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How Can I Reduce Shrinkage So My Hair Looks Longer?
Since our hair is curly, there will always be some shrinkage. The shorter our hair, the more shrinkage you will probably will experience. As our hair gets longer, it will begin weighing itself down at the scalp, but your ends will always shrink up some because they are often the curliest part of your hair (which makes them the most beautiful part of our hair as far as I'm concerned). And it does take a few years before our hair starts weighing itself down at the scalp (the ends usually stay curly, and it's the ends that weigh down the rest of your hair as you get more length. Length=weight).

For me, it was the moment I left in a good, heavy conditioner that my hair suddenly hung down instead of puffing out. I discovered leaving the conditioner in my hair when it was past my shoulders, though, so I already had some length. But it was leaving in that conditioner that's made the biggest difference in making my hair hang down instead of puff in humidity. That and putting it up at night.

If you braid up your hair in a braid or two, or a few buns at night and sleep on them, this (plus leaving in a good combing conditioner) will help stretch out your curls. I think this would be worth a try. Braid your hair up firmly (without pulling too tightly) when it's dry. After you sleep on your hair overnight, then undo it in the morning and don't comb, brush, fingercomb your hair, your curls will look more stretched out.

In the morning, you don't have to wet your hair to refresh if you don't want to. Especially if you've put your hair in braids at night, you may get a bit of the wavy braid texture in your hair. If you're washing your hair about once a week, and if you braid up your hair every night, it will hang longer and longer as the week progresses.

I'm not sure of your routine with your hair, but if you're wanting length, it's best not to refresh your curls during the week, or use only a little water. Since water helps our curls spring back up (which I love, but if what you want is a looser curls), refreshing your hair less often or not at all between washes, and braiding it at night will keep your curls stretched out.

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