How to grow long and healthy hair

I have tried to grow my hair as long as possible. I started 3 years ago with the normal long hair, down to the shoulder blades. It's reaching to my waist now. I'll try to see how long it can grow. I'm sure you younger readers have a more fast growing hair than mine so you won't have to wait that long time for it to grow. During this time I have come to some conclusions I will share with you.

 1. Don’t cut it! Yes you heard it right. There is a big myth circling around that you have to go to the hairdresser every sixth week to cut of the frayed ends to get a long and healthy hair. Every time I go to a hairdresser and beg them to cut off as little as possible they cut of at least 1½ inch of it (if you are lucky and they are listening to you), that is 4 months of growing hair. Growing long hair takes time. I read a post at a hairdresser’s site that she told her customers that a split straw can’t grow any longer. She is right in one point, it can split further up if it’s not cut off but the growth is not in the end, we know that by now, don’t we? I don't want the hairdresser to loose their jobs this tip is only for those who want their hair to grow.

 2.So how do you do when you have frayed ends? Well you cut the straws with frayed ends not the other. A perfect thing to do when you sit in your sofa watching a boring movie or are bored in any other way. Take a strand of your hair and look at it closely. Frayed ends tend to curl in the end and peak out. Cut just under the frayed end. 

If you bend the hair over your finger you see the shorter straws cut of the ones with split ends.

Your hair can look horrible if you just have  a tenth of frayed ends in your hair , but if you cut off the frayed ends you get a little thinner hair but not shorter. If it looks too thin then cut off the length AFTER you have cut the frayed ends. In that way you’ll probably cut less than you should have otherwise.

 A picture of one of my straws with a split 60mm from the end, not all looked bad like this.

3. Instead of putting money on visits to the hairdresser, buy good products for your hair. Or follow the No Poo movement (haven't come so far yet). 

4. Don’t spray and tease it. For a lift, use dusting powder instead. Dust and rub and there you get the volume needed, simple as that.

This is what I use to get a little volume in my hair. A tiny dust over you hair makes wonder, just rub a little and the hair lifts. It wont get greasy but a little difficult to comb. 

Well I use hairspray but not every day.

 5. Comb your hair carefully. Throw the hairbrush away. If you have tangled hair, use a baby hairbrush and your fingers to ease it out. My son tends to get dreads in his hair while sleeping; the baby hairbrush is the only working tool and my fingers to detangle his hair. Don’t ever pull the comb/brush violently to detangle! Prefer natural material in combs and brushes. Don’t comb or brush wet hair. And keep your tools clean for god sake. There is nothing more disgusting than a brush filled with old hair, dust and remnants of products; it’s literally a bacterial bomb.

6. Avoid stress as long as you can. Learn to say NO to things you can’t join fully. I started to loose lots of hair, even got bald spots because of stress. That is one of the reasons I shaved half my head. Take care of yourself, stay happy. Things/people you can’t change, accept them and avoid them. It is more important than you could guess.

 7. Eat healthy (B and E vitamins)and do your regular exercise. If you lacking nutrients, it's easier to get sick and a high fever can also cause a hair loss. 

8. Avoid washing your hair too often. Use conditioner or oil treatments. I saw a very good tip. Rub in coconut oils in your hair tips in the evening before bedtime, that's better than any other leave in treatment.

 9. Never use elastics with metal connections on or hairclips of metal.

 10. Braid your long hair for the night or put it up in a sock bun. Here's an excellent tutorial. If you lie on your hair you wear it out. 

This is how my bun looks after a good nights sleep and only one hairpin used.

The sock bun gives you lovely Hollywood curls without uncomfortable rolls or heat.

Ha ha, please excuse my tired and unmaked face, it's the curls that are important here. I just rolled the sock out of my hair and pulled my fingers through it, if you roll with a little moist hair the curls will stay bouncy the whole day.

Tired saturday morning right after a quiet breakfast,  yaawn. The other side of the head is shaved. 

11.  Instead of dreads you can buy or make loose dreads to braid in your hair.

I made these of sheep wool, very easy to do and dyed with hair dye. Look more real than syntetic ones. Sigh, I need to make more of these (and more time to do them).

Extra tip: If you have used these for a couple of days the hair can be a mess to sort out. Here comes the little baby brush at help :)

You have probably heard most of them, but I hope I can be a little helpful though. There are lots of more tips to take care of your hair but those are so common that everyone already know them...not rubbing towels, combing wet hair, blow dryers etc etc....

Right now I'm very on and off if I should grow out my side shave or not. I'm not sure I will have the lenght back at that side anymore. It was like it couldn't grow longer than an inch and it was just soft and thin, that spot growed bigger and bigger and every hairwash there was a small wig in the drain. That mass amount of hairloss has stopped thank god and my nails doesn't flake anymore so I think I'm healthier than a few months ago. :)

Please send me a comment if you have any other tips to share for me and other readers!