A lot has happened since August! For starters, all of my hair now goes into a ponytail or a top-knot—thank god. It’s crazy how much you can miss the ability to throw your hair up. The photos can only show so much, but according to my (very scientific) measurements, my hair has grown just over 2.5 inches since August—slightly above average (most sources claim .5 inches per month is normal). These are the tips and tricks I’ve stuck to the past 3 months:
1. Biotin: 5000 mcg per day.
2. Moroccanoil shampoo, conditioner & oil therapy.
3. Aveda Invati: I use the Scalp Revitalizer daily, but I use the shampoo & conditioner 1-2 times per week.
4. Hydration. I drink at least 100 ounces of water per day.
5. Scalp Massages: I try to give myself a scalp massage at least twice per week. I usually use coconut oil or the Moroccanoil Hydrating Mask and leave it on for 15-20 minutes.
I’ll be back in February to conclude one year of regrowth with a final post. Here’s hoping my hair has grown an additional four inches by then! If you’re starting the regrowth process be sure to check out the first two installments: How to Grow Out Your Hair and How to Grow Out your Hair Part II!
Filed Under: Aveda Invati Scalp Revitalizer, biobin, hydrating hair mask, moroccanoil
Hello lovelies! I'm Elizabeth Dehn, a beauty writer + lifestyle editor who's equally fanatical about lip gloss as juice cleansing. I live in Minneapolis with Mr. Bets and our white lab, Molly Thomas . . . 
Looking great Danielle! Wondering if you’ve heard of Nourage?? Apparently Kyle Richards from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills swears by it. I’m thinking of trying it…
https://nourage.com/
I haven’t! It is definitely worth looking into! Let us know what you think! xo.
I just started using coconut oil and love it. Do you wash it out after the scalp massage? Or just leave it in?
Your hair looks great!
I’ve noticed that you didn’t include the Wen Cleansing Conditioner in this post or your 6 month post. I’ve read a lot of great reviews about it, any cons? I’m thinking about possibly making my first Wen purchase. Yay or nay?
Thanks for sharing your awesome and inspiring posts with the world! :)
Hi Johanna—-I wash the coconut oil out. I usually do the massage and leave it on as a mask for as long as I can (5, 10, 15 minutes depending on the day) and then shower as usual.
Ashley—-I do still continue to use the Wen! In fact I used it today. I really struggle in the “showering less” department—-I get up early (5 am) and I just have to shower in order to have a productive day! I feel like Wen is a great alternative for people who can’t go 2-3 days without showering. Since it is soap free it cleans your hair without stripping off the natural oils, so it leaves those oils there to condition your hair similar to how not showering would. I also try to let it air-dry on these days.
The pro is obviously not stripping off your natural oils and the con is that my hair just doesn’t style quite as well—mine gets a bit frizzy when using wen + air-drying (but that’s expected).
I am just trying to use sulfate free shampoos all around! As you can tell I switch up my shampoos a lot but for the past 6 months I have been very religious about Moroccan oil 75% of the time, Aveda Invati 15% of the time and Wen 10% of the time!
~ Dani
The hairstyle you had in February is the best in my opinion
Mine was cut quite brutally. I’m going to try Biotin and scalp massages. I’m also going add in Hubner silicea gel and kale :)
what can i do to make my hair stronger? It breaks off at the scalp
Elmarie
@elmarie That sounds like more of an internal problem then something you can treat topically. I would definitely try the Biotin, but also see your dermatologist.
I’m definitely going to try this. I lost my hair a year ago due to chemo and it’s growing back, but I’m struggling with the inbetween period. I’ve sworn off colouring too, going silver naturally.
@Julia – you are our hero and we will be rooting for you! xo
I’ve been growing my hair out from a pixie cut for for the last 18 months and it’s just above my bra strap. I tried Wen, and it wasn’t for me, but I love Organix shampoos and I swear by Biotin and Moroccan oil, too!
question…ive picked up Biotin in the past and the bottle says to take 2 tablets daily (250 mcg each so 500 in total). You adv to take 5000! that is 20 tablets a day! is this healthy?
Try a hair vitamin called Hairfinity. It contains 2500 mcg per capsule, and you take two a day. It is just great! Go to Hairfinity.com Hope this helps.
When you say you use Moroccanoil shampoo conditioner and oil therapy and you also use the aveda shampoo and conditioner, are you just alternating when you use those on the days you wash your hair? also, are you washing your hair daily? Also, when you use the moroccanoil or coconut oil to do scalp massages afterwards what do you wash your hair with? Thank you for all of this info!
Also, What kind of brushes do you use? Do you use heat protectant when styling your hair?
@Jodie – Dani may weigh in as well, but I know a lot of stylists swear by kerastase’s heat protectant.
Hi Jodie—-Yes I alternate! I don’t have a specific schedule I just use one or the other. I wash my hair 4-5 times week—-I try to have at least 2 days where I do dry shampoo and go without. I just wash my hair normally following a scalp massage. I used a wide-tooth comb on a daily basis and I used products on my hair (Aveda Be Curly Prep) and the moroccan oil but do not currently use a heat protectant! I usually let my hair air-dry as much as possible and rarely use a flat-iron or curling iron (maybe a few times a month) if you curl or straighten daily I would definitely check out a protectant! x.
I’ve been using Folicure shampoo and my hair is growing like crazy and looks so healty.
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I have extremely dry damaged hair, because I straightened them chemically, added to stress my hair just couldnt take it anymore and they just broke. Litterally broke. or fell. I was left with a third of my usual hair. Very scary :s
I tried biotin and i don’t know if it really did anything but what really worked was coconut oil. I have tried all hair products on earth including pricey kerastase and the only thing that ever worked in my 23 years of life was coconut oil. I use it twice a week, put it all over my hair, put my hair into a bun and leave it be for a couple hours. The longest it stays on, the best are the results. I don’t use any conditioner or mask anymore, just wash it with shampoo and thats it!!! It super cheap too and im never going back to buying any other products. It works wonders on my very dry skin too, and as it’s edible, I put it in my food as well! Im not a very “green” person, im not really into organic stuff really but this coconut has been a revelation. my hair is saved and I hope my review will help someone. I had read about coconut oil on a similar website, from reviews :))
I did about half a year course of biotin, I don’t remember the dose but I think it might have been 1mg. What I noticed was that I had new hair starting to grow from my hairline and at one stage it looked like I had had a fringe but I never cut one. I think I was reading from a medical website that it’s ok to go through a course of biotin, well I did 6 months, to aid hair growth but as it stores in your body you shouldn’t make it a permanent thing. There’s no proof yet to show that overdosing would do much damage, but I don’t want to find out either so I only did that course to get my hair thicker and I’ll do another one if my hair starts to thin out but it’s been really good since. I think I stopped eating it in July. I hope this answers some of the questions in the comments.
Just wanted to say I saw your comment about having trouble with the not showering as often. I shower at least once and often twice a day but I only wash my hair about every 3 days. I use a scrunchie to make a bun on top of my head and wear a shower cap on the days I don’t want to wash. I have almost elbow length very thick healthy hair, and my stylist says part of the reason it is so healthy is b/c I don’t wash it very often. I wash/style the first day which is usually blow drying and hot rolling and I use a heat protection spray. Then the 2nd day it still looks good enough to just wear down again, just has a little less body. the 3rd day, I can either wear a ponytail or use dry shampoo spray and it still looks great. I sometimes even go a 4th day in a cute hat depending on what I’m doing that day. I like to wait as long as I can to shampoo again b/c it seems the longer I wait the better my hair looks. I have “trained” my hair in this way though, it takes awhile of skipping shampoo days for your hair to adapt! Good luck with your hair growth it looks great so far :)
Find a hydration calculator on google and find out approximately how much water you need for your body through out the whole day. You can drink too much water and it is very harmful to your body depleting yourself from electrolytes which causes dilutional hyponatremia and leads to death. Mine is aprox. 75oz and I work out hard core, live in a cold dry area.
Can someone please tell which Moroccan oil shampoo works best? Thanks
Hi D! How often are you trimming your hair?
Hey there, for anyone’s who is wondering if taking that much Biotin is safe, it is. Im a Pharm Sci student and any extra that your body can not take in is just removed from the body when you use the little girls room. Most vitamins and minerals are this way the big ones you have to watch for are Vitamin E and D, though it is really hard to get too much of both of these unless you are taking a tablet of straight Vitamin E, I like breaking open the ampules and putting Vitamin E on my ends and also works great for scars and stretch marks. I think most people’s bodies can only absorb about 5mg of Biotin, or 5000 mcg. My vitamin for hair skin and nails contains 6000 mcg and I know any that my body doesn’t absorb gets removed from my body.
I love each of your installments for “How to Grow Out Your Hair.” How do you like the Moroccanoil Hydrating Mask? I’m considering trying it out. I hope you are able to publish a 1 year progress post!
Wow this sounds great! I am def gonna give it a try.
i was wondering how often you trim as well? :) I’m growing out a pixie. I don’t color or fix my hair(dries naturally) so do I need to trim it that often? Thanks!