Your physical and emotional health have an impact on the quality of the hair you grow, and professional hair stylist Dorothe Charles says there are two main things you can do to grow stronger, longer hair: eat a nutritionally balanced diet and cut the stress out of your life.
“People come to me saying, ‘I’m stressed, I work two jobs, have a marriage that’s breaking up, and I have children who are driving me crazy,’” says Dorothe. ”They never believe that this will have an impact on their hair. It does!”
If for vanity’s sake alone, make an effort to detox and de-stress your life.
Nutrition & Vitamins to Improve Hair Growth
Vitamins for Hair Growth
Exercising, eating a balanced diet and taking multi-vitamins are all essential to helping your body to grow healthier hair. If you’re looking for a supplement designed specifically with growing stronger, longer hair in mind, check out Philip Kingsley PK4 Hair Dietry Supplement, fortified with [tooltip text="Amino acids are the building blocks of the protein that hair is made up of, called Keratin. PK4 Hair enhances the production of Keratin."]amino acids[/tooltip] that are particularly beneficial to hair.
Hair Fortifying Foods
In addition to other health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids and B-vitamins, Dorothe suggests that people should eat foods rich in these nutrients to grow fortified hair. Specifically, she advises people to a healthy dose of nuts, fish, and green vegetables, “”I find a lot of people don’t eat enough fish or nuts. They have misconceptions about nuts and avocados being too fatty — those are the good fats that we need!”
Also, she prescribes whole wheat and other foods rich in fiber because they help the body flush out toxins, which can manifest themselves in unhealthy hair.
Can You Make Your Hair Grow Faster?
Human hair grows at an average rate of about half a millimeter per day, or about half an inch every month. Your hair will grow at its own constant rate, which varies for everyone, since genetically everyone is different.
“Some people produce growth, but it ends up breaking, so it seems like their hair is not growing at all,” Dorothe explains. “In terms of patch breakage, most of the time I see hair breaking off in the back of the scalp, the temples, the center, or even at the hairline. That’s from producing poor quality growth due to stress and a lack of nourishment in your body.”
Prevent Hair Breakage
If you are stressed or malnourished, you will grow hair that is more delicate, brittle and dry. When it comes to general styling care, people with chemically processed, texturized or relaxed hair should avoid tying their hair back in an oh-so-easy ponytail, as the tension and stress induces hair breakage. Wrapping shorter styles at night keeps hair smooth and straight, thus reducing the amount of (damaging) heat styling necessary, while also lessening the likelihood of tangles and other wear and tear.
Exercise & Scalp Stimulation Help Make Hair Strong
As with the rest of our bodies, our scalps also need a good workout. This can be achieved along with regular forms of exercise which increase your overall blood circulation, thus delivering extra blood and nourishment to the scalp as well.
“Stimulation is the key to adding a bit more to your natural rate of growth. Stimulating your scalp by brushing very often, massaging and rotating your scalp in circular motions.” Dorothe admits the increased growth will not be drastic, but it adds up over time.
John Masters Organics Deep Scalp Follicle Treatment & Volumizer for Thinning Hair is a leave-in solution that promotes healthy hair growth by improving the condition of your scalp. This unique combination of organic herbs and essential oils work to improve nutrient intake, stimulate scalp circulation, and balance sebum production for optimal scalp and hair growth.
Keeping Your Hair Trimmed Trims Stress
Ever feel as though your hair dresser just loves the sound of his or her scissors snipping away at your hair? They’re just trying to rid you of excess stress, really!
“The constant, ongoing battle I have with clients is about trimming. I am really doing it for the clients; there’s really no self-interest involved. I’m trying to do something positive for them.
“As far as trims are concerned, this is how it works: Once it gets to a certain age, our hair seems like it gets brittle and dry, and starts to split. If you have four year-old hair on your head that’s never been trimmed, at least six months of that has to go. The older the hair, the more tarnished it is.”
People should place emphasis on moisturizing and protecting their ends from damage. Specially formulated to repair damaged ends, Phytokeratine reparative serum for split ends acts like a capillary bandage for your hair, and helps repair the internal structure of weakened, damaged hair.
In addition to treating the ends with moisture, Dorothe insists that trimming away dead, straggly ends is essential, “That’s why your diet and health are so important, because if four years ago you had a traumatic experience, it’s all up in your hair!”
