eKatherine

Like most people's, my hair grows at about 1/2" per month. My hair is almost 36" long (as measured from the front hairline to the hemline in back), which would put it at close to six years. But I only started trying to achieve length last April. Prior to that I was just letting it grow longer, and trimming off the dry, damaged ends on a regular basis. So last April my hair finally got down below my waist, but it was really ratty looking. My hair is really fine and fragile. Only a few hairs were really that long. I had a trim and have been feeding it better now, so I'm making much better progress.

I used to have hair down almost to my knees, back before I knew how to put it up. Eventually I got tired of wearing it in a braid all the time, and when I couldn't reach the ends to brush it, I cut it off.

I do conditioner only wash, which means I don't use shampoo. What I've been doing lately to wash my hair is to first rinse my dry hair in a quart of warm water that has 1/2 cup of vinegar in it. This will remove any product buildup. I rinse this out, load up with Suave Daily Clarifying Conditioner, scrub and massage my scalp vigorously. (Leave the hair hanging, do not put it on top of your head if you try this.) I rinse, load just the scalp, repeat the scrub, then rinse. Next I put on Suave Humectant Conditioner, which I love except for the fakey coconut fragrance. I leave this on for several minutes, rinse it off, and put on Pantene Pro-V. I rinse this right off, combing in the shower. After I'm done in the shower, I alternately squeeze my hair out and comb until it's no longer dripping. I wrap it in a towel for a few minutes, then let it air dry.

I used to wash every other day, but now I'm working both mornings and evenings, so there's no time to dry. So even though my hair gets greasy after five days, I end up washing twice a week, Thursdays and Saturdays.

As my hair dries, I apply jojoba to the ends and throughout the length by using a couple of drops to coat my fingertips and palms, then working it through. Another way to apply it when the hair is dry is to put a teaspoon of jojoba in a little spray bottle of water. I like to add fragrance or essential oils, too.

One reason my hair is more fragile than it might be is that I color it auburn from my natural color of darkest brown. I love being a readhead, but it's not good for my hair.

What type hair do you have? Stick-straight, or do you have a wave at the end like me? Fine or coarse, thin or thick?

Take good care of your hair and you can grow it as long as you want. Just keep away from stylists bearing hot tools.