As you will have read in a recent post, through the years I have had a few hair raising hair dramas. Mainly caused by the overbleaching of my locks and resulting in them being extremely damaged, cut short and taking forever and a day to grow long again. Even before the bleach damaged it at the root my hair didn't really grow passed my shoulders due to damaged, broken ends and so today the fact it grows down my back and feels 'Rapunzel' like still makes me oh so happy!

Over the last year it has grown quicker than ever and now I think I have finally figured out the perfect formula for helping your hair stay healthy and grow faster. Because it once felt like mine never grew and I spent a very long time lusting over ladies with lucious long locks, I feel I am very qualified when it comes to 'realistic hair growth timing'. I am the lass who, every morning would look at my hair in the mirror with a sigh and think 'haven't you grown yet?' in a similar way to an annoying child pestering their parents with on a long car journey: 'Are we there yet?'. The fact I now feel as though it grows quite quickly is a miracle and it really doesn't take much to help your little folicles out!

I am not saying I am an expert nor that my tips will work for everyone, we are all different after all and we all have different hair types. Mine is thick, wavy and if left unlooked after it is wirey just like my Dad's. Your hair might be thin and straight or ringlet curls however I hope that at least one of my little tips helps you out in your battle for long tresses!!

As you can see, my current hair colour is the 'ombre' affect but the dark colour is my own natural colour. I coloured the blonde bits myself with a home ombre kit to lighten the highlights that were already there, leftover from when I had my hair coloured for my wedding in September 2011. It was January I used the home dye kit so before that it had pretty much been a year and a half since I had put colour on my hair. The longest ever time since I was 16 years old! My natural hair feels silky soft and even my coloured hair doesn't feel too bad but that is because I have left it alone and looked after it! My advice would be to avoid bleach and if you absolutely MUST dye it, do it as little possible.

Now we hear this one a lot don't we and it is most certainly true however, I have only learnt in probably the last year that there is nack to it. When I was growing my hair for my wedding I hardly had it cut and was miffed that it just didn't seem to grow. Then after my wedding I left work due to illness and while I didn't have it cut too often due to lack of funds, I had it cut more regularly than before and that's when I noticed a great 'hair cut routine' to stick to. As soon as I was working again I worked out what I needed to do. If you want to grow your hair and are having it cut very regularly then every inch your hair grows is being lopped right back off again. You are going around in a hair circle! I now have one biggesh cut (where say an inch comes off) then three months later have another trim (and usually not as much needs to come off) then leave it to grow for six months after which I repeat the previous hair cut regime. It really works! After six months you will want your hair cut because you will have split ends but it will still have grown and because of those two appointments close together, you are refreshing your ends and keeping them strong enough to survive a six month wait to the next appointment. Give it a go!

I really cannot stress this enough! I know so many people who say their hair won't grow and I know they use heat styling pretty much every day and yet do not ever use protection. You should always use protection! It is not a sales gimick, trust me you will notice the difference. Make it part of your religious hair routine. The VO5 range is affordable and brilliant, that is the one I use and I think it is great. I use the heat protection spray on wet hair and have smoothing cream too in case I feel I need it. You will notice your hair feels less dry and crispy once styled all just for that extra bit of effort.

Serum is an every day MUST! It is inexpensive and great for the ends of your locks, I even put a teeny blob on dry hair. Personally I think it is the best instant de frizzer and even if all I do in the morning is brush my hair and not use any heat on it I still put a little on the ends. Treat yourself to some more expensive hair oils such as morrocan oil or macedamia oil too to use one or twice a week. You will notice the difference!

Whether you make one yourself with home ingredients or invest in one, hair masks are brilliant for giving your hair a health boost! Also, once a week make sure you give your hair a deep conditioning treatment. I also always leave my conditioner on my ends for about five minutes while in the shower just to give it time to work it's silky magic.

If your hair is long enough for you to scrape it up and hide the fact you have gone an extra day without washing your hair then do it! Or if you have a long weekend of nothing planned then make sure that nothing includes not washing your bonce because your hair will really benefit from bathing in it's own natural oils for a while. As much as there is nothing quite like that just washed feeling, shampoo's can strip your hair of their natural goodness so this cost free, easy hair treatment is definitely a must!!

I remember reading that this was something you should do a very long time ago and I believe it is because your hair eventually get's used to the products you are using and so stop responding as well as it once would have. Whether it is true or not I don't know but I do chop and change the brands I use a lot after a while using the same one and I do think it works. My hair always feels a lot less 'dull' when I use a new brand (but then that could just be because of it getting a good wash!) Either way, I do get bored of the same shampoo smells and whatever so do have a change every few months... Also try not to be too cheap with shampoo's you buy, the cheaper they are the less affect they will have on your hair and in fact will make the condition worse (I mean as in super scrimper cheap, you don't have to spend mega bucks!)

That is pretty much it! Those seven tips are what I always do with my hair and it is definitely the healthiest ( and longest) it has been in a very long time! I had it cut two weeks ago and it was the 'inch' cut and already I can see it is catching up with the point it last was down my back!

 

Does anyone else have any hair growing tips? I would love to hear them!







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