Experienced members share your best haircare tips!

[NaturalRed]

As a newbie to the site I'd love to hear what long time members have found the best for hair growth. Or favorite techniques, products, tools, whatever you want to mention. Share your sage wisdom.

[Ophidian]

Oh gosh. There is so much here, depending on what you're intro. My best advice is start poking around and find threads discussing things you want to know more about and then ask questions. What works for one person won't necessarily work for another so it's a lot of trial and error to find your own bests. Welcome to the forum!!

ETA: in an effort to answer your questions (completely my own experience), careful handling and protective styling is important if you are hoping for length. Personal game changers have been herb washing, oiling (mostly coconut), scalp massage, wrapping it in a silk scarf to sleep, and leaving it up as much as possible.

[Madora]

If you want to grow long hair, you're need to be patient. Less is more - you don't need a ton of stuff to have beautiful, healthy hair. Healthy hair boils down to having good genes, eating sensibly, and using hair friendly practices ALL the time. Personally, my main hair tips are to detangle your hair properly and SLOWLY with a wide tooth comb - every day. Do it in SMALL, pencil sized portions, working from the ends up to the scalp, little by little. Remove the snarls/mats/tangles with your fingers. I also firmly believe in daily brushing with a pure boar bristle brush and washing my hair when it needs it. Once a week is fine. If you can stretch it longer, even better. Not everything works for everyone so you may have to experiment. Keeping your hair up is one of the best things you can do for it because you're protecting the delicate ends, which means little to no fussing with detangling (and resulting damage that might occur) when you take it down. Good luck on your hair journey!

[NaturalRed]

Ophidian its OK if what works for you won't work for me. Its bound to work for someone else, I just like getting ideas that I can try out. I am interested in herb washing, I'm going to try that eventually. Coconut oil doesn't work at all forms but I'm glad it does for others.

Madora, I don't detangle my hair every day since its curly but I do detangle gently before and after washing. I stretch out my washes as long as possible and boar bristle brushing has changed my life. I didn't think I could brush my hair but I love it now.

[Ophidian]

That makes sense NaturalRed. If you poke around a little you will find a bazillion things to try. If anything the hard part is not trying them all at once. Madora has very good advice. Ursula's Standard Newbie Advice is a good starting point too:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/content.php?r=157-Ursula-s-Standard-Newbie-Advice-(by-Ursula)

[trolleypup]

Benign neglect, gentle detangling, hair friendly toys, sustainable care routine that keeps your hair and scalp happy. Is that general enough? ;)

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Benign neglect, gentle detangling, hair friendly toys, sustainable care routine that keeps your hair and scalp happy. Is that general enough? ;)

This - and wearing hair up to protect the older, more fragile ends.

[Jo Ann]

Don't be afraid to try something new! I didn't think one COULD condition TWICE, much less the difference it made in my hair (I'm a WCC [wash, condition, condition])!

If you DO try a product new to you, get the smallest size--that way, if you (and your hair) hate it, you won't be stuck with it forever. If it doesn't work out, try to find a way to use it up (dilute the shampoo, try using that nasty conditioner in a hair mask/treatment or just give it away) or you'll end up with a shelf full of products that won't work for you.

Explore the threads and do not be afraid to ask questions! There is a wealth of information in the different forums and so many people that help you find the information you need. I'm still working my way through the SMT (Snowymoon's Moisture Treatment, found here: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128 ) thread :p

Baby steps and patience seem to work best! Believe it or not, I've found that taking care of long hair is not the hassle some people would have you believe. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg and, once you've found a routine that works for you, it doesn't really take that much time (unless you're doing a SMT or something like that).

Oh, and if you want to self-trim your hair, get a pair of hair shears--don't use the one(s) in the utility drawer or the sewing basket, because the edges won't be sharp enough to do your hair justice.

[LadyCelestina]

I believe very careful and gentle detangling is what keeps my split ends down to a minimum, even though I do some damaging things to my hair.

Other than doing the bare minimum to keep your hair moisturized, it's more about what you don't do: don't wear it loose, don't chem dye or bleach it, don't use harsh stuff to wash, don't use heat on it... But typically, even if you do one or more of these damaging things, your hair can still grow relatively healthy and to a decent length :)

[lapushka]

As a newbie to the site I'd love to hear what long time members have found the best for hair growth. Or favorite techniques, products, tools, whatever you want to mention. Share your sage wisdom.

Most important "rule" ever, there is no one size fits all. *YOU* have to experiment to see what works best for yourself. That goes for the various methods on here (CWC, WO, WCC, SO, CO, etc.) as for the products that you use.

If you look at two people with the same texture, chances are they are both on a different hair care regimen.

[NaturalRed]

Benign neglect, gentle detangling, hair friendly toys, sustainable care routine that keeps your hair and scalp happy. Is that general enough? ;)
Can I ask what you mean by benign neglect? Basically don't worry about it too much? My hair seems like it grows more when I'm not doing much more than putting it in a bun and forgetting to wash as often

[truepeacenik]

Benign neglect is leaving it alone so long as doing so doesn't create problems.
And yes, bunning and ignoring is step one.
See? You were already doing the most important part for length gain. ;)

[NaturalRed]

Don't be afraid to try something new! I didn't think one COULD condition TWICE, much less the difference it made in my hair (I'm a WCC [wash, condition, condition])!

If you DO try a product new to you, get the smallest size--that way, if you (and your hair) hate it, you won't be stuck with it forever. If it doesn't work out, try to find a way to use it up (dilute the shampoo, try using that nasty conditioner in a hair mask/treatment or just give it away) or you'll end up with a shelf full of products that won't work for you.

Explore the threads and do not be afraid to ask questions! There is a wealth of information in the different forums and so many people that help you find the information you need. I'm still working my way through the SMT (Snowymoon's Moisture Treatment, found here: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128 ) thread :p

Baby steps and patience seem to work best! Believe it or not, I've found that taking care of long hair is not the hassle some people would have you believe. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg and, once you've found a routine that works for you, it doesn't really take that much time (unless you're doing a SMT or something like that).

Oh, and if you want to self-trim your hair, get a pair of hair shears--don't use the one(s) in the utility drawer or the sewing basket, because the edges won't be sharp enough to do your hair justice.
When I first started a curly girl routine I did lots of conditioner because I always heard "curly hair is dry". I ended up with over conditioned hair that was limp. My hair is fine and scalp is oily. So now use gentler shampoo and condition as needed. I also had never heard of protein treatments. They're great for me.

I do have some hair scissors. I used them once trying to cut my own layers but ended up having my stylist fix it. I need baby steps with just trimming ends.

[NaturalRed]

I believe very careful and gentle detangling is what keeps my split ends down to a minimum, even though I do some damaging things to my hair.

Other than doing the bare minimum to keep your hair moisturized, it's more about what you don't do: don't wear it loose, don't chem dye or bleach it, don't use harsh stuff to wash, don't use heat on it... But typically, even if you do one or more of these damaging things, your hair can still grow relatively healthy and to a decent length :)
I don't do much of anything damaging. My stylist commented that my hair wasn't dry, ends looked good, and overall healthy. She seemed surprised since I went 10 months in between cuts. The worst I do is blow drying in winter but only when I have to. This year I'm getting a humidifier to keep my hair from drying out

[NaturalRed]

Most important "rule" ever, there is no one size fits all. *YOU* have to experiment to see what works best for yourself. That goes for the various methods on here (CWC, WO, WCC, SO, CO, etc.) as for the products that you use.

If you look at two people with the same texture, chances are they are both on a different hair care regimen. I've definitely learned that :) Now I need to learn what all those abbreviations mean.

[NaturalRed]

Benign neglect is leaving it alone so long as doing so doesn't create problems.
And yes, bunning and ignoring is step one.
See? You were already doing the most important part for length gain. ;)
Step 2? :D perhaps I need to learn more of this method although right now I'm a little hair obsessed

[lapushka]

I've definitely learned that :) Now I need to learn what all those abbreviations mean.

Oh oops, I think there's a list that explains it all to you. I'll look for it, hold on...
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=54874

And this will be useful to you too:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=126309