TRYING to achieve long and luscious hair can be an expensive endeavour.
But one savvy beauty fan has found a cheap and cheerful hack to grow your hair out – it’ll only cost you a few quid and you don’t ever need to repurchase it.
Posting on Instagram, Emma Jean Clarke showed how she transformed her blonde tresses from brittle and damaged to thick and healthy in just a year.
“If you need a sign to wear a bonnet,” she wrote over the viral video which showed her pulling off the satin cap in a series of clips.
The first clip shows her mane looking a little worse for wear, but as she continued to show her progress it was clear the bonnet was helping her grow out her hair.
By the end of the video, Emma’s hair was barely recognisable from the short and damaged hair she showed at the start of the clip.
“The difference less than a year can make,” she captioned the video.
After sharing the clip other hair fans chimed in to rave about the hair hack too.
One said: “I started wearing a bonnet when I bleached my hair and I swear it’s made my hair healthier than ever!”
A second agreed: “I sweat by wearing a bonnet at night, it’s weird at first but now I forget I’m wearing it.”
“Women with curly hair have been doing this for years,” a third commented.
And another said: “My bonnet changed my life.”
The best part is you don’t have to break the bank to buy a hair bonnet – they’re available from Amazon for as little as £3.39.
The iLamvie Bonnet has rave reviews online and an average rating of 4.3 stars out of five.
The history of hair bonnets
Bonnets have played a role in black culture for a long time, Adria Marshall, the founder of Ecoslay, a natural haircare line, told Woman’s World.
They were used by African women as a wealth and ethnicity indicator, as well as they were also used during slavery to identify Black women.
“Bonnets have since evolved into a helpful accessory to protect natural hairstyles, and the stigma is now gone.
“As a Black woman and a natural hair care entrepreneur, I wanted to add bonnets to my product list, knowing how important and symbolic hair can be in the Black community,” she said.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
No matter your hair type, sleeping with a silk or satin bonnet can help protect your tresses.
As you toss and turn in your sleep your hair creates friction with your cotton bedding and pillowcases.
This can be incredibly drying for your hair, but wearing a silk or satin bonnet will help keep that moisture in, meaning your locks stay smooth and healthy.
Not only that, but it can help prevent split ends too, and if you use any leave-in products like conditioners over night, a bonnet can help keep it on your hair, rather than on your pillowcase.
Hair re-growth FAQs
Anabel Kingsley, Consultant Trichologist and Brand President at Philip Kingsley spoke exclusively to Fabulous.
How long does it take for hair to grow back?
Hair grows, on average, half an inch a month. You cannot speed this up.
Do rosemary oil and scalp massages work?
Oils do not promote hair growth. In terms of rosemary oil, the current trend stems from one small study carried out on 50 men in 2015. No women were involved, and the study compared the effects of 2 per cent minoxidil to Rosemary oil. 2 per cent minoxidil doesn’t do much for
male pattern hair loss anyway, so the results were not very impressive. Oils do serve a purpose in conditioning hair treatments though. They help add shine and smooth the hair cuticle to lock-in moisture and improve combability. Scalp massages alone won’t cure hair loss, but it can help relax you, aid in lymphatic drainage, exfoliate and help topicals penetrate.
Are there any products or foods/vitamins you recommend someone using oreating to help with hair regrowth?
To support healthy hair regrowth, if you are experiencing hair thinning we’d recommend our Density Preserving Scalp Drops clinically proven to help slow hair loss with continued daily use within three months.
Telogen effluvium (hair shedding) due to nutritional deficiencies can often be simply treated with changes to your diet, and nutritional supplements such as our specially formulated Density Healthy Hair Complex and Density Amino Acid Booster.
Iron and Ferritin (stored iron) in red meat, dried apricots and dark, leafy greens. Vitamin B12 in animal products and fortified plant-based foods. Protein from oily fish, lean meat, cottage cheese, tofu, nuts, chickpeas, and beans.
However, there may be an underlying cause for their hair loss and rather than this being masked by using an off-the-shelf product, they should be encouraged to seek the advice of a specialist such as a Trichologist.