How to make your hair grow

"How do I make my hair grow?  What is the secret?"

This is a question I am asked regularly both in the salon and in normal conversation.  The answer is not simple because there is no secret.  There is no special pill, but there are ways that you can help it along.

The first and most important piece of advice I can give is to use really good product.  You will need something that helps protect hair against damage, because the only way you can help your hair to grow is by protecting from breakage and split ends.  If you are getting lots of split ends you are going to need to get haircuts more often and therefore your hair will not be getting any longer.  There are shampoos, conditioners, salves, hair lotions, treatments, etc., that claim to do this, and most will help in the process, but here are a few of my favorites:

The Pureology Strength Cure Line

(L to R): Strength Cure Shampoo, Conditioner, Fabulous Lengths Treatment, Split End Salve, and Restorative Mask

There are very few Shampoo and Conditioner duos that make me say, "Whoa",  but this is one of them.  I've only recently jumped on the Pureology train, but it only took one use and I was convinced.  I have very blonde, highlighted, and therefore damaged hair.  Every blonde's hair is damaged - that's what using bleach does and there's no way around it.  So us blondes really have to make sure we take good care of our hair, especially if we want it long.  Every day after my shower I go through the tedious process of ripping out brushing my hair.  After I used Pureology's shampoo and conditioner that first day I noticed my hair was detangling much easier and less than half the amount of hair was coming out in my brush.  

The Pureology Strength Cure line also includes the Fabulous Lengths Treatment - a heat protectant that reduces breakage , the Split End Salve - a leave-in treatment that seals your ends, leaving them silky smooth, and the Restorative Mask - an intense treatment that boosts strength and reduces breakage.  The use of this entire line would be a giant step in right direction for hair growth.  If I could only choose one product besides the shampoo and conditioner I would choose the Split End Salve because I think that is the most important single step in hair growth.

Aveda's Damage Remedy Line

The line includes: Damage Remedy Restructuring Shampoo, Conditioner, Daily Hair Repair, and Intensive Restructuring Treatment

You might call Aveda's Damage Remedy my first love in hair products and so it will always hold a special place in my heart.  Let me tell you a little story:  Once upon a time I had platinum blonde (a.k.a. as blonde as it gets) hair.  As beautiful as it was it was also quite damaged and distressed from the process it took to achieve that color.  I started using the damage remedy line and my white blonde hair became soft as silk and shiny as diamonds.  I soon thereafter enrolled in cosmetology school and here I am today!  The end.

Seriously though, this stuff is the real deal.  The shampoo and conditioner really help with breakage, the Daily Hair Repair protects from heat and detangles, and (drumroll....) the Intensive Restructuring Treatment may be my favorite hair product on the market.  They say to apply this to your hair once a week for 2-5 minutes... Well, I would push this to the next level and sleep with it on my hair about twice a week, and wash it out the following morning.  Yes, there are warnings about using too much protein in your hair, but it worked for me and my hair was in great shape for how overprocessed it was.  

There are other things you can do on top of using great products that seem to help.  A good diet high in protein and vegetables and taking vitamins regularly.  I've heard of many people that take prenatal vitamins for this purpose - whether it works or not, I'm not sure, but it can't hurt.

Protection of the hair is the name of the game.  Make sure you are using some kind of heat protectant on the hair before using hot tools, otherwise your hair will fry from the heat and break off, sometimes really short.  And try your best to get a trim every 3-4 months - it doesn't have to be more than 1/4 inch and it will take care of those dead ends most of the time.  

Bottom line, it takes some time and patience to get your hair to grow, but if you treat it the way you should the process should be faster and your hair will look better.