I hope you are all well and having a good week.
It's been a while since I've written a beauty post and I've missed writing them! Today I wanted to focus on something that a lot of people ask me about when they see how long my hair is, and that is how can you get long hair fast.
Before I go into my tips to get long hair fast, I want to explain a little of my 'hair history!' I was always one of those girls who had her hair cut fairly short. Growing up, my mum would cut my hair - I'm not sure WHY I ever agreed to this as she's not even trained, but I think it was most likely because it was free, she insisted she was good at it and my sisters did the same. Anyway, my mum would cut my hair into some awful styles, and it would be really short and I hated it.
As I went through school I basically stuck with the same shoulder length hairstyle, and whenever I would go to the hair salon I would ask for the same cut each time, it was like an endless cycle of awful hair and I didn't even realise it was all down to my own doing!
Here are some photos of me when my hair wouldn't grow past this length, but the reason for that was that I would try to grow it but end up impatiently cutting it again:
When I got to the age where I wanted to go out to clubs or bars, I would be desperate for long hair and wish I'd never cut it. I mean some people really suit short hair, Frankie from The Saturdays springs to mind, and I am just not one of those people. To me long hair is just so feminine and can really make you stand out from the crowd - take celebrities like Kim Kardashian - I don't think she'd have the same sex appeal if she had short hair, and who didn't want Jennifer Anniston's hair back when she was on FRIENDS. (Please note: I'm not putting down short hair, that can be sexy too, I'm just saying it's not for everyone!x)
So to get me through this need for long hair i embraced the world of extensions, and as I couldn't really afford to get them done at a hairdressers I used to put them in myself - clip-ins, glue, and I even got a friend to stitch them in! I got it wrong a LOT of the time, sometimes I'd cut the extensions and then the next time forget which piece went where and have a mix of different lengths (I cringe to think I went out like that!) Here are some pics of me with my hair extensions in:
If you want your hair to grow fast in a week then you'll have to go with hair extensions, which are a quick fix while you wait for your hair to grow! Now my hair is long, thick and all natural so I don't need to use extensions; in fact it's so long it's probably too long!
So without further ado, I want to tell you how I grew my hair long and what you can do to get your hair growing! Some of these points are unisex, so if you're a man looking to grow out your hair, these tips should help you too!
Tips to Get Long Hair Fast
- A good diet is essential. I don't mean that you need to change your diet and eat salad every day, but some foods really increase the speed your hair will grow. Protein is a vital food as it is full of amino acids, and these amino acids speed up hair growth! You can get protein in lean meat, eggs, nuts, beans and soy product. It's also good to get Zinc (e.g lean meat, poultry, chickpeas, peanut butter), and Iron (e.g eggs, lean meats, poultry, lentils, beans tofu), which give you healthy strong hair that won't break. Also let's not forget how important it is to drink water, which hydrates your hair making it healthy and less likely to break off!
- If you wash your hair every day you are going to have to stop doing that! I went through a bad habit of washing my hair each day or it went greasy. You know why that was? Because washing it each day had stripped my hair of any natural oils resulting in it getting greasy really quick! If you are worried about coping with greasy hair in the intervals, this will only happen for a very short period, plus you can read my post on Greasy Hair Quick Fix Tip! Washing your hair every day results in unhealthy hair, that won't be able to grow properly, so ideally you should be washing it up to 3-4 times a week. I wash my hair every other day or sometimes I leave it a couple of days if I don't have plans to go anywhere!
- Staying on the similar subject of washing you hair...NEVER brush through your hair when it's wet. This is such an awful thing to do because it damages your hair so much, and not only that but it pulls so much hair from the roots resulting in less hair growing overall, and a lot of hairs having to start growing again! Wait until your hair is dry before running a brush through it, and if you need to get rid of tangles, buy a tangle spray to help you not rip out a load of your precious hair in the process!
- Styling is the next big point I need to make. This is something I really cut out over the last year, and I guess a lot of it has to do with being a mum and having little time to style my hair, but cutting out a lot of my styling has resulted in my hair growing really long really fast! Now with styling I am mainly talking about using a hair straightener, or curler. These hot hair tools can damage your hair so much, sometimes if your tools are too hot you can singe your hair resulted in it dying and not growing any more at the ends. I know you're probably gripping hold of your GHD's now and telling them you'll never leave them, but I was exactly the same, I'd straighten my hair EVERY DAY, just because it looked nice, but I had no idea what it was doing to my hair. If you really can't let go of the styling tools altogether, how about cut down on using them. If you don't need to straighten your hair one day don't, and if you've got time to let your hair dry naturally, do. It will benefit you in the long run, and your hair will feel so much softer and in better condition for being left alone! If you must use tools, make sure you have some heat defence hair spray to use beforehand!
- When I say Vitamin C you probably would think more about this benefiting your immune system, but actually Vitamin C is great at not letting your hair become dry or damaged, meaning it will grow quicker! If you aren't a big orange lover, get the Vitamin C dissolving tablets, they'll make your hair grow quicker and keep your immune system working at it's best - and they're tasty!
- Hair ties! Now to me there is nothing better than tying my hair into a pony tail on a daily basis, especially with my long hair and my sons loving to grab at it! However if like me you have to use hair ties, maybe try and at least cut down the amount you use them, for example because I tie my hair up a lot in the day I make sure at night when I sleep I don't have it tied up. I also always make sure my hair is dry after I've washed it before putting in a hair tie, otherwise it can wrap around your elastic band and you can really struggle to get your hair free from the band!
- Trim your hair to remove all split ends and keep your hair growing! When the ends of your hair are split your hair isn't going to grow, so just get some scissors and snip the ends off. I don't mean inches off, I mean just a little amount, you may even be able to see where your hairs are splitting at the ends and just cut above that. If you're not brave, go to the hairdressers and be strict on just wanting a trim- although I don't trust hairdressers with that, as every time I used to ask for a trim I'd come back with inches missing from the ends! The one thing you don't want to do when trying to grow your hair is have your hairdresser cut it all off! One of my top ways of growing my hair was just by cutting out the hairdresser altogether (for at least A YEAR! - I'm not even kidding), just so that I could grow my hair quicker!
- Use a good shampoo and conditioner! It doesn't have to be a really expensive one, although Liz Earle have some excellent shampoo and conditioning products, but it just has to make your hair feel good after. If you're on a budget I would recommend the L'oreal Elvive range, they are usually on offer too so you can get the shampoo and conditioner together at a reduced price. I am currently using a Kerastase Shampoo and Pantene Conditioner, although I switch it up all the time.
- My last point is something you may not want to hear, but it is the fact that you have to BE PATIENT. For years I didn't get why my hair wasn't growing quick enough, but it was because after so many weeks or months I would get fed up and go to the hair salon and get a cut! Your hair is going to grow but you have to leave it alone so it can do that!!! The more you get it cut, even just a trim, can really set back how much time you will have to wait to see results! There were times when I was so desperate for a cut as I was so bored of my hair that I had the hairdressers number dialled into my mobile, and I'd be ready to book an appointment for a trim. However I used to satisfy my need for change with either a new hair colour, a new hair style (go on YouTube and find a tutorial!), or as I mentioned at the start of this post I would use extensions - and they really did get me through the my-hair-won't-grow phase!
I hope some, if not all, of these points helped you on your quest for growing longer hair fast. I'd love to hear how you get on, or if you have any tips that I didn't mention; leave me a comment below and let me know. :)
Hope you all have had a great week, and have a fantastic weekend!
Lots of love,
Samantha Dawn
xoxo
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