I don't care about length anymore ...

[rawsilk]

I don't care about length anymore ... I just want my hair to be thick(er)

Anyone else out there like me? I am in a bunch of challenges and actually achieving a lot of length/growth but without fullness, who cares? Really. So, if this is also your concern, please share what has worked for you and what has not. (Also, if you just want to commensurate, vent, rant ... you can do that too.) I am noticing a lot of improvement but it takes soooooooooo long for hair that is thin to become noticeably thicker. I am grateful for "baby hairs" that are filling in my previously abused hairline and the fact that I have finally been able to stop shedding but I won't be doing happy-happy dance until, e.g., the diameter of my pony tail doubles in size.

Most frustrating? Looking for a way to consistently boost natural sebum production which, IMO, is the key to retaining, growing and hence increasing, fullness of hair.

What has worked for me:

Sweet Almond Oil Carrier with Tea Tree, Sweet Basil, Cinnamon Rosemary essential oils.

Egg yolk wash/mix whenever I wash hair.

Protein - in whatever form (yogurt, Emergencee, Hena, etc.)

Lots of water.

Alter Ego - Cren -- just started this but so far, I likey.

Roller setting - my flat iron has a nice layer of dust on it.

Florvinex (sp) - liquid iron and B supplement.

Bamboo Silica

Biotin Scalp Cream - great when I wore weaves but it is "white" so (regrettably) I didn't use it around hairline

Nioxin products -- the forumla "5" product line

Phytocyane - seems to make hair grow in softer versus Nioxin Follicle Booster which can make hair kind of hard (and hence, in need of texlax/texturizing chemicals).

Furctis Biotin Fall Fight -- loved it but it's discontinued; how could they do this to me?

No more weaves -- hair grew in length but so not worth it in terms of the change to scalp, texture, thickness.

Garlic pills -- stops fall/shedding on a dime

Ghee butter pre-poos

Reishi - makes hair grow in softer so less need for texturizing/texlaxing

Sleep! - the more I sleep, the better my hair looks - instantly, like the next morning.

What I'm not so sure about:

MSM and Biotin - makes me sick

Monistat - headaches

Sulfur Powder - dries out my hair

BJCO - I don't know if this does anything for me; I may even like the regular CO better

WGO and Surge - changes my texture and itches

Nioxin Follicle booster - great for seeing fast results initially but eventually makes hair dry and stops working IMO

Moisture based products - my hair, even the fine/new hair, seems to love protein

Ovation/Mega-tek -- I know they say stay with it but when I saw that initial shedding, I literally almost fainted. I couldn't do it.

 

[naija24]

I never really cared about length. I'd like to grow out my hair a bit longer for my bf but other than that? It's not an issue for me. Things I'm not concerned about is avoiding thinning ends and/or edges, curbing breakage, etc.

The only time I feel kind of bad about length is when there is a new OMG LENGTH CHECK thread lol.

As long as I can make a decent ponytail whatever. My fav hairstyle is a pixie cut anyway.

 

[bebezazueta]

I never really cared about length. I'd like to grow out my hair a bit longer for my bf but other than that? It's not an issue for me. Things I'm not concerned about is avoiding thinning ends and/or edges, curbing breakage, etc. The only time I feel kind of bad about length is when there is a new OMG LENGTH CHECK thread lol. As long as I can make a decent ponytail whatever. My fav hairstyle is a pixie cut anyway.

If you want a pixie cut, GO FOR IT! Do you. boyfriends come and go but you have to live with your hair and self image forever.

Now on topic, I'm health before length now. I used to be all about making WL. But when I saw thin ends at MBL in 2011, I kept cutting back to BSL up until last year. Now I'm transitioning and guess what. I made WL by focusing on health and thickness. I'm going to maintain WL transitioning and do mini chops along the way.

 

[charmtreese]

I care about length, but I also care about maximizing thickness on my fine hair as well as keeping it healthy. For me I want all three (length, thickness, and health) equally. I try not to go off course by over obsessing on one too much. Therefore, I just obsess over my hair in general!

 

[KPH]

I attempted to transition a few times and it didn't work so what I started doing was when relaxer time came along I didn't do the crown area of my head. I now relax that area twice a year and the other are 3 times a year and my head looks MUCHO BETTER. That's after Dark and Lovely color nearly had me BALD. Now I'm 1 1/2 inches away from BSL...finally.

 

[bronzephoenix]

I feel this way sometimes! Recently I've been feeling tempted by silky SL hair. But when I remind myself of my hair goals, I can't bring myself to cut. I went through a horrible period of stress-related shedding a few months back & my thickness has suffered. I've always been so dramatic with my hair decisions in the past... All or nothing. But I know I don't want to chop again. So I'm convinced that my patience will eventually pay off in terms of health, thickness, and last but certainly NOT least, length

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[rawsilk]

That is awesome!

If you want a pixie cut, GO FOR IT! Do you. boyfriends come and go but you have to live with your hair and self image forever.

Now on topic, I'm health before length now. I used to be all about making WL. But when I saw thin ends at MBL in 2011, I kept cutting back to BSL up until last year. Now I'm transitioning and guess what. I made WL by focusing on health and thickness. I'm going to maintain WL transitioning and do mini chops along the way.

 

[rawsilk]

bronzephoenix What did you do to counteract the stress related shedding - just relax? Smile -- not a rhetorical question at all, do tell.

I feel this way sometimes! Recently I've been feeling tempted by silky SL hair. But when I remind myself of my hair goals, I can't bring myself to cut. I went through a horrible period of stress-related shedding a few months back & my thickness has suffered. I've always been so dramatic with my hair decisions in the past... All or nothing. But I know I don't want to chop again. So I'm convinced that my patience will eventually pay off in terms of health, thickness, and last but certainly NOT least, length

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[rawsilk]

You know, I read things like this and feel encouraged. Everyone knows what's best for their hair and by following intuition, it IS possible to come back from a set back.

I attempted to transition a few times and it didn't work so what I started doing was when relaxer time came along I didn't do the crown area of my head. I now relax that area twice a year and the other are 3 times a year and my head looks MUCHO BETTER. That's after Dark and Lovely color nearly had me BALD. Now I'm 1 1/2 inches away from BSL...finally.

 

[rawsilk]

My thing is I AM SO SICK OF WEARING MY HAIR BACK. When I say I am going to wear it out, because of puny looking ends, I find myself having to back away from the clip-ins -- my "gateway" to the weaves that ----ed my hair up in the first place!

 

[DarkJoy]

Due to genetics of very fine and whispy, low density hair on my dad's side of the fam, I will never have that thick luscious hair that folks oooh and aaah over here on LHCF. All I can hope for is to maximize what I have.

So far, indigo has been the ONLY thing that has given my strands fatness for any amount of time (a couple weeks). Other products to increase strand thickness wear off at the next wash.

At this point, I'll stop worrying about length once the crown is full SL (which I been trying for for 1.5 years--fine hair is a b---h). Actually, I'm not even going to worry a whole lot about density anymore either since, for me, its a genetic predisposition and I got what I got. The end.

 

[Ravenhairedbeauty]

I don't care about length either. I'm transitioning and I just want the full natural hair of my past.

 

[rawsilk]

I think that for the most part, you just say okay God didn't deal me the greatest hand because e.g., I have big feet or so-so skin -- whatever. But ish -- my hair was my thing! When I gained/lost too much weight, forehead broke out, didn't have anything I wanted to wear, I knew that my hair would always look great. So I'm like - uh-uh. I am so freakin' committed to this. I am going to have a curtain of hair (short or otherwise) if its the last thing I do.

My updates/thoughts for the day: I have been taking Bamboo tea for a couple of weeks now -- I think it's time to try the actual capsules and see how that goes. This AM when I ran my hands through my pony-tail, barely any hair shed; that felt like a victory. Haven't decided if I am going to touch-up my texlax or not -- that's why I want to amp up the Bamboo and see if I can get the texture to grow in even smoother.

 

[PeaceFlow]

My hair is either thin, or on the thin side of normal and I have felt a bit disappointed occasionally when I see those big juicy twists on youtube. I'm not entirely sure how bad the situation is because I haven't tried to style it yet. Also I don't feel I've ever made a concentrated effort to be gentler/lose less hair on wash day so it probably has a bit more potential.

If its pitiful straight and longer then I'll just keep going until my twist outs reach SL +. I look like I have a lot more hair with those kinda styles

I find that the hot comb leaves much more body in peoples hair than flat ironing so I will learn to use that at the end of the year for straight styles.

 

[bronzephoenix]

bronzephoenix What did you do to counteract the stress related shedding - just relax? Smile -- not a rhetorical question at all, do tell.

I'm sorry for the late reply, I can't see mentions from my phone :/
Among forcing myself to relax, I also tried black tea rinsing & homemade garlic oil (I wish I would've done garlic capsules- that smell stayed trapped in my hair for MONTHS!). Nothing I tried stopped it immediately. I would suggest protective styling right away when one notices excessive shedding, because daily manipulation only made it worse. Knowing what i know now, I would also recommend a protein treatment. HTH!

 

[Forever in Bloom]

I do care about my length, but I definitely don't care about holding on to raggedy ends. After 6 years, I've finally accepted and now like getting my hair cut

I definitely plan on trimming every 8-12 weeks. My hair is fine and is gonna split no matter what I do, but somehow it always looks frickin' awesome and healthy when I get a flat iron and trim.

 

[AmiJay]

If I could just get my hair to thicken up, I'd keep it the length it is. I'm hoping that as my bone straight ends grow out and my texlaxed hair grows, my hair will finally get the thickness I want. If not, I'm going to have to go natchal.
My hair is fine and I've always cut it because I felt like as it grew out it got thinner. People don't like Ateyaa but I stan for the thickness of her hair. If my hair was as thick as hers, I'd wear a bob for the rest of my life.