I constantly find myself in the phase of growing my hair out; due to dying it or heat damage I'm always trying to grow it out to be healthier. Throughout this whole time I'm telling myself I won't dye my hair or use heat on it again, we all know how long that would last. My friend's always seem to come to me when they want tips on how to achieve this so here I'm going to share a few tips that I personally use to aid in growing my hair.

1-  Don't overwash hair.
I personally wash my hair once maximum two times a week; hair requires natural oils to keep it in a healthy state. I find people that overwash their hair are the ones that say it gets 'greasy' when they don't wash it. If you overwash hair it will produce more oils that usual to compensate, so once you get in a routine of not washing hair frequently you'll see it adjust and not get greasy. Of course, if you use a lot of products this also causes build-up and grease so try to avoid things like that also. Once or twice a week is a perfectly reasonable amount for everyone.

2- Coconut Oil.

This is magic in a jar, but today I'll only focus on the benefits for hair growth. Coconut oil is perfect to use on hair; it stimulates hair grown by getting deep into its follicles. It is antibacterial so it helps the scalp to fight against problems such as dandruff, lice etc. it keeps the scalp healthy which will undoubtedly help in growing healthy hair. What can stunt hair growth is dry damaged hair, coconut oil is used as a deep conditioning mask which helps to moisturise the hair thoroughly. The best way I have found to work is to moisturise the oil onto my scalp and throughout my hair. I then will braid my hair and leave it on overnight and wash it out the following morning. The best type of oil to be used should be pure unrefined and virgin coconut oil. 

3- Tangle Teasers.

The hair brushes that you use could be restricting your hairs growth; make sure to use something gentle but effective. I have recently been converted over to tangle teasers, and with having crazy curly hair I didn't think it would work well for me but it certainly does and it doesn't break my hair which is perfect. 

4- Plaits and Braids.

Whenever I have nothing to do and I stay at home or have errands to run I will always braid my hair. When hair is pulled from the roots there's pressure applied which forces the hair to exit the follicle faster. It won't make it grown an awful lot in a short amount of time, but it certainly does help. I find that my hair is in a better condition when I braid it. I will always braid my hair of an evening before sleep, as it stops my hair getting tangled throughout the night.

5- Head Massage. 

Head massages are perfect; they relieve you of stress and also can aid in hair growth if done regularly. You should ideally combine this step with number two, as it works best when you have an oil or some kind of mask on your hair. It helps to push the oil/product is even further leading to more efficient results. When you massage any part of the body you increase the blood flow to that certain area which helps with a number of things; fatigue stress headaches. This works the same for your scalp, it doesn't just benefit the scalp but also the hair follicles and the hair itself. The increased blood flow will stimulate hair follicles in a way that leads to faster hair growth. There are many techniques and different ways to give yourself a head massage, but I just gently push on my scalp and rub with my fingertips in circular motions all over for a few minutes. 

6- Nutrition.

This is the main thing; it is pretty pointless expecting your body to produce healthy hair when what you feed it isn't beneficial. With beauty it starts from within; you must provide healthy nutrients and not empty calories for your body to work with. There's a lot of research that can be done for what works best and certain foods to focus on which will help hair growth. A few basics are; omega 3 which is found predominantly in salmon, vitamin B5 which can be found in greek yoghurt, spinach which contains numerous nutrients that are good for you in general, protein is very important also and this is found in chickens, eggs. There are lot of foods that could help you more than any magical product so you just have to research and find out what will work for you. Your goal should be to be happy and healthy within once this is achieved you'll see it radiate out through your skin, your hair, nails, figure. 

And lastly, avoiding dye and heat will also be a huge help to your hair, let is be itself for a while and you might even prefer it more in its natural condition. 

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