Proper care for long hair?

I am 22 and have maintained a length no longer than to the shoulders for my hair, until recently. On the advice of a few people close to me, I let it grow out to where it is now a great deal past my bra strap.

While I have gotten positive reveiws for this move, the one thing I have not recieved is good advice on how to take proper care of it. The trouble is is that it is pretty thick and I can never find the right shampoo or treatments to make it look and feel as good as it can. Is there any special way to wash or brush it than I don't know about?

Proper care for long hair?

I used to have hair down to my waist, and my hair is naturally thick and wavy and full. Right now my hair is about as long as my ears.

I also have oily scalp, so i had to wash my hair every day.

Washing hair is a little different when its long. Heres what i did to wash my hair.

Shampoo starting at the scalp, the most important part is washing the roots and your scalp to get rid of oils. the first shampoo would be just washing the scalp. Then i would rinse completely. Shampoo again, once more starting with the scalp lather up the area around your head and then pile the rest of your hair up on your head and get it lathered up too.

rinse completely.

when you condition, you dont want to put the conditioner on the roots of your hair unless you have very dry hair. i would start from about three inches away from my scalp and apply the conditioner from top to ends of hair using a rubbing motion with both hands (the way you would roll a "worm" out of play dough when you were little, or the way you rub your hands together to get them warm, but not as vigorously).

Let the conditioner sit for about 3 minutes then rinse completely. Once you've finished your shower, your last step with your hair before you turn off the shower is rinse your hair in COLD water. this helps it stay moisturized, but i have no idea why it works! :)

Towel dry your hair or put it up in a towel when you get out of the shower.

Now the rest depends on what style you want, but if you want your hair to look its natural best, the best thing i found was to brush it after it was towel dried, and lay down on a bed or couch and let your hair dry lying flat out behind you, if you dont have time to wait for it to dry (especially if you have thick hair) you can help it along with a blow dryer first, but dont dry it completely with the dryer, just until its mostly dry, then let it dry the rest of the way while your lying down. What this does is eliminate the style where you have hair really flat on top of your head because it is weighed down by long thick hair.

the quick way to acheive this style is to blow dry your hair upside down and be sure to completely dry near the scalp and roots. This will give you oompf at the scalp to match the thickness of the ends of your hair.

If you want straight hair, blow dry straight down from your roots brushing it down at the same time.

heres a website that tells you how to do hair and has videos...

http://www.ehow.com/information_1093-hai...

I found that a shampoo that eliminated residue was the best way to go with my hair when it was long, i used Suave daily clarifying shampoo. For conditioner you dont want one that is too thick because it will weigh down your thick long hair and make it look greasy when it isnt. Use a light conditioner in the shower The same suave stuff in conditioner worked for me

also, Pantene's line for THIN or thinning hair works also for me because it rinses out so well.

If you find you need more moisture once you're styling your hair, apply leave in conditioner in the spray form to all your hair except the scalp and roots area (unless you have really dry hair ) Use just enough to help with tangles but not so much that it makes your hair greasy looking.

For brushes, I found that for my thick hair, the kind with plastic or metal bristles with little balls on the ends that are set apart from each other really worked best. the kind with bristles real close together like a traditional hairbrush just got the outside tangles out.

when brushing, someone already mentioned, start from the bottom and go up, that prevents excessive breakage and split ends. be sure you turn the brush the opposite way and brush from the inside behind your neck out to remove hard to get tangles at the back of your hair.

When you go to bed at night, to help it stay tangle free and prevent too much hair falling out all over your pillows, do a loose braid or two loose braids and secure with a cloth hair band. The more tangles you can prevent, the more breakage and split ends you will prevent also.

best of luck, if i think of anything else I'll edit it in.

If you have any specific questions you can email me through my profile.

Proper care for long hair?

COMB it EVERYDAY! WASH it EVERYDAY!! put hair softeners, and put things that make it stand out more

Proper care for long hair?

obviously use a lot of conditioner.

when you get out of the shower, brush the ends of your hair first, then work your way up. that way you wont be ripping through it.

if you straighten your hair, use a protector or a leave-in conditioner.

cover it with a towl when you're in the sun

Proper care for long hair?

well, don't brush it to be honest. Use a wide tooth comb. brushing causes split ends. get reconstructive treatments at the salon when you get your trims. they condition it w/heavy duty stuff and your hair will look excellent. make sure you're maintaining it. long hair only looks good when you get it cut regularly and have nice style. It has to look healthy. I honestly like biolage shampoo and conditioner. It provides great moisture w/out weighing your hair down. I've tried it all! lol the lady who does my hair said none of the drugstore stuff is good. she said if you have to get something from the grocery store to use L'oreal Vive. I tried it and it made my hair soft but weighed it down. I have it and use it once in awhile.

Proper care for long hair?

cut it all off since i began my budhists lessons... nah, but consult with your local hairstylist...