A few years ago (as some of you might recall) I was a pixie. Not one of the fairy people, but rather someone with a short pixie cut. The Jean Seberg to be exact. But I've been growing my hair out for a couple of years now and how to grow your hair is still one of the most frequent questions I receive. I don't have a magic formula, but I'm happy to share my tips with you.
1. Get frequent trims. This might seem counter-intuitive, but is a totally necessary step. If you are starting from a pixie then your hair growth is usually quite awkward and frequent cuts helps keep it from looking too terrible. Even if you hair is longer I still recommend frequent trims because your ends get fried a lot quicker than the rest of your hair and split ends will end up making your hair shorter than a routine trim. When I was growing out the pixie I had a trim (usually by a friend) at least once a month; depending on how damaged your hair is you can probably get away with only getting a trim every 2 or 3 months.
2. Avoid heat styling your hair. Heat styling (blow drying or curling irons) damages your hair, as your hair gets damaged the ends get especially dry and split. So a key to healthier hair that will grow longer and not break is avoiding heat styling; I try to only curl my hair once a week and I never blow dry it.
3. Wash your hair in cold water. A lot of people who love to dye their hair already know that washing it in cold water helps keep the color from fading, but it's also good to help keep your hair healthier. I'm being repetitive but healthy hair will grow better.
4. Change your style, but not your length. Add fringe or even play with your hair color--bleaching will damage your hair, but changing my color so many times kept the grow-out feeling fresh. I also tried a more bob cut, a blunt fringe, and softer waves and sideswept fringe.
5. Beat hair boredom by learning new hairstyles. Really want curls but you're trying to avoid the curling iron? Learn how to rag curl your hair. Try new braiding and twisting techniques--loads of styles work on short to medium length hair.
6. Patience is a virtue. There's no substitute for time, so try not to focus on your hair growth on a daily or even monthly basis. Hair takes time to grow and no amount of supplements will change that, so just practice a little patience and remember: it's just hair.
1. Get frequent trims. This might seem counter-intuitive, but is a totally necessary step. If you are starting from a pixie then your hair growth is usually quite awkward and frequent cuts helps keep it from looking too terrible. Even if you hair is longer I still recommend frequent trims because your ends get fried a lot quicker than the rest of your hair and split ends will end up making your hair shorter than a routine trim. When I was growing out the pixie I had a trim (usually by a friend) at least once a month; depending on how damaged your hair is you can probably get away with only getting a trim every 2 or 3 months.
2. Avoid heat styling your hair. Heat styling (blow drying or curling irons) damages your hair, as your hair gets damaged the ends get especially dry and split. So a key to healthier hair that will grow longer and not break is avoiding heat styling; I try to only curl my hair once a week and I never blow dry it.
3. Wash your hair in cold water. A lot of people who love to dye their hair already know that washing it in cold water helps keep the color from fading, but it's also good to help keep your hair healthier. I'm being repetitive but healthy hair will grow better.
4. Change your style, but not your length. Add fringe or even play with your hair color--bleaching will damage your hair, but changing my color so many times kept the grow-out feeling fresh. I also tried a more bob cut, a blunt fringe, and softer waves and sideswept fringe.
5. Beat hair boredom by learning new hairstyles. Really want curls but you're trying to avoid the curling iron? Learn how to rag curl your hair. Try new braiding and twisting techniques--loads of styles work on short to medium length hair.
6. Patience is a virtue. There's no substitute for time, so try not to focus on your hair growth on a daily or even monthly basis. Hair takes time to grow and no amount of supplements will change that, so just practice a little patience and remember: it's just hair.
*for reference (although everyone's hair grows at a unique rate): the short pixie cut pictures are mostly from early 2013, the blue hair was the summer of 2013, blonde summer 2014, and pink early fall 2014*
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