This is my hair now (in it’s straightened state). Wish I had a before picture – HUGE difference.

Getting thicker hair has been an obsession of mine for years. Everyone in my immediate family has fine hair – no one has a gloriously thick mane (booo). For the past few months, my hair has been the thickest it’s every been and everyone around me has noticed and asked what I’ve been doing.

So I wanted to share with you what I’ve been doing to thicken my fine, naturally curly hair. It has taken about 3–4 months to see a huge difference, but my hair has been very gradually thickening up for the past two years since I stopped being vegan.

1. SHAMPOO. My hair is fine and naturally curly, which is a double whammy to developing length and thickness to the hair. When hair is curly the cuticle does not lay flat and is prone to dryness and breakage. I have found the best shampoos for me are Acure Organics Shampoo Pure Mint + Echinacea and Amazon Beauty Rahua Shampoo. They leave my hair feeling thicker and moisturized without weighing it down.

When I shampoo, I also take the time to massage my head. I will do a quick shampoo, rinse, and then shampoo again where I massage my head for a good 3–5 minutes. Not only does it feel awesome, but it’s also pushing blood to your scalp and freeing up any sebum (oil) that may be blocking new hairs from coming through your scalp.

2. CONDITIONER. I use Ctonics Elixir Blossom Conditioner and Amazon Beauty Rahua Conditioner. I use the Ctonics conditioner 1 or 2 times per week since it provides a serious thickness and volume boost that lasts a few days, but it’s not very moisturizing so I use the Rahua conditioner after I rinse out Ctonic. These two conditioners have definitely helped prevent breakage.

3. PROTEIN. I have been eating a ton more protein than I ever have and it’s resulted in more energy, easy weight management, and MUCH stronger hair (I hardly shed anymore, and zero breakage). I decided to track my macronutrients and realized I was only hitting between 80 and 96 grams of protein on a daily basis. That is not good. One of the most important things for thicker, healthy hair (and nails) is to get enough protein.

Based on my goals and activity level, I should be consuming 1.2 – 1.5 g protein per pound of lean body mass. That is an ideal and can be hard for me to reach sometimes, so I shoot for a general range of 120 – 170 g, with a bare ass minimum of 100 g. If I’m running short, I’ll make up for it with a protein shake. I blend up 1 1/2 cups almond milk, 1 scoop SunWarrior Warrior Blend in vanilla, 1 Tbsp. sugar-free, salt-free all natural peanut butter, and a handful of ice. That’s 21 g protein right there and it tastes awesome. I use SW Warrior Blend because it’s whey-free and rice-free. Whey protein does not agree with my stomach or skin, and rice protein generally tastes/feel chalky to me. I like this one because it has a sweet vanilla flavor (no sugar, just stevia) and has a great creamy texture that blends well.

How to Determine Your Own Protein Needs: let’s say you’re 120 pounds and 20% body fat, you would have 96~ pounds of lean body mass [120 — 20%] and would need to consume 115–144 grams of protein per day [96 x 1.2 or 1.5]. Now, if you were super active, trying to gain muscle, or you are a dude, then your needs may be 2 g protein per lb. Remember that 1 g protein per lb. is always the bare minimum.

4. STRESS. Most of us already know that stress is a huge factor in hair thickness. Usually lots of stress equates to disastrous hair fallout. I’ve been learning to manage my work load and daily stress, and it’s reached a point where I am calm and worry-free the majority of the time. Sure, I have a ton to do – personally and professionally – but I no longer waste my time stressing about it. I have realized that over-thinking something I have to accomplish is stupid. It doesn’t get me anywhere because I’m only thinking about it and worrying about it. So instead I either don’t worry about it or I go and do it just to get it out of the way. There is no sense in worrying. It accomplishes nothing.

5. ACTIVITY. I have been really consistent with exercise. No matter what, every day, I do something. I might take a long leisurely walk, a workout DVD, a trip to the gym to lift some heavy weights, a class at the nearby Pilates studio, yoga at home, a quick Tabata-style workout in the backyard, or playing with the dogs. Wrestling in the living room and knocking into chairs and lamps is also really fun. Activity keeps me calm, gets blood flowing (great for the skin and hair, by the way), and keeps my body in good working order. We’re humans, but we’re also animals, and we need to go run around and be goofy. It’s an important part of our existence.

6. MISC. STUFF. One, I make sure I get enough iron (red meat, dark leafy greens), which is super important for hair growth and thickness. Two, I make sure my diet is high in protein and high-ish in good fats (fats from omega-3-rich grass-fed meat and fish, coconut oil, cod liver oil). Three, I don’t stress about my food (see #4). Four, I sleep on silk pillowcases to prevent hair breakage. And five, I don’t do anything to damage my hair (i.e. coloring/dying, chemical straightening, heat styling, etc.).

7. OH YEAH, AND…Cod liver oil. Magic in a bottle. I take 1 tsp. per day and my hair and skin love it.

That’s it! No special treatments. Just everything listed here. If you have any tips for thicker hair, definitely leave a comment! We’d all love to read about it.
~Steph  x

Sorry it’s been so long! How is everyone?

For my first post of June, I would like to share with you the skin care and beauty products that I’m loving for summer.

1. Tropical Traditions Gold Standard Virgin Coconut Oil. This is my staple, but I use it a lot more in summer than I do in winter. If I go out and wear eye make-up, I use this to gently remove it without stinging my eyes. I also use it to prevent blackheads and blemishes, since coconut oil contains lauric acid, which is a powerful non-toxic fungus and bacteria fighter. I just keep a jar of this in my cupboard, and in the summer it stays in a soft, semi-liquidy state so it’s easy to use a cosmetic spatula, spoon, cotton bud, or cotton swab to scoop out some coconut oil. Then you just put it on your skin wherever you want. Some people use it in their hair, but for my fine, curly hair, I prefer to use purely moisturizing oils (I list one below).

2. Best Bath Store Acne Treatment Gel. This stuff is amazing. You can dab this on at night and it dramatically reduces any pimple (and redness) to almost nothing by morning. Better yet, you can also put it on in the morning and no one will know. Oh! And it doesn’t dry your skin out at all. It has a funky herbal scent that I really like, and the ingredients are pure and 100% natural, of course. This gel will be especially useful if you workout a lot and tend to get sweat-related blemishes on  your back — this gel clears it right up.

3. John Masters Organics Citrus & Neroli Detangler. This is a great conditioner for dry hair. I put a little on my ends before shampooing to prevent the ends from drying out, then once I rinse out the shampoo, I re-apply the conditioner farther up my hair and let it sit for a few minutes. I’m left with soft, delicious-smelling hair that’s not weighed down at all (which is easy to do to my hair!).

4. Organic Apoteke Detox Face Mask. This is a great face mask. I usually make my own, but I didn’t want to pass this up because I loved the ingredients and it got great reviews on Makeup Alley. I tried a spray tan about 2 weeks ago and my skin reacted pretty negatively to it (read: breakouts), so with the help of this mask and the BBS Gel (above), it cleared up 100% in 2 days. So this mask has a permanent place in my cupboard, and gets 5 stars for being very soothing, reducing redness, and eliminating existing problems as well as preventing any new ones. And again, love the ingredients for being pure, organic, and 100% natural.

5. 100% Pure Organic Lavender Honey Facial Cleansing Foam. I love this company’s entire product line, but this is my favorite. I use this face wash most of the time — I’ll change it up occasionally by using goat milk powder mixed with water, or their cranberry foam wash. This wash smells wonderful, works well, and doesn’t dry your skin out. I even used this for a while in the winter, and still no bad drying effect, which was surprising considering the majority of face washes I’ve tried always cause some drying. About once a week I’ll mix my lavender wash with 1 tsp. of really fine organic sugar or some MSM powder to make an awesome scrub. If you have normal or oily skin, you can try mixing it with aluminum-free baking soda (I like Bob’s Red Mill variety).

6. Sircuit Skin Cosmeceuticals Handsome Creme. Everyone I know loves the incredible smell of this thick lotion, and the name (Handsome) is so cute and catchy you’ll never forget it. The ingredients are great and very healing, and even contains fructooligosaccharides, which is a prebiotic that helps to feed the good bacteria on our skin (this is why I also recommend yogurt for the skin all the time, even though yogurt is more of a probiotic than a prebiotic).

7. Hair Therapy Wrap Cordless Thermal Turban Heat Wrap. Michelle sent me one of the wraps to try and I’m really glad she did because I’d been thinking about buying one for a few months. I use this with my John Masters Organics Lavender & Avocado Intensive Conditioner or Weleda Rosemary Hair Oil (see below). First I put the conditioner/oil on, put on a shower cap, put the entire therapy wrap (it has microwaveable heat pads inside) in the microwave for a minute or two, and then pop it on my head over the shower cap. It’s a bit heavy for my head (they’re coming out with lighter gel-packs soon), so I usually leave it on for about 20–40 minutes. It stays hot for a long time, which I like, and you can always re-microwave it if you think it’s not hot enough. I’m glad it’s not super-hot because I’m not a fan of any kind of heat damage. ;D I love the results, it makes the conditioner work that much better. This is a must-have for summer, especially if you’re swimming in hair-damaging chlorinated pools or the salty ocean.

8. Weleda Rosemary Hair Oil. Rosemary and burdock are two of the main ingredients in the all-natural oil, and both are known for promoting scalp balance and hair growth. I use this oil at least once per week and my hair feels and looks so amazingly healthy that I went out and bought two more bottles so I’d never run out. ;D I pour a bit into my hands and take my time gently massaging it into my scalp (I pour more into my hands as I go along, my goal is to coat all of my hair) and smoothing it through all the way to the ends. Then I wrap my hair in a bun and either put my heated hair wrap over it (see above), or I do a BodyRock.tv workout which heats up your scalp (and your whole body, for that matter) and helps the oil works its magic.

9. Aura Cacia Vanilla Essential Oil (in Jojoba Oil). Oh…my…goodness. This smells so incredible. I love natural perfume oils, and this one is my favorite along with their Jasmine essential oil. I just dab a few drops on my skin and smooth any remaining bit into my hair. Mmmm! If you’re sensitive to commercial perfumes and tend to sneeze or get headaches around scents, then you’ll absolutely LOVE this because it’s completely natural and only has 2 ingredients — jojoba oil and real vanilla extract. Plus, it’s cheaper than commercial perfumes and even if you use one or two drops a day (which is all you need), it’s going to last you at least two months.

10. Sweet Bee Magic All Over Skin Cream. Sweet Bee sent me a jar and two little samples (which I gave to some friends so they could get hooked) of their product a few months ago, and haven’t had a chance to try it until now. It really reminds me of Egyptian Magic, but for some reason, it works a lot better for me than EM ever did. If you ever get dry patches or if you’re prone to dry feet because you walk around barefoot a lot or do yoga, this will soon turn into your holy grail of skin creams. I had a little dry patch on the my left cheek yesterday, and when I woke up this morning is was 80% gone. It’s very soothing and incredibly moisturizing. Hoorah!

Just an FTC note: I’m never paid by or affiliated with any of the products I recommend, and I always tell you if I received an item for free (the hair wrap and bee magic, in this case).

Let me know if you use or try any of my favorites! I’d love to know what you think.
~Stephanie  x

This is a favorite topic of mine because I have fine hair that is naturally curly, and I’ve always been interested in making my hair longer and thicker. This is all the information I have gathered for the last several years. I also just discovered an awesome YouTube channel yesterday called YouTips4U, with some great information on growing and caring for long hair, so definitely check her out when you get a chance.

Here’s the YouTube video if you want to watch:

{A LITTLE FACT}

Everyone’s hair is different, and the following tips will simply help you to maximize your hair growth potential. The average hair growth per month is 1/2″ though some people may grow 3/4″ or 1″ per month. Don’t stress if your hair grows the average of 1/2″ — this is genetically predetermined, but you can do a lot to prevent breakage and stimulate healthy, thicker hair growth.

{TIP #1}

Get your protein. Your hair keratin grows from the inside out, so your protein and overall nutrition intake is of utmost importance. After much trial and error with my diet, I discovered that without a doubt, including some grass-fed animal products gives me thicker, healthier, shinier hair. On the other hand, I have one friend in particular that was completely vegan for several years and still grew a thick mop of hair. Pay attention to your individual needs — one size does not fit all!

I compiled the following list of protein-rich foods for you (I purposely excluded protein-rich foods that are unfriendly to our hormones, weight, and skin), which you should feel free to edit depending on your personal preferences. Remember, always go organic, grass-fed, wild-caught, etc. as much as possible.

• Grass-fed, truly free-range turkey, beef, buffalo, lamb
• Wild-caught fish
• Scallops
• Yogurt
• Kefir
• Leafy greens
• Almonds
• Tempeh, miso, natto
• Vegan protein powders like rice and pea protein (not soy or flax)

{TIP #2}

Avoid stress, as it will cause hair to thin, fall out, and break easily. There’s no need to stress about that either. Just give yourself some much-deserved “me time” where you can rest and relax. Listen to some calming music, definitely try yoga, watch a comedy (laugh!), take a B complex vitamin supplement (stress depletes our B vitamins, the one I take is from Garden of Life). For more tips, you can read my article from December, which has some great anti-stress ideas.

{TIP #3}

No smoking and no caffeine. Both of these substances are drying and aging for your skin and hair. If you want to look good, be healthy, and have healthy long hair, quit these two habits right now.

{TIP #4}

No refined sugar or excess sodium. Use raw honey, stevia, xylitol, or even unsulphured blackstrap molasses (very nutritious, a by-product of the sugar manufacturing process) instead of white sugar, cane sugar, or brown sugar. Refined sugar is very harmful to your health, so it’s best to eat it only on very rare occasions. Instead of table salt, iodized salt, or Kosher salt, use unbleached sea salt (I like Celtic sea salt). Use it sparingly and replace salt in recipes with salt-free spice blends.

{TIP #5}

Don’t overwash your hair, which will make it dry, stripped, and more prone to breakage. If you have a very oily scalp, wash you hair every other day. If you keep washing it daily, your scalp will only get oilier. For normal and dry scalps, shampoo every 2–4 days. Remember to massage your scalp gently every time you shampoo! This will boost circulation and help the shampoo remove all blockages from your scalp (healthier, clean scalp = healthier, longer hair).

{TIP #6}

Be careful when you brush your hair. A standard rule to live by is never to brush or comb wet hair. This leaves the hair more susceptible to breakage, so even if your conditioner bottle says to comb the conditioner through the hair in the shower, don’t do it! If you have straight hair of medium or thick density, use a natural boar bristle brush. For curly, wavy, and/or fine hair, use a wide tooth comb with no seams (little plastic seams along the comb’s teeth could snag your hair and break it).

{TIP #7}

Exercise daily to stimulate circulation, which brings more nutrition to the scalp and stimulates hair growth. Try yoga, running, spinning (bicyling), and circuit training. My favorite workouts to do daily are the 14–30 minute circuit training routines from BodyRock.tv.

{TIP #8}

Stay hydrated. I mention this all the time because it’s vital for healthy skin and healthy hair. Drink 1/2 to 1 gallon (2–4 liters) of filtered water per day. My favorite water filter is Environmental Water Systems.

{TIP #9}

Feed your hair with essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. You can do this by eating wild-caught fish, a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, leafy greens like spinach and swiss chard, brown rice, cucumbers, almonds, and goat milk yogurt. Those foods will provide you with hair-growing nutrients like biotin, vitamin E, vitamin C, and silica (plus they all contain varying amounts of protein). You can also take an omega 3 fish oil supplement (I take Carlson Labs liquid cod liver oil in lemon), Biosil liquid silica, and whole food supplements like Garden of Life Vitamin Code B Complex to ensure your hair is getting enough nutritition. Remember that your hair and nails are the last thing your body nourishes — so if you’re not getting enough nutrients, there may not be enough left for your hair.

{TIP #10}

It’s called beauty sleep for a reason. Get at least 7–8 hours of sleep every night, and try to go to bed by 10 pm. It has been suggested that 11 pm to 1 am is a critical repair time for your adrenal glands, gallbladder, and liver, so it is important to be asleep during this time so your body can do its repairs. Interrupting this process by staying awake can disrupt the health and beauty of your skin and hair. For a better-looking morning, try sleeping on silk pillowcases (mine are from Dreamsacks, I’ve been using them for years). I always recommend this because silk is extremely gentle on your skin and hair, and you won’t wake up with tangled bed head and dry cheeks. For additional hair protection, you can use soft, fabric hair scrunchies to secure your hair into a ponytail or loose braid at night.

{TIP #11}

You won’t need to trim your hair if you’re not getting split ends, so minimize the breakage by conditioning regularly. Condition your hair every time you shampoo it, and use a deep conditioning treatment every 7–10 days.

{TIP #12}

Don’t pick your split ends. It’s natural to have a few of them, so just snip them off with a little pair of sharp scissors or cuticle cutter.

{TIP #13}

Buy 2–3 different shampoos and conditioners, and use a different one every time you shampoo, or rotate them once per week. This keeps your hair from becoming “immune” to the product and you’ll be far less likely to have a bad hair day.

{TIP #14}

Wash your hair gently, and never pile it on top of your head. This will keep your hair from breaking and ensure it gets cleansed and conditioned properly. Here is a great video on washing long hair without causing breakage and dryness.

{TIP #15}

If you follow tip 11–14 on avoiding breakage/split ends, then you can get away with having a trim every 3–4 months (or longer). Only trim 1/2″. If you want to trim your hair yourself, here is a great instructional video.

{BONUS TIP}

Don’t use a blowdryer, flat iron, curling iron, or other heated styling tools every day. Instead, air dry and use non-heat styling methods. YouTube has a ton of videos for styling your hair without heat.