How to Make Hair Grow Faster: Habits That Actually Help
Type this question into Google and you'll drown in miracle routines promising waist-length hair by Christmas. The honest answer is more useful: you can't change your hair's biological growth speed very much but you can dramatically change how much of that growth you actually keep. Most “slow-growing” hair isn't growing slowly at all; it's breaking off at the ends as fast as it grows from the roots.
This guide covers how hair growth really works, the habits that protect and support it, the myths that waste your time, and what a realistic timeline looks like.
How Hair Growth Actually Works
Scalp hair grows at an average of around 1.25 centimetres (about half an inch) per month roughly 15 centimetres a year. Each strand cycles through a growth phase (anagen) lasting several years, a brief transition phase, and a resting phase before it sheds and a new hair takes its place. Losing some hair every day is normal and healthy it's the cycle doing its job.
Two things follow from this. First, genetics largely set your pace, which is why no shampoo can double your growth rate. Second, because growth happens at the follicle, the real levers are scalp health, nutrition and — above all stopping breakage, so the length your follicles produce actually makes it to your ends.
Nine Habits That Genuinely Support Hair Growth
1. Massage your scalp regularly
A few minutes of gentle fingertip massage while shampooing, or on dry hair in the evening, stimulates blood flow to the follicles and helps loosen product build-up. It costs nothing, feels great and keeps the environment your hair grows from in good condition.
2. Wash your scalp, condition your lengths
Shampoo is for the scalp; conditioner is for the mid-lengths and ends. Scrubbing shampoo through your lengths dries them out, while skipping conditioner leaves ends vulnerable to snapping. Getting this split right protects the oldest, most fragile centimetres of your hair — exactly the part you're trying to keep.
3. Turn down the heat
Straighteners, curlers and hot dryers weaken the hair shaft over time, and weakened hair breaks. You don't have to give up styling: use the lowest effective temperature, always apply a heat protectant, and build in heat-free days each week. Rough towel-drying counts as damage too — blot gently or use a microfibre towel.
4. Handle wet hair like silk
Hair is at its weakest when wet. Swap aggressive brushing for a wide-tooth comb, work from the ends upward, and never rip through knots. A detangling spray earns its shelf space here.
5. Feed your hair from the inside
Hair is built almost entirely from protein, so chronic low-protein eating shows up on your head. A balanced diet with adequate protein, iron, zinc and healthy fats gives follicles the raw materials they need. If you suspect a deficiency — low iron is common in Australian women — speak with your GP before reaching for supplements, as testing first means treating the right thing.
6. Keep trims strategic, not superstitious
Cutting hair doesn't make it grow faster — growth happens at the follicle, not the ends. What regular light trims do is remove split ends before they travel up the shaft and force a bigger cut later. Think of trims as length insurance, spaced out enough that you're always keeping more than you remove.
7. Sleep and style gently
Tight, repeated ponytails and buns put constant tension on the same hairs, and cotton pillowcases create friction all night. Loose styles, soft hair ties and a silk or satin pillowcase are small changes that quietly reduce daily breakage.
8. Manage stress where you can
Periods of intense stress can push more hairs than usual into the resting phase, showing up as extra shedding a few months later. Sleep, movement and downtime aren't just wellness clichés — your hair cycle notices them. If shedding is sudden or severe, check in with your GP rather than guessing at causes.
9. Add targeted support with a hair serum
Once the basics are in place, a leave-in serum gives your routine a targeted layer. Thin Lizzy's Xcellerate35 Serum is a spray-on formula containing 35 ingredients, including castor oil, designed to fortify and replenish hair follicles and support hair growing thicker, denser and longer. It's applied to wet, clean hair with a scalp massage, then brushed through from root to tip which conveniently builds habit #1 into your routine. Thin Lizzy reports results from two brand-run clinical trials, noting that individual results vary, so treat it as consistent support rather than an overnight fix.
Why Your Hair Might Seem to Grow Slowly
If your hair has sat at the same length for years, one of a few things is usually happening. The most common is the breakage treadmill: hair grows normally at the root but snaps at the ends at the same rate, so length never accumulates the fix is everything in habits two to seven above. The second is a shorter genetic growth phase: the length of your anagen phase caps your maximum length, and some people simply have a lower ceiling than others. The third is your hair type disguising progress curly and wavy hair can visually “shrink” significantly, so real growth hides in the curl pattern until you compare stretched lengths.
Finally, life events leave marks. Illness, crash dieting, major stress and hormonal shifts (including after pregnancy) can all temporarily push extra hair into the resting phase, thinning the overall picture months later. This kind of shedding usually resolves on its own, but if it's severe or persistent, your GP can check for treatable contributors like low iron or thyroid changes rather than leaving you to guess.
Myths That Waste Your Time
Brushing 100 strokes a night doesn't stimulate growth it causes friction damage. Cutting hair more often doesn't speed the follicle up. Washing less doesn't make hair grow faster, though over-washing a dry scalp can cause other problems. And no topical product changes your genetics; anything promising to double your growth rate is telling you a story. The habits above work because they protect the growth you already produce — which, compounded over months, is where visible length comes from.
How Long Until You See Results?
At roughly 1.25 centimetres a month, three months of protected growth is close to four centimetres noticeable in the mirror, especially if breakage previously ate most of it. Give any new routine at least eight to twelve weeks of consistency before judging it, and take a monthly photo in the same light; progress that feels invisible day to day is usually obvious side by side.
One quirk worth knowing: growth rates drift slightly with the seasons and tend to slow gradually with age, so comparing this winter to last summer can mislead you. Same month, same light, same stretch of hair — that's the fair comparison.
The Takeaway
Faster-looking hair growth is mostly a retention game: protect wet hair, lower the heat, feed the follicle, and be patient enough to let biology compound. Layer in targeted support like Xcellerate35 Serum and explore the rest of the Thin Lizzy hair care range to make the routine effortless then let the monthly photos do the convincing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can anything actually speed up hair growth?
Your genetic growth rate is largely fixed, but nutrition, scalp health and reduced breakage determine how much of that growth you keep and how healthy it looks. That's why two people with the same growth rate can have wildly different results a year later.
Which foods help hair grow?
There's no single miracle food. Prioritise adequate protein (meat, fish, eggs, legumes), iron-rich foods, zinc and healthy fats. Supplements only help when they're correcting a genuine deficiency — confirm one with your GP first.
Does trimming hair make it grow faster?
No — but it prevents split ends from travelling up the shaft, which protects your length over time. Trims help you retain growth; they don't create it.
How often should I use a hair serum?
Follow the product's directions and be consistent. Xcellerate35, for example, is applied to wet, clean hair and massaged into the scalp as part of a regular routine — sporadic use is the most common reason people don't see the benefit of any serum.
How do I know if it's shedding or breakage?
Look at the hair you're losing. A shed hair is full length with a tiny white bulb at the root end — that's the normal cycle. Short, snapped pieces without a bulb are breakage, which points to heat, friction or rough handling rather than anything happening at the follicle. The distinction matters because the fixes are different: breakage responds to gentler care, while heavy shedding that persists is a conversation for your GP.
