Achieving hair so thick it may seem fake is a common aspiration. Whether you’re recovering from a bad haircut you regret, dealing with hair loss, or simply want longer locks, the key is taking care of your hair in a way that actually allows for optimal growth — and making some changes to your lifestyle.
These range from changing your diet, perfecting your hair-care routine, and listening to the advice of hair health experts. The following nine tips can help you achieve healthier and thicker hair. Discover tried and tested strategies that promise to transform your hair and restore your confidence.
1. Eat a Healthy, Balanced Diet
Nutrition is key for hair growth, as hair cells are the second-fastest-dividing cells in the body, and they need proper nutrition. You should have at least a palm-sized portion of protein at both breakfast and lunch; at each meal, you should add a portion of complex carbs and iron-rich foods; and vitamin B12 and zinc should all be included in your diet weekly.
Since hair is both needy and dispensable, hair growth is especially responsive to nutrient deficiencies, such as forgetting to eat or restrictive eating. So, ensure your body is getting the right fuel.
2. Manage Your Stress Levels
Heightened stress disrupts hormones and inflames the scalp, weakening strands and slowing growth. Stress also affects how we eat and absorb nutrients, which is damaging to hair health.
You should also prioritize stress-reducing practices such as meditation, yoga, or therapy that will protect your scalp. When you’re stressed, you may not eat properly and may also have trouble absorbing vitamins, which can be detrimental to your strands.
High stress levels can throw off hormone levels, and they can also inflame and irritate your scalp — both of which can affect hair growth. Managing stress is not just good for your mind but essential for your hair.
3. Avoid Excessive Heat Styling
Using heat tools often can damage your hair shaft, making hair brittle and leading to breakage, which stunts growth. Dr. Howard Sobel, a dermatologist, cautions that extreme heat can dehydrate hair, ultimately diffusing its structure.
“Extreme styling heat and high-temp environments can cause damage to the hair and hair shaft, resulting in breakage, brittleness, and dehydration, all of which can are known to occur when hair growth slows.”
Minimize hot tool use or opt for lower heat settings. If heat styling is essential, apply a heat protectant first, as it helps form a barrier between your strands and the damaging temperatures.
4. Minimize Breakage
Split ends prevent healthy, long hair from growing. Combat this problem by incorporating weekly strengthening treatments, like Philip Kingsley Elasticizer. Moisturize your hair daily, use a gentle touch when brushing, heat protection during styling, and a microfiber towel like Aquis to dry.
“Harsh brushing leads to breakage, especially if you have curly, fragile, damaged, or fine hair. Be very mindful when brushing and styling,” says celebrity hairstylist Marley Xavier. Gentle handling when drying your hair is just as important—Use microfiber towels instead of regular ones.
5. Create a Scalp Care Routine
A healthy scalp is the foundation of healthy hair growth because your scalp houses your hair follicles and serves as your hair’s support system, so if it isn’t in good condition, your hair won’t grow as well as it could.
Treat your scalp-like skin by cleansing it regularly with shampoo, applying targeted serums every day, and using intensive scalp masks once a week. After all, the scalp is skin and benefits from similar TLC.
6. Massage Your Scalp Daily
Just like yoga is beneficial for your body and mind, daily scalp massages boost blood circulation to the follicles, which promotes healthier growth and removes product buildup and dead skin cells.
“This promotes blood flow to the scalp and sweeps away product build-up and dead skin cells to energize hair growth,” says Dr. Sobel. Whether you massage while washing your hair or when applying some serums, make it a regular habit.
Scalp massages can be a great way to promote circulation and promote healthy hair growth, so try giving yourself a daily one. The optimal time for massage is when you’re applying a scalp scrub or serum to your scalp.
7. Hair Supplements
Given how energetically demanding hair is, meeting all of its nutritional needs can be tricky. Adding a supplement containing ingredients such as biotin, collagen, saw palmetto, and horsetail extract can help support healthy growth and appearance.
Due to hair’s high energy demands and the fact that strands are the last to benefit from the nutrients in your body, meeting its needs through diet alone can be difficult.
A comprehensive multivitamin and mineral supplement, as well as a protein supplement, can supply your hair with the additional internal support it requires for growth.
8. How to Elevate Your Hair Care Routine
It is imperative to use high-quality products designed for your own hair type to achieve thicker locks. A personalized routine could include sulfate-free shampoos, paraben-free conditioners or masks, weekly treatments, and lightweight styling serums or oils.
Stay away from products that contain harsh chemicals like sulfates or silicones, which can dry out your strands and irritate the scalp. For best results, you may want to have a personalized hair care routine with good brands ideally curated for you by a hair professional during proper hair consultation.
9. Get Regular Trims
Regular trims help because the ends of your hair can become thin, straggly, and more prone to breakage. Split ends can make their way up your hair shaft, discouraging hair growth.
So, if you trim your ends regularly, this will keep them looking strong, full, and healthier, which will, in turn, help them grow longer and faster.
Contrary to what some may have to say, a trim doesn’t accelerate hair growth—but it does keep split ends from working their way further up the shaft and causing further damage.