How to Repair Damaged Hair &/Or Grow Stronger Healthier Hair

Are you looking to strengthen fragile, thinning, bleached, or damaged hair? Or are you even looking to grow healthier longer hair? Here are my tips & advice to achieve it, based on personal experience.

• Eat a well balanced diet. (That includes less fatty foods, junk food, and caffeine and more vegetables and fruits.)
• Eat high protein content foods. (Ex. chicken, protein bars, steak, protein shakes, beans, eggs, etc)
• Exercise. (Releases endorphins which help you to feel better, minimizes stress, & helps you work up a good sweat which stimulates hair follicles.)
• Use sulfate & paraben free products on your hair. (These are chemicals that can potentially destroy & weaken your hair, so please reconsider this one tip as much as you can.)
• Take hair supplements. (They won't guarantee longer hair, but will definitely strengthen your hair so that it wont break as easily & therefore grow longer over time.)
• Take vitamins. (You might have deficiencies which may contribute to hair loss.)
• Drink 7-8 glasses of water. (This will release toxins from your body that arent letting you feel or be as healthy as you should. & to look healthy we should "be" healthy.) Agree?
• Consider making vegetable/fruit smoothies in the blender. (My personal favorite is a carrot milk shake.) Here's the ingredients: One carrot sliced thin & into pieces, a pinch of cinnammon, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, 4 to 5 tablespoons of sugar, 5 icecubes, and around 1-2 cups of milk depending on how thick you want the shake to be. Blend until ice & carrots are fully dissolved.
• Look for ways to de-stress. (Spend time doing things that make you feel good or doing things that are productive.)
• Use a wide tooth comb to detangle your hair. (Did you ever find that small toothed combs get tangled in your hair & create knots? Well now you know why wide toothed combs are recommended because they are better for separating strands of hair.)
• Minimize the amount of heat you use. (Includes flat irons, hot combs, blow dryers etc.)
• Massage your hair for 1-2 minutes every night before bed. (This stimulates hair follicles.)
• Look into co-wash (conditioner only wash) method if your hair is very dry & damaged. (Id recommend doing this once a week, 3 times a month & for the 4th week using a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner.)
• Incorporate homemade hair masks into your hair care. (Depending on your hair type there are various masks that will further strengthen and soften your hair. You can use ingredients such as warmed olive oil, avocado, bananas, eggs, sweet almond oil, amongst other ingredients.)
• Use essential oils and carrier oils to massage your scalp. (There are hundreds of oils that can resemble the hairs natural sheen and help to moisturize the hair. Some like coconut oil, over time can help hair grow. There are others like peppermint oil which wakes the scalp up & invigorates our senses. That's double the goodness! Less stress and beautiful hair. It's like a spa treatment all in the comfort of our own homes!)
• Do not use gels and sprays on your hair. (My hair has gone through an immense change after I stopped using hair gels and sprays. If you have unruly hair as a cause of damage than fix the underlying problem. Don't over process your hair w. chemicals in hair gels and sprays which make your hair dry and hard, harder to comb and therefore easier to break. I recommend using pomades and hairdresses. My favorite is from Carol's Daughter. It's called Mimosa Hair Honey. It smells wonderful!)
• Trim your ends only if they are split and/or brittle. (Trimming your hair an inch or half an inch every month will only make your hair shorter or leave it at the same length. If your hair is healthy, trim it once in a while, not every month. If you do trim your hair, be careful that your stylist isn't cutting more than she's supposed to. Less than half a cm of hair is already enough!)
• Have a hair journal where you specifically record what's working and what's not, products you're using, and the effects of each. (You can keep track of what's giving you better results and what to stay away from.)
• Visit the Long Hair Community Forums online. (This is a forum where women interact with each other on various methods, techniques, etc to grow longer hair.)
• Do not over brush or over comb your hair. (Doing so might cause your fragile hair to break easily from the constant pull.)
• Keep your hair tangle free. (Always use a good conditioner or detangle spray in your hair to keep it from breaking.)
• Never keep your hair in tight buns, ponytails, or braids. (Did you know that constantly tying our hair very tightly can cause a receding hairline? It can also break our hair's edges. If you constantly get braids, make sure that they aren't that tight. You can get sores on your sensitive scalp. Tight hairdos do not guarantee stronger healthier OR longer hair at all.)
• Keep your hair away from sunlight. (Sunlight directs heat unto your scalp & hair. Hmm, we all know what heat & our worst enemy "humidity" can do to our hair! So use spf hair products and if you chemically treat your hair, stay away from the sun. For all who color treat their hair, the sunlight can strip away the color from your hair dye & leave you with a dull, nasty color.)
• Be wary of visiting salons that use products that you are not aware of. (Ask if you can be allowed to bring in your own hair products. Also take into account that even though salons might use high priced products, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll work on your specific hair type. A good salon will work with your specific needs and work to help your hair, not just make it look good. Ive also seen salons pour cheap shampoos & conditioners into namebrand bottles to mislead their clients. Horrible isn't it? Be very careful ladies.)

Above all, you'll need lots of patience if anything else! Stick to your hair goals & take all the necessary steps to follow through & make them happen!