Edges...and genetics

[*fabulosity*]

Do some people just genetically have thinner edges? I see some people whose edges are just FULL and thick and looks like the same thickness as their hair all the way through.. Before I was texlaxed and was WL.. I have always had edges while not damaged looking or "chewed looking"..but were fine and you could see my skin through where the hair waved at... I see that a lot of the women with wavier/finer hair in my family have these same edges.. but then those with super thick hair have full "full" non see through edges.

My hair has pretty good density but I see people's hairline/edges and get jealous because I wonder if mine will never look like that because of something I can't control (genetics). I have used growth aids, not wrapped or manipulated them..and it just seems that they are the same.. Like hair grows there and is longer; but it is fine. I did wear a ponytail almost everyday for the first 19/20 years of my life... but I'm thinking I'm worrying about something I can't change.

What do you all think???

 

[jamaraa]

Yes, they do, IMHO. Hair color, texture, density, growth patterns and potential lengths, etc are influenced by genetics....family genetics more so than broad racial groupings.

Look at you family as far back as you can and see what you find.

 

[DigitalRain]

Ive noticed that me, my sis and my mom all have thin edges, thinning out in the same areas. But, we all relaxed so I dont know if its heredity or damage from the chemicals. Or both.

 

[PinkyD]

My mom, my sister, and I all have the same thinning patches, on the left and right side of the head in the front, but thicker in the middle...sigh

 

[*fabulosity*]

Yes, they do, IMHO. Hair color, texture, density, growth patterns and potential lengths, etc are influenced by genetics....family genetics more so than broad racial groupings.

Look at you family as far back as you can and see what you find.

That's the problem. It's a melting pot of errythang.. Those with the THICK THICK hair ... have thick edges... those with the finer wavier hair have the thinner edges. Mine is in the middle...it's a toss up! so .. I'm not worried about length... I don't believe in terminal length really and a ton of people in my family have longer hair. But these edges are gonna give me the flux!!!

Ive noticed that me, my sis and my mom all have thin edges, thinning out in the same areas. But, we all relaxed so I dont know if its heredity or damage from the chemicals. Or both.

It's a dilemma.. but I think I will never get Melanie Fiona's edges... but I'm still gonna try like the little engine that could...lol.

 

[MRJ1972]

My mom is natural and my sister and I are transitioning, and we all have thin edges....Oh well

 

[BSweet]

yup...i can't stand my hairline and i get it from my dad who said he got it from his mom

even laughed at me and said the right and the left side will thin out (leaving that u shape) just like his and his mom..and he said it happened to her young

so i'm trying to hold on as long as i can..i pay very "special" attention to those areas..lol

 

[Vintageglam]

Will be back in this thread later - big issue for me so need to do some "family investigation"......

ETA: So anyway here are my findings - My brother and father both have male pattern baldness. My edges have always been fine even as a baby when I had super thick hair. That said my hair has never been rock hard (which Nigerian hair can tend to be). It grows but just has always been fine at the edges. I have also abused it tremendously. I have a theory that some of us just need to be more careful with our edges as we are pre-disposed with having problem edges. My mother on the other hand has the hair of legend. Not so much now as she is in her 60's but when she was younger it was thick and full. I remember looking at my mums french rolls in her hair in awe....

My granny on the other hand has kinda hair in between my mums and mine. My aunties seem to have thick/ so so hairlines. Nothing to write home about but nothing thinning or anything. I do not know my fathers side of the family as I lived with my mothers side of the family and left Nigeria as a child so never met many of them so my guess is the thin hairline is coming from my Dad's side of the family.

 

[Cali*Rocks]

My edges have thickened up since I went natural. I think when you have fine hair to begin with, they just cannot take the chemicals from the relaxer. JMO

 

[PearlyCurly]

Yes, they do, IMHO. Hair color, texture, density, growth patterns and potential lengths, etc are influenced by genetics....family genetics more so than broad racial groupings.

Look at you family as far back as you can and see what you find.

I agree, BUT i dont think alot of ppl in my family has thin edges..

I mean i dont have wafer thin edges but when i was relaxed i had such bad breakage on my edges/nape..like one side was shorter then the other

And now i know why because my nape and my top/edges are the finest and a lil looser then the rest! So basically more prone to damage, IMO.

 

[YankeeCandle]

I agree with jamaraa about the family genetics aspect.

I received a thin and thinning crown and edges from both sides of my family. I have only one grandparent who had thick hair all over and my sister got that hair--lucky her!

I used to not think about my hair in a negative way. I loved its curl pattern and thought it flattered my face shape well. But over the past few years, as I've started to get much more into haircare, it has started a hunger inside me for thicker hair (at least enough that you do not see my scalp) that I know will never be assuaged short of hair transplant surgery.

After seeing fotkis and siggys and hair inspiration pic threads here, I come away with a sad feeling I never had before when I was happily oblivious to haircare. It is because I know that, while the shorthaired women here who desire long hair can one day achieve that goal, there is no way for me to achieve thicker edges and crown. I have always been like that due to my genes and always will be like that. No castor oil, scalp massages, or five-star routines can change that.

My concern with my edges is that I am afraid to wear halfwigs/wigs too often and to get cornbraids done at all because there is already not a lot to work with...I wince at the thought of the stress it will put on my thin edges. What I have to do with my curly wash and gos is a female version of a combover in order to cover my scalp on my crown---I do one of those "bump bangs" that you pin back if you know what I'm talking about.

My uncle has had hair transplant surgery on his crown, by the way, and it looks very natural and much better than it did before.

ETA--I don't know if they have an equivalent surgery for edges.

 

[jamaraa]

That's the problem. It's a melting pot of errythang.. Those with the THICK THICK hair ... have thick edges... those with the finer wavier hair have the thinner edges. Mine is in the middle...it's a toss up! so .. I'm not worried about length... I don't believe in terminal length really and a ton of people in my family have longer hair. But these edges are gonna give me the flux!!!



It's a dilemma.. but I think I will never get Melanie Fiona's edges... but I'm still gonna try like the little engine that could...lol.

How do the folks w/ thinner edges treat them? What about the folks w/ thicker edges? Since you're in the middle it could go eitehr way for you, but you know one thing...you CAN get them back.

(Of course, I don't know if you have alopecia or some other health problem which is causing the thinning,)

 

[jamaraa]

I agree, BUT i dont think alot of ppl in my family has thin edges..

I mean i dont have wafer thin edges but when i was relaxed i had such bad breakage on my edges/nape..like one side was shorter then the other

And now i know why because my nape and my top/edges are the finest and a lil looser then the rest! So basically more prone to damage, IMO.

I'll bet you're not the only one in your family w/ multitextured hair, right?

 

[MummysGirl]

It definitely has a lot to do with genetics... I have thin edges and my Mummy had thin edges too... Relaxers cause breakage on my hairline every time while the rest of my hair thrives.

I have my Mummy's hairline (the shape - kinda similar to how you'd expect a man's to be), not an almost straight full line.... I get slightly jealous of ladies with thick hairlines!

 

[Baje]

I asked about my edges about a week back or so. My edges were thin when I was relaxed and I just assumed that when I went natural they would thicken up. NOPE! I baby them and don't wear any styles that can put pressure on the area. Still they remain thin. My cousin's edges are almost bald so I think it is genetics.

 

[alanaj]

I've always had thick hair. When I was relaxed my edges were really thin and see through and could never grow more than maybe an inch and a half. Now that I'm natural I realized my edges are springing back to life. No more see through-ness and it's just filling out nicely....I like having a smaller forehead haha

 

[mzsophisticated26]

This is what I wanted to know because I have looked back at all my old pics and my edges have always been thin. Everyone in my family(my granny, aunts, uncles) have thin hair and edges and it's really bad in the temples except for my sister but she is biracial. My brother has receding hairline and he is only 25. My mom has been natural for about 2yrs but she don't take care of her hair and she has alopecia. I get so discouraged sometimes and wonder if I am wasting my time with these growth aids and techniques, some of the methods has help fill in bald spots that were pulled out from braids but it does not get full edges like some people. My stylist told me she thinks my edges won't get any thicker because my issue is hereditary my siggy shows my edges

 

[ceebee3]

I never really paid attention to my edges before I got here. I started stressing about it and I thought my edges were thinning from the relaxer. So I went through some old pics from when I was natural and my edges are exactly the same as they are now that I’m relaxed.

I finally realized that I’ve always had thin edges, which shouldn’t have been a surprise to me because I’ve never really had thick hair.

 

[Lyoness]

I've always had thin temples.. looking back at childhood photo's confirmed this for me.. what used to grind my gears is when I was younger my mum's friends and my family used to comment by saying dont put her hair back tight etc.. styling had nothing to do with it( the temples wernt even long enough to style).. people just didn't get it.. even though it's genetic I decided to stop using chemicals as they had to be contributing to the thinness.. I still wish and hope for thicker temples but I'm not hung up on it..

 

[*fabulosity*]

I never really paid attention to my edges before I got here. I started stressing about it and I thought my edges were thinning from the relaxer. So I went through some old pics from when I was natural and my edges are exactly the same as they are now that I’m relaxed.

I finally realized that I’ve always had thin edges, which shouldn’t have been a surprise to me because I’ve never really had thick hair.

Oh my gosh this is so me... I think LHCF gives people a lot of complexes about things that they have dealt with forever..lol. I asked my mom whose edges are full..and she goes WTH are you talking about... get off that innanetz... "Ain't nothing wrong with your edges..."

I'm still gonna be using my growth aids... From what I've read here...sulfur based products grow the edges well..but.I.cant.take.the.smell. I've had all of them Bee Mine, Lenzi's, SSI Temple Balm... Bountiful tresses... all up on the Xchange board because I HATE the smell of sulfur. I'm going to continue to keep them moisturized and see what they do... but my hairline has been exactly the same. People here say that ponytails do this to you too.. So if I got it from genetics and wore my hair back in a ponytail for as long as I did... its gonna be an uphill battle.

I'll keep you all posted.

 

[nomoweavesfome]

shoot -I'm jelly of those who have naturally have slicky type edges. why I gotta have peasy up edges? It's my dad's fault!

 

[C@ssandr@]

Hmmm....I have thick full edges and i'm relaxed. So does my mom. I guess gentics is a big deal. Even though my hair is thick and course my nape is peasy peas. I've been babying them for months...making progress though.

 

[ThickHair]

I never noticed edges until I joined this site. I though everyone had edges like mine but I started receiving comments on my thick edges around 2000 and it was usually from people who abused their hair with heat, chemicals and glue from weave.

I remember a temp came to our office and she said that she wished she had a nice thick hairline like mine. All I could think of to say was "Thank You". She had yaki glued in her hair and "baby hair" that would make Chili and Michael Jackson jealous.

Now I see plenty of woman with hairlines that start behind their ears. It is a shame because it just use to be old ladies now they are younger and younger. Most teens are just destroying their hairlines and it is a vicious cycle.

 

[Britt]

My edges have thickened up since I went natural. I think when you have fine hair to begin with, they just cannot take the chemicals from the relaxer. JMO

Yeah, I think this is it. My mom has very fine hair and I don't ever remember seeing her w/ full edges. Me, I've never had a problem w/ my edges. Mine are full as a bush