About a year ago I made the decision to stop dying my hair like crazy and just let it grow out natural. I used to dye my hair A LOT and in order to get it back close to my natural colour I had to bleach out the bright intense red that I had woefully decided upon before. If you've ever had to dye your hair back from red to blonde you'll know that this is a difficult journey - with many stops along the awkward unnatural strawberry blonde path (It was neon orange for a small period) Eventually I got it this awful sort of streaky white blonde and decided it needed a break. I left it for a while before going into a hair dresser and getting some highlights put in that somewhat matched the evil roots that had made their appearance.
Now my hair has this annoying habit of breaking of more one side than the other which at the time (considering avoiding hairdressers when growing hair is a must) was really rearing its ugly head. For a period of time I had somewhat lopsided hair which was terrible. But with many a ponytail and bun I navigated through this weird period. Finally when all the bleached ickiness had been snipped away I was left as I am now with long completely natural (not a highlight or ounce of colouring in sight). So I thought I'd share with you some tips on how you can maybe speed things up or keep it healthy as you go along.
Getting it Trimmed
On many occasions with hair I'd always say find a good hairdresser and then TRUST THEM. However, throughout my hair growing process I've realized one thing - they aren't always right and that's okay. Also understand that no matter how much you beg your hairdresser not to cut too much off they will always cut too much off and its an upsetting fact. However, I must insist, please do not listen to them when they say 'if you want it to grow healthy you must get it trimmed in x amount of weeks'. Yes if you want it to never actually get anywhere you should go back in a month or two but if you want to make any progress that doesn't get abolished in a few moments in their chair be my guest. You CAN grow healthy long hair by having your hair cut less. I opted to wait 6 months between trims - and popping in every now and then to just have my fringe manged.
Accept the Awkward Stages
Whether you are trying to grow your long natural or dyed you are always going to have that awkward phase where your roots are awful or your hair is in between lengths. This is where our wonderful womanly brains get to get creative in hair styles that cleverly hide such ailments (or we wear lots of hair bands and hats) and when you just can't bare your roots anymore play with highlights and low-lights that don't get you back to square one.
Hair Products
I'm sorry to be the one to drop the bomb and tell you there is no product in the world that will cause your hair to grow at the rate you might want it too. There is no point splashing out on such products and their is a possibility that it might actually cause more problems than its worth! I avoided weighing or messing with my hair too much during my year of growth. A light oil (I recommend Moroccan oil) will keep your hair soft and shiny and its always worth investing in a good lightweight shampoo and condition. Again don't be fooled by any products that claim to do anything other than wash your hair really well! I personally like the Aussie range and they also do a hair treatment mask that is perfect to use once or twice a week for a few minutes!
Styling
Try to avoid doing anything to your hair that will obviously cause damage - that means minimum heat, no massive amounts of hair spray and for the love of god no backcombing!! I often went days without using any heat on my hair and if you just can't stand the idea I recommend using a heat protection spray. I also like to brush my hair quite often but when you do I recommend working slowly from the end up and gently teasing away tangles instead of ripping at them and causing damage. I use a wide toothed brush and a roller brush for blow drying as I think this makes my hair look thicker without the need for backcombing!
Vitamins
Now, I always thought that vitamins really wouldn't effect the growth of your hair - wrong. I found a really good combination for not only hair growth but also for your skin and nails! I found it in the weirdest place as well - Sainsbury's! It's the woman's 'skin hair and nails' tablets with betacarotene, vitamin c and zinc. They are brilliant and I noticed a difference in all these areas within the first few weeks of taking them. I will also say I started drinking more water and I definitely think that helped!
Washing
As I have said previously make sure you don't use to heavy shampoos and conditions, but make sure you do use conditioner! Also leave in conditions and hair masks are always a good idea now and then just to keep your hair soft and shiny! When you wash make sure you shampoo at the tops and then condition the ends mainly. I wash my hair every other day - but often if I am going out on an in between day I'll just give my roots a quick swish so they don't look too gross (but I have very fine hair). When you get out of the shower don't rub your hair aggressively with the towel, pat and squeeze the water from it to minimize breakages and never use a brush on wet hair (you can buy detanglers that can help if you need to) both these things will cause damage and breakage to your hair.
Good Home Hair Masks
I can't really provide you with any solid links here as I often mix and match my own ingredients based off of things I've read about the benefits of the individual things. I'd have to say my favorite is a hair mask that involves mixing equal parts honey and your usual hair conditioner and a dash of olive oil. This smells fab and is easy to apply (unlike many home remedies) I like to mix up some lemon juice in their sometimes just to get my hair a little lighter but that's probably better for blondes!). Just apply that generously all over but focusing on the ends put it up or in a shower cap for best results and leave it in for 30 minutes before washing it out with just water! It makes your hair soft and shiny and really healthy looking!
So that just a run down of everything that helped me out when I was growing my hair. I'm really happy with the results I got and I think the best advise of all was just to leave it alone and let it breath! I hope you have happy hair growing and if you have any advise or tips or questions please feel free to comment below!
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