1. Wash your hair every other day: Or even better, try to only wash your hair three times a week if you dare. Washing your hair too often can strip away protective oils that keeps your hair shiny and healthy. If you have trouble with your roots being too oil, a good dry shampoo will take care of that and absorb your excess oil.Your hair will adjust eventually and not be so oily.
2. Cold water: Wash your hair in cool to cold water. It will help to fight frizz and close your hair cuticles which resemble roof shingles. The cuticles will lie flat when splashed with cold water. the smoothed cuticles reflect more light, making hair appear shinier and healthier (hot water leaves it rough and lackluster.) To keep the look, you want to seal it with a silicone-based serum. Some good options are John Frieda, Fekkai Glossing Cream, Living Proof.
3. Dry your hair carefully: After you get out of the shower, gently squeeze excess water from your hair and pat dry with a soft towel. Don’t rub or massage wet hair with a towel. Spray with leave-in conditioner. Comb your hair with a wide-toothed comb to work through tangles. Try to let your hair air dry as much as possible.
4. Use a leave-in conditioner: After you get out of the shower, and before you brush out your hair, spray in or rub in your leave in conditioner to avoid ripping through your tangles and creating strands to break off. Some good choices are Bed head, Paul Mitchell, Sexy Hair, or Kerastase.
5. Don’t use heat: This can be difficult, but essential if you want your hair to grow strong and thick. Try using non-heat tools to style. For example, sock bun curls, non-heat curlers, pillow curlers, braids, and air drying with some homemade sea salt spray for beach wavy look.
6. Blow dry your hair gently: If you do blow dry your hair, use a cooler setting. Be sure to always use a thermal protectant on your hair before styling with heat. Blow-dry with a nozzle attachment, keeping the airflow angled down the shafts to smooth the cuticles. Some good thermal protection options, Chi, Alterna Bamboo, John Frieda.
7. Avoid chemicals: Try to avoid hair dyes, relaxers. If you must dye your hair try henna. It can do a great job without killing your hair. Here is a fantastic tutorial on dyeing your hair with henna and the results. Choosing healthier products will prevent your hair from getting dull and dry while its growing out.
8. Pick better shampoo and conditioner: Use shampoo that doesn’t contain sulfates. Also avoid conditioning products that contain silicone. Sulfate-free shampoo products, AG Shampoo, Bed Head, Living Proof. Some silicone-free conditioner’s; Kiehls, Loreal, Redken.
For males, using a thickening shampoo for men is specifically designed to help enhance the health of hair, helping it grow quicker and thicker.
9. Trim split ends: It is important to trim your hair when you are growing it out, but only trim when it is needed. It is okay to skip your 6 week trim if your ends are strong and healthy.
10. Eat well: Eating a healthy diet (avoid these 4 diet mistakes) will help hair grow faster, thicker and shinier. Be sure to get plenty of vitamin B, found in fruits, veggies and nuts to keep hair thick and strong.
Fill up your diet (avoid these mistakes) with leafy greens, fresh fruit, wild-caught fish, and nuts and watch your hair grow more vibrant. Protein is the building block for your hair. Omega-3s like salmon, olive oil, nuts and avocados can help keep hair glossy, smooth and looking its healthiest.
11. Drink plenty of water: Hydrating your body can help hydrate your hair. Try to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day and avoid drinks that can dehydrate you.
12. Biotin (5000 mcg a day): promotes healthy skin, hair and nail growth. Nature Made Biotin.
13. Folic Acid: You can take folic acid without taking a prenatal vitamin. You will get all the nutrients to promote healthy hair and skin. Nature Made Folic Acid.
14. Let your hair down: Avoid hairstyles that are tight and can cause breakage, like tight ponytails or buns. Rubber bands or hair ties can break your hair. Here is a post that talks more about it: How Your Pony Tail is Making You Bald.
15. Massage your scalp: Give yourself a scalp massage 2-3 times a week to for 10 minutes to increase blood flow to the scalp and promote hair growth. A good way to do this is while washing your hair, or have significant other massage your scalp. Talk about the best day ever!
Thanks for the tips, I also did a blog post like this not to long ago on my blog. But, you had some tips that I didn’t mention and vice versa. I am going to use the last one about the head massage with my husband to get him to massage my head. He likes long hair so he needs to help with getting it to grow, right???……LOL!!!
Definitely NO heat! I’d suffered total embarrassment for a very long time because of ironing my hair.
DON’T USE ANY SILICONE PRODUCTS! Or anything with silicone or silica. This coats the hair strands and makes them heavy and unable to absorb nutrients! They may look shiny but it’s like smothering your face in make up all the time. Yes I know hair is basically dead keratin formed into strands. Also there is no need to get a cut every 6 weeks, this depends entirely on how fast your hair grows! Some people can grow up to 2 inches and some only half an inch a month. Yes go to a good quality hairdressers to get your hair and scalp analyzed so they can recommend products that suit your hair type but not every 6 weeks, if your hair only grows half an inch every month you will be loosing hair!