Call us shallow, but hair is important—it’s the difference between Beyoncé-fan-blowing-your-hair good and hide-under-the-covers bad. Getting Rapunzel-like strands is no easy feat, however, there a number of factors that contribute to hair growth (or lack thereof) and one of the least expensive and most overlooked is physical stimulation—ie. extensive and thorough massaging of your scalp. Adding some supplements as well as some key natural ingredients to your scalp massages will not only help your hair grow faster, but also strengthen and enhance the overall health and shine of your hair. There are plenty of natural treatments that will give you the hair of your dreams. Keep scrolling for our five favorite all-natural remedies to answer that perpetual question: How can I make my hair grow faster?

We spend so much time and money piling on the products that it’s easy to forget where hair growth starts: namely, your scalp. A simple way to stimulate hair growth at home is to give yourself a scalp massage. This will increase blood flow to your scalp, improve the strength of your roots, and enhance nutrient absorption to your hair follicles. You can give yourself a scalp massage with dry hair, but adding a nutrient-rich oil to the mix will significantly the benefits. (Just keep it to once a week if you have oily roots.) Rosemary oil, in particular, has been used for centuries to stimulate hair growth. It dilates blood vessels and in turn stimulates your follicle to produce new growth.

To give yourself a rosemary oil scalp massage, you can simply add a couple of drops to your shampoo—or, dilute it with another oil, like olive or coconut, and apply it directly to your scalp and massage it in. If this all sounds a bit labor intensive we are happy to perform this service for you here in the salon, you’ll just need to call in with this request.

If your hair breaks before it gets past your shoulders, an egg mask will be your savior. Eggs contain lecithin and protein, which strengthen, nourish, and heal your strands. Plus, their high sulfur content might even help your pesky dandruff problem.

To make the mask, mix two eggs with two tablespoons of olive oil. If the stickiness bothers you, you can add half a cup of water to dilute the mixture. Apply the mask directly to dry, brushed hair, and leave it on for up to 30 minutes. Then, shampoo and condition as usual for stronger strands.

Castor oil is the unsung hero of the hair world—you might even be tempted to ditch your coconut oil for it after reading this. First of all, castor oil has antifungal and antibacterial properties to help combat scalp infections that inhibit and/or prevent your hair from growing. Second, it is packed full of omega-6 fatty acids, vitamin E, proteins, and other nutrients that can penetrate your parched strands and seal your hair shaft to retain moisture. Thirdly, it makes an amazing hot oil treatment—massaging the oil into your roots will help your scalp drink up all of the nutrients and help promote hair growth.

To give yourself a hot oil treatment, massage the oil into your scalp and then apply it all the way to the ends of your strands. Pile your hair on top of your head, cover it with a shower cap, and blast your strands with a blow-dryer for 15 minutes. Feel free to jump in the shower and shampoo and condition as usual. You’ll notice softer strands instantly.

4. Trade Biotin for Healthy Fats
Hair-growth supplements are a well-known “treatment” and sure, you can easily pop one of these, but most are not an effective means to accelerate and/or enhance hair grow (the only product we’ve found effective and which we recommend is Pure Encapsulations Hair / Skin / Nails Ultra combined with Bulletproof Collagen Protein Powder)—read about the Benefits of Collagen and Supplements for Better Skin, Hair and Nails here). Plus, these products often contain exceedingly large quantities of minerals and vitamins (ahem, biotin) which can actually contribute to breakouts for many people. Thus, eating your way to longer hair is actually a smarter, nutritionist-approved way to make your hair grow faster. Vitamins and minerals occurring naturally in foods are more bio-available and easier for your body to utilize, and they’ll naturally deliver a healthier ratio of nutrients.

There is a growing evidence that iron supplementation in some women with low ferritin [the protein that stores iron] levels should take an iron supplement as it is a vital cofactor for hair growth. However, you should consult with your doctor before taking iron as too much can actually accelerate the aging process (essentially rusting your body from the inside) and can lead to serious liver damage.

Biotin is a supplement that’s often prescribed, especially for women of color as it’s beneficial in strengthening the hair and preventing breakage. A lot of people mistaken believe it is helpful in the fight against hair thinning, however, while biotin deficiency contributes to hair breakage it has not been proven to cause hair loss. While it won’t make our hair grow fuller and longer, this is definitely a good tidbit of information to store in our back pocket for days when our split ends are seriously acting up.

If thinning hair is an issue, it’s important to figure out what is actually causing your hair loss before choosing a path: Are you losing hair because of changing hormones, an undiagnosed allergy or food sensitivity? An underactive thyroid or autoimmune condition? Do you have a dermatologic condition causing discrete bald patches? Or have you over-processed to the point where your fried locks are brittle, breaking, and simply falling out? Diagnosing and understanding the reason for your hair loss or thinning is the first step in determining what products or hair loss intervention / restoration services may be helpful and appropriate for your situation. Talk with one of our hair restoration specialist about the possible causes of your hair loss, which tests to ask your doctor about, etc. to determine which treatment suits your needs.

Getting plenty of healthy fats like omega-3s (like salmon, chia seeds, walnuts, eggs, and yogurt) can jump-start hair growth. Healthy fats are essential to hair health since our bodies can’t produce omega-3 fatty acids on their own. Therefore, it’s important to get these fats through our diet. They nourish hair follicles and can also help dry, damaged hair by adding luster, elasticity, and shine.

You probably know this already, but any hairstylist will tell you the most obvious way to help your hair grow faster is to ditch your routine of hot tools. Try cutting the number of times you dry and style your hair per week in half. We guarantee you’ll notice a significant improvement in the length and health of you hair—and others are likely to notice and comment as well.

Not quite ready to make this sacrifice, we recommend making the investment in the GHD Platinum Styler and the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer.

The GHD Platinum Styler is the world’s first predictive straightener, meaning it takes into consideration the thickness or thinness of your hair in order to determine the amount of power it needs to get your hair straight and maintain the ideal 365-degree styling temperature. That way, you can straighten your hair evenly with minimal damage or having to worry about the iron getting too hot.

While the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer offers Intelligent Heat Control in the form of a thermal sensor that measures exit flow temperature 20 times per second and transmits data to the machine’s microprocessor which intelligently controls the heating element. By constantly maintaining temperatures below 302-degrees, hair is protected from extreme heat damage.

Health & Beauty Tips

At PLEIJ Salon+Spa, we are committed to sharing health and beauty tips to enrich your life. Everyone deserves to live an empowered life and we want to help you get there.