Tips on Growing Hair:

I've been making a real conscious effort to grow my hair over the past year, and over that time I've found a fair few tricks that I feel have really helped, people I see often have commented about how fast my hair seems to be growing since I had to get my hair cut really short in October, because of the horrible condition it was in after the worlds worst hairdresser practically hacked it to death!

The best tip I feel I could give you, because it's worked amazingly for me already has its own blog post and it's simply going as long as possible without washing it. I go into lots of detail in the blog post, but in short it allows your hair to nourish itself with its own natural oils which promotes growth. 

Another tip a friend gave me is to keep your hair down as much as you can, I have to say I don't quite understand how this works but my friend's hair grows insanely fast, she had her hair cut far shorter than me around the same time and it's already nearing her waist, so I'm taking her word for it and mixing that with not washing it too often and it seems to make a real difference.

I also recommend using restorative and repairing shampoo and conditioner as opposed to ones that simply claim to add shine or texture. As those who claim to add shine simply put a coat over the hair so the light will bounce off it and those which add body and texture can be damaging and drying as the products they put in those shampoos and conditioners are to give a more matte and messy effect, whereas those who repair and protect will contain more ingredients that want to heal broken hair, meaning each time you get a hair cut you wont need as much taken off.

Along the same cord when you use a hair mask if you can leave it in for much longer than the bottle says. Whenever my hair is feeling particularly dry I'll put a hair mask in and leave it there for hours, my record is 8. I know some people also sleep in masks but I don't particularly like the thought of that, if you can though I would recommend trying it. Again, this will keep your hair in good condition meaning you wont need to cut too much off. 

A lot of people seem to think that when you're growing your hair you shouldn't cut it, but that isn't the case. You should still get regular cuts, just make sure they're trims. Although don't be annoyed if when you ask your hairdresser cuts off more than you expect when you say you only want the split ends off, because the split end is only where the tip of the dead part is, to truly have nothing but good quality living hair you need to cut a couple of centimetres above where the split is.

Whilst on the subject of keeping your hair in good condition is just to try to damage it as little as possible, is simply to look after it! No heat, no dying it and no back combing. You'll be surprised how much difference it makes, when I was in my mid teens I was very self-conscious about the fact I had curly hair and I straightened it obsessively every day and my hair always felt just awful, but now it feels so much better.

Olive oil is often recommended when people want to grow their hair or nails, I know of people who soak their hair in it for hours and hours then wash out the residue, as it all soaks into the hair and nourishes it as well as promoting growth. Also to promote growth, try massaging your scalp as much as possible. This stimulates the blood flow in the scalp promoting growth as well as spreading the natural oils in the hair evenly along the scalp. It's also very relaxing and does some good when you have a headache too. 

I'm still trying to grow my hair so if you have any tips for me then please do let me know in the comments, I hope this post helped some of you too. I'll see you again on Tuesday.

xxx