A bullshit free guide to growing and maintaining very long hair

There are several billion articles available on the internet on the subject of growing your hair and keeping it healthy. However most of them are only half the story and/or an excuse for someone to boast about their hair. When I was growing my hair I spent hours trawling article after article despairing over how to protect my hair and maximise growth, eventually I just gave up and tried what seemed logical, hint ; it worked. Now I'm going to relay what I did, or rather didn't do in the small hope that maybe it'll work for someone else. To start with, here is a picture of most of my hair:

As you can see, my hair is very thick, naturally wavyish, blonde, has no layers and is about waist length in this picture and has been braided, it is now hip length. In this picture it looks a little frazzled as my friend had been trying out braids on it and it hadn't been brushed prior to the photo. I'm 162cm tall.

I don't have the perfect hair and I have never claimed so. My hair gets split ends, flyaways and all the rest, just as everyone else's hair does. I have merely managed to grow my hair long enough to reach my hips and keep it healthy and now I'm going to shove that information in this post. 

Leave it the fuck alone

This will either come as a "well duh" point or a "REALLY?!" point. Leave your hair the fuck alone, leave it alone. Brush it once or twice a day, braid it, and leave it alone. This will keep your hair protected from getting caught on things like zips or other snaggy bits on clothing or your surroundings. Don't over-style it, don't heat treat it, don't heat style it, don't use rubber bands in it, don't use anything that will catch in it, just leave it the fuck alone.  Try not to dye it either, that can strip the hair badly, particularly bleaching or dying dark colours. 

Oil is your friend

Don't wash your hair every day. Try not to even wash it every two days, I have no shame in saying I wash my hair on Wednesdays and Sundays and that's it. Every day I brush the natural oils through my hair to protect and nourish it and flip my hair over to my head is turned upside down, and massage my scalp to remove any dead skin or oil build up so as not to get scalp infections (the brush will also help with this). The massage will also increase blood supply to your scalp and stimulate growth. After massaging my scalp I brush my hair again and add argan oil to the lower half of my hair; This is a particularly useful and important step for those with very curly hair or persons of colour as curly hair types are less oily and need coconut oil or argan oil to nourish them. Coconut and Argan oil will also make your hair smell soooo nice. 

Deep moisturising treatments aren't a myth

Hair masks and coconut oil deep treatments aren't a money making scheme, they work wonders for your hair. You can go for the most practical option and heat some coconut oil then smear it all over your hair and leave it over night or you can buy a moisturising mask for in-shower use and use it once a week instead of your regular conditioner. You will feel the difference, your hair will be soft and renewed and most important of all; protected. 

You don't NEED to trim your hair every six weeks

Now this one is a super popular piece of advice "Oh if you trim your hair every three to six weeks you'll have lovely long healthy hair" Bull.Shit. Your hair grows at a rate of about 6 inches per year or 1.25cm a month. If you cut off 3cm-1 inch every six weeks, guess what, your hair will either stay the same length or will get shorter and shorter. If you take care of your hair you won't need to have it trimmed anywhere near as often, I think that this myth has sprung up from the heavy use of straightening and curling irons and treatments in the last 40ish years. These things will rip your hair to shreds obviously and you'll have to get all the frayed ends cut off. If you take care of your hair and don't over style it (i.e don't style it every day) then you will be able to have your hair cut whenever you feel it needs tidied up, I personally get mine cut about twice a year and my stylist is amazed by the condition when I come to her. 

You have no optimal length

Most of us have a length at which our hair slows it's rate of growth or appears to stop. I'm not denying that. However I do feel that when we care for our hair properly there is no stopping our rate of growth, for example when I bleached and dyed my hair frequently, backcombed and styled it every day my hair would only grow to shoulder length or a little longer, now I have hip length hair since I stopped attacking it. 

Looking after your inside is as important if not more important than looking after the outside 

What you put in to your body, food, drink, time and exercise make a world of difference to your hair and nails. Try supplements and vitamins if you're struggling to balance things with your body. Eat well and consult a nutritionist, I found I was lacking in a few key vitamins that were hindering my skin, hair and nails. Now that I eat a healthy balanced diet my hair has grown like rapunzel and my nails are long and strong too. 

I do hope that some of these quick pointers will help you on your journey to long healthy hair. 

 -Amaris-

How to: Goth in Winter for cold countries

There are about 6 million tutorials and how to's that tell you Goth fashion is easy in winter because of thick fabrics and layers abilities. This is true for the Americas, South Asia and warmer parts of Europe, Oceania and East Asia but if you live in Scandinavia, the UK or Eastern Europe you will know what I mean when I say that these articles do not apply. Snow began here in mid November and won't let up 'til February or March at least. I'm afraid layering a few waterfall cardigans over a velvet dress isn't gonna do much for me. So here is a quick run down of what I do when we get the annual snow fall and how I incorporate practical items in to my look without looking like the Michelin man.

Base Layers

Now, Base Layers just scream long johns and granddad shirts, but it doesn't have to be! I wear a skin tight thermal base layer under everything I wear in winter, I own several in black and even one in white. The general base of my outfits consist of a long sleeved thermal layer or two if it's really really cold, one being a tight woven fabric and the other being made of a cotton fabric with a larger weave pattern so air circulates around your body and you don't end up coated in sweat if you get a little too warm (come on,it's not gross it's happened to us all and then it gets cold when you go outside and you end up colder), two pairs of thermal tights with leggings over the top and thick woollen socks (usually calf or knee length).

(Amazon sport base layer)

First Layer/ 'Fashion Layer'

This layer is really what you'd wear otherwise just with numerous thin thermal layers underneath. So I normally wear skirts and dresses with tights and a cardigan in summer. In winter I wear longer dresses in materials like velvet, heavy cotton, canvas or dresses with layers and layers of tulle or lace so you have a bit of a wind break whilst still looking like yourself. I wear almost exclusively long sleeved Dark Star or Bäres tops or Dresses in winter with a few older Omen velvet pieces that work well for special occasions.

(Dark Star)

Second Layer/ Extra Warmth Layer

This layer is for us Scandinavians, "But wait!" you may cry "My friend Johannes goes out in the snow in Seattle in just shorts" Well that's because Johannes is an idiot, and because from my experience nowhere in the world gets quite as cold as Scandinavia* in winter (apart from maybe Berlin, holy shit Berlin you are one cold city in winter). I also personally have always really felt the cold even in my youth and now having a chronic pain condition I feel it more than ever.  So this next layer is where you put on your black fitted Fjällräven cardigan or jumper or your long thick wool cardigan and give yourself a little extra protection from the biting ice wind.
*Sweden can be pretty survivable in winter

(Fjällräven hoodie, very warm and widely available in Scandinavia and online. I know there is a store in Oslo on your way down to the Port)

(Modcloth cardigan)

Outer Layer

I wear a Hot Tuna ski jacket in winter, it's duck down and really keeps me comfortably warm. If I want to look presentable I wear a floor length Wool, silk lined coat I had made by The Dark Angel (http://www.thedarkangel.co.uk/). Due to not wearing bulky layers I can still look nice and wear nice jackets in Winter whilst keeping warm against the elements. I wear New Rocks or knee length black leather boots at this time of year too.

(This is the exact jacket I wear when I want to look put together in Winter, it's wool and super warm. The company it's by are called Dark Angel and are based in the UK)

(This Hot Tuna jacket is the exact one I wear in Autumn/Winter. It's an amazing Ski Jacket)

Extras

Earmuffs look nicer and more sophisticated than hats in my opinion, invest in a good pair of gloves that you know look good and will keep you warm and a thick warm scarf that you can bury your face in against a snow storm or wind.

Good luck this winter, have a 'God Jul' with your family and friends and make sure to keep warm and look after yourself as the yearly flu season starts.

  Amaris