What is hair growth?
To understand hair growth, you need to first understand the stages your mane goes through while growing out. Distributed into 3 stages:
- Anagen is the growth stage that lasts anywhere between 2 to 6 years.
- This is followed by a transitional called the Catagen which lasts about 10 days.
- The final stage is Telogen, which is usually referred to as the resting phase. If you notice white bulbs on the roots of pulled out hair, they belong to the Telogen stage.
The natural speed of hair growth is usually half an inch a month — which leads to 6 inches in a year. This is largely affected by race and genetics, which also dictates the normal amount of hair loss for a person — 50 to 100 hair strands each day.
Can you actually make your hair grow faster?
Practically speaking, it is impossible to make your hair grow faster than the speed it will naturally do. Your strands tend to grow with different speeds, so it might seem like your hair's not growing any longer.
What is length retention?
Simply put, length retention is nothing but maintaining your existing hair length by taking proper care and keeping breakage to a minimum. Length retention, unlike hair growth, can be controlled by you in easy ways. Also, while you cannot increase the number of strands on your head, keeping your tresses healthy will make them look fuller.
Split ends can arrest hair growth or cause difficulty in brushing leading to breakage and loss of length. Regular trims remove split ends which in turn help maintain the health of your hair.
Going easy on your tresses with less styling, carefully conditioning it every time you wash your hair and indulging in keratin treatments once or twice a month also help with length retention!
Main image courtesy: @deepikapadukone
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Written by Sumona Bose on 18th Jun 2020
Sumona Bose is a writer, skincare junkie and a self-professed makeup connoisseur. Equipped with a Master's degree in Fashion Management and over 3 years of experience writing in the beauty and fashion space, her passion for learning new things has no bounds. Working closely with dermatologists, beauty excerpts, makeup artists and hairstylists, she brings you the best of all things beauty. From trending skincare ingredients to makeup looks that help you slay, she manages to bring something new (and vital!) to our readers every single time. Her hobbies include home workouts, watching foreign films and binge-watching makeover shows!