The average woman spends hundreds of hours washing, drying, and styling her hair each year, and yet 81 percent of women report that they're not always happy. What are the most common complaints? Most of us wish our locks were either fuller or shinier (or both). Growing long, beautiful and healthy hair should not be an extremely difficult process. It should not require a multitude of salon hair products, handfuls of expensive vitamins, or any sort of sacrifice to the long hair gods. What it should take to grow your hair long and keep it in good condition is common sense, dedication, and a lot of patience.

Indeed, growing long hair is actually more a question of what you shouldn't do rather than what you should do.

First of all it's important that you pay attention to how your hair reacts to the products you use, and to find those that will work best for you and your hair type. Remember the health of your hair suffers when follicles are clogged with the residue of commercial products if you overuse those. Over time the chemicals in these cleansers and treatments lay down deep deposits, building a landfill of toxins you wear on your skull. All the products you go for you must use in moderation.

Opt for shampoos and conditioners with protein-based ingredients. Rice, wheat, soy and silk proteins thicken hair strands. These products help individual hair strands build body and fullness. Though many of us lather up daily, experts insist that washing your hair a few times a week is sufficient. Skipping shampoo helps hair retain shine but can also leave it limp. If you wash your hair every day you must apply conditioner first, and keep it away from the roots. Then, without rinsing in between, apply shampoo just to the roots, lather and rinse everything out.

Your roots will be lifted, but the rest of your hair will retain its shine. Rinsing hair with cold water closes the cuticle, will leave a smooth, shiny surface. Blasting with cold air after a blow dry has a similar smoothing effect and most dryers have a cold setting for this purpose.

Besides carefully choosing products for your hair, you can also watch what you eat. There are some foods that actually improve your hair growth, while some that may harm the health of your hair and may cause hair loss. Here's a list of foods that stimulate hair growth.


1. Eggs: They are high in Biotin, the vitamin your hair needs to stay healthy. Also very high in protein, adding eggs to your daily eating plan may help to speed up the process of hair growth. 2. Lean Meat: Chicken and tuna, both are high in protein, which is vital for your hair. Tuna is also rich in omega 3 fatty acids which are very good for you hair, be sure to eat at least 50 calories of tuna on a daily basis and is one of the best foods to stimulate hair growth. 3. Vegetables: High in vitamins, try to eat vegetables that contain zinc, magnesium and calcium because they are beneficial for your hair.

4. Whole grain: They are rich in zinc, iron and B vitamins which is very good for your hair.

5. Carrots: They are rich in vitamin A, which also aids your hair.



It has been proven that exercising improves the state of your hair. You are probably wondering what exercise has to do with hair growth. Regular cardiovascular and aerobic exercise can promote hair growth. When you are stressed, it's possible for your hair to thin or fall out. This is because your body produces more cortisone. This hormone causes hair follicles to stop growing, which can result in thinning of the hair. Exercise can reduce the amount of cortisone present in the body. By lowering the levels of cortisone hormone it will help your hair to grow faster and fuller.

You must remember follicles need nutrients from the blood. If your hair is thinning it can be due to poor circulation in your scalp. Stimulating the scalp through routine massage or other means is essential to revitalize your circulation. Rosemary oil has a reputation for stimulating hair growth and has been used for centuries by many cultures for this very purpose.

In addition, many people believe that massaging rosemary oil onto the scalp stimulate hair growth, due to the properties rosemary possesses. Apparently it stimulates cell division and dilates blood vessels and, in turn, stimulates hair follicles into producing new hair growth.

Combine rosemary oil with other beneficial essential oils such as tea tree to treat other scalp problems, or replace with other hair-growth stimulants such as cypress, lemon, geranium or sage essential oils.

It seems like it is the right time to let your hair down and enjoy it!