How to Grow Long Hair

Posted by Sarah Tennant Jun 9, 2009

As what is known in the trade as a "longhair" (I can sit on it), I often get comments from people who insist they've tried to grow their hair long and failed. With this in mind, here's how to do it.

Don't Cut Your Hair

Sounds obvious, right? You'd be surprised. A lot of people get discouraged when their hair temporarily slows down growth; as a result, they cut. Sadly, despite a lot of myths to the contrary, trimming or cutting your hair won't make it grow any faster (or thicker, but that's another blog post). If you want long hair and your hair doesn't seem to be growing, leave it; at the very least, you're not making it any shorter! Remember, too, that curly hair takes longer than straight to look long, as the hair grows around rather than straight down.

Technically, if you follow the above rule you will eventually attain long hair. But let's assume you want nice-looking, shiny, healthy hair rather than a ratty tail; in which case, there are a few more things you need to do.

Minimise Damage to Your Hair

Every hair is older at the bottom; the longer your hair, the older your ends are. And the longer hairs remain on your head, the more chances they have to become trapped in your handbag, frizzled to death in a curling iron, dried out in the sun or caught in the car window. All these things lead to split ends and breakage, which lead to a ponytail that looks thin and wispy at the ends.

To prevent these, start using some gentle hair care techniques (even if your hair's still only chin-length!). Shun your straightening iron; eschew your blow dryer; ditch your bleach. Sleep on a satin pillowcase, braid your hair at night if it's long enough, don't rip a brush through it. The longhair adage is to treat your hair "like old lace" - handle it gently and carefully. If you're used to yanking knots out of it with a bobble-headed brush, this will initially seem like a strange and paranoid way to behave; but it pays off!

Take Vitamins and Supplements for Healthy Hair

Fast growth and strong hair can be achieved by supplementing with biotin, omega-rich foods such as fish and flax seed, and silica. Prenatal vitamins tend to be loaded up on these things, which also give you great nails; otherwise, the supplements can be purchased separately. Biotin may even reverse the greying process and help with thinning hair!

Remove Split Ends

Healthy hair that is kept moisturised and not subjected to mechanical or chemical damage shouldn't split too badly; still, splits do happen even on the best-kept heads. Trimming isn't likely to help, as splits occur at any point along the hair shaft (usually in the lower third, but cutting off a third of your hair won't make it long!). Keep a pair of sharp embroidery scissors handy and snip them off at right angles to the hair shaft as you see them. Left to themselves, splits tend to travel further up the hair shaft and get tangled around other hairs due to their fineness.

As the new Feature Writer for Suite's Hair Care section I'll be discussing a lot more about the nitty-gritties of growing long hair in later blog posts. If you've always wanted long hair but never got around to it, jump in!