Hair Growth Tips

Hello!

When I was fifteen I went through a crazy phase of dying my hair every colour I could think of. This process involved a lot of bleach and by the time I was sixteen I had to have my hip length hair cut to above my shoulders as the damage I had done was irreversible. Needless to say, I was devastated. Short hair does not suit me, I have chubby cheeks and a baby face and long hair evens it out pretty well, when my hair is short I look like a very full chipmunk.

If you do cut your hair and then dislike it my advice would be just get hair extensions. Your hair will grow back, even if it does take some time to do so. If you're that upset about it extensions are an option, but I also suggest embracing your short hair because it won't be forever - hypocritical as I bought extensions within a week of cutting my hair and haven't looked back since.

I'm eighteen now and it's only in the last couple of months my hair has started to grow again. For a year and a half it just didn't seem to get past my shoulders and so I did a bit of research and completely changed my haircare routine and the little things I was doing that I didn't even know was damaging to my hair. My hair now falls on my chest quite nicely and is a good length for me for everyday. I still wear my extensions for special occasions, but I am so much more confident with a bit more length back to my hair.

The first thing I started doing was washing my hair less and in a different way. Everytime you shampoo your hair your stripping your hair of it's natural oils, and oils are what hair needs to be healthy and shiny, and healthy hair is hair that grows! I now wash my hair every three days, and it does take some getting used to and a lot of dry shampoo to begin with, but eventually your hair gets used to it and doesn't produce too much oil too often. By continuously washing your hair your hair will produce more oil to compensate, therefore making it greasy faster! Also, when I condition my hair I only distribute it to the ends. Your roots already have it's natural oils, any more and it'll get greasy a lot quicker. Just use a generous amount from your ear lobes downwards and it'll be plenty.

My next tip would be don't brush your hair when it's wet! If you have incredibly tangled hair and need to, invest in a wet brush as the bristles are specifically designed to be less damaging to wet hair. When your hair is wet it's very brittle and at it's weakest, so if you're dragging a brush through it it'll cause more of it to fall out than is necessary leaving you with fine, lifeless hair, and it'll also be extremely damaging to the hair that stays on your head and can cause breakages.

If you can let your hair dry naturally and try to use heat stylers as few times as possible throughout the week. I try to not use any heat on my hair throughout the week and instead I'll use a sea salt spray to give it some texture and some style without the damage. This makes a huge difference! If you do need to use styling tools, always use a heat protectant. Find one that you're happy with and spray it on generously before you apply heat. If it's a wet spray you're using make sure it's all sunk in and your hair is dry before styling or else you'll just fry your hair anyway. Another point here would be never, ever use styling tools on your hair when it is not 100% dry. Your hair will frazzle and be unmanageable and you'll end up spending more time trying to get it to look nice than if you'd just waited for it to be 100% dry.

Something I've also been doing is tying my hair up in a ponytail as often as possible. When I'm asleep, when I'm in work, when I'm just with my friends, when I'm on my own in my house. Having your hair up may sound stupid, but it actually pulls at the roots promoting hair growth. The challenge here though is that if it's a super tight ponytail it can cause breakage once again so you have to find a balance when using this trick.

Drinking water also helps. Water helps with everything, but it does make for longer, thicker, shinier looking hair. I aim to drink as much water as possible everyday and you will notice a difference, if not in length then in the texture and look of your hair.

So far all of these tips have been free and just slight lifestyle changes to make a difference. My last tip is something that you'd have to go out and buy if you don't have one already, but it's hair oils and masks. When you find a good hair oil or mask they really are worth it. I'm not going to go into too much detail with products I use - hence why I missed out my specific sea salt spray and heat protectant of choice - because I will do a personal to me hair care routine as soon as possible, but one I will suggest that I've been really enjoying recently that isn't too expensive is Macadamia Healing Oil Spray. The Macadamia range in general is fantastic, they have some brilliant hair masks as well and I'd advise looking into them for some hair care products. I usually use the oil when my hair is damp and it soaks into the hair follicles really well and leaves them soft, shiny and reduces any split ends, but I also reapply it to the end of my hair once my hair has been styled to add back in any moisture lost through heat and also to tame any frizz or split ends.

Hopefully this will help any short haired ladies out there that have had enough, but like I said before, it won't last forever but if you can't embrace it at the time there are options out there for you!

Until next time,

Lauren x