1. Toss your expensive hair care products and replace them with something natural and healthy.
Did you know that most commercial shampoos contain sulfates? These shampoos actually dry out your hair and damage it. That's why you then have to buy a commercial conditioner to repair the damage.
Toss out those over-hyped hair "care" products that do anything but care for your hair! Replace them with a sulfate-free shampoo or even consider going shampoo-free. You may not even need your conditioner anymore. Start using an apple cider vinegar rinse with healthy herbs that promote hair growth instead as a follow-up to your shampoo routine. You might also finish up with coconut oil as a leave-in conditioner.
2. Eat lots of protein, and drink water.
The hair shaft is made out of keratin, which is a type of protein. A diet high in protein and amino acids (the building blocks of protein) will give your body what it needs to produce new keratin. This should speed up the rate at which your hair grows! While you're at it, stay hydrated. This will help keep your hair and scalp from drying out.
3. Be careful with your hair.
If you already have medium to long hair, watch what you're doing with it. Do you sit on it or against it? Do you lie on top of it? Take a moment to sweep your hair out of the way when you sit down at the couch or in the car, and push it over your head when you lay down on your pillow. This will prevent split ends.
4. Stop washing your hair every day.
Washing your hair every day is guaranteed to dry it out very quickly. You also expose it to hard water more often (and even "soft" water has plenty of minerals in it), and that stuff builds up some serious gunk. If you just wash your hair a couple of times a week, you will find that it is soft, smoother, and stronger. Be warned, it may take your scalp a few weeks to adjust! So don't be surprised if your hair seems a bit greasy at first. Fear not, it will return to normal when your scalp stops overcompensating for all the dryness you used to put it through.
5. Trim your hair when you need to.
Your hairdresser probably told you to come in for a trim every 6-8 weeks and take off half an inch to an inch, right? The notion that trimming your hair stimulates growth is a complete myth. Cutting the ends does not affect the follicles in any way, and growth happens at the scalp!
Hair grows at an average rate of around 4-6 inches per year. Think about it for a moment. If you actually take half an inch off every 6 weeks, you are getting your hair cut about 8 times a year. That means you are taking off 4 inches a year. Depending on your genetics and other factors, that could result in zero length added at the end of the year. If you get more off than that, you could actually notice your hair getting shorter.
Stop wondering why. You know now. While you can speed up hair growth, there is no way to suddenly add inches overnight, and if you are always getting them removed, your hair is not going to get any longer.
So stop going to the salon every 6-8 weeks, and stop looking up how to grow your hair overnight. Go to the salon only when you need to—when you are developing split ends. Get the split ends cut off, and don't come back again until it is necessary!
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