Where to start - improve my routine

[Cupofmilk]

I am very sorry if I have missed some obvious information here. Please bear with me, I am new to this forum and the idea of caring for and nuturing hair.

Even when I had tailbone/classic length hair my routine remained the same. It has been the same for 10 years - even when I had shoulder length hair.

I wash with a shampoo and condition every other day. If I can make three days I will. Occasionally I would oil my hair with some indian hair oil - it might have been called Vatka (ran out of it a while back). I use a spray in conditioner every time I brush or comb. I wear my hair up in a plait every single day - 24 hours a day - 363 days a year.

The only new thing is sls/ paraben and cone free.

Part of this lack of care - I have never taken vitamins. In fact in the last 4 years I have had three difficult pregnancies and during this time - I was vomiting for months, I had severe pain and was very ill generally. I delievered all my babies prematurely and spent a lot of time in hospital. I had to take a lot of drugs during this time. I never took any vitamins. You could tell I wasn't well - myhair split, was dull and dry and horrible.

All these things contributed to the big chop of 20 inches in Dec 2009.

Now where do I start with vitamins or supplements to improve my hair?

What treatments can I do to improve growth?

I am struggling to get through the enormous amount of info on here - are there any summary threads of the things you can choose from?

I need to look at CO and other wash methods threads.

Anything else I can do to improve growth and hair health? Please point me in the right direction if I have missed an obvious thread - in which case I apologise I am tired with my three children to look after.

Thank you:)

[Calaelen]

You and I have a fairly similar hair type. I can't tell you anything that will for sure make your hair grow faster, but I can tell you what works for me in terms of keeping my hair healthy and strong.

The most important thing I do for my hair is to eat as healthy as I possibly can. I have a disease that makes it very hard for me to absorb any nutrients, so I stock up as much as possible, I also take a multi-vitamin and a separate biotin pill. The biotin has been one of the best things I've ever done.

I also use coconut oil in my hair as I find it needs it. I just rub a very small amount into my length and leave it there. I have noticed that my hair stopped breaking as much and that my hair is now much thicker.

One other thing I started doing years ago after reading advice on the longhairloom is to not pile my hair on my head when I wash it, and to not do anything to it when it is wet. just squeeze out the water and leave it.

it sounds to me like your routine is already very good, and that you need to work on staying healthy. Taking a multi and the biotin can't hurt, but they certainly help me a lot.

Good luck with your growth.

[cocolover]

It seems you have a pretty good hair routine going already, although using shampoo every other day seems like a lot. Maybe CO every other day and then see how often you need shampoo? I CO every other day and then shampoo weekly. My only other thought was if having your hair in the same style every single day is good for it. You have had a lot to deal with, and I would just concentrate on good nutrition and taking a multi-vitamin. Also, I found scalp oiling with indian oils very beneficial, so maybe you could try to do that weekly. It thickened up my hair and made it very shiny :D

[oceanwoman111]

Igor has written a brilliant article to get you started with supplementation. It's in the article section of the forum. I tired to paste it ,but it didn't work.

There is a lot of information to assimilate ,but take your time and have fun with it!!
Goodluck on your hair journey!! :)

[Cupofmilk]

Thank you all.

I never ever blow dry my hair. Once washed, I squeeze out the water and replait without brushing or combing. I let it dry naturally in its plaits.

[Cholera]

I suggest varying your styles (wearing your hair the same every day can cause mechanical damage), and maybe diluting your shampoo, or using it less. Multivitamins are wonderful things, as well. I take a prenatal vitamin every other day (I'm not preggers though!), and biotin every day. They've really helped my growth speed and quality.

[Capybara]

Here's a great article on how to get started :) : Ursula's Standard Newbie Advice (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39)

[Mae]

Here is a link to the Very Important Threads Sticky (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=7804).

This has lots of links to popular and important threads.