How to Grow Longer, Healthier Hair

Long hair is beautiful, but it takes considerable effort to maintain. If you struggle to grow out your length or want to stimulate new healthy hair growth, follow these suggestions below. To begin, prepare for the journey — hair grows up to half an inch a month if it's in prime condition. It's going to take a while. Next, follow Hair By Gabie G's hair-growth suggestions to nudge those leisurely follicles in the right direction.

Don’t Pass on Maintenance Visits to the Salon

Sound counterintuitive, but you should continue to trim your hair. Trims release accruing damage, and split ends will prolong your goal. Eight weeks' visits or so to your stylist should be a general or benchmark for regrowth, but it doesn't need to be a strict, recurring appointment. Keep an eye on your ends, especially if you have coarse textured hair, use heat styling tools, or have colored, processed hair, and make sure your stylist is only taking off what's necessary when you see them — ask for a dusting trim! Usually, if you work with Gabie, she will know your goals and develop a prescribed hair growth action plan to make them happen. 

Read the Ingredient Label on Your Haircare Products

The secret to maximizing the hair-growth process is also babying your hair at all times, not just in the shower when it is wet and vulnerable. Pay attention to what is going into your hair and on your scalp. Use a gentle, naturally good quality based shampoo cleanser and avoid things like SLS and SLES, parabens, and silicones, which is often seen as 'dimethicone' on labels." These harsh ingredients can build up on your scalp, clog your hair follicles, and sabotage your grand hair-growth plan, so go with something compelling yet non-stripping. Most shampoos with synthetic surfactants are disguised by other marketing attributes, which big companies think will distract you from reading the fine print. Be aware that many of today's OTC haircare lines are made from chemical cleansing agents. There is a proliferation of synthetic surfactants, and it is challenging to know which ones are safe as most of them need to be sufficiently studied. Consult your hair care specialist. We are here not just for the cut but for the health of your hair too. 

Hair by Gabie G carries a line of safe, chemically free haircare products for all hair types. They are safe for you and for us to touch regularly. If you enjoy something specific or need support towards your chemically free hair care system goal, we can acquire it even if it is not in our line at the salon. Healthy hair growth would also benefit if you had a healthy feeding and wellness plan for your body, not to mention it will also help our planet. 

Stop Over Shampooing

After squinting at labels, consider spending some downtime away from your cleansing products if you tend to shampoo a lot. That squeaky-clean feeling may mean you're stripping your scalp and hair of its natural oils, which can lead to brittle hair and breakage and leave you frustrated that your hair has been the same length for months. A hair-growth journey is an excellent excuse to treat yourself to a quality leave-in conditioner, an HBGG-approved pre-shampoo conditioner, a luxurious hair mask, or just an upgrade to your usual conditioner, added moisture in these treatments helps plump the hair shaft, improving elasticity and strength over time, which means less breakage and more length retention for you.

De-Stress

Your body knows your hair isn't essential to maintaining your life like your heart or lungs, so when your body is under stress, it will move any available nutrients and energy to those crucial organs and away from your hair which means any growth will proceed at a snail's pace. Don't stress about the small stuff.

Don't be Aggressive with the Towel

Are you still doing that towel thing? The combo of twisting, tension, and fabric-rubbing on super-fragile wet hair could damage growth. Try swapping your usual Towel for gentler microfiber hair, stop rubbing, and practice just blotting. If you have the time, try drying your hair without a heat source. 

Massage Your Scalp 

Treat your scalp with how much care you treat your face, so give it a skin-care routine outside of shampooing. Avoid harsh physical scrubs and look for familiar ingredients such as salicylic acid and alpha-hydroxy acids to remove dead skin cells gently. Also good: are natural ingredients with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, such as green tea, mangosteen, goji berries, rosemary, and lavender. Massage your scalp weekly or daily. The two most common methods of head massage are effleurage, circular stroking movements, petrissage, gentle kneading, and lifting of the scalp. Hair By Gabie G advises you begin at the front of your scalp and work your way back with soft yet firm, consistent pressure. Investing in a scalp massager can help turn this into a special ritual.

Relax on the Brushing and Appliances

If you need to brush your hair, only do so gently and when you genuinely need to. Make sure to use a gentle brush. Look for one with rounded, plastic prongs on the tips and a vented, cushioned base. Whether you're brushing, combing, or detangling, always start from the ends and work your way up to avoid breakage and disturbing. Be incredibly gentle with venerable wet hair. Beyond the gentle brushing, try to leave your hair alone as much as possible. Cut down on hair-drying, flat-ironing, curling, chemically straightening, dyeing, teasing, and exposure to the sun. Less is best. 

Sleep on Silk

Encouraging your hair to grow to impressive lengths means treating it like the fragile baby it is, so start sleeping on silk pillowcases to cut down on tangles, breakage, and damage and preserve all your hard work. Silk pillowcases feel lovely and are healthy for your skin, too.

Eat like a Nutritionist 

Suppose you're already maintaining a balanced diet with plenty of iron, B vitamins, vitamin E, zinc, good for you, and protein, which makes up the hair. Consider optimizing your grocery list for hair growth further; you can find biotins besides vitamins, like nuts, eggs, leafy greens, avocado, salmon, and cauliflower. Recognize that iron deficiency is often responsible for hair falling out before it reaches its maximum length, so consider upping your intake via red meat if you eat animal protein or lots of dark, leafy greens.

Gabie Gaggero, Master stylist at Hair by Gabie G, also flags other slow hair growth suspects, including crash dieting, shock, hormonal imbalances, or changes that come with hypo and hyperthyroid, menopause, pregnancy. In the natural hair-growth cycle, hair shedding usually occurs 6 to 12 weeks after the event that caused it; Gabie G also cautions us to reflect a bit on what's been going on in our life, consult a professional where needed, and re-strategize from there!