It’s frustrating when you’re ready for a change in your hairstyle and want longer hair. Unfortunately, getting long hair is a long process and doesn’t happen overnight.
While waiting for your hair to grow, there are ways to help things along. Follow these tips to get your hair in the best condition possible, which means it will grow stronger and quicker than ever before.
You are what you eat.
Beauty starts from within. In other words, if you eat the right diet, your hair will reap the rewards. The right diet means protein-rich foods that are high in healthy vitamins and minerals (Vitamins A, B, C, and E, iron, selenium, zinc, copper and magnesium).
If you don’t have a balanced diet in your everyday life, consider taking multivitamin tablets. If you prefer a single vitamin or mineral tablets supplement, opt for Vitamin B-complex.
Ensure that your diet includes ‘good’ foods such as salmon, spinach, eggs, milk, avocado and lots of fruit. The shaft of the hair is made up of 3% omega-3 fatty acids. This can be found in foods such as fish, walnuts, olive oil and flax seeds, so try and squeeze them in to your eating routine.
If you are deficient in some vitamins or minerals, this is terrible for hair growth and stimulation and can lead to hair loss or thinning. Your diet is the first thing you need to take a good look at if you want your hair to grow quickly and healthily; often, it only needs a few tweaks and considerations when buying your groceries and cooking.
Give your lifestyle some TLC.
Make sure you treat yourself with Tender Loving Care! It’s not only your diet that is key to healthy and shiny hair, but other factors in your everyday life. Ensure you drink plenty of water and stay well hydrated, sleep well, exercise and stay away from excessive sun.
Stress can cause hair loss, so try to identify the triggers that cause you stress and minimize them. Ways to combat stress include yoga, breathing exercises and meditation or even taking long strolls on a mountain, forest or beach. Look after yourself, and your hair will thank you for it.
Don’t be afraid to cut.
People trying to grow out their hair tend to stay away from hairdressers altogether, but the truth is, you should visit the salon every 8-12 weeks for a trim.
Regular trims will help to prevent split ends and improve the condition of your hair. So, while it might look a bit shorter straight after having the chop, it’ll grow thicker and faster as a result.
This is how to wash your hair.
You don’t always need to shampoo your hair when you wash it, but you absolutely must condition it.
Shampoo washes away dirt and the build-up of products in the hair and it is important to keep hair clean, but each time you use shampoo, it also strips away natural oils that keep your hair strong. Be gentle with your locks, especially when lathering up shampoo, and don’t over-wash your hair.
Finish each hair-wash with a cold water rinse (if you are brave enough). Cold water helps to smooth the outer layer of hair and prevents heat damage and moisture loss. Don’t worry: you don’t need to keep your head under for more than a few seconds to do the job!
Conditioner is your friend when you want to grow out your hair. It helps to replace proteins inside the hair shaft and seals them to prevent everyday damage to your hair.
Consider applying an oil mask hair treatment weekly when growing your hair. You’ll find numerous articles online with great homemade recipes to save you money.
Be gentle with your hair.
We get into so many bad hair habits, including brushing our hair furiously, rubbing wet hair with a towel, using heat on our hair with no heat protectant spray and more. Your hair is delicate so treat it as though it is fragile and needs very gentle care and attention.
At night, swap your cotton pillowcase for a satin one, which causes less friction and fewer hair tangles. Tease wet hair with a wide-toothed comb, never brush it when wet and avoid sticking a big cotton towel on wet hair to absorb moisture.
Again, this can cause breakages and if you are growing your hair out, you need it in the best possible condition.
The same goes for hair styling. If you wear your hair in the same low ponytail day in and day out, you need to switch it up—the hair bobble will cause the hair to break after time. Anything that breaks the hair will prevent it from growing as quickly as it could and should.
Choose the right treatments for your hair.
There are lots of hair growth masks and supplements on the market, but many are just out to take your money and do very little to improve the rate at which your hair grows. Usually, you can also get the same results yourself for much cheaper. What you do need to do though is improve the condition of your hair.
There are lots of conditioning masks you can whip up at home, including an egg mask (google for recipes), and castor oil is a good addition. This oil is rich in vitamin E and essential fatty acids so it is known to improve hair growth and condition.
Mix it in with another oil such as coconut or almond oil and massage it into your scalp. Leave it for around half an hour and then shampoo your hair. In fact, it’s a good idea to massage your hair on a daily basis whether you wash it or not.
Massage helps to improve circulation and blood flow to the scalp, which stimulates hair growth. Make small, circular motions with your finger tips to stimulate the hair follicles, but do not rub too hard or this could cause breakages, which is the opposite of what you desire.
Other advice includes simply flipping your hair upside down for a few minutes a day to promote hair growth as it improves circulation. If that feels a bit odd, just try sitting with your head between your legs and get the blood to your scalp. Apparently this works wonders!
Slowly does it.
Hair grows at about a quarter to half an inch a month. It needs to be healthy, shiny and in top notch condition to grow. This means minimizing breakages, hair loss/thinning and split ends.
You need to be patient as the process is very slow. Don’t expect miracles. In the meantime, why not consider investing in clip-in hair extensions. This way you can simply create the look you are working towards before you have the real thing.
If you follow the tips above, you won’t suddenly wake up the next day with hair down to your waist (unfortunately), but you will begin the process of improving your health and well-being and the way in which you care for your hair.
Be gentle with yourself and your hair will benefit from the care and respect you show yourself. While you wait for it to grow and give it the best chance possible, you can spend time deciding which hairstyles you will try out once your hair is fully grown out. Good luck!
Have you grown out your hair? Can you add any advice to the article above? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!
Please help. My hair has always been my pride and joy. I figured since it is pretty damn healthy, it could deal with some bleach damage. And I figured the master stylist who did all the color-corrections would know how much would be too much. I was wrong, and now I want to burst into tears every time I look at my hair or touch it. I just don’t know what to do. My hair has also NEVER been shorter than this and it breaks and falls out. What should I do to regrow hair?