Tips For Healthy Hair Growth & Length Retention| Lia Lavon

Hey Youtube fam: It's your girl, Lia back again with another video and today's video, as you can see from the title, we're going to be going through my tips and tricks for length retention and hair growth.. Now, when I have my hair blown out, I always get so many questions. Comments from people like that's, what's up on all that crochet hair., Why do you do crochet hair all the time if you got hair like that Blah blah blah.? I get a lot of comments. Questions., You should be wearing your hair out more.. Let me do a turn around, so you can see the length that my hair has currently gotten.. It'S so hard to see with white on white. I'll insert a picture of it right. After I got this uh blow out recently., I got this blowout recently again bringing comments questions. What do you do? How do you retain your edges when you do such repetitive protective styles? The way you do, I'm gon na today walk you through my tips and tricks on what has helped me. Again. This is coming from a me standpoint and I say that because when you make videos like this or when creators make videos like this you'll see in the comments section A Lot comments from people who are always like. Well, it's genetics, too., Don't forget, genetics. Don'T forget. Genetics., So I'm gon na start, the video off with genetics, 100 %, plays a factor.. It'S not an elephant in the room that genetics plays a factor.. Your mom dad came together and created a little DNA bubble, which is a combination of what they have going on.. So if they already have great length retention measures and great hair growth measures, then that will hopefully you know - be passed down to you., But I'm going to tell you what has helped me because again, genetics does help, but I could have sullied this years ago.. I could have said: oh yes, my mother has long flowing hair. But no, not me, you know, I'm gon na fry dye lay it to the side, cut chop chop chop, rip them edges.. I could have done anything to make the DNA that was passed down to me null and void.. So these are what I've done and expounded upon in my life. That has helped me with my my to grow with my hair, my volume and all of that. Going into my hair type. I do have 3C/4A hair. You've seen it in its natural state.. I'Ve been natural now for 10 years. Next year will make 10 years. February of 2023 will make 10 years. My last time being a part of the the creamy crack community was February of 2013., Not by choice. My stylist just didn't do relaxers, and so I had to get with it or get lost., So I was kind of forced into the natural lifestyle, but I don't plan on ever leaving.. I know there's a big movement of people reverting back to going to relaxers, which I'm all for do what works best for your hair.. I know for my hair. My hair did not progress or change in any way when I was relaxed., So I I think it's a personal decision, whether you decide to be relaxed or natural., You just do what works best for you.. My hair has never thrived survived, been the way that it's been until it was natural., But again my experiences. And going into my experience.. This is my number one tip that has worked for me, protective styling., Protective styling., The basis of this channel.. I know I know shameless plug for protective styling.. My protective style of choice, of course, is crochet hair.. However, you can do whatever protective style works for you, but the only one I can speak heavily on.. I can't speak on box braids.. I can't speak on knotless.. I'Ve never had knotless.. I can't speak on other protective styles.. I can't speak on sew-ins, but again I don't think my hair grew to the levels and depths that it has until I got with crochet hair.. Now I made a post on my Facebook about you know. Crochet hair and how it's impacted my life and how I love it for protective stylings for vacations and how I will never go on any trip without crochet hair., And I show pictures in that Instagram of my hair. The way it is. - And I got this comment - it says I think crochet styles are cute and I like them for that, but I do think the need for protective styles is exaggerated.. I wear my hair out most days and it's been growing like a weed.. I also wear my hair out for vacations. Emoji.. I'Ve always had a lot of edge hair, so I can't comment on that, but I don't think protective styles are a need for length retention as people think.. Now, if you like any protective style, that's cool but there's a difference between wanting and liking, something and feeling you need to do it.. Now, that's a good counterpart.! I like that argument, because I think what she's getting to is the fact that people say oh protective styling, but they really use that as a cover-up for laziness.. And what I honed in on in that comment is what you'll see if you look at it? A lot of I I. I wear hair., I do this. My edges.. I experience. Like it's a lot of I. There's a lot of I and individuality that comes into what works best for you., So I'm going to use the eye terminology for me too.. I have not experienced hair growth the way I've experienced it until I started protective styling., It's great that your hair grows like weeds when it's out. Mine, just doesn't. Mine, just doesn't.. It'S great that you love to go on vacations with your hair.. If I go down to Florida, not even near a pool, I just go to Florida. This is not gon na work., Even in my own natural hair state, it it'll balloon., I don't got the hair texture, that'll just be regular.. My hair already is like please, let's revert., I'm doing everything I can to have my hair not revert right now, but it is great for you, but I have not experienced the levels of growth until I got into protective stylings.. What works best for me is not touching it., Letting it be.. For me, growth happens best when I don't interfere., When my fingers aren't in it. When my hands aren't in it.When, I'm not applying products brushing brushing brushing combing, combing, combing, rigorous, every single day.. When I have nothing to do with my hair, my hair is at its best.. I think even professionals will tell you to a certain extent. Protective styles are not just called protective styles for nothing.. They are truly protecting your hair.. So yes, there may be people who masquerade protective styles as oh I'm doing this for retention and they're not and even if they are not, I'm not going to judge them. Do what you got to do., But there are many many many people who do this and Up under their hair up. Up under those wigs. Up under whatever they're up under they have long gorgeous flowing healthy, healthy, healthy hair.. So for me again, it's not for everybody. There's a lot of comments I get with shedding. Is it natural to experience some shedding.? I take down my crochet braids and I have shedding.Yes your hair sheds. My hair is shedding when I wear it straight. The difference is it's just falling and then falling out when your hair sheds, when it's braided up it, has nowhere to go.. So when you take out your braids and you're, brushing through that hair that was ready to go is going.. So, yes, it is natural to experience a little bit of shedding, depending on how long you keep it in.. If you experience a lot of shedding with it, then maybe it's not. The protective style for you. Same thing goes with people who have a Sensitive scalp who say I'm allergic to synthetic hair.. Then it's not the protective style for you and that's okay.. Let'S not try to make fetch happen., Let's not try to fit a square into a round hole. If it's not working.. If your hair is on fire, take it out, that's not the protective style for you and that's fine.. I can't wear certain earrings.. My ear is super sensitive.. I can only wear typically uh 14 karat gold or those earrings that have that sensitive measure on it.. If I put any other earring in my ear will be on fire and I will want to yank it out.. I have very sensitive earlobes.. I don't have a Sensitive Scalp though, and that's why I don't do ACV rinse on my hair.. A lot of people say: oh, do you rinse.? I get comments, all the time., Even on install videos where people see me open a pack. Take it out the pack and install it my hair people will still say: did you rinse it., Like y'all, saw me you like open, like did you think there was a cut where I ran to the sink and this stuff.? I would tell you y'all if I rinsed the hair., I don't not just because I don't have a sensitive scalp, because you can do it. If you don't, if you do, if you have some aversion., I don't do it, because I review crochet hair as a part of a channel.. If I do something that changes the Integrity of the hair, then I'm reviewing something that might be different than what the other person is trying.. So I try to review a hair in it's raw form because say I try a beach curl, but then I try Beach. Curl but I ACV washed it first., Then, if you experience it better than I did, maybe it's because you didn't wash it or if you experienced it the same way. I did it's because you did rinse it. Like it is so many veritables that could go into a hair. If I rinse it that I decide to just review it in this raw form. Tell you how it is. If you do nothing and then you take the decision outside on your own, if you want to rinse it before, you don't want to rinse it before., But then you have to keep in your mind that you're trying it in a different way than I tried it. I didn't rinse it, you rinsed it if you experience something different, don't come back and say: well, it wasn't the same. You rinsed it. I didn't. We didn't try the same thing, not saying that rinsing changes, the Integrity of a hair completely. I'M just saying for me. I try to keep it simple. I don't like to do. Ponytails in general, either meaningless pulling my hair back. I just have found that for me it pulls too much. It puts too much tension and you're like well. The braiding is putting tension. My mother doesn't braid tight. My mother does most of my braid Downs. Now my mother has a very light hand and she does not at all get my edges down, which is a double edged short, because my edges sometimes are like ready to go ready to peek out when it's time, whereas, if somebody was a deeper grip, would be Able to eat it together, um, but I'm fine with that, because it has again helped for the preservation of my edges and my hairline, which is important to me. I know with age and as age comes, Hedges is typically the first place to go for men and women. I don't do anything special like rubbing any oil on my edges and you cut extra oil. I don't do anything specific to that department. The second thing - that's really helped is my stylist now I know that's funny. Coming off the heels of my last Vlog, where I was like yeah, we might need to think about some things now that I went to dry bar and it was a lot cheaper paper, but even for the expense of what my style is cost me. Those trims are important if, for nothing else, the stylus is for the trims. I have been a trim girl, those people who are typically afraid of the trims. You typically know them when you see that Instagram video of somebody cutting somebody's hair and they're having to cut a lot of that person's hair. It'S because they weren't getting their regular trims. You you see the kind of uneven nature of their hair and almost feels like they're having to get a big chop because they weren't getting those normal Trends. I try to get my trims regularly from a stylist, I'm not a cutter. I don't even barely be cutting. My own crochet hair right, I'm telling you I couldn't cut my own hair. I couldn't cut my own hair unless I'm cutting a braid out when I'm doing a takedown, which probably why I need to stop doing my own takedowns. To be honest, but those trims are going to be crucial for your hair growth. So having not a Styles, you have to go to all the time. I don't go to Tony all the time which he hates me for that. Probably, however, I do go to her as needed for those quintessential moments of trimming and for nothing else at this point, it's really for the trim, it's not even for the color, because I've done the color myself, which stylist advise you against doing the color, but I've Done the color myself, but the one area I cannot do is a trip. My third tip is be cognizant of those edges. Going back to protective stylings are you know the first to go and in most hairlines where people experience that traction alopecia or alopecia in general? Some of the first areas to experience that loss is the edges. Don'T have somebody braid, your hair tight? Don'T, and I know you might be like well, it lasts longer or they're just doing their job or have no other alternatives. Either you get your hair braided extremely tight over and over and over again and you're gon na miss out and lose this or you just have to sacrifice and say: hey, look, you're braiding too tight. I need to go to someone else. I need to go to someone else. I'Ve had people not braid. My hair tight is the job as good as the people who bring tight I'ma, say no I'ma say no. But for me it's my hair. First, that's my theory and everything. My hair first before the style, I don't care if the style will look cuter. If my hair was braided down to Infinity like yeah, she snatched them edges. Yes, she grabbed that at the risk of losing my own and just absolutely not absolutely not my hair. First. This comes first, I don't care if the crochet style will look better if this was done. This is what I care about more than anything number four. Let Your Hair breathe, that's something I need to take the heart. I still need to do better job at letting my hair breathe and what I mean is not doing the same repeated protective style, I'm not doing 360 five days of crochet hair. I got a lot of comments. Maybe was it two years ago where so many people must interpreted a video, or maybe I said it wrong in the video when they were like we're doing the 365. Nothing but crochet hair challenge with you we're riding with you girl said. I said I was doing nothing but crochet hair 365, but I think it was in the title why you should do crochet hair and this year or why you should do it that year. Maybe I said something in that video, where people took it to me why you should do nothing but crochet hair. That'S not what I meant. That'S not what I meant. I meant do it as part of your protective hair Journey, make it part of the Rhythm. If you want to do braids, yes do that then do some crochet braids, then maybe wear your hair out for a little bit. Maybe do some wigs, maybe do whatever we'll have Variety in it, because for me, crochet hair melts my hair breathe in a way that wigs do not wigs feel like there can be no air circulating. There can be no hair penetrating because there's a net over your head, it can't really get in that lace is covering up part of your braids that you know air, just air hitting it. Let your hair breathe. What works for me is I'm gon na do crochet hair, but then I'm going to wear my own hair and it's not Natural State and then, if I can, you know get into blowout season I can. I will never get my hair blown out before September. I got it blown out in April this year for a friend's wedding. I would have never done that for me, it's October November December January February, maybe March, and then I'm done with the flat. My hair can't do heat. My hair is not heat trained because it's used to being braided down, but it's important for my scalp to breathe it's very important for my scalp to just breathe with braids. Your scalp is breathing like just regular box braids. I am so tempted to next year. Next year, you're, probably gon na see a box braid and me you're, you're gon na probably see it and I'm gon na get it colored too. It'S gon na be a thing number five, deep conditioning. I think that goes without saying. I even talked about that. In my last two Vlogs, I deep condition my hair not guell enough, because my hair didn't turn out the way it needed to deep conditioned it midweek. The way I should have deep conditioned it, hair was flourishing. Hair was looking good. I know when my hair hasn't been deep, conditioned enough. I can. I can feel it. My hair tells me it responds it's like girl. We not moisturized, we not feeling it we're not going to play your games so make sure that you're taking the time to listen to your hair, your hair needs and seeing how your hair responds. Don'T just condition for five minutes. Sit there put a bag on your head. Put some heat on your head me. Sometimes I sit under a steamer. I need to do steamer but then sit with it for longer. That'S my issue, is I just under the steamer I was like steamer did what I need to do, I'm good to go. No, I need to steam and time in my deep condition, because it's deep is the penetration as well as in these deep in terms of length of time. My next tip know your hair is porosity, know your hair type and potentially take advice from people who have a similar hair type. That was an issue I had early in my natural days early in the natural days of me in 2013, when I first transitioned, I didn't have a lot to go off of, because I wasn't watching natural creators. I was watching people like Atia and Meg who both had relaxed hair. I didn't need to watch any natural creators, so when I first got into watching natural creators, I watched anybody who was natural. If you were natural, you were getting watched, whether you had 3A. 3B. 3C. 4A. 4B. 4C. You are natural to me, and so what you were saying was what applied I just was taking it. As you know, she's natural, I didn't care about your porosity or your texture. You were natural. I found myself watching a lot of people with 3B hair, the big bouncy beautiful curls, who were not my hair type and I was like well I'm buying the products. Why is it not working? You just have to follow the natural who best suits you. Do you have low porosity here or high porosity hair that that plays a factor in too like not even just texture, you might think. Well, I watch a 4A Creator. 4A with low porosity, because that's different for a with high porosity, I think I have a little bit of a medium porosity. Low porosity means, basically, you put products on your hair and it sits and it sits and it sits, and it's just sitting it's not going in it's just sitting on top of your hair, so your hair is not getting deep, conditioned going back to your deep condition. That'S why I use a steamer a lot of the times. It'S not because I have low porosity hair. My hair, I wouldn't put in a low porosity category. However, it's medium because it has that attribute of a low porosity where products will sit. They won't go through. They'Ll just be like it don't matter, we will be washed off in a minute. It opens up the follicles. It opens up the pores of your hair and allows the products to go in. So that's why I steam, I could not live without my steamer. That'S why? When I go to a stylist, I'm getting under that steamer, please put me under that steamer with high porosity. It'S the opposite products just go. They soak soak soak soak. The reason I don't say I have low porosity is because another thing that comes with low porosity is that your hair takes forever to get wet, takes forever to get wet. My hair doesn't necessarily take forever to get wet like if I dunk my head in water right now. I wouldn't there was a great video if I could find it on Tick. Tock I'll put it where this person beautifully just demonstrated what low porosity meant. I'M that way when it comes to products. So that's why I put myself in a medium porosity. My hair has that ability to get wet quickly, but products will just sit on that wetness. It will not go through the wetness of my hair. If that makes sense, not to say abandoned creators who don't have that same hair type and texture, but you sometimes get frustrated with watching somebody who might be biracial and has that type of texture, hair and you're like. Why isn't my hair? Looking like that girl girl sit down, my hair would look like Bianca Renee. I love her Channel. I love her personality. My hair will never be like Bianca Renee's Hair. I will never be able to change the structure of what is in My DNA to come to those curls, but I can still enjoy her content. I watch her videos but I love like Kimberly cherrell and De La Soul. They have almost identical textures and I get value out of watching their content and their hair, because I can imagine the same thing they're doing happening on my hair next night time. I harp on my nighttime routine. So often in my crochet hair reviews. I talk about it in every single video, every single video I hone in on nighttime routine, because that's so important, not just to the lasting power of your crochet hair, but to the lasting power of your own hair. I am not one of those cute cute people who is going to go to sleep and just like this, I'm gon na lay it on down like this. No, no, I don't care got married and single. I know some people do it because of cuteness because of cuteness like this isn't a bonnet is not sexy to bad, that's, not sexy. I don't care. Let'S revert back to number one. I care about my own hair over anything else. So I'm not going to not sleep with a scarf or a bonnet on some people. Do the pillowcase thing? That'S fine too, if you're like well, I can just lay this hair down on a pillowcase. That'S fine, too! For me, it just doesn't work. I don't like sleeping on pillows in general. I don't want to have to get a satin. You know bed sheets or anything like that, but I'm not a huge pillow sleeper. I don't know I'm not it's weird. I like hard. I sleep better on hard surfaces, so pillows aren't really my thing. However, I do sleep with the satin line, but I always have always will my next tip for me. Is I don't overuse heating tools? I do not overuse heating. I barely use heating tools. I mean my hair has seen a flat iron three times this year, we're in October end of October right now, so it saw it in January. I did an initial video. I did it. We had to have our hair. You know in a certain way for my friend's wedding, so I Did It For My Friend's Wedding and now it's straight right now. That'S it! I don't want heat damage. Heat damage was my huge issue, pre, probably getting into crochet hair. I was natural since 2013, but I was a heat natural there's, a difference between a natural natural and a heat natural. If you get blowouts all the time, you can still be natural. I still call myself a natural girl when I was getting my suppresses and all of that back in the day, you can't take my natural card away from me. There is no relaxer in here, however, my hair was extremely heat damaged. I think I did a wash and go. I wonder if I can find that picture back in 2015. What was I thinking? I wasn't that type of natural at that point, my hair didn't know what a curl was. It wasn't used to being braided up. It wasn't used to being anything. It was used to being straight. Your hair was straight girl. That'S all you did. What are you trying to do with this? Curly situation? Go. Get this mess out of here. Now it's the complete opposite, my hair hates this. It wants to be curly, so I love - and I love that more for me. I love that more for me, because old me wanted the versatility to do both. I want it to be a straight natural and then I want to be a curly natural. When I wanted to be - and I wanted to flow between both effortlessly, I think my hair does not work flowing between. It'S got to be one of the other, and if I choose one, it's going to be the curly, I think not over using heating tools has helped me again in my hair progression and my left retention and then finally, it's going to go into diet and food. I was not a water Drinker, I ain't even gon na count. I was never a water Drinker. I think, as I started to develop drinking my water, it did truly help and it make it so terribly. You guys know how I eat. I eat terribly in general. Diet plays a huge Factor, I'm not saying you got, ta eat carrots and celery sticks and all that, because you know I don't eat carrots and celery sticks like that, unless it's kind of like a dip assortment tray, I'm not just going out here buying these types Of you know produce. I think that it is important to factor in if you're not going to eat well drink that water, if you're not going to eat, particularly good, which I'm talking to myself. I do not eat particularly good factor in those things like water factor. In those things like vitamins, you guys know I talk about my caragami. I'Ve been taking my hair gummies for what six months now I mean it hasn't hurt they taste good. So it's like I'm popping candy and I was like I'll tell you guys if I'm seeing a huge difference in my hair - and I was like I still don't know if the gummies are what's causing a difference, but I'm gon na keep eating them because I don't Have a control like it's hard to do an experiment where you don't have a control like where I'm not eating the gummies and seeing how it grows and where I am eating the gummies to see how gross I'm just eating the gummies and seeing how it grows? And again I think my hair is longer than it was. You know this time last year for sure I'm at my bra starts here, so I think I'm at official bra strapless. Let me keep my head straight yeah. I think I'm at bra strap lift right now. Those are my tips and tricks for what has helped me with my hair growth and my retention. I'M not doing crochet hair and coming on here as somebody who has very little hair up under my crochet braids, and I'm trying to tell you to ruin your hair. Like oh, this is gon na, not work for you or doing it. Repetitively isn't going to work. I'M sharing my experience with it. If it were in any way destroying my hair, I would be that transparent with you. You guys know. I made a video about how the repeated nature of it, I think, was causing some breakage in my hair and now that I've slowed down on that repeated nature. That area I think I was in the video I was like talking about this area. It has grown since then, since that video, where I'm like holding it, so it's it's getting it's not to the length of where you know the rest of that hair is, it's definitely shorter. The breakage happened, but I think we're in a better place. Now I wasn't letting my hair breathe. I was getting caught up in the I'm, a crochet hair content creator. That'S all I can do all I can do all I can do Focus. I was so hyper focused on it that I felt like. If I didn't make that content, I was letting you guys down. I was letting you guys down. You guys were gon na abandon me you're gon na go away. If I said you know what I actually want to protect my hair, but no I I said you know what I'm gon na vary it up. You guys have responded well to my other content. That'S not crochet hair, my Vlogs! All of that you guys have been like we'll watch these other things. Don'T you worry about it, do what you got to do for the protection and the lasting power of your hair, because you're the only one who gets to live with it and you only get one scalp of hair do with it what's best for you, and so That'S exciting for me, so yes, I'm going back to crochet hair in a couple weeks, and if you want to see what hair I do next make sure that you are subscribed and you are logged in with that notification Bell. So you are notified when that video comes make sure. You also give this video a big thumbs up, I'm sure you already have and that you're following me on Instagram at lilavon89, so you can keep up with me it's sort of real time and then follow me on Tick Tock at Lea Lavon, which is also sort Of real time and I'll see you in my next video, thank you so much for watching