Do's and Don't to growing your hair.

So day in and out I usually get at least three clients daily who are trying desperately to grow their hair out. Whether it be for change, a disastrous haircut or for a lower maintenance do. It is a daunting task requiring a lot of patience. I myself usually am in some sort of hair growing flux. Just to end up chopping it all off when I have reached my goal. So as a stylist I do give my clients recommendations on how to make this process as painless as possible.

Fun Facts.

Hair has different life-cycles. People with thin hair have shorter cycles 3-4 years for turnover ( naturally falls out and replaced) Thick hair can grow from 5-10 years or more.

Hair grows average 6 inches in one year

Eyelashes have a turnover of 4-6 weeks. that is why they never grow the same as hair on your head.

Hormones ( testosterone) is responsible for hair growth.

 Pregnant women excrete a hormone that stops thier hair from turning over ( falling out) and after the baby is born they stop producing it. This can cause all the hair that was supposed to fall out during this time to fall out quickly in a short time.

It is normal to lose up to 100 hair a day.  When your hair gets longer this can seem like a lot more. But because we SEE long hair in the drain as apposed to short hair that goes down it. 

Do's



Get your hair as one length as you can handle. Longer layers are OK but one can go much longer in between haircuts if you have a simple shape. This is especially true for those women with fine or fragile hair. More layers make the hair look stringy on the ends when you grow them out. Hair has more strength in numbers.

Do as little as possible to damage your hair, this includes washing, blow drying, colour, highlights, hair extensions, over layering or thinning/texturing the hair. You may even need to cut out as much damaged hair as possible before you try to grow some real length as it will just end up looking very fried and split.

Colour your hair as infrequently as possible. Use demi permanent colours as they promote shine and seal the cuticle of the hair. Highlights should be spaced out to 4 times a year. The lighter your hair the more overlap will occur that may cause breakage. Do this minimally. Try only touching up the roots only.

Try hair clips, accessories and a curling wand or rollers. These are there to help you disguise a grown out cut. Keep you from becoming bored.

Get a really great conditioner. Keep your ends from getting dry.

Do invest in a good serum to seal the ends of the hair and help prevent fly away hair. 

LEAVE IT ALONE! I must emphasize this.

Drink lots of water, hydrate your skin, hair body.

Hair growth comes from hormones. So there is nothing one can apply on their hair to make it grow faster. Or repair damaged hair. It is dead, you can only prevent your hair from getting worse.

Get a small trims if your hair is really damaged. If you need to put the fear of god in your stylist when you say trim...this means 1/2 inch or less. Show them your inch...a hairdresser inch is usually double.

When your hair does get long, then shape it, layer it. But continue to keep it healthy. Remember long hair is what it is. Long. It will require more manual "styling" to have...well a style. A haircut will not do it all for you. So most women will get bored of long hair.  Yes, it is cheaper, low maintenance, and easy to care for as you can put it up. One must reconcile that it does get boring and laborious to style differently everyday. You are forewarned.


DON'TS...

Cut you hair...this is simple. Do not believe in the hairdressing propaganda that "trims" make the hair grow faster. It makes their bank account grow and that's about it. How will cutting off the very hair you waited so long  to grow off  make it longer? If you're doing all of the above, ( not damaging, colouring, highlighting etc) then one could possibly go 6 or more months without cutting. I once went two years. I only dyed my roots and trimmed my fringe.

To grow out your hair it needs to be as healthy as possible. Hair is dead when it grows out of the scalp. It sees every shampoo, flat iron, highlight, sunny day, chlorine pool, tight pony tail, back combed, braided day that you live through all year. It needs as much TLC as you can give it. It can only handle so much.

You will not be able to grow out

Do drastic colour changes and corrections frequently.
Bleach and tone or over highlight your hair.
Over style it.
Use extensions frequently for long duration. Clip in or otherwise.

Want more tips check out this blog with more great tips.

 http://www.longlocks.com/how-to-grow-long-hair.htm