hairstyles do not always go hand in hand with length retention, that is why protective styling is always recommended as part of your HHJ.
Some naturals vow that they have retained length without protective styling; we are happy for them and they are quite fortunate, but when it comes to afro-textured hair the truth is we are not all created equal.
What works for one person may not necessarily work for you, so bite the bullet and go back to protective styling and see if you won’t reap the rewards.
At a plateau. Been at the same plateau for over 20 years.
My cousin actually is friends with a girl who has been natural longer than me and her and is stuck at shoulder length almost natural for 5 years . I’m only a year natural my cousin is about 3 years natural and my cousin hair is longer than hers hers is past her shoulders with shrinkage and almost bra strap length when straightened . BELIEVE it Or NOT THAT GIRL MY Cousins FRIEND tried To GIVE Me HAIR advice. The reason she is stuck at that actually is only because she goes to the salon and constantly gets IT flat ironed once a week .