Rapunzel's Secrets: Long Hair Tipps

January 2012: past waist length

- or realising your dreams whatever they are...!

I remember when I was a little girl I had two long-haired cousins with hair jumping around their waist. Very often I was just standing there staring at their hair and more than once asked my mother to let me grow my hair longer than chin length - unfortunately I was a very active child that liked to run around, get dirty through playing in the forests and garden, jump and climb onto trees which makes long hair a difficult task for a mother of four, so I understand the reasons behind my mother's denial of my wish. She herself never had it very long and keeps it short, she likes that it is practical and simple to maintain [but also loves to play with my long hair ;)].

update on 2.11.2013: hair length now straight across hips

The wish of having long hair never stopped. But again, hair dressers and other people got into the way, telling me it was not possible to have long hair with my hair structure or that long hair doesn t suit me. Only about two years ago I decided to stop going to the hairdresser, stopped altering my hair in any way and stopped listening to anyone trying to hinder me from realising one of my childhood dreams. Researching on the internet and talking to people from different countries about hair care, I learned the Indian, Japanese, German, Indio's and other culture's secrets of how to have hair longer than your waist.
(my own goal is straight across hips/tailbone, I made it to tailbone in layers *on 11.5.2012, that I now slowly grow down to the same goal length *achieved around November 2013, just a few front face layers now) and to stand for my hair and let nobody, whether people, the news or the "truth" decide about what I will do with my hair. Meaning when you have a special event you can still heatstyle now and then, as I did during my wedding ;) Remember it is YOU that decides what happens with your hair, don t make yourself a slave of it, you still want to enjoy yourself having long hair, so be proud of it and wear it down whenever you want to treat yourself to the lovely feeling of the hair touching your back ;)

 Around December 2012: tailbone in layers 

Dos:
-Drink at least 2l of water per day and have a balanced, healthy (fresh-food) diet, you might also consider taking multi-vitamin pills (in addition to your already balanced diet!) (My favourite hair foods amongst many other: beans, green vegetables such as spinach, carrots, fish, chicken and eggs (avoid frying food, grill, broil, bake, steam, poach and slow cook instead!), granola (Müsli *_*), soja (and soja oil), pure nuts in general (almonds, chestnuts..)... here's a long list of hair foods =): http://www.longhair.org/HCP/nutrient.htm
-Exercise - that way your circulation will get nutrients easier and faster to where they are needed (including your hair) and it's also essential for your overall health
-use shampoo/conditioner that's gentle (sulfate free), silicone free, best might be organic options
-wash your hair only 1-2x a week: In case your hair is very dry on the ends, use a bit of jojoba or coconut oil on them one night or at least one hour before you take the shower and give yourself a relaxing head massage which will help the blood circulation and stimulate growth as well as distribute oils. When washing, soak your hair with water. Then dilute a bit of your shampoo with water (an empty shampoo bottle or any 500ml water bottle will do) and massage it onto your scalp only (not into your hair). If your hair is really dry and you don t like to use oil, use conditioner in your ends before applying the shampoo. Then when rinsing the shampoo, stand the way you prefer, some people have less knots if they bend forward, some prefer to lean their head onto their back, bend backwards. When rinsing out, use lukewarm water and gently push/slide the shampoo water down. Then, when applying another layer of conditioner, apply it from the length upwards and make gentle downwards movements, this will 1. massage the conditioner into your hair and 2. move the natural oils down to the ends. Finish with a cold rinse to get the extra shine. Toweldry for 5-10min, then air dry and brush only and gently when mostly dry, I like using a long shirt when drying my hair that way I avoid knots and it is easier to brush/smoother, sometimes I use a bit of my bodybutter leave in, jojoba or monoi oil to condition the ends when still damp in case they are very dry
-Sauna-Condition - if you like going to the sauna, you might want to do a Sauna conditioning (heat conditioning) with either oil, a hair mask or conditioner once in a while

December 2012

-get some professional hair scissors and do your own s&d (search and destroy split ends) cuts as often as you have the time (this means cutting only the hairs that have splits, are broken etc, at least once every 2-4 weeks) and trim/cut your own hair whenever YOU want, (I cut between every 2 and 5 months) it is a lie that hair grows faster when cutting it, cutting only avoids that splits grow up the shaft. Your s&d will take care of that, so cutting your hair is only needed if you would like to change the form, even up and adjust a part of your hair that has grown faster than others. I am using the feye's self trim method for a "straight-across"-, "u"- or "v"-cut: http://feyeselftrim.livejournal.com/ if you prefer a layered cut, you might want to try out the following methods, remember, the higher you set your ponytail, the more drastic your layers will be, for example if you put your ponytail on top of your head it will be less drastic and you will lose less length in the layers than when you put the ponytail above your front at the far most point: http://www.wikihow.com/Layer-Cut-Your-Own-Hair
-use hair/claw clips instead of elastics when doing buns, updos or even ponytails (don t rip out or break hair as much as elastics), I rarely use elastics, even when doing ponytails or braids I prefer to use claw clips to secure (in mostly medium or small sizes)
-keep your nails clean and well-maintained/trimmed: If your nails have fissures (i.e. splits/cracks) from biting them or not keeping them trimmed, your hair will be damaged when you manipulate it or style it. Hair strands get caught in the nails’ fissures, leading to the pulling and damaging of the hair structure (i.e. hair shaft). Dirty nails can cause inflammations, especially with sensitive scalps

-protect it when you sleep (some people might prefer to hang it over the pillow (when long enough down the bed), some like buns, either behind or on top of their head, some prefer sleeping caps or 1-2 braids, I alternate between the options and mostly use one to two medium sized clips to make the hair stay as it gets heavier)
-protect it during sports through methods mentioned above as well as windy/sunny/cold areas and when cleaning the house, washing the dog, doing active things you like ;)...
-detangle gently, I try to detangle the least possible, 1-2x per day, sometimes in the morning, mostly in the evening before going to bed I take down my updo, I normally use a vent brush and slowly detangle first the ends and then work myself up, stopping for knots, every now and then I use a soft bristle brush to distribute the oils from the scalp to the ends, I rarely use combs although some people prefer to comb first and then brush
-wash your combs and brushes when you feel they need it with a mild baby shampoo 
-use updos and braids 80% of the time, 10% half down and 10% down
-Embrace your whites and natural hair colour/structure. Who is there to tell you about what is perfect, about how your hair colour does not combine with your skin colour? God made you PERFECT the way you are, your hair combines with your skin and lip and eye colour, your whites flatter your face and soften it. Best is to avoid colouring, perming or changing your hair in any unnatural way, including heat styling, god made you perfect, embrace it!

January 2013

Donts:
-don't wear tight buns or braids (at least not to often, otherwise your hair's roots will loosen and fall out eventually), very common cause for hair loss in the areas around the temples and hairline where hair & its roots are more fragile
-Don't push up elastics against the direction of your hair's growth when it gets loose, otherwise you will damage its layers, better take it out and do your braid/pony tail again, in general avoid elastics (rip out hair or break it when always used at the same spot)
-don t rub hair, especially when wet, gently press/pad it dry, some people like to do gentle headbang helping with the tips of your finger to loosen it
-don t colour hair (if you must, use henna/indigo/amla, you can get it from e.g. http://www.renaissancehenna.com/ or http://www.mehandi.com/) and don t alter your hair's natural structure too often (don t straighten/heat style/heat dry hair)
-brushing should not hurt or make any noises, remember every sound is a snatch, hair breaking or ripping out, knots are best loosened if you get well into its mid, loosen it a bit and then try to loosen one by one instead of pushing the whole strand, it might take much longer, but this way you will not loose much length/hair, remember starting from the tips and working yourself upwards, don t run your comb from the roots to the end, this will only push your tangles together and damage your hair
-don t wash your hair too often and undiluted, use shampoo only in lengths if very dirty and consider using a bit of oil or conditioner before gently squeezing the shampoo through the lengths
-avoid boby pins, hair ties with metal, teasing as well as heat styling and styling products
-don t plug out hair, especially whites! (remember that hair has a certain life time in which it grows (between 2-6 years) and only grows back a certain number of times, you might go bald or thin out at certain spots earlier than normal if you keep plugging those hairs out!
-avoid taking non-natural meds if possible - especially stuff like antibiotics (had to learn it the hard way during my wisdom tooth operation and suffered a short, but quite frightening hair loss during about a week after taking the meds (I believe it was due to antibiotics, painkiller and probably the operation itself/anestesia injections involved)

Products I currently use (I always alternate between those shampoos and in general, I wash my hair 1x a week), as you dillute them the shampoos will last AGES, so check the use before date now and then. Please also remember that everyone has a different head and different needs  - adapt your routine if your health or life circumstances/place of living changes, since I am living in Brazil my hair grows much faster which in addition to the hot temperatures might also be due to the high amount of BEANS we are eating here ;) :

Shampoos:
(used, but empty now) Logona Ginkgo Shampoo
(used, but empty now) Logona Anti-Schuppen
(used but empty now)Sante Family Organic Ginkgo & Olive Shampoo
(used but empty now) Shampoo Wacholderöl

Alverde Birke Salbei Sensitive Shampoo

NEW: (updated on 30.10.2013)
Alverde Ultra Sensitive Shampoo
Alverde Baby Waschlotion and Shampoo
Alverde Family Shampoo Apfel Papaya
Alverde Nutri Care Shampoo Mandel Argan

Conditioners and Masks:
Alverde Birke Salbei Sensitive Conditioner
Alverde Hibiscus Aloe Vera Conditioner
Diluted Apple Cider Vinegar as a Conditioner (great shine) (use a tablespoon in a glass of water)
(used but empty now) Sante Brilliant Care Conditioner
Tresemme NATURALS Conditioner (both the green/smoothing and blue/moisterizing)
Alverde Körperbutter Macadamianuss Karitébutter (Bodybutter leave in) (which in fact is a great (my favourite actually) body butter but it is also lovely as a leave in, for smoothing down fly aways, used as an intensive hair mask (good for people who don t like using oils))

NEW: (updated on 30.10.2013)
Alverde Nutri Care Spuelung Mandel Argan

Oils:
Logona Coconut Oil
Jojoba Oil
Monoi Oils (favourite: Vanilla)
[some people like olive or soja oil]

NEW: (updated on 30.10.2013)
Alverde Haaroel Mandel Argan

Tools:
Vent Brush
Soft Bristle Brush
Wide Tooth Comb (rarely)
Professional Hair Scissors (mine are from tondeo sollingen, but I bought them "used" in a London hair salon ;))

*this post will be in permanent reconstruction, as I might find new products or my routine might change due to different needs of my hair/scalp, also open for new tipps and tricks =)