BEAUTY
6 Secrets to Longer, Stronger Hair
Intrepid beauty writer Amber Katz went to great lengths to uncover the intel. Lucky for us, she’ s sharing all of it here.
Wwe all have # HairGoals, and mine is simple: Possess a mane as long and lustrous as Blake Lively’ s. So last year, when I finally reached my dream décolletagegrazing length, I was horrified when a new stylist I went to erroneously hacked off five inches.( I’ d reluctantly agreed to a“ microtrim” and ended up with a lob.) Like a security blanket, wearing long hair balances out the bits of myself I don’ t love— my bulbous nose and broad swimmer’ s shoulders. So after the shearing, I compensated with dramatic makeup, black clothing … anything to feel prettier and slimmer. The effect verged on accidental Goth. When my longtime hairstylist( I should never have cheated on him), Matt Fugate, suggested tape-in extensions— a technique that bonds sections of your own hair to natural-looking bundles( aka wefts)— I cleared my schedule. Soon after, a college student asked for my number, as did two hot guys I met on( makeup-free) errand runs. No wingwoman could compare to my elongated locks.
That is, until they became a headache. It wasn’ t just the extra weight, which caused scalp tension and pain. I started noticing how my own fine hair air-dried 30 minutes more quickly than the thicker pieces— and when it rained, my natural texture spiraled, while the rest went flat. I couldn’ t even fix it in a topknot … you could see the tape! Plus, maintaining them meant having them reinstalled every eight weeks.
Six months later, I was over them— but not before uncovering these proven secrets for growing hair longer and stronger in as little as 90 days.
1. Eat This Mane Menu
Foods rich in biotin, a B-complex vitamin, are essential for promoting hair growth, says derm Mona Gohara, MD. Incorporate a palm-size serving( it’ s in almonds, eggs, and avocado) thrice daily. Also important: iron, which oxygenates follicles( eat it at each meal; oatmeal, spinach, and hummus are chock-full), and daily servings of protein( chicken, fish, beans), hair’ s main building block.
2. Do a Deep Cleaning
Buildup of excess oil, dead skin cells, and product can create inflammation, causing follicles to weaken, says
STRANGE BUT TRUE!
You’ ve probably heard of the Vampire Facelift, where docs take your blood and spin it down to isolate your platelets( which contain growth factors) and then reinject them to produce collagen. But“ PRP [ plateletrich plasma ] procedures are a new way to stimulate hair growth too,” says Dr. Gohara. Results can be impressive, says derm Whitney Bowe, MD. The downside: Each treatment is about $ 1,200( you’ ll likely need three, plus touch-ups).
Dr. Gohara. Loosen it once or twice a week with a scalp-specific exfoliant( check out our picks here), focusing on the hairline as well as the back of the scalp, where buildup tends to be heaviest, says Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at the Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC. If dandruff is contributing to the inflammation, wash hair daily with a zinc pyrithione shampoo and conditioner( try Dove’ s twoin-one, at right).
42 _ COSMOPOLITAN _ JANUARY 2017