Thinning ends when natural

[frida1980]

Ever year when I start my twist, I always have a cut to blunt the ends. Around now this point, I find that my hair has thinned quite a bit. I've gotten about 3-4 inches of growth, but it looks like I'm going to cut 2 inches. Sigh...

Is there something I'm doing wrong that's making my ends thin?

 

[SimJam]

without knowing what ur reggie is its a bit difficult to say what ur doing wrong
but it wud seem as if ur ends are breaking off, that cud b due to a miriad of things, from over manipulation to issues with moisture/protein.

 

[Ms.Christ3n]

Your hair could be breaking off at certain points if you have single strand knots at the end.

How do you wear your hair throughout the year? Do you have healthy combing habits?

 

[Nonie]

Do you trim/dust regularly? If not, then your ends just wear and tear by virtue of being on your head. And if you don't protective style but leave them out, then that can make things worse too.

Been natural since 2001 and I have seen my hair thin in just 4 months of not dusting and I had to lose 2 inches, when in 2 years of dusting regularly (at least every 2 mths) I retained about 8-10 inches.

 

[frida1980]

Well, since this is summer I do two strand twist. I normally have straight hair in the fall/winter. Each week I take them out, dry detangle, wash with Burt's Bees Shampoo, DC with no heat, and then twist again with shea butter/aloe vera/ coconut oil. I wrap every night with a satin scarf. The tangles are sometimes small knots involving a few hairs. It's normally because I've continued twisting with just one strand.

I don't bun because it breaks off my edges badly. My hair is just not made to lay flat.

Anything I'm missing?

 

[Nonie]

Well regular dusting/trimming is one thing you seem missing, as I suspected.

Also when you wear it straight, how much do you manipulate it? Do you comb it daily? And is it left hanging down where it's rubbing on your clothes?

 

[frida1980]

I really don't trim it until the end of summer. Probly not a good idea. But having it straight is really tough in the summer. When straight, I wear it mostly up in a clip. I'll wear it down on occasions. I normally dust it every 6 weeks. I normally straighten it, roll it at night, and wear it up. I comb it no more than twice per day. It normally retains it's length during the winter. It's the summer that seems to thin it out.

 

[Nonie]

I really don't trim it until the end of summer. Probly not a good idea. But having it straight is really tough in the summer. When straight, I wear it mostly up in a clip. I'll wear it down on occasions. I normally dust it every 6 weeks. I normally straighten it, roll it at night, and wear it up. I comb it no more than twice per day. It normally retains it's length during the winter. It's the summer that seems to thin it out.

Hmm...it seems your winter regimen is working well and I see you do dust every 6 weeks. That's good.

If you wait till end of summer to trim, that might be your problem. It was mine.

Here's one years retention (starting from one inch) when I was dusting every 6-8 weeks:

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Here's two year's retention also dusting every 6-8 weeks:

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Here's what 4 months of not dusting (meaning I skipped two dusting schedules) got me (top pics):

Bottom pics show what was let when I cut off the thin ends.

So not worth it to avoid dusting regularly.
​

 

[frida1980]

hmm... I'll give it a trim after next wash. Thanks for the help.

 

[LayneJ]

What do you use to comb your natural hair? I used to use the Denman, but it was thinning my ends I noticed. I think it was because I was brushing through my hair way too many times.

The Denman is very good at getting out shed hairs, but after so many strokes, I suspect it was pulling out non-shed hairs too, which hurt my ends more than the rest of my hair.

Anyway, I now only use my fingers and a comb and everything seems all good now. I still love my Denman, but I don't use it to detangle wet hair anymore.

 

[frida1980]

I don't use a brush. Just a wide tooth comb. I used to condition before detangling, but I think I got more tangles that way. So I started to comb it dry. The roots are the worst, but it does well. I think I'll add something to my ends that sticks more. There may be a problem with dryness too.

 

[ajoke]

From your original post, I wonder if the dry detangling isn't the problem. Have you tried detangling with a bit of conditioner on?

 

[frida1980]

yep. I got way to many end tangles by doing that. Instead I dry detangle, then condition so I can fully detangle. This way I lose less hair and get less tangles on my ends.