The Guide For Growing Your Hair Really, REALLY Long

What do you think is the most searched hair related topic? You guessed it, how to grow your hair faster. Many products can claim that they will help you grow your hair faster, but no topical product can REALLY increase the rate at which your hair grows, unfortunately, it must come from inside. 

Though the health of your hair is very important and keeping it moisturized and healthy is very important to keep your hair looking its best. First things first, on average hair typically grows about a quarter of an inch to a half of an inch per month, that is about six inches max in a whole year, so if you're trying to grow your hair longer than six inches in a years time, you're out of luck and hair extensions may be your best bet.

But, if you're willing to wait, healthy long luscious locks can be yours to swing around in the wind like Tyra.

So that being said, your health must come first. When you're not staying healthy, your hair, skin, and nails are the first to show it. You have to make sure that you're eating well, staying hydrated and getting enough circulation, yes you have to exercise. 

So what should you eat? We researched and, thanks to Bustle, found seven foods that have been proven to help your hair grow faster. These include:

Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, and pecans are a great source of natural biotin, biotin is a very important vitamin to aid hair growth. Biotin provides energy to the body and helps to allow your body to create healthy hair cells. The healthier your hair cells, the thicker and healthier your hair will be.

Oysters: These may not be your food of first choice, oysters are very high in zinc which is a nutrient that can help improve the strength of your hair. According to the article, oysters contain protein, iron, omega fatty acids, calcium, zinc, and vitamin C.

Eggs: Another food choice that is very high in zinc, which helps to promote healthy cell reproduction. 

Salmon: Salmon is a great food choice, it is high in omega-3 fatty acids that are essential nutrients for healthy hair, skin, and a healthy body. Your body cannot produce them on its own so it's important to add them to your diet.

Flax & Chia Seeds: These super seeds are not only great sources of fiber to help you lose weight, but they also contain the same omega-3 fatty acids in salmon. So don't worry if you aren't a fan of seafood, you can add these seeds to almost everything.

Sweet Potato: Don't skip the sweet potato fries! Sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A which is very important for all of the cells in your body. A deficiency in this vitamin will leave your hair dull and lifeless, so make sure you get enough of it!

Avocado: Very high in vitamin B, vitamin E, and fatty acids, avocados are great at preventing you from hair loss and breakage. This strengthens your hair follicles and scalp and helps to add a nice shine to your hair.

We also recommend ensuring that your gut health is in check, this is more important than you think so make sure that you're getting the right prebiotics and probiotics because a healthy gut means a healthy body, which also means LONG HEALTHY HAIR!

We will be making a post about recipes to include these foods in your diet, so keep an eye out for that. Now that we've talked about what you need to do on the inside, let's take a look at what we must do on the outside to keep your hair strong and full of life.

Snip Snip!- As much as we hate to admit it, you have to get your hair cut every ten to twelve weeks to prevent extreme split ends before they get worse. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but cutting just an eighth of an inch off every ten to twelve weeks will keep your hair healthy. Not to mention, getting those luscious locks cut will add body and volume making your hair look thicker and healthier.

Condition More Than You Shampoo- Although it is great to keep your hair super clean and oil-free, your hair actually needs some of its natural oil to stay healthy and strong. On the other hand, we don't recommend skipping the conditioner. Here's a tip, every time your hair is wet, add conditioner. The reason why conditioner is so important is that it helps to replace the lipids and proteins inside of your hair shaft. Conditioner also helps to seal the hair cuticle to help prevent damage from happening to your hair keeping your hair stronger and healthier.

Cold Rinse!- We've said this before and we'll say it again, end every shower with a cold rinse. This helps to lay down those "shingles" that we've spoken about much more smoothly. If you don't know what we're talking about, check out our last blog post. Laying down these "shingles" prevents moisture loss and heat damage. Only doing a cold rinse for a few seconds can make a huge difference for your hair.

Care For Your Old Hair- Like we said before, hair grows at about six inches every year, that means that if your hair is longer than six inches, it's a couple years old! Hair that goes past your shoulders needs more attention than your newly grown hair, so you need to make sure to use a hair mask weekly to keep that old hair from getting dry and brittle. Boar bristle brushes are great at getting your natural oils from your scalp to the ends of your hair to keep them moisturized and healthy. 

Avoid The Crackle- If you often hear a crackling sounds when detangling your hair, you're definitely doing something wrong. The crackling sound is the sound of your hair breaking, we recommend detangling your hair with your fingers first after applying a leave-in conditioner to keep it from knotting and tearing.

Avoid The Blow Fry- This one goes without saying, don't damage your hair with the hot settings of your styling tools.

Wash The Right Way- We've said this before, but always shampoo the roots and your scalp letting the suds trickle down your hair, and always condition the ends of your hair. Like we said earlier, the ends of your hair are a lot older than the roots so they need the extra care.

Up & At 'Em- Put that hair up in a loose messy bun! Getting your hair up and out of the way can prevent it from becoming damaged by environmental factors (and from burning it on the stove while cooking!). Whenever you don't have to look nice, apply a leave-in conditioner or oil and put your hair up in a loose bun or braid, it will do wonders for the texture of your hair, and your hair will thank you.

Like we said earlier, a big deal of how fast your hair growth has to do with your insides, and most importantly your genetics. Some people have the genetics to grow thick hair very quickly and some people have genetics that allows them to grow thin hair very slowly, it's really the luck of the draw. But follow these steps, keep yourself and your hair healthy and we promise that you'll see a difference!