how to: get long and healthy hair!

As many of you may have read in my previous 'hair journey' post, me and my hair have a love-hate relationship. I cut off a lot of my hair (to just above shoulder length) a few years ago and ever since have been desperately seeking the perfect hair growing methods to get my hair back to its original state with long flowing locks! I am by no means an expert at hair growth, but the tips I will share with you today help me personally, so feel free to try them out and good luck with growing beautiful hair!

♥ The main and most important tip for hair growth I feel is to have a heat ban. Whether it is a complete and strict ban or just cutting down on the straightener action, this will drastically help your hair to get it into good condition and consequently grow out nicely, without needing a million trims to banish those pesky split ends! I have been on a strict heat ban for about 2 years now after being a straightener addict and ruining my hair, and I now never use any heat (including hair dryers) on my hair except for the most special occasions e.g. Christmas, birthdays etc. I think this has really helped my hair to be healthy, strong and generally to grow quicker and fuller!

♥ When growing hair, a lot of the theories for quick growth is to trim the ends of the hair every 6-8 weeks. For me, this just does not work at all, as having a trim that often just puts you back to square one after your hair has finally started growing. I generally get my hair cut every 2-3 months and by using no heat on my hair it doesn't usually need any more trims than that.

♥ Of course, the old hair growth secret is just to be healthy. Fresh fruit, vegetables, and 2 litres of water a day will do no end of good with your hair growing plight! Try foods such as fish and nuts which have been linked to helping hair growth and try to avoid caffeine, excess sugar, fat and fizzy drinks which can be detrimental to your hair!

♥ Find a fantastic shampoo and conditioner which really suits your hair type to get your hair into perfect condition. Also deep conditioners such as Aussie 3 Minute Miracle will help to soften and revive your hair, making it healthier and subsequently easier to get longer!

♥ Be careful with the hair accessories you choose. Rubber bands are an absolute no-no, tugging on the hair and other heavy clips or bands may also pull on the hair and weaken it!

♥ Don't wash your hair more than once every two days, this will enable the natural hair oils to restore the hair and by washing it too often you are stripping it of these oils. Use dry shampoo as a substitute for daily washes!

My dry shampoo-ed barnet!

♥ Keep in mind that one hair can grown from 2-7 years, meaning that as your hair grows longer, a lot will fall out as it reaches the end of it's growth cycle! Some of the hair on your head may have seen up to 7 years of damage, so be gentle with your hair so that it can grow to its maximum potential!

♥ And finally the only thing that can really help lengthen those beautiful locks of yours is patience. Time is the main factor in hair growth so give your hair time and space to grow long long long!

I hope I helped in some way with your hair growing plight! If you have any other tips or questions pop them below! :)

my hair journey!

 My hair and I have a very fragile relationship.

Only recently has it reached a length which I deem suitable for my head after months and months of it being stuck at that 'awkward' length which takes forever to grow out.

About three years ago I chopped of my lovely, long hair to just above my shoulder, thinking it would make me look sophisticated and grown up, however it seemed to achieve just the opposite...

*cringe*

I absolutely hated it!

Short hair looks beautiful on so many people, however with fine, flat hair I was just not one of them! As soon as it reached my shoulder it was flicking out constantly and I wasted hours of my life straightening my unruly ends into place. All that heat on my hair did it nothing but damage and it has taken me years to restore it to its original healthy condition. Split and dry ends have plagued me all the way through trying to grow out my hair, and only recently have I discovered my miracle hair product, Aussie 3 Minute Miracle, review here.

As soon as I got the chop I knew I wanted long, luscious locks back, and my solution to this problem, influenced by my sister, was hair extensions. Clip-in ones of course, which as I was only about 13, did not match the colour of my hair one bit, oh the naivety of my youth! ;)

*Insert embarrassing picture of me in my mismatching hair extensions!*

After countless embarrassing moments of half the clips falling out at the worst times, and accidentally nearly burning them off with a soldering iron (whoops!) I eventually realised hair extensions were just not for me  and decided just to concentrate my efforts on growing my hair longer, naturally.

I've never dyed my hair (although I was considering ombre ends recently- I chickened out!) but I did have highlights a few years ago. To be honest they made no difference to my hair at all! I have naturally blonde-ish highlights in my hair and the ones my hairdresser put in for me just did not show up enough for me to even bother putting in a picture of me with them!

So after months of struggling to get it past the 'awkward' length of sitting right on my shoulders I have finally got it to a length I am reasonably happy with. Nowadays I wear it in a side parting, wavy and am on a strict heat ban to prevent any more of those pesky split ends!

I'm thinking of doing more 'hair' type posts in the next few weeks such as heat free styling and how to grow out your hair, would any of you be interested? And please post any of your hair journeys in the comments, I'd love to have a read!

a hair miracle.

A few months ago, I was in a complete and utter hair rut, not knowing what to do about my dry, lackluster, flat hair. I was even blogging out my misery at my damn hair and its rebellious way, which were driving me to the extremes, check out the post here! After reading through all your lovely ladies advise on that post, and a quick skip around Superdrug, I picked up these:

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle

This much raved about deep conditioner was the top of my list when searching for some hair therapy and after trying multiple deep conditioners in the past, this is by far the best of the bunch. I use it once a week, applying it to just washed hair for about 5 minutes and then rinsing, leaving my hair to die for soft and silky. This is a huge winner in my book!

Aussie Miracle Hair Insurance Leave-in Conditioner

This is the first product I reach for to apply on damp, clean hair to the ends, detangling my slightly knotty, unruly hair to soft and silky goodness! This makes my ends look healthier and my hair easier to control, and will be a definate re-purchase for me!

After trying out these babies for more than 3 months now, I can conclude my hair is on its way to being healed from those darn straighteners that ruined my hair years ago! Combining the use of these two miracle products and a strict heat ban keeps my damage prone hair relatively split end free, and soft and silky like no ones business!

If you are having a bit of a hair slump I would definitely recommend trying the Aussie line, I will certainly be trying more from the wonder company :)

I purchased both these products myself.