Growing out long, beautiful hair isn’t as simple as neglecting to cut it. Having healthy hair requires that you strike a fine balance in caring for it, but having healthy long hair requires you to become even more diligent in your hair care routine. Your genes may not have given you the thick and glossy locks you’ve always admired on shampoo models, but you can still take many steps to improve its ability to grow out long and healthy.
Cut Your Hair
The idea of cutting your hair to make it grow out longer may initially seem strange, but it’s a perfectly logical and necessary step. Your hair grows about a half-inch per month, according to Hair Boutique online. Consider how old the ends are at its current length. Inevitably, your older hair will become irreversibly damaged due to exposure to fluctuating temperatures, washing, drying, processing and more. Go to a knowledgeable hairdresser who can assess how much hair needs trimming in order for you to begin with a clean slate. If it’s minimally damaged, you may only need a small trim and slight maintenance every six weeks or so. However, be willing to cut off as much as proves necessary to start anew.
Eat Protein
According to Robert Shmerling, M.D. or MSN Health & Fitness, the average adult needs to consume about 50 grams of protein each day, which is roughly equivalent to 10 percent of her total caloric intake. If you’re consuming less than that due to a restrictive diet, your hair–which is primarily protein–will likely become thin, struggle to grow or even fall out. To enrich your hair’s ability to grow, include in your diet a moderate amount of healthy protein sources, including fatty fish, beans and legumes, soy, eggs and dairy.
Be Gentle
Resist the urge to bleach and chemically straighten your hair, rinse it in hot water, brush through tangles while it’s wet, blow dry it on high settings and tease it to add body. In your commitment to growing it out, think “gentle”. You may occasionally want to style it, but apply a heat mask spray to your hair when you plan to expose it to heat and only use low heat settings on your styling tools. Seek advice from a hair stylist if you want to chemically alter your hair, but know that skipping the chemicals will prove much healthier than using them.
Moisturize
If you hair isn’t overly oily, you don’t need to wash it every day. In fact, exposing it to shampoo and warm water on a daily basis will dry it out. To allow your hair’s natural oils to imbue your tresses with moisture, try to wash your hair only about three times each week. Marie Claire online recommends that if you heat-style your hair every week you should supplement your hair’s natural moisture by applying a deep conditioner once per week.
Using Supplements
Hair Boutique online joins the ranks of many hair experts in recommending that you boost your hair’s quality of health with dietary supplements such as a Vitamin B complex, Vitamin E, flax seed oil, magnesium and beta-carotene. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that, due to the abundance of contradictory information about dietary supplements on the market, consumers should exercise caution before taking them. For example, it is possible to overdose on a vitamin or become seriously ill if a supplement conflicts with an existing medical condition. Speak to a doctor before you begin to supplement your diet.
