Thin/Fine Support Thread

[Cayenne0622]

Another thin hair lady co-signing. Girl don't give up, I went threw so much myself, before I had very thick hair, but after being sick for a few years and the different meds I had to take my doctors did a test to see why my hair was just thinning/shedding but growing long with no problem. I embrace my thin hair 3 years now, I would grow it to BSL cut it off to SL hoping to thicken it up, but no just long and strong, so I am loving it growing long and strong.

Less is more and you have to find the right shampoo, conditioners, leave in for you and your hair. Do not over do it and reduce your heat and I love to use heat, but when I do I use an ionic blow dryer, ceramic irons and a decent heat protectent.

Its funny to find yet another fine haired sister with my exact hair type. Ambitious1013 is my hair twin and I think Kini is too but when I just went and looked at your fotki, I was like!! Neon's hair looks exactly like mine when its airdried. My hair isn't as long as your's yet but I'm on my wayyyy!!!
Hang in there ladies!!! We can do it.
Ambitious has a wonderful regimen. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing:
Sunday - hot oil treatment, shampoo, protein conditioner under dryer, and lastly moisturizing conditioner under dryer. Wednesday - its shampoo and deep condition. It's a wonderful regimen. Simple products and little heat.

 

[*Michelle*]

Its funny to find yet another fine haired sister with my exact hair type. Ambitious1013 is my hair twin and I think Kini is too but when I just went and looked at your fotki, I was like!! Neon's hair looks exactly like mine when its airdried. My hair isn't as long as your's yet but I'm on my wayyyy!!!
Hang in there ladies!!! We can do it.
Ambitious has a wonderful regimen. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing:
Sunday - hot oil treatment, shampoo, protein conditioner under dryer, and lastly moisturizing conditioner under dryer. Wednesday - its shampoo and deep condition. It's a wonderful regimen. Simple products and little heat.

Then we must be quads, because you guys hair really resembles mine...a LOT!

 

[ladytq]

Girl I feel your pain. Another fine hair lady checking in. Look at some the 2 thread below. They have alot suggestions for thin haired ladies like our selvez.

As for me I do henna glosses now about 1x per month on dry hair. I also use amla oil, which I believe have really thicken my hair. I also use Mtg, which is okay. I just trying to "use it up".

If you decided to do another henna gloss, only use a 2-3 tablespoons of henna and rest oil and conditioner. I personally like putting coconut milk in it. Also try it on dry, even dirty hair and not on wet hair. Leave it on for about 15-30 min. Then work your way up from there.

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=111938


http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=54351

 

[kiesha8185]

Girl, do not be discouraged! You are where I was six months ago, and although I am satisfied with my progress (and thanks to Bre-Bre knocking me back to reality and telling me not to chop off my hair!) I’m telling you not to do that too. The problems you are having with your hair may be a result of how you are handling your hair; if you cut it, and still don’t know how to care for it, there’s a possibility that you may encounter that same problems, only with shorter hair. BTW: my hair was thin and has thickened from what I did below. My strands are fine though; just densely packed. But I definitely know where you are coming from, so I will tell you what I did since January to achieve health.

• First it’s important to know that overall health/thickness will come before length.
• No heat. Completely eliminate heat from your regimen (with the exception of deep conditioning/protein treatments). Air drying my hair saved my ends. They were already all chewed up and uneven and badly damaged, adding heat to it (even limited heat) would have pushed back or slowed down the process to regain some sort of health, if possible. I have been told that damaged hair cannot be repaired; it is irreversible. The only available option would be to trim or cut. However, with the use of good products and techniques, you can gradually trim off the damaged portions OR style your hair in a way that helps it blend in with the rest of your hair, or make it look like it's SUPPOSED to look like that See my avatar? My ends are sooooooo uneven and damaged, but people think they are layers. Sometime you just gotta work with what ya got. I have how I styled my hair without heat if you would like to know what my hair looked like. I got tired of wearing braid/twist outs so I learned how to make my hair as straight as possible without heat, airdried.
• Baby your ends. It seems as if you are having a problem retaining your ends. I probably wore my hair down, maybe 4 times since January, and only when I wore tank tops. Leaving my ends up or unexposed helped them to be left alone and prevented any unnecessary combing or “photochemical damage” (I got that from Sistaslick )
• No combing. The more hair that stays on your head, the better! Equally, eliminate any possible reasons for shedding/breakage that you can pinpoint. Just like you, I shed a lot with BT, and girl I was pissed cuz I wanted this product to work so bad! Me not combing my hair was not done on purpose; it kinda just happened that way. I only combed on wash day. Due to my airdried hairstyles that I wore (my hair was either curly, slightly wavy, or straight) I did not have to comb it. Actually combing would have messed up the style. I realized that my not combing my hair was really helping thicken my hair. However when I had a lot of new growth, I made sure to use a moisturizing/detangling conditioner so I had no matting. The only combs I did use were bone combs.
• Henna. I know you said henna did not work for you…did you clarify after you hennaed? And did you do a strong moisturizing session afterwards? Henna thickened my hair a lot. It also made it stronger, therefore less prone to breakage. I urge you to try it one more time, and this why. I had a better time with henna the second time (as far as dryness goes) because: I clarified afterwards, I did not use any terps- only used water to mix my henna, and I used a conditioner that usually is too moisturizing for my hair: NTM. On regular wash days, NTM that made my hair mushy. But on henna days, it brought my hair back to its normal moisture levels. I also used Dominican cocktail of conditioners and deep conditioned overnight. I have my henna regimen in my fotki if you do decide to do it again.
• Castor Oil. I put this stuff in EVERYTHING. I used it in my pre-poos, deep conditioners, and used it seal in moisture. The trick is to not use too much to weigh your fine strands down.
• Stretching relaxers. Stretching relaxers definitely helped me. I couldn’t do that on my own, which is why I got twists. This will definitely make me leave my hair alone and prevented me from doing something crazy…like cutting my hair! If 6-8 is your normal stretch, go for 4 months, or 6 months. Get braids/twists/weave to help you.
• Less is More. If you use too much product, your hair will absorb all it can, then the rest will just coat the strand. Product build up can cause hair to break since moisture can’t penetrate the strand.
• Pinpoint what can be making your hair break/shed and eliminate it. You’ve done good with the biotin, BT, etc. There can also be ingredients in your products that may not be agreeing with your hair. It took me a while to realize that my hair LOVES anything with citric acid and HATES anything with glycerin. So make a hair journal, and jot down what you use, how your hair felt using it, and then you can start to learn your hair.
• Just learn to leave your hair alone. You may be doing way too much to it, actually causing it to break more than it needs to. Just shampoo, deep condition, moisturize/seal, protein treat/clarify as needed, and let it grow. Do the bare minimum. Retain your growth!

These are external techniques. The internal is just as important. Sistaslick said it best:

When your diet and water intake are on point, then the hair you push out will be in peak condition.

Your hair gets the leftover materials from the rest of your body, so if you are already dehydrated and your nutrition is poor-- you'll put out poor quality hair.

Once that hair emerges, it won't get any more nutritional support from you again. Everything after that will have to be done externally. So you want your body to be in good condition first, so that your hair comes out in good condition, and you won't have to jump through hoops of fire to patch it up after it's already out there. The benefits of increasing internal hydration will take a while to show up along the length of the shaft since it will only affect the newgrowth that comes out during that time. In the meantime, external hydration is all you can rely on.

I hope this helps. This may be a strict regimen, but I realized I didn't have to do it for the full 6 months to reap the benefits. But I'll be doing this till I reach my goal. Lemme know how things work for you and if you have any questions!

 

[Puddles]

• First it’s important to know that overall health/thickness will come before length.
• No heat. Completely eliminate heat from your regimen (with the exception of deep conditioning/protein treatments). Air drying my hair saved my ends. They were already all chewed up and uneven and badly damaged, adding heat to it (even limited heat) would have pushed back or slowed down the process to regain some sort of health, if possible. I have been told that damaged hair cannot be repaired; it is irreversible. The only available option would be to trim or cut. However, with the use of good products and techniques, you can gradually trim off the damaged portions OR style your hair in a way that helps it blend in with the rest of your hair, or make it look like it's SUPPOSED to look like that See my avatar? My ends are sooooooo uneven and damaged, but people think they are layers. Sometime you just gotta work with what ya got. I have how I styled my hair without heat if you would like to know what my hair looked like. I got tired of wearing braid/twist outs so I learned how to make my hair as straight as possible without heat, airdried.
• Baby your ends. It seems as if you are having a problem retaining your ends. I probably wore my hair down, maybe 4 times since January, and only when I wore tank tops. Leaving my ends up or unexposed helped them to be left alone and prevented any unnecessary combing or “photochemical damage” (I got that from Sistaslick )
• No combing. The more hair that stays on your head, the better! Equally, eliminate any possible reasons for shedding/breakage that you can pinpoint. Just like you, I shed a lot with BT, and girl I was pissed cuz I wanted this product to work so bad! Me not combing my hair was not done on purpose; it kinda just happened that way. I only combed on wash day. Due to my airdried hairstyles that I wore (my hair was either curly, slightly wavy, or straight) I did not have to comb it. Actually combing would have messed up the style. I realized that my not combing my hair was really helping thicken my hair. However when I had a lot of new growth, I made sure to use a moisturizing/detangling conditioner so I had no matting. The only combs I did use were bone combs.
• Castor Oil. I put this stuff in EVERYTHING. I used it in my pre-poos, deep conditioners, and used it seal in moisture. The trick is to not use too much to weigh your fine strands down.
• Stretching relaxers. Stretching relaxers definitely helped me. I couldn’t do that on my own, which is why I got twists. This will definitely make me leave my hair alone and prevented me from doing something crazy…like cutting my hair! If 6-8 is your normal stretch, go for 4 months, or 6 months. Get braids/twists/weave to help you.
• Less is More. If you use too much product, your hair will absorb all it can, then the rest will just coat the strand. Product build up can cause hair to break since moisture can’t penetrate the strand.
• Just learn to leave your hair alone. You may be doing way too much to it, actually causing it to break more than it needs to. Just shampoo, deep condition, moisturize/seal, protein treat/clarify as needed, and let it grow. Do the bare minimum. Retain your growth!

Basically everything she said. Less is more...it works for me.

Like all the others said.....just don't give up.

 

[hOnii]

Girl I feel your pain. Another fine hair lady checking in. Look at some the 2 thread below. They have alot suggestions for thin haired ladies like our selvez.

As for me I do henna glosses now about 1x per month on dry hair. I also use amla oil, which I believe have really thicken my hair. I also use Mtg, which is okay. I just trying to "use it up".

If you decided to do another henna gloss, only use a 2-3 tablespoons of henna and rest oil and conditioner. I personally like putting coconut milk in it. Also try it on dry, even dirty hair and not on wet hair. Leave it on for about 15-30 min. Then work your way up from there.

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=111938


http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=54351

thanks for the links! they are very helpful!


& kiesha, phew! great information!!

 

[gabulldawg]

Hey, Honii. I've just recently stopped using heat once I began my hair care journey, which has been about 1.5 months I guess (started end of May). Anyway, it's really not as bad as you think!! You have more options than just airdrying your hair. Have you ever done bantu knot sets, or perm-rod sets for curls? I have been experimenting with different styles that I Could do with those kinds of sets. I think I will actually start a photo album of all of my no heat styles. I say just experiment! It's really gotten to be pretty fun for me to not use heat. It's like a personal challenge that's really fun and makes you not want to use heat.

 

[hOnii]

I just wanted to thank Sistaslick for helping me to realize what i was doing wrong with my hair!! It is alll so clear now-- I am ODing on protein MAJORLY. It's in my Aveda DR treatment, Motions CPR, Elasta DPR-11, Regis Protein Boost, and Cantu shea butter leave-in!! And I kept doing more of these to try and combat the breakage when what my hair really needs is less protein and more moisture! I confused a reconstructer with a deep conditioner, so my hair became unbalanced! I can't wait to start deep conditioning my hair! I had to revisit this website for info on what is and isn't a deep condish: http://motowngirl.com/deep_conditioners.php

I'm also giving up heat. I know... I shoulda known better... no more weekly flat ironing for me

 

[Cayenne0622]

I hope one of these fine/thin haired threads becomes a sticky! We struggle the most with our hair and I think there are a lot of us out there!

 

[*Frisky*]

I have been there, I understand

I have overcome a number of obstacles associated with fine hair by doing the following things

• Scalp massages especially in the hairline and the crown. This is where my hair has more of a hard time growing. I use emu oil, aloe vera juice, and essential oils
• No brushing
• Combing with seamless comb. I still need to do less combing
• Stopped using hair elastics. In only three weeks I see a major difference
• Vitamins: Biotin, Iron, MSM, Pantothenic Acid, Flaxseed Oil. I am not 7 days a week but I get at least 5 days out the week and I am working on increasing to everyday.
• Treating my hair gently and washing and deep conditioning twice per week.
• Mixing castor oil in with my daily moisturizer
• Texlaxing ofcourse

I would do a really deep conditioner treatment to counteract the effects of the henna. I used henna twice and it just made my hair sticky and straw like. I think I will stick to Aphogee for my protein treatments.

It takes a while to find the right combination of best practices for you, so keep trying and be patient and kind to yourself and your hair

This is a lot of stuff but my hair has done a turn around

yes yes yes to everthing she said...I have fine hair too and for the most part it has thickened up but just over the last couple days I have stopped brushing because my sides have suffered and are shorter than the rest of my hair. If you really must do a hair cut but I would suggest just being patient and give it more time and extra TLC.

 

[Serenity_Peace]

I hope one of these fine/thin haired threads becomes a sticky! We struggle the most with our hair and I think there are a lot of us out there!

That's what I'm sayin'!

We fine-haired ladies are most vulnerable when it comes to hair breakage and damage.

I do hope that we will be able to convince the Mods that it'd be worthwhile to have sticky dedicated to us.

 

[divinefavor]

Do not give up and don't be discouraged! I have fine/thin hair as well and I never thought my hair could grow without looking so thin. Thanks to LHCF my hair has made a complete turn around.

 

[victorious]

Don't stress HOnii!

Fine, thin hair requires lots of tlc and patience. Sometimes I feel like I take two steps forward and one step back.

But there's wonderful advice in this thread. (I'm bookmarking it just in case I get that little hairicidal feeling again and look for the scissors.)

 

[natstar]

That's what I'm sayin'!

We fine-haired ladies are most vulnerable when it comes to hair breakage and damage.

I do hope that we will be able to convince the Mods that it'd be worthwhile to have sticky dedicated to us.

I also agree with this. I have fine/thin natural 4a/4b hair and I am still trying to find out how much moisture is okay vs being too much.

 

[Cayenne0622]

STICKY...ICKY...ICKY...ICKY!!!!

 

[MonaLisa]

I hope one of these fine/thin haired threads becomes a sticky! We struggle the most with our hair and I think there are a lot of us out there!

Yes, it was very nice to see a thread like this. It's a good one.

*there are thick haired chicks run amok on this board.... we need love and support too!

 

[Cayenne0622]

Yes, it was very nice to see a thread like this. It's a good one.

*there are thick haired chicks run amok on this board.... we need love and support too!

Your hair is looking good, Mona! Grow girl!

 

[neonbright]

To the orginal OP: I think you may need to cut out the BT and just stick to a muti vitiamn, like Womens One A Day. Try Ultra Sheed Duo Tex, and follow up with a good moisturzing condish or a combo one ORS Replenshing Pak. KISS and my hair loves me for it.

 

[sweetnlow06]

Don't stress HOnii!

Fine, thin hair requires lots of tlc and patience. Sometimes I feel like I take two steps forward and one step back.

But there's wonderful advice in this thread. (I'm bookmarking it just in case I get that little hairicidal feeling again and look for the scissors.)

I know what you mean! I need to stop it with the scissors! I know that has been a lot of my problem. It starts looking more thin, then I chop. I could never get past shoulder length because of that.

 

[MonaLisa]

Your hair is looking good, Mona! Grow girl!

Oh snaps....Thank you Cayenne

*we need a reppin for the thin/fine haired chicks gang sign...

 

[hennagirl]

thanks ladies.

maybe i need to back off on the product a little... i thought that perhaps my hair was breaking because it was lacking moisture... which wouldn't make sense to me because i try to moisturize every night.

quote]

My fine/thin hair is very sensitive to product. I find that I can only use creamy products if I liquefy them by diluting them with water. Example, Silicon Mix, NTM, Hair Mayonnaise - I dilute them with water until they are liquid. They work very well for me in liquid form. I also like the ponytail rollersetting method for body and it is easier to do.

 

[Cayenne0622]

Too much product can definitely be the culprit for breakage. I have to remind myself not to use more than a nickel or quarter amount of moisture and just be sure to work it through completely. I add a lil extree to the nape though.

 

[sherann]

I agree with this. I mentioned to someone else that I thought the weight of the water was snapping off my fine, past bra strap hair. I also changed my technique of washing and this has helped tremendously along with a new detangler. I shed very few hairs now.

Another fine-haired girl checking in. Btw, what new detangler did you try?

 

[northernbelle]

This is an informative and much-needed thread.

What is apparent as I read the comments is that what works for one doesn't work for others. And, as wonderful as LHCF is, the reason I stepped away from the forum for two years is that I became increasingly overwhelmed and frustrated by the pjism, the plethora of techniques, and, in some cases, an over-obsession with hair. It all had begun to weigh me down, and I finally said to myself, "Is this it"? I don't judge others for what they are doing, but for my purposes, it just wasn't the solution.

The important thing is finding one's "hair voice". With that in mind, one should not throw out the proverbial baby with the bath water. Some of the things each of us was doing prior to joining LHCF were in fact working, and so we should continue to do those things. Learning and using new techniques are part of the process of finding one's hair voice, but not to the point of literally exhausting everything that has been invented in the pursuit of long hair.

Honestly, long hair is and was never my goal. Rather, strong, healthy hair was and remain my objectives. As several posters to this thread have already said, I try to keep the process of hair care and maintenance very simple. Less is more, especially with fine/thin hair.

Some things to consider.

 

[january noir]

This is an informative and much-needed thread.

What is apparent as I read the comments is that what works for one doesn't work for others. And, as wonderful as LHCF is, the reason I stepped away from the forum for two years is that I became increasingly overwhelmed and frustrated by the pjism, the plethora of techniques, and, in some cases, an over-obsession with hair. It all had begun to weigh me down, and I finally said to myself, "Is this it"? I don't judge others for what they are doing, but for my purposes, it just wasn't the solution.

The important thing is finding one's "hair voice". With that in mind, one should not throw out the proverbial baby with the bath water. Some of the things each of us was doing prior to joining LHCF were in fact working, and so we should continue to do those things. Learning and using new techniques are part of the process of finding one's hair voice, but not to the point of literally exhausting everything that has been invented in the pursuit of long hair.

Similar experience for me, only I stayed away for just 3 months. My hair actually was healthier and longer/stronger before coming to LHCF. I am trying hard to repair the damage I caused to my hair by trying methods that won't work for me.

 

[Cayenne0622]

That's why its helps to have threads like this because people need to see tips and advice on hair types that are similar to our own. I made a lot of mistakes too because I was following tips that worked well for thick-haired ladies. Not happenin'. lol You live and learn though.

 

[january noir]

I LOVE Sidr Tree and am on my 3rd jar. I hope the replacement will be something that I like or better. I have just a little left in my jar and I am using it sparingly until I can order it again.

I was thinking I would use the Qhemet's Amla and Olive Heavy Cream in it's stead. I would have to use that very sparingly because it's heavier and I have fine, thin hair.

Anyone with fine, thin hair use the Amla and Olive Heavy Cream? Likey or No?

 

[MonaLisa]

.................................

 

[hOnii]

ladies who henna-- have you found that your hair gets hard after washing? I henna'd for the first time about 2 weeks ago, and thats what happened. It was very difficult for me to comb thru to detangle. The next time I washed & deep conditioned with kenra and it was alright. But today, I washed, did a light protein treatment, then deep conditioned with humecto and my hair was very hard again. I lost a lot of hair trying to detangle. Even when dry, it's semi soft (nowhere where it used to be) but slightly tangly How long does this henna take to wear off? Or does it...

 

[sweetnlow06]

ladies who henna-- have you found that your hair gets hard after washing? I henna'd for the first time about 2 weeks ago, and thats what happened. It was very difficult for me to comb thru to detangle. The next time I washed & deep conditioned with kenra and it was alright. But today, I washed, did a light protein treatment, then deep conditioned with humecto and my hair was very hard again. I lost a lot of hair trying to detangle. Even when dry, it's semi soft (nowhere where it used to be) but slightly tangly How long does this henna take to wear off? Or does it...

I have been having the same problem. I found that it usually wears off in about 2 weeks for me but the good has outweighed the bad. I have been using henna for about 3 months now. I usually DC every couple of days after. I used the ORS replen. cond. and added safflower oil, amla oil and EVOO oil after the henna and my hair was soft. The more I DC the better it gets. I don't plan on giving up the henna but I see that I need to DC more after I henna.