by Ginger Earle

Created on: October 06, 2009

At age 28, I finally have the full head of long healthy hair I've always wanted. It hasn't always been this long, and it hasn't been easy. I'm not blessed with thick hair that grows quickly. My hair is fine, soft, and grows slowly, but by following some simple steps, I've gotten it to grow down past my waist.

1. Do not trim your hair every 4-6 weeks! I hear this misleading tip all the time. People even go so far as to say that it will grow faster if you cut it. That's simply not true. Think about it. How would your hair follicles know or sense that you trimmed the dead ends of your hair? It's not scientific or logical and it will do nothing but cut off the growth you have. The fact is that hair grows about a half an inch per month. If you go in for a trim of a half an inch or more every month or month and a half, you will cut off at least what has grown, if not more. Obviously, that will not work. You must trim your hair once in a while to get rid of dead split ends, but if you treat your hair gently and follow the below steps to keep it healthy, you only need to get a trim every 2-6 months. You can judge for yourself how healthy your ends are and decide when you need to go, there is no need to follow the arbitrary 4-6 week rule. Make sure you go to a stylist you trust who will only trim what you need trimmed, most will take off much more than you want, further stunting your quest for long hair.

2. Limit styling-that means blow drying, straightening, curling, any type of heat styling. This is incredibly damaging to your hair and will prevent it from getting long by causing damage and breakage. You must be gentle to your hair, it's just dead protein and it needs to be treated gently. If you must blow dry, use a low setting, hold the dryer away from your hair and use a styling product that protects hair from heat damage. Even with these precautions, try not to use heat styling more than once or twice a week. If you must use heat styling to get the look you want, long hair may not be for you.

3. Sleep on a silk pillowcase-this is great for your hair and skin, preventing damage caused by your hair rubbing on rough cotton, pure silk keeps the follicle smooth. This is not only less damaging but will keep your style intact, meaning you can blow dry and wash your hair less often.

4. Wash your hair less-whether you color or not, washing your hair everyday strips the scalp and hair of natural protective oils, leading to dryness. It's also very damaging to comb out wet

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