People alwaysss say, "my hair doesn't grow, it never gets any longer..." okay first of all, you're hair definitely does grow if you have to get your weave retouched every month. even if you don't notice much regrowth, that can be because the sun is lightening it a little. Or if you don't color your hair, you're not going to physically see evidence that it's growing, but it definitely is. By textbook definition, a healthy scalp grows hair 1/2 inch a month. On average, I would say hair grows about 1/4 up to one inch a month. Just depending on the person. My hair, for example.... i color it when i have 1/4ishh inch of regrowth which usually takes about 5,6 weeks... it sucks. but your hair definitely grows. if it's not getting any longer, that means it's BREAKING OFF. So.. what can you do to successfully grow your hair longer? Well here ya go, my brilliantly thought up list.
1. don't pull off your split ends.... just don't do it. if you break them off, it's just going to keep breaking up the hair shaft, therefore making your hair shorter (go figure). the only way to stop the hair from breaking is to cut off the dry, damaged ends.
2. Get a "dust". That's what they're calling it in salons. It's a little baby baby split end trim. it makes absolutely no sense to me why people don't want trims because they're "growing it out". you're going to loose more length off of your hair if it's dead, fried and breaking it off than if you just get a tiny but off. with a successful "dust" every couple weeks, you wont even notice any length off afterwards, but it will do wonders for your hair.
3. Proper product. split ends are caused by dehydration. which is caused by damage due to chemicals (color), heat styling (blow dryers, FLAT IRONS, curling irons..) or weather exposure (sunlight mostly). Or possibly even product buildup can cause your hair to dry out. but not many people struggle with that unless you use heavy mousses or gels everyday. Products help sooo much with preventing and even repairing split ends.And good products DO NOT have to cost a lot. Here's a quick basic product guide. There's some of my personal favorites which might be kind of expensive, but just remember that everything in Sally's is good. and cheap.
- CONDTIONERS. Start with a good conditioner, it makes all the difference in the world. If you have split ends, remember that means your hair is dry. if you're getting breakage around your face, that means your hair is dry. So don't pull the, "i can't use too much conditioner because my hair gets greasy fast" line. my hair gets greasy fast too, okay? that doesn't mean you should skimp on conditioners. conditioner goes on the ends of your hair, you're not rubbing it on your scalp. remember that your hair gets greasy because your scalp produces oils to keep your hair healthy. washing it everyday is going to strip your hair of it's natural oils, especially on the ends. therefore, even if you have greasy hair, breakage and split ends means your hair needs moisture, aka a good conditioner. DON'TS: basically anything in the grocery store that's probly in your shower right now... Aussie, Herbal Essences, Suave (ekk), etc. The best of the grocery store brands, i would say, is Tresseme. So if you insist on grocery store conditioner... that would be the best option. look for a intense moisturizing, something like that. Just remember not to trust what it says on the bottle. Suave could have a "Split End Repair, Ultra Moisture" conditioner. that doesn't mean crap. they can name it whatever they want, that doesn't mean it works. Grocery store Conditioners are usually made with wax. Which, at first, will make your hair soft and shiny. but after a couple of weeks, that wax is going to build up on your hair and make it dry, dull and brittle. DO's: basically any moisturizing, damage control conditioner in sally's is going to be safe. they are a little bit more expensive... but come on. a decent sized bottle of Biotera (my fav sally's brand) is 11 bucks. you can do that. *My own personal favorite conditioners: -Moroccan Oil basic conditioner. It's a lot of money, but i swear the stuff works miracles. -Schwarzkopf moisture kick shamp/conditioner line.
-LEAVE IN PRODUCTS. I see as a necessity. Most people don't use any sort of leave in product, but if you're having a breakage problem, you need to. here's what to look for: -leave in conditioners. basically anything is better than nothing. i use a tresseme leave in conditioner sometimes and i actually like it a lot.. Personal favs: Healthy Sexy Hair- Soy leave in conditioner. It's a 10-Light leave in conditioner. (any of the It's a 10 leave in products are fabulous)***protein treatments** if you're hair's breaking, that means it needs protein. especiallyyyy if you have bleached/lightened/blonde hair. look for a product that advertises keratin or protein. again, i'm sure there's something in sally's. basically any decent product that says anything about breakage or split ends.. is probably going to have some protein based ingredient in it. my personal favorites: It's a 10- Leave in plus Keratin. Redkin-break fix. -any hair oil type of thing. just for the ends of course, dont let the word 'oil" scare you. any product that says, Argan is probably good. My personal favs: Moroccan Oil treatment (of course). i've also tried the Nuema argan treament.. it's alright. sally's has an Argan Oil treatment. it's so cheap.. like 10 bucks for a huge bottle that will last your whole life. the only thing is, it doesnt soak into your hair very good, so it might leave the ends greasy, depending on how dry your hair is. BUT, that would be great to put on your hair nights before you wash it. any chance your hair's going to have to suck it up will be beneficial. another crazy idea... when my hair was super dry and fried from bleach, i would put vaseline on the ends at night and then wash it out in the morning. it sounds disgusting but i swear it works. remember that vaseline isn't going to moistuize, it's simply a protectant. which means it will keep the moisture that is in your hair, in your hair. so it's great to use at night or when your laying out by the pool when your hair's going to look nasty anyways, just to protect it from drying out even more. espesh when you're outside in the heat and sunlight.
*keep in mind that products that advertise as smoothing, sleek, shinny, etc. don't necessarily ave good stuff in them. the main ingredient in stuff like that is silicone. which does absolutely nothing for the health of your hair. all it does is coat your hair with a layer on plastic basically. which doesn't really do any damage... there's some high end products that are silicon based. but silicone wont have any long term, recovery affects on your hair.
-DEEP CONDITIONERS- self explanitory. go into sally's and pick out one that looks good.
-HEAT PROTECTANTS- i really only think those are needed if you're flat ironing your hair every day with a chi.. but if you do that, def use a thermal protectant.
4. Help your hair to actuallyyy grow. -minty shampoos stimulate the scalp. my favs: Nioxin (the basic hair growth shampoo line) or Paul Mitchel Tee Tree shamp (Sally's has a great knock off of this, it's good and cheap!) -massage your scalp. scalp stimulation=increased blood flow=hair growth. also try using a natural bristle brush (most round brushes are natural bristle, that's the soft, kind f scratchy bristle) to brush your actual scalp. increased blood flow. but maybe try that right bfore you wash it because natural bristle brushes also scrape off dead skin flakes and spread oil.. so you're going to have a nasty, oily, scaly mess when you're done.
5. Make you'r hair strong. -use protein/keratin based products. -eat protein -maybe try a skin/hair/nails vitamin
