Have your hair's needs changed with growth?

[gghh]

Good point of view, thanks!

Thank you!!! This is definitely something I’ve been very interested in so it’s nice to pick up tips and tricks from others.

I've found that as my hair has gotten longer (I barely say LONG) I think I'm FINALLY at where I can say is my "goal" which was waist length when curly. BUT I don't like to wear it curly now... I do CGM, and I don't like to gel it. I feel like it is too much "gunk" in my hair it is fine and it tangles easy. TONS of SSKs when I wear it down I had to wear it up a LOT more, which meant more hair toys, and LOTS more oil on ends especially.

I'm now doing covering it more so I can pretend to have the hair I want LOL I LOVE it a lot though. Just seems like my hair has different needs than what *I* want it to have. I have fine hair though so it does get tons of splits. SO I'm hoping that my experiment in doing wraps gets me some more length. Now though if it doesn't.... EH I've found a way ><

But I hit a point where I got the length I wanted, but I didn't WANT to do the care it needed to have the curls too much work! At least if I wanted 2nd day curls, and I would rather adjust to the care it needs to be healthy and LONG. Then to basically always have the curly bun that I end up having to have it kept curly, if that makes sense? I finally got it to where I am HAPPY with it (mostly) I'd like my ends to thicken up a bit more. It just takes so much to protect it, and I've moved to that.

It’s definitely the kind of thing that can take time to adjust to, especially since it feels like a curly hair routine supposedly has to mean you’re always styling it with a ton of products. In general, I think the longer you grow the more minimal your routine becomes anyway. Happy growing!!

[Fethenwen]

Well, this isn't about products but I need to bun my hair way more now that it's longer, and for it to get longer I need to bun my hair, so it's a protective style downward spiral. (Growing hair we want to go downward hehe)

I also need to use more siliconey detangling leave-ins and conditioners and I think bond builders can be helpful even with uncoloured hair because there is uv damage accumulation towards the tips

UV accumulation towards the ends of the hair, this is something I haven't really thought about, but makes perfect sense! A good reason to keep them protected when out in the sun.

[Priska]

I actually feel that I have to keep my hair a bit oily all the time. All but the roots.

[JuniperTree]

I definitely need to wash it less as it gets longer - a few years ago I went from hip length to a chin length bob and I was horrified to find I had to wash it about 2 or 3 times a week!
My hair also needs more leave in conditioners when it's longer. I'm at BSL atm but I find as soon as I'm at waist length I need more oils

[SASSyWitch]

I used to never condition, and could get away with it because my hair usually never went past BSL (also had a pixie cut for a while). I DEFINITELY need to use it now.

It also absolutely needs to be braided before bed; and while I'm braiding it, I have to make sure the bottom half isn't secretly self-braiding!

And finally, I'm thinking I'm going to have to start a deep conditioning routine to make sure it's getting enough moisture; my low porosity hair is not being agreeable with my attempts to put leave-in conditioner in it.

[sarana]

I used to never condition, and could get away with it because my hair usually never went past BSL (also had a pixie cut for a while). I DEFINITELY need to use it now.

It also absolutely needs to be braided before bed; and while I'm braiding it, I have to make sure the bottom half isn't secretly self-braiding!

And finally, I'm thinking I'm going to have to start a deep conditioning routine to make sure it's getting enough moisture; my low porosity hair is not being agreeable with my attempts to put leave-in conditioner in it.

Out of curiosity, have you attempted to add leave-in to wet/damp or dry hair? I can't put ANYTHING to dry hair, but adding a bit of leave-in after a shower on wet hair works just fine.

[knobbly]

Maybe? But my needs definitely have lmao. I don’t deep condition anymore because I cannot reasonably wash in the sink and I draw the line at more than one shower a day. I absolutely do a lot less now that my hair is very long.

One need that is my hair’s and not mine necessarily is using ‘cones. I have to use them to protect against mechanical damage year round and environmental damage in the winter when it’s so dry. I use a thick coney conditioner and a serum every few days or as needed.

[foreveryours]

Yes, with extreme growth I've found that

1) it needs to be combed EVERY DAY to remove sheds which themselved promote matting
2) it also needs to be dry to detangle
3) for some reason braids seem to result in less hair loss for me than buns. Perhaps this is due to a more even pull on the scalp?

Unfortunately braids take much longer so ...

ETA: like everything else in life, it's a trade off