Great Lengths....Growing Your Hair Long

The process of trying to grow my hair long for the last year has been like waiting for wet paint to dry, like waiting for Christmas to come when it's only July, or like watching the UPS truck pass your house everyday while you wait for them to deliver that amazing pair of shoes you ordered five days ago - you get the idea. You see, my hair is special, it's fine like a baby's and it doesn't like to grow. So I researched the web for answers and used what I felt made sense, and had some pretty good laughs at some of the other suggestions - flipping my hair upside down, really? In any case, I've finally reached a point where my hair has begun to grow and I'm not sure which of my antics is working, but I'm ecstatic. If your fed up with short hair and trying to grow your hair out, here is my regime. It is a bit extreme so you may want to try just one, two, or a few of these suggestions to begin. Do I use all these products regularly? Yes. Really. I'm religious about it.

1. Vitafusion Prenatal Vitamins - find at Target & Walmart. Use as directed.
2. Biotin (5000 mcg) - Use as directed,
3. Flax Seed Oil (1000 mg) - Use as directed.
4. Paul Mitchell Super Strong Daily Shampoo & Conditioner - find at Ulta. Use daily
5. Lee Stafford's For Hair that Never Grows Past a Certain Length Treatment - find it at Ulta.
Use daily for first week, then three times a week
6. Paul Mitchell Liquid Treatment (Leave-In) - find at Ulta. Use before styling
7. Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Non-Aerosol Mouse - find at Salon O2 & Ulta. Use before styling.
8. Paul Mitchell Super Shiny Serum - find at Ulta.  Use before styling
9. Rusk Multi 12-in-1 - find at Ulta. Use before styling or great as a leave in treatment before bed.
10. Macadamia Masque - find it at Ulta. Use once a week.
11. Earth Science Olive & Avocado Deep Conditioning Masque - find it at Whole Foods. This stuff is amazing. Use once a week.

I recommend alternating the Macadamia Masque and Earth Science Masques so that you use only one of these each week.

Earth Science's Olive & Avocado Deep Conditioning Masque is by far my favorite regime because it leaves my hair super soft and despite the olive oil, non-greasy.

In addition to the above, if I can get away with washing my hair every other day I will. I also let my hair air dry unless I absolutely must style it. I NEVER use elastics to tie my hair back, but use clips instead to avoid breakage. Unfortunately my straight hair style requires a flat iron so I especially need the Rusk 12-in-1 treatment, which provides thermal defense. To spare my chemically treated hair even more damage I schedule my appointments every five weeks or as far out as I can possibly stand it. Check out 10 Tips to Make Your Hair Grow Faster for more tips.

What works for you? What doesn't? Leave your comments and share!