A study published in 1991 article of the British Journal of Dermatology revealed that hair tends to grow faster in the summer months than in winter. Summer is also a time when alot of us are no longer experiencing the massive shedding cycle that normally occurs around the end of the year. Those two factors combined can mean only one thing-lengthier locs!
Now is the time to plan ahead and create action plans to capitalize on this extra growth to reach our hair goals that much faster.If you are consistently taking action to benefit your hair this summer, your reward will certainly be great.
Just in case you forgot, here are some of the healthy hair fundamentals that need to happen this summer:
*Nutrition-My last post discussed the benefits of adding green foods to your diet. Since then I bought this nifty single serve smoothie maker at Walmart.
This thing is marvelous! I love the fact that the "blender" part doubles as a cup that I can take with me on the go if I so choose. Best of all, the cost was around $15.00. I'm giving everyone I know one of these for Christmas.
For those of you who don't really like taking all of those nutritional supplements, or you tend to forget to take them, a smoothie maker may be just the solution for you. You could add all sorts of hair food to your drink. I have bottle of a liquid multivitamin purchased from Vitamin Shoppe that is just begging to take part in my smoothie concoctions.
*Cleansing/Conditioning-The hot stickiness of the summer is likely going to result in more frequent washings. More washings is a good thing. That means more chances to add conditioning moisture to your hair and more scalp stimulation during the wash. Your hair definitely thrive if you wash more frequently. Even if it's just a day or two sooner than you normally do. Just be careful not to take wash days lightly just because they are occurring more frequently. You still want to take extreme care to be as gentle as you would if you had one wash day a month.
You also want to make sure that your hair is properly conditioned so that it can retain all of the wonderful growth that you will experience this summer. Because of how hot it gets down here in Florida, I had to make some changes to how I deep condition. No longer will I sit under a hot dryer and sweat my way to beautiful hair. I have since implemented this fabulous little hair towel in my routine to help me in my deep conditioning needs.
The one I actually have is a generic version that I bought from a $1.00 store. After washing I wet it with very hot water and secure the towel on my head. I then place a plastic cap over the towel to trap the heat and viola! Deep conditioning w/heat without having to sit in one place. *Trimming-If your hair is getting to that point where it would definitely benefit from a trim, now is the time act. Don't think about losing the 1/4" inch of damaged hair that has no business still being on your head. Think about the new healthier appearance your hair will have once you finally get the nerve to trim those ends.
I can honestly say that every time I've received a trim, my hair benefits. Any length gained after trimming is extremely obvious because of the massive reduction in breakage. If you do what needs to be done now, you will forget all about it four months from now when you are gliding your fingers through your luscious lengths.
Protecting-I like wearing my hair out for all the world to see but I realize that summer time may not be the best time to do that. First of all its hot! So that means that I probably won't even want to wear my hair down if even if I could. Secondly, it's sticky. So wearing my hair down will likely mean that my ends to succumb to unnecessary moisture from touching my wet back (sorry for the visual). Wet ends that are allowed to air dry can be very dangerous. Avoid the probability of happening at all costs by wearing your hair in the most appropriate protective style for that occasion.
I can't wait until the early fall months when I am assessing the amount of growth I was able to retain from the summer rush. Lord willing I will millimeters away from mid-back by then and all of my wildest dreams will come true.
Start thinking about your game plan for maximizing the health of your hair this summer. Don't allow summer to pass without you reaching another hair milestone. -Here's to the health of your hair.