How To Grow Your Hair Longer & Healthier

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How do you grow your hair back after a bad haircut?

About a year and a half ago (June 2018) I got a haircut that was way shorter than what I wanted.

My hair was about to the middle of my back (below the bra) and I asked for a trim, just the ends.

The hairdresser decided to do what he wanted and cut my hair to my shoulder.

This made me so mad and told myself this was the last time I was getting a haircut from any hair salon.

I had been trying to grow my hair out for some time.

Every time I went to this salon for a trim the same thing would happen and I would have to start all over again.

When I went to a lady once and asked for longer layers; she said to me she would not just chop all my hair off.

That was exactly what she did. Anyways here I was again with a short haircut and I had to figure out how to grow my hair again.

My hair was damaged because I colored it a lot in a short period of time using bleach.

This was extremely damaging to my hair and I had to figure out how to grow it longer and help make it healthier.

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Finding Information

So I started researching online, watching videos, reading blog posts.

Anything I found on hair growth I was reading or watching.

While researching, I found a lot of helpful tips, but sometimes this can get a bit overwhelming.

Here are my tips and products that help make it a little simpler but still work really well.

Use a Hair Mask

You can use a hair mask before you wash your hair or after. Sometime I would do both if I had the time.

If I decide to use a mask before washing my hair I would put coconut oil all over my hair from the roots to the tip.

Then let it stay in my hair for at least 30 minutes. If I had more time I would leave it for longer.

I started off doing this before every wash. I noticed my hair was longer and healthier in a couple of month.

This can be done with any organic coconut oil. I really like the Coconut Oil from Trader Joes. But another great one that I’ve used is the Nutiva Organic Unrefined Virgin Coconut Oil

After I washed my hair I would use either the Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque or the Dove Intensive Repair Deep Treatment Mask.

I really love both of these hair masks.

They both leave my hair feeling silky and smooth. This makes styling so much easier.

After continued use of these mask my hair started looking shinier and healthy.

I also use the Dove Intensive Repair Shampoo and Conditioner from time to time.

Don’t Use Heat

I know everyone tells you not to use heat on your hair if you’re trying to grow it, but it’s really true.

The damaging effects of the heat don’t help your hair to grow.

In fact I noticed the more I heat styled my hair the longer it took to grow. Embrace your natural hair.

If you do decide that you absolutely have to use heat, don’t use direct heat.

So instead of using a flat iron try to use a blow dryer to straighten your hair.

Also if you are going to use heat make sure you use a heat protectant.

I love the Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer.

Its light weight and doesn’t make your hair greasy or harder to style.

I may blow dry my hair once a month.

Sometimes I don’t heat style it at all, this is when I noticed the most growth.

Less is More

This I had to learn the hard way. I wanted to use every treatment, DIY treatment or product I found to grow my hair.

This is overwhelming not only for you but your hair.

I decided not to use everything in my hair and just use a few things that I saw working for me.

This was the best decision I could have made, a lot less work for me too.

Supplements

I know everyone tells you that biotin is the best supplements for hair growth.

But I didn’t really like biotin. I tried a few different brands and never really found one that I like or that worked for me.

The first biotin pill I tried actually broke me out. I didn’t do all of my research at time, so I didn’t know that I had to drink a lot of water so I wouldn’t break out.

If you do decide to use biotin make sure you do all your research and find a brand that works for you.

The supplement that I actually found to work was collagen.

I actually bought collagen because I had really bad acne and it left a lot of scarring and uneven skin.

I wanted something to help with the texture and evening out my skin tone.

Collagen has a bunch of other uses to make your skin look better overall.

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As we age our bodies start to produce less collagen.

I thought take a collagen supplement would just be really good for my skin.

It turns out it also helps to grow your hair, while making it healthier.

The collagen supplements I tried and liked were by HUM.

The first one I tried was HUM Collagen Pop + Vitamin C Dissolvable tablets.

This one had no taste but I didn’t like the smell at all.

The second one I bought was HUM Collagen Love Skin Firming Supplement.

It’s a capsule so it has no taste or smell, but you have to take 3 for each serving and they’re not the smallest pills.

I found these to work the best for my skin and hair.

Moisturizing

This is an important one, because this helps the quality of your hair, which helps your hair not to break.

You want your hair to be strong so that it can grow longer.

After I washed my hair and I knew I wasn’t going to style it, I would take a small amount of almond oil and just pass it through the mid shaft to the ends.

I didn’t put anything in my roots because my hair naturally gets oily in the roots after a few days.

Almond oil is great for moisturizing your hair without being heavy. There are a lot of great benefits of using almond oil.

It makes your hair shinier, healthier, softer and stronger while repairing your hair.

You can use any oil that you prefer or that works for your type of hair.

Hot oil treatments are a great way to moisturize your hair. Check out my post on how to do a hot oil treatment.

As long as you moisturize, that’s all that matters.

Washing Your Hair

Its best if you go a few days in between washing your hair. When you wash your hair everyday you dry out your hair.

And are not allowing the natural oils that are produced by you scalp have a chance to moisturize your roots.

These natural oils are great for hair growth.

This was the hardest part for me. I was so use to either washing my hair everyday or every couple of days.

So I started with going 2-3 days between washes and now I can go a whole week without washing it.

I don’t love doing this but it has definitely helped with the growth of my hair.

RELATED POSTS:

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MARC ANTHONY STRENGTHENING GROW LONG

Leave-in Conditioner

I started using a leave in conditioner after I washed my hair because it helped my hair to feel softer and was easier to style.

The Marc Anthony’s Strengthening Grow Long Super Fast Leave In Conditioner is the one that I really like.

I bought this one because I wanted to see if it worked for hair growth, but I ended up really liking it because of how it made my hair feel.

It made my hair more manageable so there was less breakage.

My hair does feel a lot stronger. I have another post reviewing this product.

Drying Your Hair

This is one is more about protecting your hair for it to grow than the actual growth process.

After washing your hair its best not to use a regular towel to dry your hair. This can cause a lot of damage to your hair and breakage also.

I have been using a T-shirt for years now.

You can also use one of those microfiber towels that are specifically made for drying your hair.

Brushing Your Hair

This is a big one, don’t brush your hair while wet, unless you have to.

If you decide to brush your hair while wet use a wet brush or be extremely gentle while brushing.

Brushing your hair too hard while wet can cause a lot of damage and breakage.

Haircuts

I know some people say that you have to trim your ends once a month. I use to believe this too.

You don’t have to do it once a month you can do it when you start to notice that your hair needs a trim.

If you are taking the precautions to protect your hair and keep it healthy, you maybe able to keep your trims to a minimum.

Final Thoughts

These were a few of the things that helped me to grow my hair from shoulder length to almost waist length within a year and a half.

I know it seems like a long time when you just want your hair to be long, but be patient with your hair.

Enjoy the process and feel confident with where you are at all times in the process.

Let me know in the comments below some of the tips or tricks that have worked for you maybe I can try them too.

Disclaimer:  I purchased all products discussed in this review, and this is my honest opinion.