Calling For 3C Fine Hair Help

[bronxchick]

Hi ladies!


I am hoping for any sort of tips, suggestions and successful regimens as I move into 2014.

My hair struggles between APL and BSL due to breakage and rough ends.

I have developed a nice and simple routine over the past three months that has helped, but I'm hoping there are ladies out there who have been able to get to BSL and beyond with this hair.

Thanks in advance!

 

[melahnee]

I have type 3 fine hair and I struggle with rough ends too. I oil my hair like crazy nowadays, and regardless of the weather, I wet it (not an actual wash) a lot. My favorites are coconut oil, olive oil, and argan oil from morocco(havent used that in a while though). My hair does good when I vary the things I do and use. Just one regimen doesn't cut it for me. I only just started using oil again recently; I took a break from it because it was making my hair feel hard for a while.

Weaves help me a LOT with retention, a lot of it is due to me always having my hands in my hair and playing with it when Im not in weave. lol.

I might be one of the few, but my hair actually feels real nice when I *gasp* leave conditioner in it...it just soaks it right up and feels soft as heck. When I deep condition, I also leave it in for many many hours lol. Oil rinses before washing it out is good for me too.

Stretching my hair by bunning while wet or with oil soaked ends helps me a lot as well. Just stretching in general helps me a LOT because my ends aren't as tangly and wild.
Hope I helped a little. good luck to you!

 

[bronxchick]

Thanks for the response. I have begun to co-wash weekly and clarify once per month. I seal w/ coconut oil and this has helped. I need to get some braids up in here for a bit. I get "handsy" and need to keep them out of my hair. Lol

I will try to change things up a bit.

I have type 3 fine hair and I struggle with rough ends too. I oil my hair like crazy nowadays, and regardless of the weather, I wet it (not an actual wash) a lot. My favorites are coconut oil, olive oil, and argan oil from morocco(havent used that in a while though). My hair does good when I vary the things I do and use. Just one regimen doesn't cut it for me. I only just started using oil again recently; I took a break from it because it was making my hair feel hard for a while.

Weaves help me a LOT with retention, a lot of it is due to me always having my hands in my hair and playing with it when Im not in weave. lol.

I might be one of the few, but my hair actually feels real nice when I *gasp* leave conditioner in it...it just soaks it right up and feels soft as heck. When I deep condition, I also leave it in for many many hours lol. Oil rinses before washing it out is good for me too.

Stretching my hair by bunning while wet or with oil soaked ends helps me a lot as well. Just stretching in general helps me a LOT because my ends aren't as tangly and wild.
Hope I helped a little. good luck to you!

 

[bronxchick]

Bumping in the hopes others will chime in.

 

[havilland]

Are u relaxed or natural?

 

[bronxchick]

Natural- I haven't relaxed in probably 8 years. This hair is so frustrating.

Are u relaxed or natural?

 

[havilland]

Natural- I haven't relaxed in probably 8 years. This hair is so frustrating.

Give me an idea of your routine and how you wear your hair.

Also when was last trim, protein treatment and how often do you deep condition?

 

[bronxchick]

Good morning

I am a newbie at this, so I probably don't do as much as I could do.

I co-wash every Sunday w/ Pantene relaxed and natural and use Baba de Caracol intensive treatment while in the shower. I clarify once monthly.

Once out, I section my hair into 4 and saturate hair w/ water in a spray bottle and apply coconut oil to seal and then apply a generous amount of World of Curls curl activator gel for extra dry hair. My hair can actually stay moisturized for days after this, but I usually spritz and re-seal every night.

I usually do the pineapple under my satin bonnet but I began the GHE/baggy method and do that about every other day.

My protective style is limited to a bun with ends tucked under. I probably need to add some changes there.

Beyond that, nothing else. I just bought an electric deep conditioning cap by haven't really begun to DC because I'm not sure if I should do strictly protein and if so, how often.

Oh, I take 5000mg of biotin and have been doing all of this since October 1st. I do notice an improvement, but I am just curious to know if I could be doing more.

Give me an idea of your routine and how you wear your hair.

Also when was last trim, protein treatment and how often do you deep condition?

 

[bronxchick]

I forgot to add that I haven't had a trim since February...

 

[MileHighDiva]

OP, I'm not fully alert/awake yet, but I will say that if you have fine hair stop baggying and you probably need to dust/trim more frequently. Please note that I said dust not cut! That's what jumps out...

Hopefully, someone that is not sleep swipin'&surfin' will come and explain.

 

[bronxchick]

Got you...dust not cut! Lol thanks

OP, I'm not fully alert/awake yet, but I will say that if you have fine hair stop baggying and you probably need to dust/trim more frequently. Please note that I said dust not cut! That's what jumps out...

Hopefully, someone that is not sleep swipin'&surfin' will come and explain.

 

[darlingdiva]

OP, I'm not fully alert/awake yet, but I will say that if you have fine hair stop baggying and you probably need to dust/trim more frequently. Please note that I said dust not cut! That's what jumps out...

Hopefully, someone that is not sleep swipin'&surfin' will come and explain.

I agree with this entire post. The baggying may be weakening your fine strands by causing it to be wet or damp too much and/or too often.

 

[bronxchick]

Thank you for the input.

 

[SEMO]

bronxchick

I'm 3c/4a, but I thought I'd chime in anyway since I have fine strands and have managed to get past WL.

I would agree with the advice to dust/trim your hair. I used to avoid trimming like the plague, but in the past year I am constantly examining my ends and trimming off splits, instead of trying to hold on to them and work around them. And despite all of the dusting I've been doing, I've gotten great retention. B/c split ends will eventually break off anyway (and ignoring them will likely just lead to loosing more hair than necessary as it continues to split up the strand before breaking off).

I also noticed that your routine goes from an oil/water mix to a curl activator. I think your hair might benefit from finding a good dedicated leave-in conditioner to use before you apply the curl activator (personally, I'm really enjoying the Beautiful Curls leave-in I got from Whole Foods).

I've also noticed my own strands doing better when I've recently started incorporating some light protein into my routine. Since I'm protein sensitive, I don't use traditional protein treatments. I've just stopped avoiding products with keratin or hydrolyzed wheat protein. So you might consider adding a bit more protein to your own routine.

Good luck to you.

 

[bronxchick]

Thank you for your input. I will (reluctantly) begin to dust.

bronxchick

I'm 3c/4a, but I thought I'd chime in anyway since I have fine strands and have managed to get past WL.

I would agree with the advice to dust/trim your hair. I used to avoid trimming like the plague, but in the past year I am constantly examining my ends and trimming off splits, instead of trying to hold on to them and work around them. And despite all of the dusting I've been doing, I've gotten great retention. B/c split ends will eventually break off anyway (and ignoring them will likely just lead to loosing more hair than necessary as it continues to split up the strand before breaking off).

I also noticed that your routine goes from an oil/water mix to a curl activator. I think your hair might benefit from finding a good dedicated leave-in conditioner to use before you apply the curl activator (personally, I'm really enjoying the Beautiful Curls leave-in I got from Whole Foods).

I've also noticed my own strands doing better when I've recently started incorporating some light protein into my routine. Since I'm protein sensitive, I don't use traditional protein treatments. I've just stopped avoiding products with keratin or hydrolyzed wheat protein. So you might consider adding a bit more protein to your own routine.

Good luck to you.

 

[havilland]

Good morning

I am a newbie at this, so I probably don't do as much as I could do.

I co-wash every Sunday w/ Pantene relaxed and natural and use Baba de Caracol intensive treatment while in the shower. I clarify once monthly.

Once out, I section my hair into 4 and saturate hair w/ water in a spray bottle and apply coconut oil to seal and then apply a generous amount of World of Curls curl activator gel for extra dry hair. My hair can actually stay moisturized for days after this, but I usually spritz and re-seal every night.

I usually do the pineapple under my satin bonnet but I began the GHE/baggy method and do that about every other day.

My protective style is limited to a bun with ends tucked under. I probably need to add some changes there.

Beyond that, nothing else. I just bought an electric deep conditioning cap by haven't really begun to DC because I'm not sure if I should do strictly protein and if so, how often.

Oh, I take 5000mg of biotin and have been doing all of this since October 1st. I do notice an improvement, but I am just curious to know if I could be doing more.

I would tweak the following:

Lose that Pantene and get a better shampoo. Try Shea moisture or another shampoo with higher quality ingredients.

Use heat to deep condition.

Try heavy sealing your ends with the coconut oil and then making sure they are tucked together so they don't separate and fray.

Not sure how you are tucking your ends but make sure they aren't exposed to anything drying like a cloth scrunchie.

Alternate protein and moisture when you deep condition.

Make sure you are drinking lots of water and eating fresh fruits and veggies. It makes difference in the health of your hair.

Trim your ends regularly and protein condition just the ends as needed. They are the weaker part of the hair.

 

[bronxchick]

Thank you, I will research a better conditioning shampoo and start using heat. I gotta look for a video on dusting, too.

I would tweak the following:

Lose that Pantene and get a better shampoo. Try Shea moisture or another shampoo with higher quality ingredients.

Use heat to deep condition.

Try heavy sealing your ends with the coconut oil and then making sure they are tucked together so they don't separate and fray.

Not sure how you are tucking your ends but make sure they aren't exposed to anything drying like a cloth scrunchie.

Alternate protein and moisture when you deep condition.

Make sure you are drinking lots of water and eating fresh fruits and veggies. It makes difference in the health of your hair.

Trim your ends regularly and protein condition just the ends as needed. They are the weaker part of the hair.

 

[havilland]

OP, I'm not fully alert/awake yet, but I will say that if you have fine hair stop baggying and you probably need to dust/trim more frequently. Please note that I said dust not cut! That's what jumps out...

Hopefully, someone that is not sleep swipin'&surfin' will come and explain.

I agree about baggying. I have fine hair. It doesn't work for me.

I def think u should get a good trim and then keep up with it by dusting more often. But learn to do it yourself. Don't let some stylist hack your hair.

 

[bronxchick]

Well, I'm joining the ASL/BSL challenge so I will be lurking away for more info. I'm gonna check YouTube for a dusting video.

I agree about baggying. I have fine hair. It doesn't work for me.

I def think u should get a good trim and then keep up with it by dusting more often. But learn to do it yourself. Don't let some stylist hack your hair.

 

[classychic1908]

Have you tried skipping the oil under the activator gel? Often, leave ins interfere with the activator gel's ability to smooth the strands.

 

[bronxchick]

Since my wash day is Sunday, I'll give this a try. Thank you.

Have you tried skipping the oil under the activator gel? Often, leave ins interfere with the activator gel's ability to smooth the strands.