The Ultimate Beauty Guide

Everyone’s had bad haircuts, and they eventually “grow out,” we know. But it never gets any less painful, especially because our hair grows slower than an elderly snail, and that’s very, very slow. Yet this suffering hasn’t come without benefits: we’re now super knowledgeable of all the ways (proven or not) to make your hair grow faster, scoured from the depths of the Internet. We can’t make any promises, but our advice is deduced from the things that you should do to get healthy hair, and healthy hair is growing hair. So if you’ve ever found yourself wondering what you did to deserve such an awful haircut and how, save a weave, you can remedy the situation, look no further: we’ve got some tips.

1. Vitamins
It’s hard to be sure if vitamins specifically meant to make hair grow faster really work, but we can say with some confidence (i.e. our own tests) that vitamin deficiencies don’t help. So whether you go for a multivitamin, biotin or Viviscal, if you’re lacking any necessary nutrients in your diet, you’ll probably see a significant difference.

If you’re already eating a balanced diet, some people have still claimed results—Viviscal reviews range from glowing to almost certainly impossible, but the people in the middle usually see a decrease in shedding, and an increase of about a quarter-inch per month. Slow going, but better than nothing. Biotin has about the same effect, with many users commenting on noticeably longer nails and eyelashes, as well.

2. Healthy Diet
If you just want to cover all your bases or would rather not go down the vitamin road, try incorporating more protein into your diet. Most lean meats, dairy and whey have enough protein to give you your fill, at least a serving per day. Make sure to add in some sources of Vitamin C and A as well; Vitamin C is found in most citrus-y foods, while Vitamin A is in eggs, carrot and kale, among other things.

3. Minimize Stress
Stress is a known cause of hair loss, in extreme cases even leading to alopecia. So it follows that with less hair loss, you’ll notice more hair growth—it’s an “ipso facto” situation. Either way, no one likes stress; worst-case scenario, your hair will grow at its normal rate.

4. Cut Back on Heat Styling
Similar to stress, frequent heat styling weakens and damages hair, and can lead to breakage, which definitely doesn’t help growth. Healthy hair is the goal—and less breakage means more hair, which is the end game that the goal is for.

5. Don’t Put Unnecessary Stress on Hair
Although we don’t know who’s still getting cornrows these days, if there’s anyone left, try to lay off. Same goes for super-tight ponytails, because both put stress on the follicle, which needs to be healthy to grow.

6. Frequent Trims
Ah yes, the old standby. While it may feel counterintuitive to return to the place that’s caused you such pain, frequent trims do have some merit: by getting rid of split ends as soon as they form, hair growth is kept beneficial instead of dead-end. Pun intended.