Raechele Cochran Gathers, MD While your hair’s growth rate may be pretty much set in stone, there are definitely things that you can do to improve the health of your hair so that it’s stronger, less prone to splitting, and more likely to get longer faster.
10 Tips to Grow Longer Hair Faster
1. Don’t be Scared of Trims!
Trimming your hair can actually help you achieve longer hair faster. When your ends start to get knotty and tangle prone, you can tell it’s time for a trim. Many women need to trim every 8-12 weeks. It’s true what they say: If you don’t trim regularly, your ends will split and tangle, and you’ll lose much more hair through breakage.
Keeping your ends neat, healthy and relatively split free will help you grow longer hair faster. And don’t worry, you don’t have to take off a lot, just enough to refresh those ends.
2. Avoid Harsh Shampoos.
Avoid sulfate containing shampoos with ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) and ammonium laurel sulfate (ALS). These can over-dry our already naturally dry hair, and cause breakage and fragility in your strands. Try a mud or clay wash. Rhassoul clay is wonderful for cleansing the hair without stripping it. You can also try a low-poo or cleansing co-wash, which are specially formulated to cleanse your scalp and hair without wreaking havoc on your delicate strands. A good co-wash that also has a nice price point is Cantu Complete Conditioning Co-Wash.
3. Deep Condition.
Using a regular deep conditioner, especially with heat, can definitely increase the elasticity and moisture of your hair. Look for one that is rich in emollients and oils. Try to do this weekly if you can. You can apply your deep conditioner, wrap your hair in a plastic cap or saran, and then exercise or do chores for 20 minutes. You’ll definitely notice an improvement in your hair. Also, know your hair’s porosity. Low porosity hair and high porosity hair can react differently to products, so choose products that are best for your hair’s porosity.
4. Spritz your Hair at Night!
Night-time hair spritzing can improve the moisture levels in your hair. Your mix doesn’t have to be complex either. Even water spritzing, followed by a sealing oil, can help with your hair’s elasticity and help you grow longer hair faster. Every woman seems to have her own unique night-time spritz recipe, and the trick is finding the mix that works best for your hair. You can read more on night-time hair spritzing here.
5. Turn Down the Heat!
While heat is not the enemy, it’s important not to overdo it. Use the lowest level heat that you need (try not to go above 350º if you can!), and don’t always aim for bone straight. Too much heat will make your hair brittle and cause heat damage. It’s hard to grow longer hair when that happens. Try not to use heat more than weekly, and always use a heat protectant prior to blow drying or flat ironing!
6. Don’t Skip Detangling.
Let’ s face it: None of us looks forward to detangling our tresses. But it’s super important. Whereas shed hair slips out of straight hair, with textured hair, shed hairs tend to grab hold and twist around their curly neighbors. This can cause knots and dreadful tangles—and this leads to hair loss. Regularly detangling your hair, either with a comb or your fingers, is important in helping you to grow longer hair faster. The Tangle Teezer brush for thick curly hair can drastically cut down on detangling time.
7. Use a Cuticle-Closing Rinse
When your cuticle is open or ragged, your hair will appear duller, and it’s also more prone to snagging and tangles. Those with high porosity hair have an open cuticle, and can experience a lot of dryness because of this. Try doing a cool water rinse or diluted apple cider vinegar rinse after washing and conditioning your hair. This will help close your hair’s cuticle, making it smoother and less likely to tangle and break. For those of you that can’t get with the cold water rinse, try spritzing your hair with a water/Aloe Vera juice mix after washing. This too can help smooth your hair and close your cuticle.
8. Try a Supplement.
While the medical evidence that supplements work to grow hair is not super robust, many women swear by supplements, from biotin to vitamins like Nutrafol. Using a supplement might be helpful, especially if you have a diet that is lacking. If you decide to try a supplement, just be sure to check with your doctor first, to make sure that it’s safe for your particular situation. Here’s more about how nutrafol works.
9. Sleep on Satin.
Sleeping on a satin or silk pillowcase, or with a satin scarf, will help avoid your hair from drying out during the night, and also help to decrease tangles and breakage. Sleeping on cotton will suck the moisture right out of your hair! Just this one change can be a game-changer for some women, helping them grow longer hair faster.
10. Be Patient!
Remember that your hair probably grows anywhere from a quarter inch to a half inch a month. Those of you on the longer end of this number…count your lucky stars! Any changes that you make will take time for you to notice. But being delicate with your strands and treating them right, will help you retain length and grow longer hair faster.
