As some of you may know from watching my Instagram stories, (cough if you don’t follow me, you should cough cough- @shanialexis #shamelessplug) I am doing a no heat/no dye challenge. I haven’t dyed or used heat on my hair, since springtime and even then it was sparingly. I’m doing this because my hair was super dry and damaged from being on a face medicine drug called accutane for a whole year. I’ve been researching the best ways to bring my hair back to life and help it grow long and strong. Here are some tips I’ve been using along the way. I’m already seeing progress and I hope this inspires you to be patient with your hair.
1. Products Are Important
Since starting this hair care journey, I only use Fanola products. Their products are made in Italy and Italy uses some of the best ingredients. Their Free No Yellow Shampoo and conditioner is amazing. It keeps my hair toned, since I’m not dying it. It’s free of sulfate, silicone, and paraben, so it’s not harsh like many other purple shampoos. Their Nutri Care system has really helped replenish my hair. I like to rotate between the No Yellow and Nutri Care system.
2. Hair Growth from Within
A lot of stunted hair growth and hair thinness is caused by hormones and stress. I wanted to do everything I can to provide my body what it needs to grow my hair long and strong. There are a lot of hair vitamins on the market that aren’t so good.. I did deep research and found that Nutrafol was exactly what I was looking for! It was hard to find one vitamin that had all the important nutrients for hair growth, but they’ve got it all covered! To name a few very important nutrients, collagen, ashwagandha, and saw palmetto.
3. Eating Nutritious Vitamin Rich Foods
I eat a fat, fiber, protein and nutrient rich smoothie every day with things like collagen, chia seeds, hemp seeds, kale, and blue berries. Check my Instagram posts for bi-weekly smoothie recipes.
4. Staying Active
Science shows that hair growth actually happens more when your scalp is stimulated and when there is greater blood flow in your body. I do 10 min of HIIT three times a week on my lunch break. It sucks at first, but by the end my whole body feels better because it gets my blood pumping.
4. Hair Care Routine
Something I’ve been a lot better at is brushing through my hair more gently. I’ve always been way to rough with my brushing. This Wet Brush really helps! Although, I try not to brush my hair when it is actually wet though. As I said, I no longer use heat, so I’m wearing my hair up a lot. I do it loosely and use scrunchies. They are so much better on your hair than a traditional hair tie. I try to keep my hair from getting too dry by applying Fanola’s Oro Therapy 24k a couple times a day. If you think of your hair like a sweater, it will help you better take care of it. If you over wash a sweater and don’t use a fabric softener. It will get tough and possibly even holes in it from the over washing. The ends of your hair are dead, so you have to take care of them.
5. Limit Washing, but Don’t Go Too Crazy with Dry Shampoo
Which brings me to my next point, I only wash my hair once or twice a week. This keeps it from being in its most fragile state, aka being wet. This is when your hair is most likely to get damaged. Try to only use dry shampoo once or twice a week, and don’t use too much. It can clog your scalp pores, which will keep your hair from growing.
6. Scalp Care
Scalp care is important. I swear by using baking soda to exfoliate my scalp. You can feel a huge difference. It’s like your scalp can finally breathe afterwards. This will help get rid of any product or oil build up on your scalp. Also, another little tip I have found online is to bend over, so that blood is rushing to your head and use a brush to rub all around your scalp like you are exfoliating your scalp with the brush. This helps remove dead skin cells and stimulate your scalp. It feels really good!
7. Sleep with a Silk/Satin Pillow Case or Hair Cap
I’ve had this silk pillow case forever and I love it. It’s hard for me to remember to sleep with a hair cap, but that’s even better! If you think about, you are sleeping for 1/3 of your life, so hair care why you sleep is important!
8. Don’t Use Heat or Dye Your Hair, Instead If You’re Brave Invest in a Great Wig
This is probably the best tip I have for you. This saved my hair. I no longer had to use extensions that can damage your hair or heat on my hair every time I was doing a photo-shoot. Dinner on a Friday night, I just throw on my already styled wig. If you’re going to go this route, you can get comfortable with a cheap synthetic wig. However, if you’re going to want to wear it out in public often you’ll want to invest in a real human hair wig. They can be pretty expensive, especially if you get a very realistic looking one like mine. Try to get one with darker roots, they tend to look more natural. I got mine at Freedom Couture. Nicki Minaj wore one of their wigs once, so they are the real deal if you want something luxe. There are definitely more affordable options out there though.
I hope you found these tips helpful! Good luck with your hair care journey. xoxox
shani alexis 