Thicker Fuller Hair Challenge 2013

[Napp]

that sounds great! I wonder if there any other oils for thickening other than castor oil? I may have to do some research...

 

[EnExitStageLeft]

Joining ya..... Oil shopping is always fun.

 

[Trixie58]

Thinking of cutting like 2 inches off to shoulder length. I am noticing more breakage rearing rom dominican blowouts and lack of protein. This has happened before and my hair came back when i cut it and stop doing dominican blowouts. I did trim a little last week but there's still so much breakage I want to cut and start over. When my hair is curly it looks fine but when its straight its gross. Any thoughts on growing breakage out? I'm wondering if it just looks especially thin today bc I blowdried it.

 

[Hyacinthe]

I would like to join this challenge.

I will post my Reggie and other requirements tomorrow

sent from IPad using LHCF app. POW!

 

[yardyspice]

Hey ladies I'm not joining the challenge, just dropped in to share some tips. My hair has always been kind of thick, but I read something about adding gelatin powder to condish for stronger hair and I started to do that. Not only did my hair become stronger(sometimes it cuts my fingers), but thicker as well. I add the gelatin to my cowash conditioner and I use it 4-6 times a week. I add about 2 teaspoons of gelatin powder to 500ml of condish and it works! I've been doing this for over 6 months now and I'm natural. I hope this helps someone.

 

[Trixie58]

Ok fam the verdict is I don't chop it, the ends look good and the breakage is restricted to my nape and crown and my hair doesn't look bad (yet), so I don't kno that cutting it all makes sense. To fill in the breakage though, I'm getting a full sew-in for three months. Baby the braids with moisture. Take vitamins. And basically stop watching the pot. I think the key is I have to make sure my weak spots (crown, nape) are braided and not left out. Going to fly to dallas to go to my old stylist who could do weaves that thicken my hair. Stylists in ny I have been to actually have damaged my hair with weaves. Thghts appreciated. Xo

 

[sharifeh]

i bought garlic pills and im using komaza vitamin reign here's the description for the vitamin reign

A powerful daily topical hair supplement! New and Improved!

This spray acts as a daily supplement for your hair. With antioxidants to give hair excellent protection, keeping it youthful and vibrant. This product is a must have for aging hair as it has the ability to repair and restore the hair cuticles.

It also contains vitamin B5, B3 and B6 which together helps thicken, strengthen, and grow hair. This spray is a great replacement for water. pH Balance 4.5

 

[tashboog]

I'm subbing to this thread but I don't want to join just yet until after I get my test results from my Naturopathic physician.

 

[Jewell]

ENapp

Thank you very much for clarifying! In that case, I would LOVE to join your challenge! I'll come back later and post my tentative regimen, techniques, and products that I plan to use to achieve thicker, fuller hair! HHG lovely ladies!

P.S. I've air dried exclusively for the past 9 yrs or more, so I have that mastered!

 

[bunnie82]

uggghhh...you guys......i got my steamer from LCL over a week ago and it's still in the box......can't it just put itself together.....

 

[Napp]

get it together bunnie82!


On another note I did a quick cowash today and a clump of hair 5 times the amount I usually see with the alter ego garlic mask came out I didnt think it was making a difference but it was. My shedding is really bad on its own

ill add the new peeps to the list tommorow. This weekend has been hectic!

 

[bunnie82]

LOL Napp hahahahhhaha i got off my lazy heiney and put it together! i will use it this week some time and give ya'll the verdict!

 

[JuicyyCouTuree]

Hey.! Checking in.. I'm veryyy interested in joining this challenge. I just recently started my hair journey in the middle of February. I have died over processed and jus totally neglected my hair in the past, and im tired of dealing with the length and health of my hair. I look forward to encouraging and being encouraged by you ladies, so please help me along my journey this year im totally new to this and in need of help as you can see in the pictures. I am currently shoulder length don't have a picture right now because I have only been braiding out and things like that. And I have not done a length check and I am currently 14 weeks post relaxer. My ends are extremely thin and before I even think about length I want to attain stronger healthier hair in 2013 so this challenge is great. Count me in.!!!!

-My Current Hair Reggie:
-Cowash with a moisturizing or protein conditioner 1x a week
-deep condition 2x a week
-moisturize & seal every night
-relax every 14-16 weeks post
-shampoo 1x a week
- workout 4-5 days a week
-take hairfinity vitamins everyday
- drink 3-4 bottles if water a day
- striving to eat healthier
(This is my Reggie plus the things I strive to do this year to get fuller healthier hair/ my goal is to be full-thick healthy shoulder length by this time next year. I think that's attainable.!!!)

Napp if you or anybody have any advice or help I love to hear it.!! thanks..
Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[Brwnbeauti]

I want in, need in! My hair at the back is full, but the side, ugh. I think it's because my edges are growing back in and are short right now
Back




Ill be back with side pics tomorrow. Off to bed

Sent from my iPad using LHCF

 

[EnExitStageLeft]

Hey ladies,

I got a late start to my wash day today, but this is too dedicated to my thickening regimen.

I didn't do a reconstructive treatment, but I will be using a few thickening hair products for leave ins.

JCS Revitalizing Leave In's: Pathenol
Hairveda Cocasta Oil: Castor Oil
Phytokeratine Reparative Serum: Ceramides

Hope you guy's thickening regimen are coming together. Also I received my Gelatin vitamins and have been taking them daily. I might order some of the powder and add it to my conditioners. We shall see .

 

[Brwnbeauti]

Whenever I roller set my hair appears thinner than when I wet wrap. Anyway experience this? It's strange.

Sent from my iPad using LHCF

 

[JuicyyCouTuree]

Whenever I roller set my hair appears thinner than when I wet wrap. Anyway experience this? It's strange.

Sent from my iPad using LHCF

CafedeBelleza

Yes mam, I got my relaxer yesterday, and left a little bit if texture, very little. But I love the relaxer I used which was ORS professional lye cream based relaxer. Didn't have any sores or problems with my scalp and My hair feels sleek and soft to the touch but I'm just not satisfied with the thinness of my hair. If it was fuller I'd feel great about it but its not as full as I would like for it to be. So I got a roller set thinking it would appear thicker but it still looks quite thin to me. I don't think I'm over processing I left my relaxer on for about 12 or 13 mins as instructed. How can you really tell if you're over processing or overlapping.? But this is my first relaxer starting my hair journey so maybe I need to give it some time huh.?

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[Brwnbeauti]

CafedeBelleza

Yes mam, I got my relaxer yesterday, and left a little bit if texture, very little. But I love the relaxer I used which was ORS professional lye cream based relaxer. Didn't have any sores or problems with my scalp and My hair feels sleek and soft to the touch but I'm just not satisfied with the thinness of my hair. If it was fuller I'd feel great about it but its not as full as I would like for it to be. So I got a roller set thinking it would appear thicker but it still looks quite thin to me. I don't think I'm over processing I left my relaxer on for about 12 or 13 mins as instructed. How can you really tell if you're over processing or overlapping.? But this is my first relaxer starting my hair journey so maybe I need to give it some time huh.?

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

I don't think I'm over processed. I think the way your hair looks wet, or the texture when you dry with no manipulation- wrapping or rolling- can let you know if its over processed or not. It may be my technique. I think I may not be using enough rollers or something.

Sent from my iPad using LHCF

 

[Napp]

Sorry I havent been keeping up with the thread! I am trying to get a high grade in my next Orgo test and you know thats tough

I havent combed my hair in over a week and I dont see when i wil have the time to I am using my scalp drops and moisturizing every so often to figh breakage and reduce shedding.

 

[EnExitStageLeft]

Hey @Napp, We understand girl. Take care of home then help us thicken our strands, this is the order in which you should do things lol.

Lil Update (Not Really erplexed):

I will be doing a reconstructive treatment either this week or next week and most likely be using Komazacare Protein Strengthener or something

Also, I will be using the Tropic Isle Living JBCO Serum w/ Argan Oil as my leave in sealant oil for the next couple of weeks to use it up for the Use It Up Challenge. However its castor based, so it'll be killing two birds with one stone; thickening up my strands with a delicious oil (its really nice) and using up my stash in the process.......#BI-WINNING! Not going to lie though, I'm going to miss the Hairveda Cocosta Oil. The stuff is sickingly awesome .

Thats about it....I hope all is going well with your hair thickening regimens

OH! and Saludable84....about your blog. I'm slightly addicted and was a bit sad when I didn't recieve my daily fix in my email today . No, but seriously your blog is awesome! Keep them post a'comin .

 

[greenandchic]

Joining and checking in!

Over the past several years my hair has experienced periods of heavy shedding. Last year it was low feritin levels and now my ND is going to check my thyroid levels (especially T3). Last year it was borderline and he wants to see it higher. Last week I had a vitamin B12 injection for other health reasons and that may help my hair as well.

Two weeks ago I started shampooing my scalp more and the shedding has subsided - a lot. I think the 2% salicylic acid in my Giovanni dandruff shampoo is somehow helping the health of my skin. I experience less itching now too. I will use that once a week alternating with another sulfate free shampoo concentrating on my scalp while cowashing or using a cleansing conditioner on my pre-pooed hair. I wash my hair a total of twice a week by default.

Since I've been shampooing, I'm doing more DC and reconstructive treatments.

 

[Trixie58]

I just got home from the salon. Just got a wash and deep condition.Decided against the weave bc it was too expensive and im also in the dave ramsey challenge lol. So i am now just working on growing out severe damage in my crown. My nape is coming back very fast so i am not as concerned there. I am not sure how long my crown will take. There are pieces of my crown that are broken down to the new growth. Just babying that area with water, infusium 23, castor oil. Hopefully it will grow out to where it at least blends in. Almost got a huge chop today bc i am so sick of the breakage making my hair look thin, but they talked me out of it and so im just trying to nurse my hair back to health.

 

[LadyDeeLisa]

I'm late but would still like to join in... Where is everyone in their process? Where do I begin?

Thanks!

Dee

 

[Trixie58]

So im bak. Depressed!!! The breakage in my hair has gotten really bad, seems like over the last week or two. I got my hair done before i left for vacation, and my stylist mentioned severe breakage. So ive been analyzing my hair since them and there is breakage everywhere. The nape is the worst but tonite afterni washed it, i can see that its growing bak fine now that ive stopped wrapping. The problem is there are little breakage pieces everywhere else. I mean u comb thru a chunk of hair, u see at least a little section thats like 1-2 inches long (im APL). Ive been scouring the boards for answers. I think my nape we figured out (the wrapping), bur everything else im thinking could be heat damage from a dominican blowout, stress, or maybe just mishandling as my hair has grown out. Anyway i am getting it relaxed on wednesday bc i can not stand any further breakage at my crown and the new growth is so coarse and tight that i dont want to try to stretch. It has only been 6 weeks but omg. Well all i can do is try to nurse my hair back and remind myself that i get breakage all the time but i ignore it and it catches up. Its just harder this tile bc the breakage is everywhere, not just one little spot. I am so depressed i want to cry.

 

[Trixie58]

So I narrowed down to 5 areas of breakage---my crown, my nape, behind my right ear, behind my left ear, and an additional chunk above my left ear. I've attached pics of (1) the breakage chunk above my left ear and (2) behind my left ear. It is serious, not just like a tiny little patch. These are like large areas of hair. I could not post a pic of my nape breakage successfully, but my nape is neck length while the rest of my hair is APL.

I posted a pic of my full hair showing you the back of it (3). The breakage is of course camoflauged, but my hair would be 10 times thicker without all the problem areas.

Does anyone have any advice? I set up a relaxer for Wednesday because I am so afraid of further breakage in my crown and I didn't know what else to do. If I go into 6, 7, 8 areas of breakage I think I will just shave my head. I am almost there at this point, I'm so desperate that I am thinking of getting layers just to cut it all (even though I hate layers). I have had breakage areas before and they always caught up behind the scenes, but to try to have all of this mess catch up seems a little apocryphal. I am dying for some help over here.

 

[Jewell]

Trixie58

Im very sorry to hear about your breakage. Are you SURE that you need a relaxer right now considering how severe the breakage is? A relaxer should never be done to solve a hair problem like shedding or breakage. It is best to get the breakage under control first with heavy protein and moisture treatments. I feel if you relax your hair at this point when breakage is that bad, you will only lose more hair and any decent stylist will advise against it. I think a relaxer, being the stressful process on hair that it is will lead to thinner looking hair and more breakage.

A relaxer will not stop the breakage unless it is due to stretching too long. Even so protein treatments are the answer, as relaxers BREAK disulfide bonds, weakening the strand, and protein is lost from the hair.

Also, if you have been relaxing every 6 weeks, THAT could be a factor in your problem with thinning and breakage. Your hair is likely OVERPROCESSED, which will inevitably lead to breakage and thinning. If your breakage is that bad, relaxing at 6 wks will not help you. If you dont wanna stretch, get braids or some other long term protective style. But heat on the hair to straighten it is a bad idea too. At this point, honestly, you WILL NOT be able to significantly thicken the hair you have due to the broken areas. The main solution is to get it cut, then take care of it.

I think you should baby your hair with protein n moisture treatments, moisturize and seal daily, massage the scalp regularly to stimulate growth, etc and THEN when the broken areas are beginning to recover think about a relaxer. Also, due to the uneveness and breakage, I think a GOOD hair cut is in order.

It will give you a healthier head of hair by eliminating the thin ends, then you can start from there and recuperate your hair. Or, you can get a substantial trim then protective style to regrow your hair. You dont have to necesarily shave your head, and layers will just make it look even thinner and will be difficult to grow out. Layers, imo, will make your hair look thinner vs having it cut to a similar length allover. Ive had layers, so Im speaking from experience

 

[Trixie58]

@Trixie58

Im very sorry to hear about your breakage. Are you SURE that you need a relaxer right now considering how severe the breakage is? A relaxer should never be done to solve a hair problem like shedding or breakage. It is best to get the breakage under control first with heavy protein and moisture treatments. I feel if you relax your hair at this point when breakage is that bad, you will only lose more hair and any decent stylist will advise against it. I think a relaxer, being the stressful process on hair that it is will lead to thinner looking hair and more breakage.

A relaxer will not stop the breakage unless it is due to stretching too long. Even so protein treatments are the answer, as relaxers BREAK disulfide bonds, weakening the strand, and protein is lost from the hair.

Also, if you have been relaxing every 6 weeks, THAT could be a factor in your problem with thinning and breakage. Your hair is likely OVERPROCESSED, which will inevitably lead to breakage and thinning. If your breakage is that bad, relaxing at 6 wks will not help you. If you dont wanna stretch, get braids or some other long term protective style. But heat on the hair to straighten it is a bad idea too. At this point, honestly, you WILL NOT be able to significantly thicken the hair you have due to the broken areas. The main solution is to get it cut, then take care of it.

I think you should baby your hair with protein n moisture treatments, moisturize and seal daily, massage the scalp regularly to stimulate growth, etc and THEN when the broken areas are beginning to recover think about a relaxer. Also, due to the uneveness and breakage, I think a GOOD hair cut is in order.

It will give you a healthier head of hair by eliminating the thin ends, then you can start from there and recuperate your hair. Or, you can get a substantial trim then protective style to regrow your hair. You dont have to necesarily shave your head, and layers will just make it look even thinner and will be difficult to grow out. Layers, imo, will make your hair look thinner vs having it cut to a similar length allover. Ive had layers, so Im speaking from experience

Jewell I can't thank you enough. Normally I stretch my relaxers 9-10 weeks, but this time the new growth in my crown has been crazy. That is why I thought maybe my crown was breaking due to new growth, because there are pieces that are broken down to the line of demarcation up there. But it is not necessarily the issue, it could also be heat damage, lack of protein, or stress, given that I also have the breakage chunk above my ear. I am honestly not sure. The only good news is that I am sure my nape was broken because of the wrapping, because now that I have stopped wrapping it is growing back in. I also washed and DC'd today and had literally 3 hairs come out, the shedding has stopped which is good. But who knows if I will wake up tomorrow and see more chunks of breakage.

The sad thing is that my remaining ends are actually in good shape and not splitting, but like you said because of my broken hair my full head of hair is not hanging nicely and could be much thicker. That is why my thought was just to leave it alone and let the breakage fill in. Are you advising me to cut off my APL hair to maybe SL, just to make it look thicker, because you think it will help the short hair to grow out better, or because you think there's no way the short hair will "catch up?"

 

[Jewell]

Did my touch up yesterday (mildly relaxed/texlaxed), and Im very happy with the results. I had so much ng after 5 months that I used a whole jar of relaxer on my ng when I normally only need 3/4 a jar. My hair has gotten so much longer and thicker. I was stretching 5 months, but will have to cut back to 4 as I had way too much ng to effectively deal with. I will touch-up just 3 times per year using a mild relaxer. I only smoothed lightly with my fingers so as not to overprocess or straighten it too much. I didnt part and smooth, just went thru with my fingers gently. I applied the relaxer with my fingers too. I feel like using an applicator brush somehow damages my hair, although it probably really doesnt. Im resuming applying a lot of Ayurvedic oils to my length and scalp for growth, thickening, and protection/lubrication of the hair. Using JBCO on scalp and hair too.

Did (2) separate 15 min protein/keratin treatments and moisture by Joico for 20 mins. Im very happy it came out good. I still have some texture, which is always my goal. Im doing a henndigo/Ayurvedic powder treatment in a week or 2, and will be getting some gelatin powder to add to my conditioners. I inspected my ends and only found ONE single split.

So although I dont trim regularly, my hair is not suffering, though my ends are really fairy-tailing. It grows longer on the middle back portion (grows in a V or U), but that's ok with me since I will trim to a U shape once I hit my goal of classic length anyway. Hopefully by Dec. 2014. Hope everyone's hair regimens for this challenge are working well!

 

[Jewell]

Jewell I can't thank you enough. Normally I stretch my relaxers 9-10 weeks, but this time the new growth in my crown has been crazy. That is why I thought maybe my crown was breaking due to new growth, because there are pieces that are broken down to the line of demarcation up there. But it is not necessarily the issue, it could also be heat damage, lack of protein, or stress, given that I also have the breakage chunk above my ear. I am honestly not sure. The only good news is that I am sure my nape was broken because of the wrapping, because now that I have stopped wrapping it is growing back in. I also washed and DC'd today and had literally 3 hairs come out, the shedding has stopped which is good. But who knows if I will wake up tomorrow and see more chunks of breakage.

The sad thing is that my remaining ends are actually in good shape and not splitting, but like you said because of my broken hair my full head of hair is not hanging nicely and could be much thicker. That is why my thought was just to leave it alone and let the breakage fill in. Are you advising me to cut off my APL hair to maybe SL, just to make it look thicker, because you think it will help the short hair to grow out better, or because you think there's no way the short hair will "catch up?"

Trixie58

Aww, youre welcome! (Hugs) The reason I advised a cut is because Im not sure how short the nape and areas around the ear are compared to the rest of the hair. You described the crown, but yes, it will probably eventually catch up. There is always hope. I thought maybe if your broken areas in the back and sides were like 3-4 inches or more shorter than the rest that you do need a cut, because your hair will just look thin and scraggly if worn down. But if you protective style, maybe a small trim of 1" will suffice, and then you can just let your broken areas grow in.

9-10 wks between relaxers is definitely better than 6-8, but you could still be overprocessed even stretching to 10 wks. Overprocessing is not only relaxing too often, but leaving the relaxer on TOO LONG. That leads to thinning and breakage. The other factors you mentioned like stress and heat definitely play a role too.
Even if your remaining ends are in good shape, a small trim will still help, but if the breakage is already starting to cease, then the trim may be avoided. If the crown is broken down to the ng, then that is likely breakage at the demarcation line from not using enough protein. Even a small stretch of 9-10 wks the hair can break if too much heat is used, it isnot moisturized, or lacks protein. Dominican blowouts look nice, but have ruined MANY a head of Black hair by thinning and brekage, as well as heat damage.

Personally, I would never in mylife get one because I heard they sometimes put relaxer in their conditioners to make ng more manageable. Of course, they dont tell the client this. There are many horror stories about blowouts from the Dom salons allover lhcf. And apparently, the relaxer in conditioner thing is widespread practice among Dom salons in response to the kinkiness of most Black hair in particular.

If it was me, I would do protein and moisture deep conditioning until the breakage stopped, then protective style after a trim until those areas caught up. I honestly would NOT relax my hair, but that choice and all of it is ultimately up to you. But I would avoid all heat as well, massage my scalp, and eve take a hair vitamin for thicker, healthier hair and possibly, faster growth. HTH!

 

[Trixie58]

@Trixie58

Aww, youre welcome! (Hugs) The reason I advised a cut is because Im not sure how short the nape and areas around the ear are compared to the rest of the hair. You described the crown, but yes, it will probably eventually catch up. There is always hope. I thought maybe if your broken areas in the back and sides were like 3-4 inches or more shorter than the rest that you do need a cut, because your hair will just look thin and scraggly if worn down. But if you protective style, maybe a small trim of 1" will suffice, and then you can just let your broken areas grow in.

9-10 wks between relaxers is definitely better than 6-8, but you could still be overprocessed even stretching to 10 wks. Overprocessing is not only relaxing too often, but leaving the relaxer on TOO LONG. That leads to thinning and breakage. The other factors you mentioned like stress and heat definitely play a role too.
Even if your remaining ends are in good shape, a small trim will still help, but if the breakage is already starting to cease, then the trim may be avoided. If the crown is broken down to the ng, then that is likely breakage at the demarcation line from not using enough protein. Even a small stretch of 9-10 wks the hair can break if too much heat is used, it isnot moisturized, or lacks protein. Dominican blowouts look nice, but have ruined MANY a head of Black hair by thinning and brekage, as well as heat damage.

Personally, I would never in mylife get one because I heard they sometimes put relaxer in their conditioners to make ng more manageable. Of course, they dont tell the client this. There are many horror stories about blowouts from the Dom salons allover lhcf. And apparently, the relaxer in conditioner thing is widespread practice among Dom salons in response to the kinkiness of most Black hair in particular.

If it was me, I would do protein and moisture deep conditioning until the breakage stopped, then protective style after a trim until those areas caught up. I honestly would NOT relax my hair, but that choice and all of it is ultimately up to you. But I would avoid all heat as well, massage my scalp, and eve take a hair vitamin for thicker, healthier hair and possibly, faster growth. HTH!

Jewell, you are saving my life with your advice. Hugs right back to you! I did not sleep at all last nite staring at the breakage in the mirror because it's like how do you handle it? There's literally no fix in my case because the small chunk above my ear is about 2 inches long. Do I cut my hair down like that? I needed someone to literally tell me what to do. I have to really just consider this a setback and move on, and try to tell myself that at least i am starting out with a good length that will only fill out and get thicker.

After reading your post then I get it, it's a combination of Dominican blowouts and lack of protein. I have not been using protein in my hair on the regular, because I was told the Dominican conditioner had protein in it, so I was trying to maintain a balance. In addition, I was not getting breakage (until now all of a sudden), and I had a bad experience with being overproteined in the past. So, I went too far this time, and that, plus the excessive growth (which is actually a good thing---if I knew how to handle my hair), plus the excessive blowouts, probably caused the breakage in my crown and above my ear, supplemented by the wrapping causing the breakage in my nape. I have learned my lesson on all fronts.

I have decided to rely on you, and my own personal experience, to get through this and fix it ASAP. I will not relax on Wednesday, I will just move some money around and get a sew-in on Thursday. All my life I've had patches of breakage fly up (not all at once), but you know, occassionally, I will see a short piece, and I'll look up a few months later and I can't find it anymore. Either it has caught up or it's caught up 'enough' that it is part of the world again. So I'm hoping that history will repeat and these areas will fill in, and I don't need to cut my whole head down to 2 inches of hair. I will, however, do another protein treatment tomorrow and then have my stylist cut my crown down evenly to get rid of some of the breakage, and maybe trim my ends a scintilla, before I go under the needle and thread on Thursday (all your advice). I'll leave the sew-in for awhile and give my hair a chance to heal and fill in. I'll focus on healthy hair underneath the weave, which i think will be healthier for me than focusing on the breakage, which is stressing me out and probably making my hair break worse. Since it's not shedding much at all when I wash, I assume my hair is healthy enough for the sew-in.

Here are a couple picks to answer your questions on my nape and my full head length. The first is my nape and the second is my full head air-dried. So yea it's like significant gap in between, so maybe a 1 inch trim of my longer hair is in order, I'll see how I feel on Thursday. These, along with the ones in the previous post, will be my before pics. Let's see where I am in 3-6 months. xoxoxoxox