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If you recently received a bad haircut or simply want to grow your hair longer, then you may be wondering how to maximize your hair's growth. How to make your hair grow faster will give you some good tips on the best ways improve your hair's growth rate.
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Step 1: Practice Good Hair Habits
- If you want to have your hair grow faster, you need healthy hair. So, start by figuring out what condition your hair is. Goodhousekeeping.com has a sHealthy Hair Quiz that can help you determine this.Goodhousekeeping.com: How Healthy Is Your Hair? - Healthy Hair Quiz Once you have determined your hair's health, you will need to know what you should to either stop damaging it or prevent damage. Good hair habits will help you avoid damaging your hair and keep it healthy. Here are a few things you should do to ensure that your hair is in the best condition:
- Get regular trims.
- Minimize heat styling with things such as hot combs, hair dryers and curling irons.CBS News: 8 Ways You're Damaging Your Hair (November 17, 2008)
- Before using a dryer, treat your hair with a spray that will protect it from the heat.Marie Claire: Healthy Hair 101, p.2
- Protect your hair when in the sun by using hair products with UV protection.Health.com: Sun Protection for Your Hair
- Use your fingers, not a brush, to detangle hair when it is wet.Marie Claire: Healthy Hair 101, p.2
- Use a brush with natural boar bristles.Marie Claire: Healthy Hair 101, p.2
- Don't braid or put your hair in a ponytail when it is still wet.CBS News: 8 Ways You're Damaging Your Hair (November 17, 2008)
- Avoid chemical treatments such as bleaching, perms, coloring or highlighting.CBS News: 8 Ways You're Damaging Your Hair (November 17, 2008)
- For more information, check out Mahalo's How to Get Healthy Hair.
Step 2: Have a Healthy Body
- Your hair is a reflection of the condition of your body.Hair Boutique: Hair Growing Tips If your body is not healthy, then your hair won't be healthy and unhealthy hair grows slower than healthy hair. Here are some tips on what things you can do to ensure your body is in prime condition to grow hair.
- Check with your doctor. Some disorders can slow down your hair growth or even cause you to lose your hair including hormone imbalances and hypothyroidism.Health.com: Healthy Hair: Your 40s Health.com: Healthy Hair: Your 50s and Beyond
- Stop smoking. Smoking can harden blood vessels, restrict blood flow and damage capillaries, which will slow hair growth.Hair Boutique: Four Major Hair Killers
- Eliminate caffeine from your diet, which can cause hair problems.Hair Boutique: Four Major Hair Killers
- Exercise regularly. Exercise increases circulation to your scalp.Hair Boutique: Hair Vitamins & Hairstyling Tips: 8 Hair Growth Secrets
- Get plenty of sleep. Sleep helps reduce stress, relaxes your body and helps your hair grow.Hair Boutique: Four Major Hair Killers Hair Boutique: Hair Growing Tips
- Check out Mahalo's How to Quit Smoking, How to Get a Good Night's Sleep, How to Give Up Caffeine and How to Get Into Shape for more information.
Step 3: Eat Right
- An improper or unbalanced diet will affect how your hair grows and can even cause you to lose hair.Hair Boutique: Hair Growing Tips Marie Claire: Healthy Hair 101, p.3 Make sure to eat a well-balanced diet that includes foods which contain the following:
- Omega-3 fatty acids such as walnuts, green vegetables, salmon and other cold water fish.Health.com: Healthy Hair: Hair-Friendly Foods for Any Age Wellsphere: Want Healthy Hair? 10 Foods That Help (October 22, 2008) Marie Claire: Healthy Hair 101, p.3
- Protein such as nuts, cheese, tofu, lean meat and eggs.Marie Claire: Healthy Hair 101, p.3 Health.com: Healthy Hair: Your 40s
- Fiber found in fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes.YourTotalHealth: Healthy Hair Diet
- Phytoestrogens found in soy products such as soy milk.YourTotalHealth: Healthy Hair Diet
- Some of the best food you can eat that are not only high in these nutrients, but also high in other vitamins, include:
Step 4: Take Supplements
- There are a variety of supplements on the market for hair growth. Of course, the only way to tell if a supplement is good for you is to know what herbs and vitamins are believed to help grow hair or make your hair healthier. As you look at the list, you'll see that most of them can be found in the basic multi-vitamin.Health.com: Healthy Hair: Your 40s However, always check with your doctor before taking any supplements.
Step 5: Reduce Stress
- Stress can cause a variety of health problems, so it should be no surprise that it also affects the hair. Excessive stress will slow down your hair's growth rate.Hair Boutique: Hair Growing Tips Under normal conditions, about 90 percent of your hair is growing. When you are stressed, however, this rate can drop down as far as 60 percent.Health.com: Healthy Hair: Your 30s Stress can also trigger various types of hair loss such as alopecia areata and telogen effluvium.MayoClinic.com: Stress and Hair Loss: Are They Related? (October 4, 2008) So, it is important to reduce your stress level as much as you can.
- Check out Mahalo's How to Cope with Stress for more information.
Step 6: Scalp Massage and Aromatherapy
- Combining scalp massage with essential oils will benefit your hair in two ways. First, the massage with increase the circulation around your hair's follicles. Second, essential oils and aromatherapy have been known to increase hair growth.Hair Boutique: Hair Vitamins & Hairstyling Tips: 8 Hair Growth Secrets Scalp massage can be done at various times such as before going to bed or before shampooing.Wellsphere: Aromatherapy and Hair Growth (September 12, 2008) All you need are a few drops of essential oil and a carrier oil such as jojoba or grapeseed oil.About.com: Natural Treatments for Hair Loss
- Here are a few essential oil recipes you can use:
- Combine 10 drops rosemary essential oil, 10 drops lavender essential oil, 6 drops cedarwood essential oil and 4 drops thyme essential oil with jojoba oil. Massage 2 teaspoons into scalp. Allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before shampooing off.Wellsphere: Aromatherapy and Hair Growth (September 12, 2008)
- Combine 5 drops rosemary essential oil, 3 drops lavender essential oil, 2 drops sage essential oil with 1 liter of water. Shake well. Then, pour over your head as a final rinse. Do not wash out.Wellsphere: Aromatherapy and Hair Growth (September 12, 2008)
- Combine 10 drops geranium essential oil, 7 drops lavender essential oil, 7 drops ylang ylang essential oil, 4 drops bay essential oil with 30 milliliters of warm jojoba oil. Blend well. Massage onto a clean scalp. Then, wrap your hair with plastic wrap and a warm towel. Leave on for 20 minutes. Shampoo normally afterwards.Wellsphere: Aromatherapy and Hair Growth (September 12, 2008)
- Combine 3 drops each of thyme, lavender, rosemary and cedarwood essential oils with 1/8 cup grapeseed oil and 1/8 cup jojoba oil. Massage several drops onto your scalp before going to bed for three to five minutes.About.com: Natural Treatments for Hair Loss
Step 7: Shampoo and Condition Properly
- How often you shampoo along with what type of shampoo you should use will depend on your type of hair. Some types can shampoo more often than others. If you wash your hair too often, however, you could see some breakage and other damage to your hair.Goodhousekeeping.com: How to Have Great Hair - Shampoo Tips Here are some tips on how to get the most out of shampooing and conditioning.
- Normal hair can be washed up to five times a week.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Dry hair should be washed twice a week.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Use products that contain moisturizers such as panthenol, ceramide, glycerin or collagen.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007) RealSimple.com: Complete Hair Care, p.1
- Condition every time.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Use a deep-conditioner and deep-cleansing shampoo once a month.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Use a silicone-based cream or serum to protect your hair if you blow dry.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Oily hair can be washed once a day.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Use a mild, detergent-based shampoo and focus on the roots because it your scalp, not your hair, that is oily.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Oily hair is usually finer.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Conditioning is necessary, but apply only where needed such as the ends.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Curly hair should be washed twice a week.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Curly hair tends to be drier than straight hair and prone to frizzing.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Using a smoothing shampoo and conditioner.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Avoid frizzing by using a t-shirt or paper towels instead of a bath towel to dry your hair.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Detangle with your fingers or a wide-toothed comb.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Color-treated hair can be washed about three times a week.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
- Use a shampoo designed for color-treated hair and a protein-based conditioner (one with silk amino acids or extracts of wheat and soy).CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007) RealSimple.com: Complete Hair Care, p.1
- Do not wash the day after you have colored your hair.CNN.com: The Guide to Healthy Hair (November 27, 2007)
Conclusion
- Now that you have longer hair, you might want to check some Mahalo pages on hairstyles such as How to Braid Hair, How to French Braid Hair or How to Choose a Prom Hairstyle. Mahalo offers other hair care articles such as How to Bleach Hair, How to Curl Your Hair, How to Flat Iron Hair, How to Highlight Hair and How to Straighten Hair.
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