Ladies with DENSE hair but THIN strands

[ebonylocs]

I would love to find out what methods, products, etc work best for you.

For me, it seems like what works for one characteristic of my hair doesn't work for the other,

e.g.

My thin, *fragile* strands are best protected by low-manipulation, including infrequent combing. However, when I do this, because my hair is so dense, the tangles are a nightmare.

My thin fragile strands get thinner and more fragile when processed straight - splits and bendy bits all over the place, and the individual strands just look wrecked and unhealthy (although from a distance my hair looks thick and healthy enough). However because my hair is so dense, if it's texlaxed or natural, tangles are a nightmare, and detangling can take half a day.

My dense porous hair needs a lot of moisture, but if I pile it on, my thin strands get coated, stiff and brittle (especially when relaxed).

So do any of you have these problems? And in general, what works best for you in terms of deep conditioning, moisturising, protein treatments, frequency of styling, etc.

 

[JustKiya]

Dense with fine strands here!

It's one of the main reasons I went natural, actually, as I looked like a wet cat with relaxed hair - just nasty.

I maintain my hair during the week by always keeping it stretched - wearing my hair loose/out/curly invites an insane amount of tangles, and combing it daily to avoid the tangles would be far too much manipulation on my strands.

Some might feel that it's too limiting, but - I honestly don't see that. Once my hair is long enough, and I'm not using MT anymore, I should be able to airdry my hair stretched (since it's so fine) and as long as I braid/twist it up at night, and don't get it wet, I should be able to get through most of the week without having to actually recomb my hair. I hope. And, I'll have the benefits of 'tangle-free' hair without using heat/chemicals.

I DC twice a week, with strictly moisturizing products. My hair is very protein sensitive, so the only protein type products I use are henna (once every 3 months or so) and MT (on my scalp, only). The henna does double duty by making my strands a little thicker and a little stronger and heavier.

It's taken me about a year to really get my hair moisturized and to keep it moisturized. Right now, my twice a week DC's and sealing with castor oil, and using a moisturizing leave-in once a week when I do my twists are the only moisturizing products I use.

I style/comb/detangle once a week.

 

[LivingDoll]

I have dense fine hair but it isn't fragile. I don't really suffer tangles or at least nothing that conditioner can't handle....but I'm not natural either. I'm texlaxed (I HATE saying that) my hair is a HAM when its relaxed bone straight. Luckily I don't have to battle against one or the other.

Like you, my hair needs lots of moisture. Mine also gets weighed down easily. Bunning has helped me tremendously because it allows me to add all the moisture I need without the worry of weighing my hair down. I do shed quite easily though.

 

[ebonylocs]

Thanks for the responses ladies. I wasn't sure how many people would respond to this because it's such a niche question.

JustKiya, I'm thinking of going back to natural, and if I do, I might have to keep my hair stretched to avoid the tangles, maybe even use heat occasionally (with lots of heat protectant). That would be against my normal habits because I like moist natural hair, and hate using heat (plus I don't think it agrees with my hair)

Daephae, for some reason buns seem to mess up my ends. More of them seem bent / broken / crispy when I take a bun down.

 

[JustKiya]

Thanks for the responses ladies. I wasn't sure how many people would respond to this because it's such a niche question.

JustKiya, I'm thinking of going back to natural, and if I do, I might have to keep my hair stretched to avoid the tangles, maybe even use heat occasionally (with lots of heat protectant). That would be against my normal habits because I like moist natural hair, and hate using heat (plus I don't think it agrees with my hair)

Daephae, for some reason buns seem to mess up my ends. More of them seem bent / broken / crispy when I take a bun down.

It's interesting, because my hair is so fine, air drying it in tight braids takes it about 70% straight. I mean, it's clear that no heat has been applied to it, but I swear, a hot breath on it would make it straight.

But yeah, the liking it moist would be - interesting. I've found that my hair either needs to be wet and loose, or dry and loose. Drying and loose = tangles of an unholy amount. I'd have to walk around danggone near jheri curl juicy to keep my hair suitably wet & loose, though.

 

[kbragg]

Oh my gosh this is my! JustKiya, what products do you use and how do you keep your hair stretched?

 

[FluffyRed]

Thanks for the responses ladies. I wasn't sure how many people would respond to this because it's such a niche question.

JustKiya, I'm thinking of going back to natural, and if I do, I might have to keep my hair stretched to avoid the tangles, maybe even use heat occasionally (with lots of heat protectant). That would be against my normal habits because I like moist natural hair, and hate using heat (plus I don't think it agrees with my hair)

Daephae, for some reason buns seem to mess up my ends. More of them seem bent / broken / crispy when I take a bun down.

We need to be frienz!! I cannot maintain healthy hair with a bun either! No one else understands!

Have you ever tried braiding your dry hair before you cowash? Even though my hair is only just below chin length, (that's 8 inches on the crown) this has helped me do Low mani.

Then I rinse with the showerhead and let the braids fall out. (no extra detangling necessary)

I use the scarf method (if necessary) to dry.

I take my spray bottle and do a low mani "set" on dry hair. It's more of a mist set. I don't want tight curls, because I don't want to have to comb. I don't part at the roots. Here's what I do.

1- Just grab some hair, where I want a soft curl
2- mist it lightly with the spraybottle mix, don't saturate it. It should feel like when you are outside in the fog
3- roll it and let it airdry

I hope this helps you! Let me know. My future hair will thank you.

 

[JustKiya]

Oh my gosh this is my! JustKiya, what products do you use and how do you keep your hair stretched?

I'm not big on products, really. My 'leave-in' is a mix of butters (shea, cocoa, red palm oil.....) and my favorites conditioners (Elasta QP IFC and Eqyss Premier Cream Rinse), and some SAA and honeyquat and castor oil, and vitamin E oil, and most likely some other raw ingredients I had laying around. It's wonderful for my hair though - it's the only thing I've found (plus sealing with castor oil) that actually keeps my hair lush for a week.

The only consistent thing about my products - I don't use any cones, and I strongly avoid anything with petroleum products in it. I've broken that 'personal' rule a couple of times (like for Ojon) and my hair has - well, she hasn't like it, at all.

Right now, my hair still isn't long enough everywhere for a bun - well, no, I take that back. It's long enough, but my bun would be anorexic. If I took the time to find a phony puff/bun that would match my hair, I could be bunning it to keep it stretched, which would be a heck of a lot easier.
What I'm doing instead, is putting it into two strand twists, and then bunning/twisting them up in three sections. It looks cute, and it keeps my hair stretched. As my hair gets longer, and I can make a loose bun (or get all of my twists into a nice bun) I'll stick to my current wash day routine, but I'll make bigger and bigger twists, and bun them up.

Mind you, I love buns, which makes this whole 'always stretched' thang so. much. easier.

As far as my wash day process..... I take my hair down from the twists, and fingercomb/play in it for a lil while. Then, I put my DCowash on dry hair, and fingercomb it again, to pull out all of sheds I can. At this point, my hair is still 'acting' stretched - but it's starting to shrink up a bit. I then pull all of my hair into my anorexic bun, cover, and let the DC sit/steam my hair/go to bed/whatever I'm doing that weekend.

When it comes time to detangle (before I rinse out the con), I separate my hair into 3-6 sections, dentangle each with my wide tooth/medium tooth/Denman, and then put them into fat twists. At this point, my hair is doing all it can to shrink, shrink, shrink, and if I move too slow, it will retangle, instantly. This is about the only time I really have to 'fight' my shrinkage.

I then get in the shower, take one section down, rinse well while using my denman, put it back in the fat twist - I'm fighting shrinkage here too - majorly. It's kinda funny, feeling my hair shrink, shrink, shrink in my hands. Repeat for all my sections.

Get out the shower, and I don't. touch. my. hair. at all until it's almost dry. Then, I take each section down, comb through it (because you better believe it shrunk up/tangled some, even in those twists), put some castor oil in my palm, and rub it through that section. Then I braid it up, and leave it to finish drying, usually overnight.

Once all that is done, my hair is stretched until the next time I get it wet while loose. If my hair is in twists, and I get it wet, it will shrink up a little, but not nearly as much.

Sheesh, that felt like a book, but it's - it's honestly not all that complicated for me. If you don't count the time where stuff is just sitting in my hair, I'd say the whole process takes me about 45 minutes - which, considering I only do this once a week, isn't really all that bad.

Honestly, I don't think it's the products - I've just figured out what my hair likes, and I use it repeatedly, mixed in various proportions. I think it's more the process - and it's taken me about a year and a half of hair journeying before I came up with this balance that works perfectly for my hair and my lifestlye and my personal style. I don't know if it'll work as well for anyone else - but I hope that helps, some.

 

[PinkPebbles]

Dense hair with fine strands...Checking in!

I have to use products that has a balance of moisture and protein. Joico Intense Hydrator works well on my strands! I also use Kenra Silk Protein once or twice a month. I cannot use proteins that makes my hair hard, that's why silk works in my favor.

The key for me is to use quality salon conditioners and stay away from heavy daily hair products. My hair is real picky about hair oils....I can only use two types of natural oils. Finally, I cannot use direct heat on a regular basis; it severely dries my hair out, and causes me to have thin ends.

Now that I have a solid regemin that works for my hair type I see a big difference in my strands. My strands are fine by genetics but they are healthy!

 

[Eisani]

We need to be frienz!! I cannot maintain healthy hair with a bun either! No one else understands!

Have you ever tried braiding your dry hair before you cowash? Even though my hair is only just below chin length, (that's 8 inches on the crown) this has helped me do Low mani.

Then I rinse with the showerhead and let the braids fall out. (no extra detangling necessary)

I use the scarf method (if necessary) to dry.

I take my spray bottle and do a low mani "set" on dry hair. It's more of a mist set. I don't want tight curls, because I don't want to have to comb. I don't part at the roots. Here's what I do.

1- Just grab some hair, where I want a soft curl
2- mist it lightly with the spraybottle mix, don't saturate it. It should feel like when you are outside in the fog
3- roll it and let it airdry

I hope this helps you! Let me know. My future hair will thank you.

YES to the bolded . Another fine/dense checking in. I'm transitioning from texlaxed to natural and if I don't use the method above to cowash/wash/condition, I'd be in soooo much trouble. I'm tenderheaded too so I really don't like to fool w/tangles.

Dense hair with fine strands...Checking in!

I have to use products that has a balance of moisture and protein. Joico Intense Hydrator works well on my strands! I also use Kenra Silk Protein once or twice a month. I cannot use proteins that makes my hair hard, that's why silk works in my favor.

The key for me is to use quality salon conditioners and stay away from heavy daily hair products. My hair is real picky about hair oils....I can only use two types of natural oils. Finally, I cannot use direct heat on a regular basis; it severely dries my hair out, and causes me to have thin ends.

Now that I have a solid regemin that works for my hair type I see a big difference in my strands. My strands are fine by genetics but they are healthy!

I love Joico K-Pak Reconstruct Daily Conditioner mixed w/Mill Creek Jojoba conditioner for that mix. I also don't know where I'd be w/o Toque Emergencia. I too have to lean very heavily on the side of moisture and use light proteins/protein blends only every so often. I'm going to have to check out the Joico Intense Hydrator because they discontinued the Reconstruct Daily Conditioner.

I'm a JBCO/jojoba oil queen. I use other stuff cuz I'm a PJ, but these are my tried and true, trusty dusties. When I bun, I only wet/damp bun and I load the ponytail w/mosturizer then seal w/lots of JBCO and brush thru w/my Denman before braiding and pinning. If I do a tuck bun, I carefully roll my ends w/my two index fingers, add a bit more oil to them, then pin w/Good Hair Days pins. My ends never look chewed and my ponytail is nice whenever I decide to wear one.

 

[ebonylocs]

I have to use products that has a balance of moisture and protein. Joico Intense Hydrator works well on my strands! I also use Kenra Silk Protein once or twice a month. I cannot use proteins that makes my hair hard, that's why silk works in my favor.

I love Joico K-Pak Reconstruct Daily Conditioner mixed w/Mill Creek Jojoba conditioner for that mix. I also don't know where I'd be w/o Toque Emergencia. I too have to lean very heavily on the side of moisture and use light proteins/protein blends only every so often.

Yes, the instinct I've had is to strengthen my strands by doing protein treatments, but then my hair gets crispy easily. I should try the Joico products, I keep hearing good things about them. Don't know if I can find them in the UK though. Silk protein sounds like a good idea too. My trusty Aphogee 2 minute has done the job in keeping my hair from breaking off over the past couple of years, but it often leaves me with stiff hair.

Choppybob, I will (re)try washing with my hair in braids. Funny, I use a similar method to the dry-rolling method you describe to do braidouts mid-week when I don't want to have to comb. I wil try it with rollers as well.

 

[FluffyRed]

Choppybob, I will (re)try washing with my hair in braids. Funny, I use a similar method to the dry-rolling method you describe to do braidouts mid-week when I don't want to have to comb. I wil try it with rollers as well.

Cool! I have done it with perm rods, but not magnetic rollers.

Good luck

 

[naijanikki]

Great info! I'm fine strands, medium density and as my hair gets longer (currently neck length from ear length), I'm trying to find what will work even better for me cause the tangles can be a mess.
I relax and I go pretty straight cause if I don't and end up texlaxed, the tangles and shedding are out of control!! I know that most ladies don't do that and go for texlaxing for more fullness, but for me, that's harder to maintain and I lose more hair that way.erplexed
Rollersets work well for me cause they are low mani. I use magnetic rollers, then pincurl at night and it lasts 3-4 days, but I wash 2x a week. When I don't rollerset, I finally have enough to pull it back and clip it up. And I have a wig.
When you bun do you add extra oil to the ends to avoid them drying out?

 

[gymfreak336]

Dense hair with fine strands...Checking in!

I have to use products that has a balance of moisture and protein. Joico Intense Hydrator works well on my strands! I also use Kenra Silk Protein once or twice a month. I cannot use proteins that makes my hair hard, that's why silk works in my favor.

The key for me is to use quality salon conditioners and stay away from heavy daily hair products. My hair is real picky about hair oils....I can only use two types of natural oils. Finally, I cannot use direct heat on a regular basis; it severely dries my hair out, and causes me to have thin ends.

Now that I have a solid regemin that works for my hair type I see a big difference in my strands. My strands are fine by genetics but they are healthy!

DITTO DITTO. Pinkpebbles, you are one of my long lost hair cousins

This is me. My hair can't not have protein. I have to give a little bit constantly. My hair doesn't like alot of oil espeically when I am leaving it in for more than 2 days without a wash.

When it comes to products, I don't like too many things with alot of mineral oil in them. My hair likes silk protein and soy protein like Paul Mitchell Supercharged and Giovanni products. Of course I like joico and kenra. I also have to use a mild relaxer. I can't use regular unless I want to maintain a certain length and style. When I am in the growing phases I have to use mild. I process the full time and I always do a mid protein step.

 

[PinkPebbles]

DITTO DITTO. Pinkpebbles, you are one of my long lost hair cousins

.

Yes, our hair is very much alike!

 

[PinkPebbles]

Great info! I'm fine strands, medium density and as my hair gets longer (currently neck length from ear length), I'm trying to find what will work even better for me cause the tangles can be a mess.
I relax and I go pretty straight cause if I don't and end up texlaxed, the tangles and shedding are out of control!! I know that most ladies don't do that and go for texlaxing for more fullness, but for me, that's harder to maintain and I lose more hair that way.erplexed
Rollersets work well for me cause they are low mani. I use magnetic rollers, then pincurl at night and it lasts 3-4 days, but I wash 2x a week. When I don't rollerset, I finally have enough to pull it back and clip it up. And I have a wig.
When you bun do you add extra oil to the ends to avoid them drying out?

You are my hair cousin too!

I'm not a fan of buns because it doesn't do anything for my hair. I rock a cute Rhianna short wig for my protective style! But I would suggest you use extra oil (natural oil) that nourishes the ends. I've found out that a lot of oils just coat the hair but doesn't nourish the ends. I use vitamin e oil from GNC on my ends twice a week at night. Since it's cold now I also dab some Neutrogena Triple Moisture on the ends as well.

 

[LivingDoll]

Thanks for the responses ladies. I wasn't sure how many people would respond to this because it's such a niche question.

JustKiya, I'm thinking of going back to natural, and if I do, I might have to keep my hair stretched to avoid the tangles, maybe even use heat occasionally (with lots of heat protectant). That would be against my normal habits because I like moist natural hair, and hate using heat (plus I don't think it agrees with my hair)

Daephae, for some reason buns seem to mess up my ends. More of them seem bent / broken / crispy when I take a bun down.

Mine would be crispy too. I phony bun/pony and baggy underneath. Just wrapping saran wrap around my moisturized/sealed ends. It helps tremendously.

 

[LivingDoll]

DITTO DITTO. Pinkpebbles, you are one of my long lost hair cousins

This is me. My hair can't not have protein. I have to give a little bit constantly. My hair doesn't like alot of oil espeically when I am leaving it in for more than 2 days without a wash.

When it comes to products, I don't like too many things with alot of mineral oil in them. My hair likes silk protein and soy protein like Paul Mitchell Supercharged and Giovanni products. Of course I like joico and kenra. I also have to use a mild relaxer. I can't use regular unless I want to maintain a certain length and style. When I am in the growing phases I have to use mild. I process the full time and I always do a mid protein step.

Me too @ the bolded.

 

[HeChangedMyName]

I would love to find out what methods, products, etc work best for you.

For me, it seems like what works for one characteristic of my hair doesn't work for the other,

e.g.

My thin, *fragile* strands are best protected by low-manipulation, including infrequent combing. However, when I do this, because my hair is so dense, the tangles are a nightmare.

My thin fragile strands get thinner and more fragile when processed straight - splits and bendy bits all over the place, and the individual strands just look wrecked and unhealthy (although from a distance my hair looks thick and healthy enough). However because my hair is so dense, if it's texlaxed or natural, tangles are a nightmare, and detangling can take half a day.

My dense porous hair needs a lot of moisture, but if I pile it on, my thin strands get coated, stiff and brittle (especially when relaxed).

So do any of you have these problems? And in general, what works best for you in terms of deep conditioning, moisturising, protein treatments, frequency of styling, etc.

you just described my hair to a T. I thought I had some weird hair, especially those bendy parts all over and how a single strand looks horrible. I recently did a henna treatment and it has helped tremendously. my thin strands appear fat now and my hair isn't as flat as it use to be. It also seems to have smoothed the textured out(I am relaxed, but those bendy twisty things are fewer)

I use cantu shea butter leave in and coconut oil. those are my staple and I use them for everything. For washing I've just started using tresemme moisture something, and also GVP Humectress. My condish is GVP k-pak reconstructor, and my leave in is aphogee pro-vit and vidal sassoon color secur. That's it.

 

[PaperClip]

FINALLYYYY SOMEBODY UNDERSTANDS MY HAIR!!!!!!!

What you all describe pretty much describes my hair. It gets fragile when I don't do what I'm supposed to do...mainly taking care of the ends.... lately detangling has been scary...it seems that a lot of hair is coming out.... I was doing weekly proteeins...then it went to a couple of times a month.... maybe I should go back to weekly....

The reason I say my hair isn't fragile because it can take A LOT of heat...like an old-school press.... my hair can handle it.... it was the chemicals that thinned it out even more....

It's been 2+ years on this board and I have yet to get a final answer on why it takes my hair SOOOOOO LONG to dry....

My hair loves conditioner... a lot of it... the "good" kinds!

Thank you for posting this question and to all who respond for your insights to help me!

 

[Duchesse]

I wish I had suggestions, but I'm def dense hair with thin strands. People always tell me how thick my hair is when it's out, but let me pull it back in a bun or braid it, and those strands compress so tightly it's like I have no hair. Some of my strands are sooo thin, they seem almost translucent, and I can't comb often my hair breaks so easily.

Buns don't work for me, my ends become way crunchified, so I make sure I braid/twist teh ends, then tuck them under some hair.

I was natural, now I'm texlaxed and my ends get so tangly. Castor oil seems to work well with me, coconut oil not so much anymore.

I have to be super carefull with protein, my thin strands can't really handle it, yet moisturizers never seem to penetrate my hair. Just venting!

 

[FluffyRed]

I will def try the braiding ends before making a bun ( when I get to that stage (a year from now?))

 

[*Muffin*]

I think I belong to this group. I have a lot of hair on my head, but my actual strands seem fine and can be quite fragile. My hair loves protein treatments, and I try to alternate between moisturizing and protein DC's weekly. Some products I love are:

Jojoba Oil
Coconut Oil
Shea Butter (for my ends)
Giovanni Shampoos/Conditioners
Aubrey Organics Conditioners (for DC'ing)
Distilled Water (my hair doesn't like hard water )

Overall my hair doesn't like to be manipulated a lot and loves to be moisturized. If it's not moisturized at least every other day then it gets super dry. On the plus side though my hair doesn't get matted or tangly. It's detangled easily with conditioner in the shower.

 

[Casarela]

thin strands and dense hair = MOI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is so me.

when my hair is straight its looks not soo full but when natural and loose looks huge however when I bun you would never think I have that much of hair.

 

[Duff]

dense fine checking in. great thread. you guys are all describing my hair. I could quote you all. I find that for my hair needs to be washed a min of twice a week. no products too heavy and I must have products that detangle but dries like there is nothing on my hair. I'm relearning my hair all over since I'm now texlaxed. I just bun bun bun.

 

[FluffyRed]

dense fine checking in. great thread. you guys are all describing my hair. I could quote you all. I find that for my hair needs to be washed a min of twice a week. no products too heavy and I must have products that detangle but dries like there is nothing on my hair. I'm relearning my hair all over since I'm now texlaxed. I just bun bun bun.

Same here. The best "protection" for my hair is to have NOTHING rubbing against it (hair pins, bands, etc) and no grease.

Also, the best moisture is to cowash every three days.

I use mild protein at every step (cowash and rollerset).

Almost never shampoo - just baking soda and water. (scalp gets gunky eventually, but I'm not trying to grow scalp! jk. I use shampoo at the scalp when it gets gunky)

If I ever use pure moisture, I"m set up for breakage.

 

[ebonylocs]

Just revisiting this thread.

People always tell me how thick my hair is when it's out, but let me pull it back in a bun or braid it, and those strands compress so tightly it's like I have no hair.

Once when I was natural, (my hair was much shorter then too) a white friend braided my hair into little plaits. And she said, "I'm always surprised by how small it gets." I told her, "When you see the bigness, it's not hair, it's air."

no products too heavy and I must have products that detangle but dries like there is nothing on my hair.

Yep. I've learned that time and time again. So many times I put on some product and it's ok when wet, helps with detangling, etc. But then, when it dries, it's like a hard shell on each strand.

So I tried silk protein, in the form of a powder added to my leave-in. That was successful, made my hair feel moist, yet slightly stronger. (I then made the mistake of thinking that if a little was good, more would be better, which resulted in caked up, dried out hair. So I will be using this sparingly).

I've also ordered some Joico conditioners.

Am contemplating whether to do a henna. When I did it in the past, it did get my strands stronger and thicker, but I hate the messy process. I wonder if (based on that thread on the recipe board) Irish moss would work as well (if I can find that.)

 

[Amelia456]

OMG, I thought I was that only one. I'm natural so I do low manipulation styles in an effort to keep my hair from breaking.

 

[IndianAngel22]

Wow this is what I've been trying to find, people with hair like mine. I just made a thread called "What to do about weightless hair?" I guess this is EXACTLY what it is. Dense with thin strands. Wow this really helps a lot I thought I was like the only one on here with this problem

 

[ebonylocs]

What's working for me now:

Weekly:
*Let caffeinated oil soak into my scalp for a couple of hours once a week before washing my hair. Has way reduced my shedding, and so has reduced my tangling by a lot.

*coconut oil hot oil treatment on my hair before weekly wash - has made my hair smoother and more manageable. (i use refined because its ok and unrefined is too expensive to just wash off).

* weekly dc with joico k pak reconstructor + moisturising conditioner (using Keracare for now)

* joico k pak reconstructor split ends leave-in on my wet hair (focusing on ends) after rinsing out dc.

* after a while detangle my hair *thoroughly* while still damp but not soaking wet. I only do one (or two) comb-throughs per week so I make sure to do it properly to lessen tangle problems.

*braid my slightly damp hair into 6 plaits for a braidout.

Daily or every other day:
*at night oil my scalp with my castor oil mix - also seems to aid with keeping tangles at bay. Lightly finger comb my hair during the process.

* in morning very lightly use unrefined coconut oil as a hairdress for shine & lubrication

*wear a light shower cap under my scarf at night, for more moisture retention.

My hair is happier and more manageable than it has been in a long while.