Creating a haircare regimen can be an exciting as well as a daunting task. We all know that having a great haircare regimen and sticking with it is one of the key factors to retaining length.

Here are 5 tips you can use to create your haircare regimen:

1. Start simple. Don’t add a lot to your list at once. Keep it simple, wash, condition, moisturize, seal and style. Figure out how often you need to do these 5 steps and work from there.

2. Trial and error. Learn from what doesn’t work. Just because you read that co-washing is great for someone else that doesn’t mean it’s going to be great for you. Try it and if your hair doesn’t like something, move on.

3. Don’t trim. Learn how to spot split ends and what causes them for your hair. Don’t make the mistake of trimming too often, you will end up cutting off healthy hair and length. Some people only trim once a year, others twice a year. Basically, don’t worry about trimming just yet, that’s putting the cart before the horse.

4. Water, water and more water. You can have all the products in the world and have soft hair but, if you aren’t both drinking and applying water to your hair, you won’t get the proper moisture your hair needs. Make sure you’re moisturizing and conditioning your hair often.

5. Patience. You can deep condition every week, moisturize and seal every night, protective style every month but, if your hair only grows 1/2 inch a month, it’s only going to grow a 1/2 inch a month. Just be patient.

Here is a simple beginner regimen you can use as an example:

• Wash and condition once a week.
• Detangle on wash day.
• Moisturize and seal 2-3 times a week. 
• Deep condition once a month.

Keeping things simple will help you get a better idea of what works and what doesn’t, without having to weed through a bunch of products or a lengthy regimen.