How to help your hair grow longer

In one ten-month period, with a lot of determination and effort, I helped my hair grow ten inches. Since the average person’s hair grows a half-inch every month, I feel like I’m pretty qualified to give advice on hair growth.

The way you treat your hair matters more than the products 

Believe it or not, no product has helped my hair grow as much as changing the way I treat my hair did.

Wash your hair less, as little as possible. My routine used to be as follows: shower one morning and give myself a blowout, then it would look nice for the next two days after that, then I would curl my hair on the fourth day. The curls would usually look good for the fifth day and then I would wear it in a ponytail or bun for the sixth and seventh days. 

Though cleaning your hair is important, washing it too often can strip the natural oils from your hair. You don’t have to jump to a once-a-week wash right away – you can work up to it. 

Crucial to this routine is how you treat your hair between washes, too. With the right behaviour, you’ll hardly be able to tell that your hair isn’t freshly washed. Use dry shampoo liberally: my two favourites are from LUSH and Batiste. 

I mentioned blowouts before, and you may be shocked to hear I heavily recommend using heat on your hair! But in my opinion, using heat two to three times a week will help you avoid washing it too much, and again, we want to avoid washing. 

You know when you’ve gone a few days without washing your hair and you just know that it will look better once you wash it? Using heat will give you a hairstyle that will look good for longer. Just make sure you use a heat protectant. Here is a great tutorial for at-home blowouts. 

The last thing that will ensure your hair stays beautiful through multiple nights of sleep is a protective sleep style. Silk scrunchies are perfect for this. I like to twirl my hair into a loose bun and put it right on top of my head. That way it basically remains untouched overnight. Also, on the last few nights before wash day, I will cover my head in the LUSH shampoo I mentioned. Before bed, you will look like a grandma, but overnight all of the oil will be sucked up and your hair will look clean.

So, to summarize the behaviours I recommend to grow your hair: wash it as little as possible, style it to last a long time and sleep with a protective style. 

Products that will help your hair grow

Even though I said the behaviours are the most important thing, there are two products I’d recommend that helped my hair grow fast.

On my wash day, I would alternate between these two masks: Olaplex no. 3 and castor oil. 

Olaplex no. 3 is a hair mask that has hundreds of rave reviews on Amazon. It was developed for use in salons when bleaching hair, but many people use it because it “strengthens bonds” in the hair shaft. I’m no scientist, but the reviews tell me that it is at least worth a try if you’re desperate for long hair. 

Olaplex is pricey, so you could try castor oil. It also has a ton of good reviews, and to me, feels way more luxurious than Olaplex. It is really thick, so feel free to thin it out with coconut oil or hot water.

With both of these masks, simply apply it to your hair, concentrating on the roots and the ends. Leave it on for at least 30 minutes and up to five hours. When you’re in the shower, make sure your shampoo is extra foamy and sudsy before you wash out the mask, or else your hair will look nasty when it dries. You can even wash it twice – not to be hypocritical or anything – to ensure all of the oil comes out.

If you follow all of these steps, at the very least your hair will be beautiful, smooth and healthy. These were the habits I followed that helped my hair grow from shoulder length to mid-back length. I hope you found these tips helpful!

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