How To: Encourage Hair Growth

It seems everyone wants longer hair, even after having it all chopped off I hear people saying 'I'm growing it out' or 'I'm fed up with having this short hair'. It is difficult to maintain good-looking hair in between styles so people want it to grow out as fast as possible. Realistically there is nothing out there which can make your pixie crop turn into waist-length tresses within a week. However, there is a few tips and techniques to encourage your hair to grow faster and reduce split ends and breakage.

1. Biotin: This is a supplement you can take which makes your hair and nails grow faster and promotes glossier, stronger hair. All you have to do is take one tablet a day. Biotin comes in a variety of different strengths, I take the maximum, which is 10,000mcg.
2. Coconut Oil & Head Massage: Coconut Oil is fabulous for hair and gives your hair and scalp a lot of nutrients to encourage growth. This works best when massaged into the scalp, as the massaging gets the blood flowing and the coconut oil is worked into the scalp. I'd advise to massage it in for 20 minutes before you wash it as a kind of pre-shampoo treatment.
3. Heat Defence: This is vital for healthy hair. Without heat defence hair can get dry and leave you with split or frazzled ends. I apply heat defence religiously after my hair is towel-dried, regardless of whether I'm using heat on it or not.
4. Deep-Conditioning Masque: It's nice to treat your hair occasionally and I'd advise to do a deep conditioning treatment once or twice a week. Put the masque on, wrap in cling film and leave on for a couple of hours. Or even better, sleep in it overnight to get ultra-moisturised hair.
5. Brushing: This is very important in maintaining healthy hair, but a lot of brushes can cause breakage and pull hair out. It is best to brush hair with a wide tooth comb, afro comb, tangle teezer or tangle tamer as they gently remove knots without causing damage.
6. Reduce Heat and Washing: Heat, as everyone knows causes hair damage, you should try to reduce this as much as you can and try to find hair styles which don't require it. Velcro rollers, Flexi-Rods and loose braids can produce lovely hairstyles without causing heat damage. Shampooing hair strips it of its natural oils and leaves it dry and brittle, so if you are washing your hair daily try to reduce it to 2 or 3 times a week. Dry shampoo is a good way to bridge the gap between washes.
7. Trim: I know this seems counter-productive but trimming is an essential part to achieving long, healthy hair. Make sure you get your hair trimmed every 2-3 months and get at least 1cm taken off to maintain split-free ends.

If you have any hair-growing tips leave them in the comments below.

Thanks,