I haven’t straightened my hair since deciding to go natural 7 years ago, and after avoiding heat and following all the #curlygirl rules, I have some thoughts! 👀 While my hair definitely wasn’t retaining this much length when I wore it exclusively straight, I still thought I would’ve retained more from this many years of being #heatfree 🫠 If you’re in the same boat of doing the WORK & still not seeing much #lengthretention, here are some of my updated tips & takeaways: 1. Bleaching my hair was cute, but it didn’t do it any favors! 🙃 Going back to dark hair last month made me realize how much I really put my hair thru with highlights over the last 5 years. While there’s a lot you can do to care & love on your lightened hair, sadly it won’t be as strong as our natural hair. 🥲 But keep the Olaplex & weekly deep conditioning treatments rolling because they DO help! 2. Trims! ✂️ I’ve learned that one of the best ways to retain length with natural hair is to get those ends trimmed 2x/year. I’ve had fun with all the shapes and curly cuts, but with length retention as the goal, simple routine end-maintenance is the move! 3. Low Manipulation / Protective Styles. Drop your favorite low maintenance & protective styles in the comments! This year I def want my hair styling to be giving *less is more* What are your goals in this season of your #hairjourney? 💗