Monday, September 19, 2011

Long Locks Without Pills!

Hey everyone! So, I've been trying to grow my hair out for the past year and a half now. I got it cut above my shoulders my freshman year of college and have tried and tried to get it back to being super long.

I found the secret to getting my hair down to my mid-back without the use of biotin, prenatal vitamins, horse shampoo, or any other treatments that are supposed to make your hair rapidly grow. It may not work for everyone, but I have noticed a HUGE difference in the length of my hair since I started doing this routine. I hope it helps!

Step 1: Get the right shampoo and conditioner. Stop using shampoos with lots of scents and harsh chemicals. You've probably noticed that most lines now have Sulfate-Free shampoo and conditioner sets. Sulfate is a chemical found in most shampoos that enhance the scents in your shampoo. Herbal Essences, Garnier Fructis and Aussie are a couple of the top lines that are mainly purchased because of the way they make your hair smell. However, these brands are filled with sulfate and damage your hair in the long run. Sulfate-Free shampoos don't strip your hair of natural oils like those with sulfate do, and really make your hair feel lighter and healthier. If you want your hair to continue smelling good, use a smoothing serum after styling with a desired scent, or spritz some perfume into your locks.

Step 2: Stop washing every day! Even with sulfate-free shampoo, when you wash your hair every day, you strip your hair of natural oils that help stimulate the scalp which helps your hair grow. And when you wash every day and strip the oils, your scalp will continually produce more, causing your hair to look greasy on the days you do skip. Instead of washing every day, wash every 2-3 days. If your hair starts looking greasy, use a dry shampoo or baby powder to soak the oil up. Once you start training your hair, it will look less greasy on days you skip. What I do is wash/condition my hair, skip a day (use a cap in the shower or just put it in a high bun), then just use conditioner on the third day. Then, repeat the cycle.

Step 3: Protect your hair. The products you use before styling are crucial. It's preference if you want to use a root boosting spray, mousse, gel, etc., but I always stress to others to always use a leave-in conditioner and heat protecting spray or serum before any heat is applied. Before blow drying while my hair is still wet/damp, I use Aussie's leave-in-conditioner (it also helps my hair smell good) and focus mainly on my ends. For heat protectant, I use Tresemme's Heat Tamer Spray (best one I've found so far) and use on each section before blow drying and then I do it again before straightening or curling. As everyone knows, heat causes breakage and split ends, which can leave your hair looking nasty. Using a heat protectant will significantly help prevent that.

Step 4: Adjust heat settings. If you have fine hair, you shouldn't have your curling iron or straightener on the highest setting or else it will bring serious damage. Here is the rule of thumb for your hair type:

Fine hair: 250-300 degrees
Medium thickness, wavy/curly hair: 300-350 degrees
Thick, curly hair: 350-400 degrees
Very curly, coarse hair: 400-450 degrees

Step 5: Get a trim. For anyone trying to grow their hair out, they hate to face this fact. Go to a stylist you trust to get a trim, as in, go to one that will cut off 1/2 inch of dead ends and not 2 inches of what you're working so hard on! You can even do it yourself. Just check out YouTube for some DIYs. Why do you need a trim though? Not only does trimming your hair keep your ends looking chic, but it also gets rid of split ends and breakage. When split ends and broken ends aren't trimmed, they get all the way to your roots and stop your hair from growing. Try to shoot for a trim every 6-8 weeks or so.

By doing the above, my hair has significantly grown and looks/feels (is) much healthier! In just 4 months, my hair has grown about 3 inches. Before I started taking care of my hair and scalp, it took maybe 7 or 8 months for it to grow that much. I hope these tips help you, no matter what hair type you have.

Good luck beyouties!

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