How To Grow Hair Faster: Hair Growth Tips

Hair growth is something which I have been interested in for as long as I can remember. Recently I feel like I've become a bit of an expert on the topic of how to grow hair after nearly losing all of mine recently. I really damaged my hair after a troublesome time with bonded extensions which I will explain below, I’ve managed to get my hair back to full health, improve it’s thickness and length pretty quickly using a few simple and easy to follow tips, so I thought today I’d write a blog post which should help you get strong, healthy hair which eventually, leads to hair growth. Read on if you want to know how to grow and strengthen your hair pretty quickly actually...

After having bonded hair extensions fitted, my hair was a complete mess. The hairdresser who fitted them couldn’t take them out when I needed them out, I didn’t trust anyone else to take them out so this really damaged my hair as I left them in for longer than they should have been. These bonded extensions (bonded with glue and heat, big no no for anyone wanting nice hair) may look good temporarily, I’d say for two months but then, as they start to grow out, your own hair begins to get damaged. Firstly, the weight of bonded extensions on your natural hair isn’t great and that’s why salons advise you to get them taken out after three months. I left mine a little bit longer than 3 months and my hair turned into dreadlocks. The lovely Beckie Stirk who is a local hair dresser, came to my rescue and took them out for me but this wasn’t easy, even for a fully qualified hair dresser who deals with extensions on a daily basis. We had to clamp my hair, cut parts out and I was basically left with two massive dreadlocks all around my head. It took my Mum 4 days of tugging with a tiny nit comb to unweave the dreadlocks and it really was painful for my scalp. I was told that if I had left them any longer, I may have forced my hair into shock and my hair would stop growing due to the stress that I had put on it. Since then, I have been taking any steps that I can possibly to make my hair grow. I am pleased to say that my hair is back in good health, it is thick, healthy and growing really quickly. In two months, my hair has grown rapidly. I've gone from crying over my hair, to being pretty excited about it. Here's my quick and easy tips for those of you who want to grow your hair. 

Don’t Use Heat On Your Hair – Okay, this is an obvious one, but try not to use heat on your hair. I know that this is difficult for some people (me included with my natural afro), but even if it means not blow drying your hair every day and only using heat 3 times a week instead of 7, every little helps. When I was in high school, I went for months without touching my hair, I simply tied it in a bun on the top of my head every day and left my natural afro out in all it's glory and I saw such a difference. It’s a known fact that once you stop putting heat on your hair (you are practically ironing your hair!) your hair will grow like crazy. If you must use anything at all try the Toni and Guy Slim Definer Straighteners; I took part in the Toni and Guy hair challenge and was sent them. They're pretty good for the hair when it comes to heat, you can put them on a lower setting and the tourmaline metal plates mean that they protect the hair more than other straighteners do. Another easy tip when it comes to hair growth is to avoid blow drying. I always try to leave my hair to dry naturally when I can and I've found that instead of using a hair dryer and burning my hair, this has sped up the process of hair growth so much. I once read that even if you let your hair dry 50% naturally, it's better than blow drying all of your hair. If you are using heat, make sure you use a heat protection spray. I tend to straighten my hair once or twice a week and then leave it the other days.

Be Careful With Hair Brushing – My hairdresser advises that I brush my hair often as it increases blood flow to the scalp which helps the hair follicles and then, makes it grow. Apparently if you brush your hair many times a day, the hair is more likely to grow due to the increased blood flow to the scalp, however, do be careful with this, brushing your hair too much can cause snagging which makes the hair split. I’m sure you’ve been in the situation where you’ve been brushing your hair and loads of it has fallen out or snapped off? We can’t stop the natural shedding of hair but we can prevent breakage by being gentle when brushing the hair. I was once told to start brushing the hair from the bottom, so do the ends first and de-knot it and then move further up the hair. I swear by my Aveda Paddle Brush, I've had it for about 4 years. It's perfect for brushing hair.

Use Products To Your Advantage – At Clothes Show I interviewed some of the top hair dressers from Paul Mitchell Hair, when asked their advice on hair growth, they said don’t use too many products as too much of a good thing, is actually bad for your hair, they discussed product over-kill to me, where you kill your hair by using too many products. Some products however, I’ve found, are the perfect products to help your hair grow. There isn’t a miracle hair product that will make your hair grow over night unfortunately, but there are a number of products on the market that strengthen the hair which leads to hair growth. Think of your hair like a garden, you need nice, well looked after soil makes plants grow. You scalp needs to be looked after. I highly recommend Macadamia when it comes to hair growth, I have been buying their products for a long long time after my hair dresser recommended them to me years ago. They strengthen the hair which again, makes it grow.

Rosemary Oil - Rosemary oil is having such a huge moment currently on TikTok! I've been trying it out and I have to say I think it's making a huge difference! I've noticed my hair getting a lot thicker and in turn it's definitely grown a lot more. Obviously don't rely only on Rosemary Oil as your only source of hair growth, but when you're combining it with other products and methods it will definitely help! 

Let Your Hair Get Dirty - It's common knowledge not to wash your hair too much. It's really bad for hair growth, washing your hair excessively gets rid of the natural oils which help it grow, so let your hair get dirty. If you know you’re not doing anything, leave your hair another day before washing it.

Vitamin And Mineral Tablets Help – I swear by Evening Primrose Oil tablets to regulate hormones, clear my skin and promote hair growth. Cod liver oil tablets are meant to be amazing for hair growth too. I love Moroccan oil for my hair, natural oils are really good for your hair. Don't forget to read about my favourite hair care products.

Eat For Your Hair –  Again, like the above, there are things you can put into your diet which can promote hair growth. Hair is made of protein, so apparently eating lots of protein (fish, meats, eggs) helps to speed hair growth up. Vitamin C is apparently very good for hair growth too, I make sure I drink lots of fresh orange (not from concentrate) to strengthen and make your hair grow. There are lots of guides on the internet with lists of foods that you can eat to make your hair grow, write yourself a list and try to add some of these simple and healthy things into your diet. Don't forget to read about my top healthy foods.

Sleep In A Hair Treatment  - I really found that sleeping in a hair treatment has helped my hair grow unbelievable amounts. My hairdresser Jade at XS advised me never to buy hair treatments or conditioners that advise you to leave them on the hair for only 3-5 minutes, good hair masks should be left on the hair for at least 10 minutes apparently so that they can really fix the hair. I love sleeping in hair masks, I particularly love sleeping in Macadamia healing oil when I’m having a really weak hair day. It strengthens my hair so much and I wake up and my hair feels soft for weeks.

Don’t Over Colour/Process Your Hair – I saw such a difference when I switched from getting my hair coloured (full head) every 7 weeks, to just getting my crown and parting coloured. I left the underneath of my hair for 6 months and my hair had grown so much it was ridiculous.

Get Your Hair Cut – One that most people avoid doing, but you want your hair to be healthy and if you get it cut regularly, you will prevent it from splitting at the ends and snapping off, resulting in stronger and longer hair.

Hair Growth Takes Time – Be patient with all of this, hair growth doesn’t happen over night, you will have good weeks and bad weeks.

What are your hair growth tips? I’d love to hear them. Have you had any problems with your hair? What are your favourite products when it comes to hair care?

Lots of love, Em x

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P.S If you're wanting to see how my hair is now... look below:
As you can see, on photo one, my hair is very healthy after having it all cut off. Photo two, it's started to grow past my shoulders, on photo 3, it isn't straightened but you can see how much my fringe has grown, on photo 4, it looks frizzy due to me being abroad but you can see a difference in length. This is only after a month or so, I will keep you all updated! I do miss my long hair so much though!