Sez Says – Luscious Locks – Hair Growth Tips. PART ONE

Ok, I’ll admit it.

The New Year got the better of me.
I got a little caught up in the whole ‘New Year, new me’ thing and did something a little irrational.

I chopped all my hair off, which within in itself isn’t that big of a deal. But in true Sarah style, I went a step further and elected to get some sassy bangs to go with it.
The realisation that this shorter do was in fact more high maintenance than my longer hair, and that I didn’t have the bone structure or hair type to pull it off came fast. As a result I immediately began the battle to grow it as quick as humanly possible.

In a world of special ‘vitamins’ and gummy bears that are constantly in our faces promoted by influencers and celebrities as the holy grail for hair growth. I wanted to be real and transparent about the tips and tricks I’ve personally used, and can vouch for.

I’m not going to sugar coat it ladies, it takes time. No matter how many tips and tricks I give, you have to be patient. You have to deal with the tricky/awkward/unattractive stages of growth. (If you’ve ever grown out bangs you’ll be well aware of the period of time where you start to resemble Keith Urban). But it’s worth it in the end when you finally have those luscious locks you’ve always wanted.

(Hair growth from Feb – July, read to the end for my current length)

Hair colour.
The first thing to consider when trying to grow your hair is your colour service. How much maintenance is involved, and how much it will hinder possible future growth?

Once I made the decision to fully commit to growing the cut out, I debated whether or not to go darker. Constant bleaching or exposure to peroxide can certainly slow the process, but I’m far too committed to #BlondeLife to take that route. So after some advice from my colourist, we opted for a root shade and face framing foils. This ensured that I still looked super blonde which enabled me to cause less damage to my hair by constantly colouring with a full head of foils.

Olaplex
Olaplex – my absolute best bud in terms of strengthening and maintaining hair integrity. The girls at Vision Blonde have been using it in tandem with my colour for nearly 2 years and my hair condition has improved SO much. I’m a natural brunette so with constant colour and heat styling, breakage is one of my biggest concerns. Couple that with a desire to grow length it wouldn’t of been possible without the Olaplex range.

Looking after your colour doesn’t stop in salon, in fact it’s how you treat your hair in-between appointments which makes all the difference. Opaplex No3 has been an absolute game changer for me, and I’ve been vigilant with at home routine using it religiously once a week as a treatment. It works to continue the reparative process that’s begun with your in salon colour treatment. I use it weekly to help repair new damage and it also helps to maintain my colour. Olaplex No 3 is applied first before shampoo, not after (which I only found out 6 months ago #oops) to towel dried hair, combed through and left for a minimum of 10 minutes. Anyone who knows me well knows I take my treatments very seriously. I tend to go hard which means I may leave it on overnight and have once or twice (for efficiency purposes) been guilty of repping it at the gym. My life motto – Work smarter not harder.

Over the past few months I’ve been trialing the new Olaplex No4 shampoo and No5 conditioner and am pretty obsessed thus far. A little goes a long way and I’ve have noticed a pretty impressive improvement in density. It’s very hydrating and works to improve shine and manageability. While I don’t think these are absolute must buys if you’re in the market and want to optimise hair growth and quality I highly recommend.

Hot stuff 
After spending time and effort strengthening and preserving hair quality, the last thing you want to do is undo it in the styling stakes. A lot of girls practice great hair care only to burn and singe hair within an inch of its life through constant styling. My advice for quicker hair growth: Avoid heat styling as much as possible. To girls who love a Wave: this will be a bit of a sacrifice. I’ve found working as a model difficult as you rarely get a say in how your hair is styled. Therefore I really had to limit the amount of self-styling I was doing at home. This meant often opting for a messy bun up-do or just embracing the straight.

Protect yourself
I’m realistic about heat and styling tools, there is absolutely no way I could of committed to going heat free for 9 months. Props to the ladies that do, but I love a textured wave too much to go completely go cold turkey. My final tip and possibly the most important recommendation…

Thermal Protector. This goes far beyond anyone wanting to promote hair growth and quality. Do not put heat to your hair without it. Honestly I cannot stress this enough. I am relentless and will carry a bottle with me to jobs in case the hair artist doesn’t have any. My current go to is the Extinguish Thermal spray with Argan oil from De Lorenzo. It helps shield hair from breakage and split ends. It is essential for protecting hair against heat damage and works with Argan oil to smooth providing the perfect humidity resistant finish.

I could go on for days about all the little tips I’ve tried over the past year but these are my absolute best of the the best.

 Although my hair journey doesn’t end here this is only Part One I’m pretty happy with the results so far.. 

I am constantly on the lookout for new products and treatments to try, so if any of my readers have recommendations or experiences please do share bellow I’m all ears…

Thanks for Reading,
Sez xx