Hey babe, it’s been a minute since I dropped some knowledge on you. For years I’ve been working behind the chair and had many clients tell me about their hair loss and concerns about their growth. They were experiencing thinning around the hairline, thinning in the crown section and they noticed A LOT of shedding after brushing. Tbh for a long time I didn’t know how to help them, but I realized they were coming to me for a reason and needed an actual solution to their hair problems. So I finally did it, I’ve created the perfect 10 Ways to help you grow your beautiful hair. Let’s get started,

#1 Understanding the root problem

In order to fix something you have to identify what the issue you're starting with is. In most cases slow growth, thinning and excessive shedding is due to internal issues. That’s right, what shows outside of our body is the product of what’s going on inside our body. Some ways we can find these internal issues are by getting some blood work done with your primary care physician. Getting some labs to check hormones, thyroid, autoimmune diseases , stress test and checking for vitamin deficiencies. These will help kick start the process of understanding your root hair problem (pun intended lol). I’ve also really liked the brand, Cell Well Being. They use epigenetic science to give you a full 30 page analysis of what might be going on internally. Check them out https://cell-wellbeing.com

#2 Supplements and lifestyle changes

Once you find out what might be the root cause of your hair concerns, then you can start taking some action. I always recommend my sun babes take a daily vitamin to start and add whatever specialties they need. For example : if your hormone test showed you have high levels of DHT (dihydrotestosterone) then taking a supplement like a DHT blocker would be ideal for them. Next is lifestyle, if you eat a well balanced diet and limit alcohol and smoking you will have better hair, If your life style isn’t a healthy one sometimes that’s all it takes to see positive changes in your hair growth.

#3 Stimulate the scalp

Bringing blood flow to your scalp is super important. Often when aging our capillaries in our scalp go dormant (means they fall asleep). And we need to wake those babies up again so they can give us some new growth. The ways that we can do that include, red light therapy 10-15 mins daily, daily scalp massage with invigorating oils like peppermint oil or tea tree oil, exfoliating the scalp at least once a week using a fine tooth comb or boar bristle brush. And last but not least using a good shampoo and conditioner that helps keep the hair in the Anagen stage (the growing stage) some products that help with that include the ingredient, Minoxidil Sulfate. Also regular exercise helps aid in stimulation of the scalp.

#4 Regular hair trims

Trims play an important part in growing your hair because when the hair is damaged the ph is off balance and when that happens you will notice your hair growing and breaking off at the same time, so then you get the illusion that your hair isn’t growing. If you cut off the damaged hair (split ends), then it will allow your new healthy growth to catch up. I recommend getting trims every 6-10 weeks.

#5 Limiting hot tools

I’ve seen the best results of hair growth when my clients leave their hair in the natural state most of the time and don’t use everyday hoot tools. When you use heat in your hair that’s when we can damage the mid shaft and ends causing split ends. I know it’s not fun, not using hot tools, but trying different styles enhancing your natural beauty will give you the best results. But if you need to use heat in your hair then make sure your using a good heat protectant before any heat styling.

#6 Limiting chemical hair services

Anytime we use chemicals in our hair we are opening and closing the cuticle. Excessive chemicals on our hair can cause breakage and not help you if your trying to grow you hair. I recommend finding a hair color you can live with and rocking your natural hair texture and wait until you get some good growth before making any drastic hair changes.

#7 Using salon quality hair products

Using hydrating products are crucial in growing your hair. When we start to get new growth we want to protect the new hair we have. So adding high quality moisture based products to your hair care routine will get you the best results. I love to use leave in conditioners, healing oils and heat protectants on every single guest in my salon. I recommend limiting the use of hairspray, dry shampoos and gels, mainly because they can cause your hair to dry out and cause build up making it hard to maintain healthy growth. Higher end products usually use better quality ingredients and not as many sulfates. Sulfates can coat the hair and clog your pores on your scalp causing acne and other scalp issues while making your hair feel greasy and limiting your new growth.

#8 Investing in hair extensions

Extensions can be a great way to give you instant results. Nowadays there are many extension methods at all different price points, so that you're able to feel confident while at the same time growing your hair. When you use extensions , a lot of styling is done on the extension hair and not your hair your trying to grow. I used many different types of extensions while I was on my hair growth journey and having the hair extensions made me feel beautiful and confident.

#9 Maintain patience

Tbh growing your hair takes time depending on your desired results. If you take my advice and start implementing these tips today, you wont notice results until a minimum of 3-6 months. Growing your hair is a process and staying committed can be tough. Stressing out over your hair will only prolong your hair growth journey. Stress is a big reason why we lose hair in the first place!

#10 Having a positive mindset

Sometimes having hair loss and excessive shedding can make us feel not the best versions of ourselves and can make us depressed. Stay positive through your hair journey, remember you are lucky enough to have a second shot at growing beautiful hair. Everything takes time and know you are not defined by the length and fullness of your hair, you are a gorgeous sun goddess.

Thank you so much for taking the time to educate yourself about hair growth. I hope you can benefit from the information I gave you today. If you have any questions or concerns please leave a comment on this blog post. I can’t wait to connect again! - Andy <3

So this topic is one I have personally battled for many years. Just like most cosmos in beauty school I experimented a lot, and I mean A LOT with hair color, bleach especially. After one of my first days of learning hair color , I knew everything there was to know about hair and coloring it (absolutely not but I was overly confident). I applied bleach using the highest developer on my whole head and let it sit for an hour then I went and sat in front of the fire place (because I heard heat was good for bleach , and omg I was an idiot that’s not what they meant) after another 45 mins I decided the burning probably wasn’t normal 2 hours after the application. So I washed it and omg... clumps and clumps of hair breaking off and I had a horrible chemical burn on my scalp. My hair was breaking off as I brushed it and I had a disgusting amount of hair stuck in the brush. When my hair was wet it stretched and broke off when I pulled then ends. It was absolutely a nightmare. When my hair was dry the ends looked shriveled up and felt so nasty and they broke anytime I touched my hair. So immediately I did my research and did everything to get me back to a good hair place where it could actually grow. And years later , ironically now I am an educator teaching how to heal hair using the best products in the hair industry. Here are my tips -

1) THE BIG CHOP

I know , I know this might be the worst part of the healing process but it’s the only way to realistically come out of this. You don’t need to shave your head or get a pixie cut necessarily but you need to take some length off and no not a half inch girl, a few inches is what I’m talking about. This is a good start but you will need to schedule hair cuts (trims) every couple of months to continue to get the old damaged yukies off as your hair grows.

2) CONDITIONING TREATMENTS

You should be going to a salon for a deep conditioning treatment at least once a month or every 6 weeks for a intensive treatment. Some treatments use heat and some do not it depends on the brand your salon uses. You should also be doing at home deep conditioning masks once a week. And I don’t mean put food in your hair because that is such a waste of food ,and it only works if you EAT it! You need a healthy balance of moisture and protein (keratin) too much of one or the other can be counter productive.

3) PICK A COLOR

When your hair is healing it’s extremely important to just leave it alone. You cannot be switching the color up all the time especially putting more bleach on it. You need to let it go and let it grow. It might not be the prettiest but what’s more important here? Let me tell you , healthy hair is beautiful when it’s colored correctly, but damaged hair colored is just that, damaged hair colored, and sorry sis that’s not beautiful.

4) NO HEAT STYLING

Yup you read that correctly. No hot tools baby put them away in a safe place , out of sight out of mind. Heat can be damaging even on virgin untouched hair, so it’s important to not make things worse. Hop on your Pinterest and start finding all the non heat styles. But also note you need soft tension styles. Styles that are very tight and have a lot of tension can actually make things worse and ABSOLUTELY NO MESSY BUNS !! Braids with light tension are a great style for hair healing. Neat styles are ideal.

5) GOOD PRODUCTS

Put the hair sprays and gels away, a lot of those products have a form of alcohol in them and it can dry your hair out. If you need a lil somethin’ somethin’ for a fly away or two you’ll be okay. Focus on cream based products for good moisture, leave in conditioners and healing oils will work just fine.

6) PATIENCE

And last but not least, patience my dear. It might be one of the worst ones on the list but it’s necessary. You got to give it time. Grow it out and give it a few years for a full recovery. Hair grows on average 1/2 inch per month , so if you have 3 inches of damaged hair it will take about 6 months to get it back after the big chop. I know it sucks. If you follow my tips I promise you , you can come out of this. I have done this so many times to my hair ( definitely not my proudest moments) and have made it out alive with beautiful growing locks. It does suck, A LOT but it is what it is homegirl , I’m not going to sugar coat the truth and tell you these “split end menders” work because they don’t. I have the recipe for healthy hair in my salon, if you need help healing your hair DM me on IG @dollface.andybee and I will help you get out of this too. Good luck on your hair healing journey.