The orginal Fine hair thread 2013

trinity8mod8

New Member
Yay, a fine hair thread.

I have a tip! The best thing that I could have started doing for my hair was doing hot oil treatments with olive, avocado and coconut oils. These oils penetrate the shaft, help you retain moisture longer and make your hair softer.

And the most amazing thing that I noticed after my first HOT was that I no longer needed to trim all of the hair that I was about to trim off because it got dry and rough during the winter. But my ends stopped feeling rough, my hair detangled very easily, and I stopped getting as many SSKs after the treatment. So HOTs = less trimming.
 

SpiceUpMyHair

Well-Known Member
Fined hair sister here....smh
Ladies your stories is the summary of my hair journey. I grow my hair the ends looks thin (see through) so I cut it because My roots are thick. That works out for a bit and then I get the cutting itch again. Now I am looking into Japanese reconditioning as an alternative. Supposedly it decreases your breakage and shedding. I need to look it to it more.
 

darlingdiva

Well-Known Member
Great thread!

I always enjoy fine hair threads/discussions because I feel it is often overlooked.

For my fine hair, I have discovered the following:

Detangling: I have gone back and forth with several detangling methods over the years (finger detangling, detangling in the shower, adding watery and creamy leave-ins to my dry hair, etc.), but I always return to finger detangling. It's what works best for my hair. I definitely agree with Bublin about pulling the hair apart before raking through it. It certainly makes a difference in the amount of hair that I lose.

Protein: Protein is not optional for my hair. I must use protein every time that I wash my hair, and I make sure that my protein use is not just limited to the wash process (I use products with protein when I style my hair sometimes to plump up my strands.). Also, the protein product must stay on my hair the longest during the wash process (i.e., I always pre-poo with protein conditioners.).

Dustings and Trims: Dustings and trims are also not optional for my hair. I dust/trim every three to four months to maintain my ends. For my hair, dustings/trims every three to four months keep my ends maintained in addition to moisturizing and sealing my ends.

Low Manipulation AND Protective Styling: I capitalized "AND" in the title because, for my hair, low manipulation and protective styling must be done together. I can't just choose one. I protective style and keep manipulation to a minimum via twists and twist outs. I have heard that a lot of women avoid twists because it encourages tangles in their hair, but I reduce tangles by doing medium twists and keeping my hair moisturized. I've noticed that the more moisturized my twists and twist outs are, the easier my detangling sessions are (due to decreased tangles). My main styles are pinned-up twists and twist outs.

Product Application: For my fine hair, I've come to realize that product application is key. It isn't always that a product is "bad"; sometimes, the way that I've applied the product isn't the best way for my hair. For example, I've noticed that my hair responds better when I spritz a product into my hand and apply it to my hair instead of spritzing the product directly onto my hair. I've also found that I really don't need to apply a lot of product to my hair, and that I should always apply products to my hair in sections.

Oils: My hair loves oils. They help (along with proper moisture) to cut down on frizz and give my hair a nice sheen. My newest favorite is wheat germ oil.

Banding: Banding is a heat-free way for me to stretch my hair. Plus, it gives my twists a nice crinkle.

Shampoo: My hair thrives on a clean scalp, so I always shampoo my hair. Co-washing does not work for me.
 

DarkJoy

Bent. Not Broken.
frequent dustings...and I mean FREQUENT every 6-8 weeks. I seem to be 'growing' faster this way.
9) Schedule a trim every 6 to 8 weeks. The ends of fine hair may split even if you do your best to avoid that.

wow. 6- 8 weeks. Ive been trying to do every 10-12 weeks. Maybe its not enough.

The times I get lazy and don't trim, around 12 weeks I usually realize it hasn't made growth progress. Like right now :ohwell:. 6 weeks is a must.

My shears broke at New Years, so I need to buy a new pair stat!
 

NappyNelle

Kinky Coily 4A, Fine Strands, WSL
Fine haired natural! I'm MBL and trying to get to WhIP. This is the longest, healthiest, and thickest my hair has ever been.
 

JBunnie

New Member
OP, THANK YOU!!!! I was actually thinking about starting a thread about fine hair styling problems I'm having so this is right where I need to be.

Thank you to everyone who has already responded, I've only read one page and I've already been to church and back. So I figured, "let me stop and speak on what I see on the first page so I don't have one SUPER LONG post"

When I decided to embrace my curls I was so confused. I stopped relaxing in early 07 but I would always flat iron my iron and I was actually burning my hair straight and had no idea. So in the middle of last year when I started wearing my hair in twists outs and knots outs I didn't understand why I had so much damn hair but it looked so sparse. When I flat ironed it I was able to get it light, full, fluffy and with tons of volume. But my twists and curls looked.... sickly. Just like Bublin, said. I can't keep my hair in twists or braids and style them in any which way because they all look so sad. And it's just frustrating because I have so much damn hair, and people always tell me all that pretty thick hair, can I have some etc... But you can't tell in twists/braids and twists outs etc...

I've been bunning through the winter, which has worked well for me. But as it was mentioned before wet bunning = birds nest. So I have to stretch and dry before I can successfully bun. Either that or I wet bun, don't let it dry all the way, take it down and twist for the night. I also adopted cowashing for the winter to keep my moisture levels up and I've fallen in love, so even though it's warming up in Atlanta I'm sticking to cowashing at least once a week. I try and go to the salon every 8 weeks, so I let them shampoo. (Or on the off chance that I want to straighten my hair myself then I'll shampoo my hair on my own)

JulietWhiskey, did you post about Neutral Protein Filler in the March Hits and Misses thread. I remember reading about it and getting upset because I just bought Toppik protein leave-in from Sally's with no input from anyone here. Then after seeing that NPF got a favorable review on here and it was cheaper, I got upset :cry2:

I want to keep my curls but nightly twisting gets taxing as well, plus the daily manipulation worries me. My hair has been growing and retaining but I find that I've hit a slow spot so I started taking Vivisical. Only been on for a month and I haven't straightened since so I can't really weigh in on it's effectiveness.

Ok, off to read page 2
 

charmtreese

Well-Known Member
I'm natural with fine medium density 4 b,a hair. The whole reason I decided to go natural was because after I grew my relaxed hair to BSL I was really unhappy with the overall thin appearance. I have found a regimen that is somewhat working with my natural hair, but I'm only SL and my style options are non-existent.

Thanks for starting this thread OP!
 

SUPER SWEET

Well-Known Member
I am a fine haired lady that is having such trouble with getting past SL. It's like my ends refuse to not split at that length and weaves are reckoning havoc.:sad:
 

JBunnie

New Member
coolsista-paris, where do you work, if you don't mind me asking.

laylaaa, thank for the spritz recipe!

EnExitStageLeft, what's the modified LOC method?

My shed hairs tend to tangle towards the end as well. I always get shed hairs that knot with an attached hair at my ends. Plus my ends never twists together. But that's probably a combination of my heat damaged ends and my fine strands.

NappyNelle, can you share what you did to get to that length and to keep your hair healthy?
 

JBunnie

New Member
SUPER SWEET, do you cowash and/or bun? When I started my HHJ back in April (I think) I got my ends trimmed and I was around collar bone length. When winter rolled around I started cowashing and bunning in addition to all the other healthy hair practices I adopted and that got me passed SL but not quite APL yet. I admit I find I've had a slow in growth/rentention but I do believe that cowashing and bunning helped me get to where I am now.
 

EnExitStageLeft

Well-Known Member
JBunnie

A Modified LOC method (Liquid oil cream Method) is basically making this method suit you needs. My Hair prefers Liquid Cream Oil and a Heavy Sealant like a Butter or Pomade.

My suggestion is to try the classic LOC(B) (Liquid oil cream <and butter if you want to be fancy lol>) method first and if it doesn't work try LCO(B)(Liquid cream oil <and again butter if you want to get fancy>). I recommend the butter because of the tangling we both receive towards the ends.

I hope this helps:)
 

greight

Well-Known Member
coolsista-paris

Well, as all us fine strands ladies know, our hair tangles like a *BLEEP*. So I've learned that for my hair to remain knot or tangle free I have to detangle once everyday or every other day. I've also realized that my fine strands love protein, so twice a month I do a reconstructive treatment to keep them nice and plumped.

I personally feel protein is severely underrated with natural hair and especially fine hair. Which reconstructor do you use?

I use Duo Tex every wash and I use Aphogee 2-step once every 2 months, but I think I might upgrade that to monthly but I'm lazy. This has worked well for me. I've retained more and I don't deal with breakage.

I have never had protein overload and moisture/protein balance is overrated for my strands :look:. My hair gives the middle finger to most of the natural hair advice out there :lachen:
 

MileHighDiva

A+ Hair Care Queen
SUPER SWEET, do you cowash and/or bun? When I started my HHJ back in April (I think) I got my ends trimmed and I was around collar bone length. When winter rolled around I started cowashing and bunning in addition to all the other healthy hair practices I adopted and that got me passed SL but not quite APL yet. I admit I find I've had a slow in growth/rentention but I do believe that cowashing and bunning helped me get to where I am now.

JBunnie what are you cowashing with? I've been using As I Am Coconut Co-Wash and love it, but I want to know what other fine haired ladies are using to cowash. Is your scalp clean with whatever your using? Please Advise. TIA
 

iamtan

Well-Known Member
Yes!!! A fine hair thread. I have MBL fine hair and i just recently notice breakage on my ends. I trimmed and still had breakage. Then I realize that I hadn't been cowashing and that stopped the breakage completely. Cowashing helps!!!!
 

hannan

Well-Known Member
The best advice I ever followed was to finger comb. I've put a comb in my hair once in the past three weeks and I know I'm retaining more. I had a lot of hair being pulled out no matter how softly I combed through it and less comes out now. I notice less damage to the strands themselves too.

I've grown my hair to waist length but I really think I could have been here a lot faster if I followed this rule. I was the BIGGEST skeptic.
 

EnExitStageLeft

Well-Known Member
I personally feel protein is severely underrated with natural hair and especially fine hair. Which reconstructor do you use?

I use Duo Tex every wash and I use Aphogee 2-step once every 2 months, but I think I might upgrade that to monthly but I'm lazy. This has worked well for me. I've retained more and I don't deal with breakage.

I have never had protein overload and moisture/protein balance is overrated for my strands :look:. My hair gives the middle finger to most of the natural hair advice out there :lachen:

greight

I love the GVP Version of Joico Kpak Reconstructor, Curl Junkie Repair Me, Spiral Solutions Protein Treatment, SSI Fortifying Masque and Okra Reconstructor, Mizani Kerafuse, Mill Creek Biotin and Keratin Condishes and the Duo Tex.

I LOVE RECONSTRUCTORS! :lachen:.
 

Carmelella

Well-Known Member
Joining the club!! This sounds exactly like me. I'm relaxed/texlaxed (don't ask lol). When I was natural it looked like I had a huge mass of hair when air dried and when you look close it's like a cotton ball ... Just a mass of fine interlaced hair. Flat ironed it's just flat as hell. It's the same now relaxed... Air dried equals tons of body, flat ironed I feel bald. The front of my hair is extra sensitive to relaxers :nono: and pretty much any type of manipulation. My hair is always fly away city.

I will be investing in a no seam comb to prevent breakage when combing.

When bunning or when stretching relaxers I give up the comb and brush all together and smooth hair and products down with my hand.

I rarely flat iron and don't even attempt the bone straight look b/c it won't look good anyways. I typically only go up to 250-300 degrees.

Wool jackets are the devil!! My hair is not chewed up and overall I am mostly on track with my retention but I have seen the effects of a wool coat on my hair from just one day!! Tons of tiny splits on my ends! i cut them immediately b4 they split farther up.

I stay far away from the sulfates and air dry 90% of the time. Rollersets still have my hair looking too flat for my liking. For straight ish looks I rather blow dry on low/medium on 80% air dried hair then flat iron @ 270. :/

Wigging/bunning/scarfing/hatting it as much as possible to avoid manipulation. Hoping to reach BSL by august/September

Any advice for the relaxed ladies? How do we balance this obvious "abuse" to our fine strands.... Also noting that detangling my natural hair was also murdah!!
 

JBunnie

New Member
MileHighDiva, I'm using Giovanni Smooth As Silk right now. I used Aussie Moist for a time (until the bottle I had finished) I liked it but I find it wasn't as moisturizing as SAS. (It might have been in my head though, the cone thing psychs me out a little at times). I cowash once a week and my scalp is clean and I don't feel build up on my hair either. I said before that I generally shampoo every 8 weeks when I go to the salon. My stylist actually has short curly hair, has tried cowashing and doesn't believe in it. Though I didn't tell her that I cowash she made no mention of build up in my hair or that she suspects that I've been cowashing, and its worked well for me for the past months so it seems that SAS is going the job

When I buy my Oyin snack pack I'm going to try the Honey Hemp Condish for cowashing as well.

I was just in Sally's on Thursday and was contemplating getting the As I Am cowash but decided against it because it's in a jar. Just doesn't seem shower friendly. And I don't too much fancy sticking my finger in something over and over again. It's a necessary evil for styling, but I rather avoid it when washing.
 

MileHighDiva

A+ Hair Care Queen
JBunnie good call! That jar is annoying as heck! That's one of the reasons I was asking, my jar is probably full of who knows what from the shower. However, the product performs well. I'll look into the SAS, since your scalp is clean.
 

JBunnie

New Member
hannan, LOL at "just a woman in a binder" (Totally unrelated I know but I audibly laughed when I read it.)

EnExitStageLeft, I just bought the GVP version of Joico Kpak Reconstructor, trying to finish this GPB before I use it. I use Curl Junkie Repair Me as well. I LOVE it. At first I was skeptical because of the price but I don't use it a lot and when I do a ton isn't necessary so I find it justifiable.

Carmelella, the middle of my hair gets cotton like and I don't understand why!!!! It drives me insane. But the hair in that area of my head seems to be coarser than the rest, smh.
 

Wenbev

Well-Known Member
Fine haired conundrum here. I'm natural, fine, thin strands, but ridic density!
Found better luck as a straight haired natural for now. :look: Use heat 2x-3x a month and good heat protectants.
 

keranikki

Natural, 3abc/4a, Fine, medium density
Re: The original Fine hair thread 2013

I'm happy to see a thread for fine hair. I just realized today that I have fine hair and need to change my regimen a little bit. I have way too much protein and not enough moisture-rich products. Going to ULTA tomorrow to take some products back and get what I actually need.

I pressed my hair to do a LC for another thread and ended up with the very dry ends with the use of a heat protectant. :sad: I received some feedback on my hair situation, went and bought a reconstructor and leave-in conditioner. Pre-pooed with avocado, grape seed, and jojoba oil; shampooed; then, used reconstructor (let's pause here). The reconstructor left my hair soft, but not supple. So I used ORS as a dc (bad choice:kick:). It left my hair sooo dry. I tried to do damage control with Paul Mitchell condish. It did not work. Needless to say, I oiled the crap out of my hair to detangle (leave-in condish was worthless), then twisted my hair up. I'm hoping it helps. I've learned so much from the posts I just read, so I'm definitely going to incorporate some new ideas.

The pic below is from when I pressed my hair for my LC.
 

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mshoneyfly

Well-Known Member
Fine haired texlaxed 4b/c Lo Po lady here

This thread is right on time!! subscribed!!

Im grazing SL for my longest layer and 1 week post. Stretching to 12 weeks and leaving some texture has given me a second wind in my HHJ. This was the first time I retained some length in years. I feel Im on the right track to growth and thickness.

My hair loves products with collagen, hydrolyzed silk, amino acids, other proteins and thrives best when I limit cones.

As Bublin said, detangling can mean pulling strands apart one by one for us. VO5 Extra Body works great for this. It is also my fav Cowash conditioner.

The Bantu knot out in my avatar was too stressful on my edges and I prefer to wait till my hair is long for braid outs. I don't really have a pro style that I like so I dc and flat iron once a week. I always use some sort of protein product before heat + heat protectant.

For color, strength and moisture I do henna glosses+hibiscus. I am experimenting with the LOC/B and the GHE method modified for relaxed hair. I agree with EnExitStageLeft that butter on ends of hair seems to lock in moisture better and keep tangles away.

I am also using brahmi, amla and camillia oils for sealing and prepooing but still love jojoba and safflower oils.

Thanks for this thread :)
 

EnExitStageLeft

Well-Known Member
MileHighDiva

...ERMMMMM! :look: Let me not lie lol. I'm really not good at describing scents, however I will say that they all have a pleasant scent. Nothing pungent or irritating to the senses. Aphoghee 2 Step just was NOT for me. First off, IT STANKS! Second off, it messy. Third off, IT STANKS!. I just couldn't get with it. I'm not going to front though, my results were pretty freakin' spectacular. However I get the same results with the spiral solutions protein treatment and duo tex and cul junkie repair me if your looking for something better :). I recommend those if your looking for something similar :).

Hope this helps:).

Also ladies there is a challenge were we are focusing on thickening our hair in volume and strand. Here is the link: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=675599. I hope to see some of you wonderful ladies there:).
 

EnExitStageLeft

Well-Known Member
I just bought the GVP version of Joico Kpak Reconstructor, trying to finish this GPB before I use it. I use Curl Junkie Repair Me as well. I LOVE it. At first I was skeptical because of the price but I don't use it a lot and when I do a ton isn't necessary so I find it justifiable.

Report back with how much you love it. I can almost promise you will :lol:. Our fine strands crave keratin deliciousness that is this product. I don't mean to be dramatic, but I just really like the stuff :grin:.
 

Bublin

Well-Known Member
DarkJoy
Now that we have a place of our own we all need to vent first :lol:
I'm sure alot more pictures, regimens and products will soon start popping up.
 
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