I’ll admit, I’ve had my fair share of hair disasters — from trimming my own bangs (I didn’t learn my lesson the first five times) to bleaching my own hair at home and getting an unexpected bronzy-orange color instead. Nowadays, however, I’d say I’m pretty knowledgeable when it comes to tips, or things to avoid, when growing out your hair. I owe most of that to my cousin, Kerry Bushnell, who’s a total hair guru at the young age of 20. Growing up, Kerry always had beautiful hair and a natural ability with styling it. As expected, she ended up going to the Paul Mitchell School of Hair Design and Aesthetics in downtown Portland. When I started talking to her about hair and getting her to do mine, I finally felt like I understood how hair worked. Ever since then, mine has been growing faster than weeds and has been healthier than ever, despite having bleached it three times last year.
Haircuts and colors go in and out of style almost faster than fashion trends do, but a long and healthy mane will always be in style. Here are Kerry’s four essential tips for achieving this classic look:
1. Get regular trims.
It’s a well-known suggestion, but most people don’t know why. Kerry admitted that she was primarily confused as to why we would have to do that to have long hair, considering hair grows from the roots, not from the ends. The reason you have to do this is to limit breakage. A lot of women complain that their hair doesn’t grow past a certain point, and that’s because they’re not getting regular trims, so their hair just keeps breaking off at the same rate that it’s growing. If you keep your ends trimmed, that wouldn’t be happening and you’ll start to see your hair growing faster. A great way to slow down the breakage and split ends is to always use a thermal protectant when straightening or curling your hair. My personal favorite is Goldwell Style Sign Sleek Perfection. It leans a bit toward the spendy side, but it’s definitely worth it.
2. Give yourself scalp massages.
Massages stimulate blood flow in the scalp, causing your hair to grow faster. Gently massaging your own scalp or brushing your hair on the regular can do the trick. Gently brushing your hair on a daily basis is also beneficial in terms of distributing the natural oils from the roots to the ends. You could even go all out and get one of those head massagers that look sort of like giant spiders. I got mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond for less than $10. It’s seriously one of the coolest things ever.
3. Wash your hair once every three days.
If you can stand limiting your washes to once every three days, that would be ideal. Your hair will be much healthier because the natural oils will replenish the protein it needs to grow and stay strong. Stripping your strands of these essential oils on a daily basis is not healthy for them, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take showers on a daily basis—that’s what shower caps are for!
4. DIY hairmasks are your new best friends.
Pinterest is a perfect place to find recipes for do-it-yourself hair masks, which Kerry recommends using every three weeks. The ones that she uses usually call for coconut oil as a key ingredient, a fantastic oil that helps penetrate the hair follicle for faster growth. She says most of the Pinterest masks for your skin are great too, especially the ones with honey, yogurt, or lemon. The best part: most of the ingredients are probably already sitting in your fridge or pantry. I often wonder what broke college girls did before Pinterest.
Kerry will be graduating from the Paul Mitchell School next month, but has been cutting, coloring, and styling women’s hair from her own home for the past year. She has done mine a few times and it has always turned out perfect. To her advantage, her close friends have let her experiment on their hair in her free time, which has made her a pro at the latest color trends, including ombrés, which are her specialty. Because they’re such a new trend, most hairstylists don’t know how to do them correctly, but I was lucky enough to have Kerry do mine last summer and it was honestly the best hair color experience I’ve ever had. Since she hasn’t officially graduated yet, she’s still doing cuts and colors from her home for awesome prices. She’s currently living in Camas, Washington (just outside of Portland) and is trying to get more clients whenever possible. I highly recommend her!
If you’re ever in the neighborhood, email her at kerry.bushnell@yahoo.com for a hair experience that won’t empty your bank account and will actually turn out better than you would have ever expected. How often do you get a chance to say that?