3 Best Products to Speed Up Natural Hair Growth and Keep Every Inch
by Team CurlyNikki
Your hair is growing RIGHT NOW.
Even if you’re convinced it isn’t.
Even if you’ve been stuck at shoulder length since 2019.
Even if you’ve purchased every miracle growth oil, scalp serum, vitamin, and ancestral botanical treatment known to woman.
Even if no woman in your direct lineage has ever grown past shoulder length in adulthood.
Your follicles are more than likely doing their jobs beautifully.
BUT WHAT ARE YOUR ENDS DOING? WHERE THEY AT? FALLING OFF. THEY FELL OFF. BUT YOU DIDN’T. SO LET’S BEGIN AGAIN.
You’re going to grow a half an inch of hair this month and you’re going to keep it this time. And suddenly it’s going to be working. You will approach this thing from three directions… we’ll triangulate if you will- supporting healthy growth from within, improving the condition of damaged strands, and keeping our hair soft enough to manage without breaking it.
Not everybody needs a vitamin. Not everybody needs a repair treatment. But if we’re serious about growing long natural hair, we need to figure out where our progress is going. Let’s shop.
The Best Hair Growth Products Compared
| Product | What It Addresses | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| MaryRuth’s Liquid Morning Multivitamin + Hair Growth | Nutritional support | Women evaluating possible nutritional gaps |
| K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask | Damage and weakened strands | Heat- or chemically damaged hair |
| amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask | Softness, slip, and manageability | Dry natural hair prone to tangling and breakage |
1. MaryRuth’s Liquid Morning Multivitamin + Hair Growth
Best for: Women interested in supporting healthy hair from within.
Let’s start with what happens before the hair ever leaves your scalp. Hair growth depends on adequate nutrition. Low iron, inadequate protein intake, and certain vitamin or mineral deficiencies can contribute to shedding and thinning.
MaryRuth’s Liquid Morning Multivitamin + Hair Growth contains vitamins and minerals, plus Lustriva, a combination of magnesium biotinate and bonded arginine silicate.
There’s preliminary research suggesting that Lustriva may improve hair thickness, although that doesn’t prove the finished multivitamin accelerates everyone’s hair growth.
It’s a liquid formula, which some women find easier to take than another handful of pills.
BUT…if you’re deficient in something, identifying and correcting that deficiency may be more useful than buying the most expensive hair supplement.
And MaryRuth’s isn’t an iron treatment. Don’t assume it addresses every possible nutritional gap.
It also contains 10,000 micrograms of biotin per serving, which can interfere with certain laboratory tests. Let your healthcare professional know you’re taking it.
CurlyNikki’s take: Healthy hair starts with a healthy body, mind, and soul. Before spending money on another growth supplement, make sure you’re actually giving your body what it needs. Ask your healthcare professional whether blood tests for nutritional deficiencies make sense for you. Drink enough water, eat plenty of whole foods, including protein- and iron-rich foods, fruits, seeds, and nuts, and massage your scalp when you get time!
Curlfriends with real vitamin and mineral deficiencies see real improvement when taking these or similar vitamins; others who already are balanced in that department may see nothing more than yellow pee haha.
2. K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask
Best for: Natural hair weakened by repeated heat or chemical processing.
Now let’s address the hair that’s already on your head. Because what good is six months of new growth if the oldest six inches are breaking off?
K18 is a peptide-based treatment developed for damaged hair. Its formula is designed to improve the strength and condition of hair that has experienced chemical or heat-related stress. And the application is wonderfully simple.
Shampoo your hair, skip conditioner initially, and towel-dry. Apply a small amount to your lengths and ends. Wait four minutes. Don’t rinse.
Afterward, you can add conditioning or styling products if your hair needs them. K18 isn’t a miracle cure for split ends. And it isn’t necessary for every head of healthy, untreated natural hair.
But if your hair has been through years of flat ironing, bleaching, coloring, or chemical services, a targeted repair treatment may help reduce the breakage that’s keeping you from seeing more length.
CurlyNikki’s take: Sometimes what looks like a growth problem is actually a damage problem. Treat the right problem.
3. amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask
Best for: Dry natural hair that needs serious softness and easier handling.
Now THIS is one I can get behind. Because growing long natural hair is one thing. Keeping it soft enough that you aren’t fighting it every wash day is another. And Soulfood is a beautiful conditioner. It’s in a league of its own. I’ve tried just about everything on the market past and present, and this is top tier. And I’ve never received money from them. Never received a gift box. I’ve bought every expensive jar myself. It’s rich and creamy, like applying heaven to your hair and it instantly gets to work while I’m showering. By the time I return to my hair it’s like someone else’s lol. It’s heavy, it’s mostly detangled already, it’s quenched, it’s happy. I finish up the detangling under the water stream and my hair is just ridiculously soft. It’s heavily fragranced, and I wish that wasn’t the case, but I’ll allow it.
The formula contains jojoba seed oil, sea buckthorn oil, fatty alcohols, conditioning agents, and dimethicone. YES, DIMETHICONE.
And as we’ve discussed, sometimes our strands appreciate a little science.
These conditioning ingredients help smooth the hair’s surface, improve slip, and make strands easier to handle.
That’s particularly useful when your ends are dry and constantly feuding with neighboring hairs.
After shampooing, work Soulfood through wet hair in sections, paying attention to your oldest lengths.
Leave it on for five to seven minutes, then rinse thoroughly.
You can use it as a weekly treatment or in place of your regular conditioner when your hair needs extra care.
And here’s why I love this approach to length retention: you don’t have to wait until your hair is damaged to start treating it gently.
The smoother and more manageable your strands feel, the easier it may be to avoid unnecessary pulling and breakage.
So, How Do You Actually Grow Longer Hair Faster?
First, understand what’s slowing your progress.
If you’re experiencing unusual shedding, thinning, or widening parts, investigate possible underlying causes with a dermatologist.
If your hair is growing but your length never changes, pay close attention to breakage.
And if your hair is constantly rough, tangled, and difficult to manage, make conditioning a priority.
Most scalp hair grows approximately half an inch per month, although growth rates vary. No conditioner can force follicles to grow at double speed.
But keeping more of the hair you grow can make a real difference in your visible length over time.
If you find a moisturizer that actually keeps your ends happy, and you keep those ends tucked away in twists or in a loose, low-tension bun, you will maintain your length. Your hair will show its progress. You will see the growth you’ve been willing to pay for. Finally. Because you finally stopped working against yourself!
Stretched ends that don’t need to be re-wet or re-moisturized, restyled, or really even looked at between wash days… that’s how I keep my hair. I’m heavy on the moisture, sealing, and stretching on day 1, and I make it to day 7, and then rinse and repeat! This is how I grow! Let’s go!
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