I’ve been growing my hair since I was 16. Yes, that’s nearly 9 years I’ve been growing my hair. At a certain length it just seems to stop and say.. ‘nope, that’s it. I’m done’. However, in the past 6 months I’ve changed my hair routine. Finally, it’s started to grow that little bit extra and I couldn’t be happier. So I’m going to share my secrets with you in case you’re also in the same boat.

Stop bleaching your hair

I know, I know, especially you blonde babes out there, it’s a really hard thing to stop. I was born blonde, and see myself only as a blonde.

When I first decided to start growing my hair when I was 17 I had no choice but to dye my hair brown. It was so damaged from the bleach, it was fried. Wonders never cease, it soon began to grow and when it did I made a big mistake.

Who got the bleach out again? Me.
And what happened? I was back to square one.

My hair started snapping off and getting shorter rather than longer. Oooops.
It wasn’t until ombre/dip-dye hair started making the big time I thought to myself, ‘hey, I can grow my hair out and no-one will bat an eyelid’. Just as I anticipated, they didn’t. In fact I began to get compliments on my hair. So I (well, my hairdresser) put the bleach down and I haven’t touched it in a year and a half.

Now yes, you’re probably thinking, well your hair isn’t that long. It has grown just slowly. The ends were so damaged, it’s literally a case of me growing out all of the bleached sections (which keep snapping off), and then my hair will be healthy and grow as hair should.

I’ve probably now got a couple of inches left of bleach in my hair. This factor, along with my recent hair product changes have completely changed my hair. It’s soft, healthy looking and getting longer by the day!

(P.s. If like me, you longed for cool toned hair, please put the toner down also. It only dries out the hair, damaging it. Just embrace what you’ve got.)

Use natural shampoos and conditioners

I’m no hair product snob. I don’t need fancy shampoos and conditioners, I usually grab whatever’s cheapest. The next product in fact happened by accident, and my goodness, what a happy accident it was.

I was after new shampoo and in my local Tesco when I saw a new range of shampoos. They struck me because they were 1litre bottles and super cheap. The shampoo in question is Natural World Chia Seed Shampoo (£6, Tesco).

The shampoo is 95% natural ingredients including, chia seed oil, rosemary oil, lemongrass oil and orange oil. The information reads:
“Chia Seed Oil is renowned for its remarkable cosmetic properties, which include the ability to;

• Add volume & help strengthen
• Add incredible shine
• Boost limp, dull hair“.

Since using this shampoo I’ve definitely found that my hair is softer and generally a lot healthier. My hair is also definitely growing noticeably, I’ve had comments from many friends saying ‘wow, your hairs getting long‘, which brings me so much joy.

I also used to use silver shampoo alongside regular shampoo, and I’ve stopped using that since the summer. Similarly to toner, it dries out the hair. So I would highly suggest stopping using it, or trying to cut down how often you use it.

As the natural shampoo was going so well for me, when my conditioner ran out I decided to also switch to a natural one. I purchased OGX Anti-Hair Fallout Niacin & Caffeine Conditoner (£6.99, Superdrug).

“A powerful blend with 1 Niacin ³ & caffeine, 2 AlphaHydroxy Acid and natural 3 saw palm, to encourage a balanced scalp environment and help prevent hair fallout caused by breakage.“

It makes my hair super soft and it does feel stronger.It also smells amazing which is always a bonus. So far, I’m loving it.

Both the shampoo and conditioner contain no sulfates or parabens which are bad ingredients for your hair. OGX doesn’t test on animals and Natural World Chia range is vegan friendly.

Cut down the amount of times a week you wash your hair

I used to wash my hair everyday. I’ve now trained my hair and I wash it every 3-4 days. This is extremely important as it allows your natural oils to come through and nourish your hair as constant shampooing can strip your hair of what it really needs.

This is why dry shampoo is a saviour. It allows you to go longer between washes by refreshing your hair. My favourite currently is the Batiste Original Clean (£4.99, Boots).

So if possible, try and cut down your washing slowly but surely. The way I did it was by first going to every other day for around a month, then every 3 days for the same amount of time and now I can get away with 4 days. Also who even enjoys washing their hair anyway? I know I don’t!

Protect your hair from heat

An essential part of hair care. You wouldn’t go in the sun without your sun screen, so why would you put temperatures that would burn your skin onto your hair without protecting it first?

I personally use the Nicky Clarke 220 Degree Heat Protectant spray (no longer available, whaaaaaaaaaaat?). It contains KeraStrength, which as I’m sure you’ve guessed strengthens the hair. It also contains a number of oils to help keep the hair moisturised and healthy. No matter which protectant you use, just use one! You’d be stupid not too!

Alongside this, I’ve cut down on the amount of heat I put on my hair. I used to use my straighteners/curling wand everyday. I now tend to straighten/curl my hair on the first day of styling then unless completely neccessary I won’t use them again until I’ve next washed my hair. If needs be, I just put it up.

Do you have any other tips for hair growth? I’d love to know how to speed the process along even further!

Becca-x

 beccapbeauty@hotmail.com
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