Change your color game
Hair color fans — particularly bleach enthusiasts — might want to shift their color strategy. "When it comes to growing your hair out, you always want to know how often clients are coloring and what services might be working against them if they're trying to grow length," explains Bodt. "You can have a healthy double process with bleach, but it may take longer to hit those hair goals."
She recommends shifting to a highlight technique for less damage, possibly going longer between coloring services, and using products such as Redken Extreme Bleach Recovery Shampoo, $22.50 and the brand's Redken Extreme Bleach Recovery Lamellar Water, $22.50, a rinse-out treatment, which fills porous hair strands while making hair soft, smooth, and incredibly shiny.
Slow down on the shampoo
Both stylists are in support of less washing, recommending 2-3 times a week at most. Streicher advises focus on scalp (as opposed to your ends), and Bodt suggests using products packed with repairing properties such as Virtue Recovery Shampoo, $38, which is formulated with nourishing (and smoothing) keratin protein.
Cut less, treat more
You don't really want to cut your hair if you're growing it out, but be sure to handle split ends before they tear further up the strand. Our stylists recommend cutting less, with Bodt suggesting a "dusting" of the ends to keep things tidy.
You can avoid damage with weekly treatments, which'll in turn lessen your need for trims. Streicher recommends starting with the Garnier Fructis Smoothing Treat 1 Minute Hair Mask + Avocado Extract, $5.79, especially for new hair mask enthusiasts.
Rotate your hair masques
Dry hair can be challenging, so Bodt recommends rotating weekly masks: "For hair to grow you need three treatments: one for protein, one for moisture, and something to help rebuild hair bonds." Get your hair on a schedule — protein one week, moisturizing the next, and then consider a bond builder like the original (and a favorite of Bodt's), the Olaplex No. 3. Hair Perfector, $28. Bodt advises leaving it on for an hour or — even better — sleeping in it and washing it out in the morning.
Hold up on the heat styling
This might hurt a little: Step away from the heat. "So much damage can be done mechanically from hot tools," cautions Bodt. "If it can burn through a tissue or your shirt, it can do the same thing to your hair."
If air drying is not for you, be sure to use a heat protectant when you use your heat styling tools. Bodt has seen a lot of client success with switching to gentle tools like the Dyson Supersonic, $399. Also, she points back to washing your hair less as a good strategy for avoiding heat damage: "Obviously, if you're washing less, you're also not heat styling so much during the week, which allows the hair to grow and do its thing."
