All women want beautiful, long, healthy hair. This is not surprising, long hair is a sign of elegance and feminism. Of course, hair can sometimes take a while to grow, unless you do it the right way. If you find your hair takes a long time to grow, here are some simple tips to get it to grow it quickly.
1. Remember that your hair won’t grow long overnight
“Hair usually grows only about a quarter inch – up to a half inch – in a month,” explains celebrity hairdresser Mark Townsend, who helped Ashley Olsen lengthen her asymmetrical bob all the way to her waist. “And that’s only if your hair is healthy and doesn’t have a ton of split ends.” In short, practice your patience.
2. Ironically, scissors are your friend
Although cutting your ends won’t make your hair grow quicker, this will keep the ends healthier and help keep split ends from getting bigger and bigger which forces you to cut your hair more often. “If you wait too long until your hairs split all the way to the top, your hair will be shorter than if you cut them normally”, says Townsend, who suggests stylists to only cut 1/8 of an inch every 10-12 weeks to avoid you from getting split ends.
3. Use conditioner every time you wash your hair with shampoo
“If your hair is wet, this means that you need to use a conditioner”, explains Townsend. “Over time, with coloration and heat, strands start to get thinner. Conditioner helps to replace lipids and proteins inside your hairs and to seal the cuticle to avoid more damage from happening in order that your hair stays longer and healthier longer”, he explains.
4. And don’t wash your hair every time you take a shower
“It is shocking for me to see how many women skip the conditioner step during their shower, which is the worst thing you can do for your hair – especially when you’re trying to take care of them. It is actually the shampoo step that you should skip more often” according to Townsend. Here is why: the goal of shampoo is to wash out the dirt and the styling product accumulation from your hair but it can also remove all the good and natural oils from your scalp that keep your hair soft and healthy. When you really need to put shampoo, be more careful with your hair by only lathering your scalp and then simply letting the bubbles slide down your strands when rinsing your hair.
5. Rinse your hair in cold water at the end of your shower
“This really helps to grow hair and keeps them long and healthy longer”, says Townsend. “Cold water fixes the exterior coat more easily, which helps prevent loss of humidity, knots and damaged caused by heat – you only have to do it for a couple of seconds but this step can make a huge difference on your hair.
6. Do an oil treatment or a hair mask once a week
Shoulder length or longer hair have probably been on your head for a long time and probably need a little bit more of TLC than just a normal conditioner. Townsend suggests using masks and oils with low humidity every week. “I do a natural treatment with oils and I suggest to all my clients to use a pre-shampoo”, explains M. Townsend (His recipe consists of 1 cup non-refined coconut oil mixed with 1 tablespoon of almond, macadamia and jojoba oil). Since oils can leave a residue on the hair, he says to apply the mask on humid hair and then to wash it out with a shampoo and conditioner like you do normally. “These oils are able to fill strands with fatty acids, then once rinsed, a regular shampooing helps to seal them inside the hair”, added Townsend.
7. Think to try supplements to stimulate hair growth
Your body needs many essential nutrients to create new healthy hairs. So, have a look at your diet – because, even though you have a balanced diet, you cannot obtain the right quantity of all the nutritive elements necessary to have healthy hair that can grow for a long time and resist damage. “I take Viviscal Extra Strength tablets and biotin every day and I also tell my clients to take some every day – especially if they want their hair to grow quickly and ensure they are healthy right when they come out of the follicle”, explains Townsend. Before starting to take supplements, it is preferable to see your family doctor. So you can make sure that you take the right amount and that they won’t interfere with other medication you take.
8. Delicately brush your hair
A constant brushing can cause physical damage to your hair. “When you’re getting rid of knots in your wet hair, make sure you start by the bottom and gently go up until you reach your scalp – we often instinctively go from top to bottom but this transforms smalls knots into big knots and can make us lose a lot of hair” explains Townsend. He also suggests using a natural boar bristle brush because these brushes are good to distribute your scalp’s natural oils all over your hair and are soft on your strands.
9. Forget about sleeping on a cotton pillowcase
Townsend uses a satin or silk pillowcase because the surface is softer and won’t cause friction like cotton ones do regularly on your hair. This way, you will wake up with fewer knots and frizz.
10. Take a break from your iron and styling products
Give your hair a break from hot styling tools, chemical relaxers or all other tools and products that can cause a lot of damage to your hair. The healthier the hair, the quicker they will grow.
Source:
Cosmopolitan
