10 tips for long healthy hair

A lot of people adore long hair but they can't seem to grow their hair to their desired length. Every now and then I'm asked how I managed to grow my hair this long. Sometimes, your hair provides a certain length limit and you get to realise that by time. But if your hair was at a certain length at one point in your life, chances are, your hair can grow to that particular length once again. These are some points you may want to consider if you want to grow out your hair:

1. When you go for a trim at your hairdresser, insist on a very short trim and define how much you want to cut off e.g. 1 inch / 2 cm. Hairdressers really do tend to annoy me, most of the time when they see long hair their mind goes "CHOP IT OFF". You're paying for your cut. Insist that you only want to cut that much from your hair length. Sometimes they tend to say that your hair is damaged. In my case, my hair was not really damaged, it just faded colour right at the very ends just like it was when I was younger. So make sure that if your hair isn't damaged and you really don't want it cut off, keep insisting. You're the client.

2. When you style your hair using a curling iron, triple barrel waver, crimping iron, flat iron and anything else that involves heat make sure you use some sort of heat protection spray or product especially on your ends. Less damage = less need for larger trims.

3. Do not comb or brush your hair while wet. What I tend to do is brush it before I wash it and then brush it once it dries. Wet hair is very weak and fragile, and basically anything you do which is not gentle to your hair will break down your hair and you really don't want to do that.

4. Avoid using heat styling tools frequently, and try styling your hair differently with your natural style and with products that suit your natural hair texture.

5. Do not bleach your hair. Bleach really really damages your hair and so do certain hair dyes which are not close to your natural hair colour. Ask your hairdresser about heat damage when it comes to hair dyeing. Don't just go with a certain colour in mind without asking or ignoring what is very much important.

6. When you tease or backcomb your hair make sure that you spray afterward and not before. If you spray beforehand and then tease your hair, you'd be damaging your hair.

7. Stay away from Chemical Straightening, it may damage your hair.

8. Something a lot of people may consider as outrageous is to learn how to cut your own hair. There are so many videos out there on youtube and stuff and they show you all the tricks. I have done it once and I was very pleased. In my case, I know how I want my hair to look like but hairdressers are usually reluctant to do so. I love to cut the top layer of my hair shoulder length or even shorter and the rest of the hair long but blended with the short layer. And another trick is to straighten your hair with a flat iron beforehand and brush right before cutting. A very important thing: buy a pair of good professional scissors - you do not want to use paper scissors or anything, it is not healthy for your hair. If you honestly don't think you can do it, DON'T. You don't want a huge mistake in your hair. But you can start experimenting with your fringe first and if you think you can handle it go for the rest.

9. When you flat iron your hair don't overdo it. Brush your hair beforehand and it will help in creating a better result.When you heat your hair, once again, your hair is fragile so leave it a while to cool down before fixing it or reheating it.

10. If you're thinking about having hair extensions done, remember there are different methods and you need to make sure that you will not damage your natural hair with the glue which can split your hair.

So these are my tips for you to maintain or lengthen your hair. The key is to know what is damaging to your hair and minimise such damages so that you won't need a really good trim next time you visit your hairdresser.

Hopefully this helped somehow :) P.S. I am not qualified or anything, I only would like to share my experience with you and things that I have learned by time by researching professional tips and information. If you have your own tips please do share them :) Thanks :)

Take care :)
xxx