A different subject than I'm used to write about:
how can you get your hair longer, stronger and more healthy?
Since christmas I started a treatment, based on information I've found on Youtube and the internet.
For many years I'm trying to let my hair grow longer, but it's not easy. Not only it grows very slow, next to that my hair was very dry and damaged. Since my puberty my hair changed dramatically. As a child, I had long, strong and thick hair with alot of volume. When I was a young teenager, all that changed because of my hormonal system. My hair got thin and fragile. If it couldn't be any worse, I started bleaching my hair, used a flat iron for almost every day, etc. - things that damaged my hair much more than it already was.
Since a year or two I stopped with ironing and drying my hair with a hairdryer. Since then my hair looked more healthy, isn't burned on the ends like it used to be, etc. I also try to colour my hair only two times in a year and I will never bleach it ever EVER again.
Now, my hair started to grow more, looked more healthy, but I had the problem that when it was on a certain length, it looked like it stopped growing. I only go two times a year to the hairdresser and every time they had cut my hair, I was back to where I started. Time for some action, I will have my long and strong hair back, nah!
I started with the treatment since 26th of Decembre. We are now two weeks further and I start to see some changes already.
First of all, the mother of all hairgrow remedies:
BIOTIN!
I started taking biotin a long time ago, but stopped taking it. Not because it didn't work, but because I have a problem with taking medication on a regular basis. Since two weeks ago, I take every day three tablets. It's a B-vitamin that helps with the growth of your nails, hair, etc. Next to that, it's also good for you skin. Normally I have a lot of pimples on my face, but since I started taking Biotin, I have less of them. At this moment I take Biotin 300 mcg from Solgar (see picture). It's like one of the highest dose you find in the stores in Belgium. In America, they have Biotin in 10000 mcg, what has off course more effect than the one of 300 mcg. I ordered from
drogisterij.net Biotin in 5000 mcg. For the people that want to order the highest dose there is, you can always buy it on
Ebay.
It's your choice, but if I was you I would start with a lower dose first and see how that works for you. Try it for a couple of weeks and see if you notice any difference. 10000 mcg is really high and next to the positive feedback, there are also some complains. Biotin not only makes your hair on your head grow faster, but also on the rest of your body. Next to that, drink enough water! When you take such a high dose, your body will have the need to drink more. It's not dangerous for your health, but still be aware that too much is unnecessary.
Another supplement I take is
Omega 3. As some of you know, I am a vegetarian. Most of the tablets contain fishoil, so that is not an option for me, but I have good news for the vegetarians and vegans among us. There are tablets that doesn't contain fish. I ordered, again at
drogisterij.net, Omega 3 for vegetarians and vegans. Not only is Omega 3 good for your cardiovascular system, arthritis and for the functioning of the brains, also for your hair and skin! People with diabetes, heart problems, etc., first discuss it with your doctor! Omega 3 isn't totally harmless for you.
As you can see, the food you eat is important for the health of your body and hair.
Soooo, e
at healthy! It's easier to say than to put it in practice, I know. Every newyear I tell myself: next year you really need to do better and eat more healthy food!
What is healthy? I think we need to eat less meat and add more variation in our food. Eat loads of greens, fruit (max. 4 pieces a day), etc. Try to avoid processed food. Also I need to work on that last one, because I eat too much sugared food... It's an addiction I guess.
Next to eating healthy, getting my biotin and Omega 3, there are the shampoos, oils, etc to use when you wash your hair. It's important to
wash your hair not too much! I do it every two days and even that is actually a bit overdo. When you wash your hair every day, you don't give your scalp the chance to produce its own oils. Next to that, when you wash too much, your hair gets greasy way more often. Let your hair recover by itself.
Also,
be careful with wet hair. When it's wet, it's more vulnerable than it's dry. So when you get out of the shower, don't rub your hair dry with a towel and start combing it! I roll it in a towel for 5 minutes and after that, I comb my hair with my fingers (very gently).
The shampoos and conditioners I use are the ones with less chemical junk in it.
I prefer the shampoos and conditioners from Weleda, Lush, organic shampoos, etc. Also the ones in the hairdressing salons are better than the ones in the supermarket. The shampoos and conditioners in the regular stores actually are very agressive. I advice you to go to a shop where they have natural products. You don't have a shop in your neighborhoud where you can buy such products? Just order them on internet! For example,
Etsy has alot of shops that sell homemade organic shampoo bars for a decent price.
A special shampoo and conditioner I ordered on
Ebay:
Organix, ever straight brazilian keratin treatment. I use it to give my hair a keratin boost, so that it gets more volume and grows faster. Please, do not use this one too much! I use it once in a week, maximum two times. When you use it too often you will get very dry hair. I'm not fully sure if this shampoo and conditioner is my thing, because it has alot of chemicals in it that are agressive for your hair (don't let yourself caught by the name 'organix'). When I first tried it, my scalp and hands felt a bit irritated. I'm still trying it out, so I'll keep you guys up to date.
Right before I shampoo my hair I use
organic virgin coco nut oil. You can not only cook with it, but also use it on your hair, face, etc. I take two tablespoons from it and warm it up in the microwave for just one minute. Then I put it on my hair and massage it on my scalp. I put it on my hair for about an hour and then wash it off in the shower.
The last product I use on my hair is
Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula. It's a moisturizer that you use after you went in the shower and your hair is dry again. Take as much as a pea on the palm of your hand, rub it on both hands and spread it all over your hair. I have curls so after I use this product, my curls look better and my hair has a healthy gleam. You can find this one also on
drogisterij.net.
One method I tried and really worked (I thought it would be a fable!) is
the inversion method. You can find on Youtube different videos about it. How does this method work? You take olive oil and warm it up in the microwave. After that you put it on your scalp, massage it in (watch out that you don't burn yourself, hot olive oil is dangerous) and you bend yourself over so that your head hangs upside down. You keep standing like that for four minutes. Do it one week a month, every day, and you'll see result! Your hair will grow one inch a month (=2,54cm!). I did it and I noticed my hair being longer than the week before. If you don't believe it, that's fine. You can always try it out. Olive oil (or argan oil, also a good one to use) is good for the hair, so you won't do any harm with trying it.
I hope these tips will help you! If you have more tips and tricks for getting your hair grow better, let me know. I hope 2014 will be the year of the long, shiny and voluminous hair ;)!
