Natural Hair Growth And Its Three Sources

My natural hair journey inadvertently started with a quest to repair my damaged,  relaxed hair.  I returned to hair care forums in January 2011 to refresh my knowledge on hair growth and retention methods. This era was quite different from my forum browsing days in 2005. Then, relaxed girls were “stretching their perms." Fast forward to 2012, "stretches" have evolved to “transitioning to natural." And, getting a relaxers has evolved to "tex-laxing."  

By observation from forums, hair growth and retention appeared to be more effective on natural hair women. This new wave of "transitioning" and "going natural" was a way to achieve longer, stronger hair. The obsession with hair growth reached epic proportions. I witnessed online groups acquire thousands of new members in weeks due to the newest fad of growth potions or topical agents.

Many women joined growth challenges with pregnancy vitamins, biotin pills, fish oil, miconazole nitrate, carrot juices, teas, and various hair stimulants such as castor oil or even cayenne pepper.  I even jumped on the bandwagon with my own peppermint and castor oil challenge.  By the third month of transitioning, I truly believed I saw growth progress from my peppermint/castor oil challenge.

After seven months of transitioning, I big chopped on August 7, 2011. As my natural hair grew out of the TWA stage, the knowledge I acquired became second nature, and all of my regimens were thrown out the window. I stopped participating in growth challenges.  The scalp massages stopped. But, my still hair grew and retained better than ever.  I couldn’t believe the back of my hair grew at the same rate as the front, with no potions or topical agents.  I found myself “scratching my head” many times, researching the source of this mystery growth.  I had no clear answer.  Did this mean that my growth from potions or topical agents from the past were an illusion? No!

I believe hair growth is a combination of three areas: topical agents, DHT blockers and  internal nutrition. There's also a fourth leg, which includes hair retention methods, but I will focus solely on the scalp!

TOPICAL STIMULANT:  A topical stimulant works to increase blood circulation to the scalp; it also encourages healthy scalp with anti-fungal or anti-bacterial agents.   

• Castor Oil
• Peppermint Oil
• Mustard Oil or sulfur oils
• Aloe Vera
• Lemongrass
• Chlorophyll  (juiced wheatgrass or powdered greens)
• Lavender
• Teas (Camellia Sinensis Teas and Rooibos)
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Brahmi- Amla
• Scalp Massages

DHT BLOCKER:  A DHT blocker prevents the  dihydrotestosterone hormone (DHT) from killing off hair follicles that lead to baldness.  

• Horsetail
• Saw Palmetto
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Licorice
• Safflower Oil
• Sesame Oil
• Stinging Nettle

INTERNAL NUTRITION:  Internal nutrition consists of food or supplements that encourages healthy hair and healthy hair growth.

• Essential Fatty Acids / Omega 3’s (promotes collagen turnover and collagen foundation, which encourages keratin formation in skin and hair)
• Vitamins A, C, E - (antioxidant protects cells from free radicals and promotes collagen which encourages healthy keratin formation).
• Greens (green leafy vegetables adds oxygen to cells, encourages, healthy cell turnover of collagen, which is beneficial to keratin formation).
• Trace Minerals such as Silicon, Sulfur and Copper (cucumbers, brazil nuts)
• MSM (methlysulfonylmethane are the sulfur bonds in keratin).
• B-Vitamins

Hair Loss Prevention

Hair Growth Topical Stimulants

Sources:
Eating for Beauty by David Wolfe
Cortisol Control and the Beauty Connection