- There are plenty of myths we’re told about our hair as we grow up.
- One of them is that cutting it will make it grow faster, according to international hair and makeup artist Miabella Ristorp.
- Ristorp told INSIDER that instead, the haircut stops your hair from breaking, which in turn can help it grow nicely.
There are plenty of old wives’ tales we grow up with when it comes to hair.
From being told you should never go out in the cold with wet hair to hearing people stress that the more you brush your hair, the healthier it will be, plenty of these pieces of advice have very little truth in them at all.
According to international hair and makeup artist Miabella Ristorp, who has more than 15 years of experience in the industry working on fashion shows like Burberry and Dolce & Gabbana and styling models like Cara Delevingne, Georgia May Jagger, and Suki Waterhouse, there’s another myth that clients tend to still believe.
“People think it’s the haircut that makes your hair grow, but it’s the haircut that makes your hair not break,” she told INSIDER when we met at her new luxury beauty studio SMUK London in London’s Eccleston Yards in Belgravia.
"The myth has been twisted too much... As a kid you get told it won't grow if you don't cut it, but basically the point is that it breaks if you don't cut it. If you get a tiny trim once in a while it doesn't break, and that way you can grow it longer."
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She said that most of her clients with long hair get a haircut every six to eight weeks.
"I tend [to] tell my guests that have long hair to cut it more often, but just cut very little off," she said. "What happens is we often wait too long cutting our hair, then when we cut it, we need to cut a big chunk off. That doesn't make us happy."
As far as thinning out your hair goes if you have thick hair, Ristorp said if you thin it too much, it will look unhealthy.
"What I would suggest is to cut more into it," she said. "Cut a few layers underneath, where it just takes some of the weight out. Thinning the ends just makes them more damaged, really."
Ultimately, she said you should be asking your hairdresser what's best for your type of hair, and the way you like to style it.
"Back in the day we weren't thinking so much about [the health of our hair]," she said. "Nowadays we care a bit more about how it feels. I think we've just become more conscious about things in general."
