perfect braidouts for the fine haired curlies!

Ok my hair is fine so when I do twists/twistouts they look pretty scalpy on me and I hate the way they look the first day. By day 2 it looks a little better but I still kinda look like I am baldheaded! I have LOTS of hair but my hair isn't thick by any means (maybe med-fine but more fine). So I'm happy with the softness, shine and definition I get from my twistouts but I can't seem to get it right with braidouts! They always look a hot mess.

I use conditioner (GF sleek and shine at the moment) and avocado butter (until I can order AV butters) and this works great. I love doing TnCs this way too but I can seem to get the same results with a braid out. Maybe I shouldn't braid all the way down? Because it seems my hair frizzes up as I'm undoing the braids. I even try putting some coconut oil on my fingers to aid in keeping the hair smooth but to no avail.

Suggestions?

I have thin hair but alot of it. I love the braidouts too but I cannot wear those out and about like I do the TST. If I want to rock the braidout. I have to do it Friday night, wear it all weekend (not go anywhere) and then take it down Monday morning. That way I know it is set. To maintain. I braid it into 6 big braids before bed and take those down in the morning. I smoosh coconut oil or vatika oil on the braids everyday. When I can touch my hair and I get a tiny bit of sheen on my fingers, I know they are read to take down and they will not firzz.

My hair is really fine too and when I straighten it (maybe 4 times a year), it looks like a lot but in it's natural state, it looks extra skimpy. My braidouts and twistouts were looking pretty boring but I started using less product. Less product=bigger hair! I put in my product when my hair is still pretty wet and then twist and curl or whatever I'm going to do. I just use a lot less of whatever product (just stopped using Garnier Sleek n shine for HH LTR) and I have much better results. I'm not a big fan of braid outs but I love twist outs and bantu knot outs. Try less product and setting your ends on rollers, rods, or McDonald's straws like I do (because I'm a budget queen). It will help to smooth out your ends and will give them form.

After a year, I still am unable to work the braids/braidout or twists/twistout. It just doesn't work on my hair. When I do a WNG my hair looks super thick and fluffy. When I do twists or braids it makes my hair appear thin and sparse and worst of all, straight! I did twists this week and left them in for two days without touching them. I actually wore them out in public for the first time ever and got compliments, but they just looked like macaroni hair to me. Hah. I took them down Wed. and retwisted to tighten them up and when I took them down today (for henna) my hair was practically straight. It was big, but straight. My curls were just gone.

I give up on twists OFFICIALLY. I'll be rocking a WNG for the rest of my life it seems. LOL It's taken this long to prove it to myself, but I just prefer my curls the way they are after a wash. I was trying twists for a change in the predictable WNG, but if I can't have coils, curls, and ringlets after untwisting, I just won't bother anymore.

I agree less product= bigger hair. Are you fluffing your hair? Another trick I use is I pick my roots out after taking braids out and fluffing. Makes my fine hair, nice and fluffy!

Free2Be, what products are you using???

I've tried something that I call the braid, twist, and tuck....and I'm loving it. Thinking about posting some pics. Still working on ways to give us a fuller look.

Patmichele, you're right...it's all about fluffing up those roots!

I have used Curly Pudding, raw shea butter, Darcy's Botanicals Madagascar Vanilla Styling Cream, Oyin's Burnt Sugar Pomade, Eco Styler (Olive Oil), and MJ Baby Buttercream. I've done them wet/damp, dry, air dried, sat under a dryer, etc. and always, always get the same results...scalp showing and snakey looking twists. They're never fat and fluffy.

I'm learning to deal with the disappointment. LOL When I was a little girl my mother would put my hair in two ponytails, i.e. giant double or two-strand twists and they'd never really "puff" out like my little friends. I just have hair that will poof voluminously if it's all out, but the minute you braid it or twist it, they get all snakey.

I have fine 4a/b hair. I don't use heavy products like shea butter, pomades, creams etc for my braidout or twistout because they weigh my hair down. After shampoo, DC etc., I section my hair, apply a little Vatika oil and let it air dry to about 75%. I then apply Giovanni Direct Leave in and Giovanni Hair Glue and braid or twist. I seal just my ends with a little shea butter.
HTH

Free2Be, I don't think you should give up because I'm looking at your avatar and I don't see why you couldn't rock a braid/twist out. My hair is really fine too...gets really scalpy but you have to use the right products and fluff your roots. The video that Curly Nikki posted a few days ago for a perfect chunky twist out is a perfect example. Look at how she does it. Leave all those products alone and try some simple Hello Hydration conditioner. I bet that would do the trick.

Thanks for all of your replies. I will have to try the less product suggestion. I had also just read about that on MopTopMaven's blog. I used to swear by HEHH but it doesn't seem to work for me anymore.

Hi Curlykinkynfrizzy

I have a lot of hair, but its fine. So when I do twists its a bit scalpy too. At first I tried on mostly dry hair so I could keep the shrinkage to a minimum. I didn't quite like the look of the dry twists, they just went every which way.

I found putting the twists in my wet hair made them shrink but gave me fat shiny twist and curls on the ends to hold them. I still get the scalpy if I don't put them in a brick pattern.

The brick pattern breaks up the rows of twists and covers most of the scalpy look. I get the most compliments when my hair is is fresh twists because they are so fat and shiny.

I also found that less product is better on my hair. Lots of product makes my hair look dull.

I also have fine hair and a LOT of it. My issue with my twist/braid outs is in the back of my head... my hair is not all one length so it has 1) and odd shape and 2) It takes a lot of fluffing to keep scalp from showing. Here are some things that might help:
1. if you have issues with scalp showing, try doing your braids horizontally rather than vertically. When you undo them, they should fall naturally and cover up the parts on their own.
2. The BEST braidout that I've ever done was on stretched (banded) hair. Otherwise mine look like a hot mess.
3. Use just enough product to give you some hold, don't go too overboard. 90% of the time I don't use any type of styler, but my hair holds a curl well.
4. to prevent frizz, put a little oil (a thin one) on your hands and on the braid. It's supposed to help the hair slide past each other and prevent frizz. Also, make sure when you're braiding you're keeping each section separate.. mixing the hair will create frizz.

HTH

Team fine haired (thin haired), too!!
After a lot of useless and sad-looking attempts to twist my hair I gave up. Too much scalp -showing to look nice while in twist and too much spaghetti-looking curls when in a twist out. Bantu-knots didn't work either. My hair seems to reject most of manipulation...
My hair can only stand shea butter, amla oil and anita grant's sapote castor pomade (lovelovelove) in microscopic-sized amounts.
Anything else leads to flat roots and stringy looking hair which can only be saved by using sls-ladden harsh shampoo and an acv rinse.
In these days AOHSR and HEHH works best for me. As a leave in my homemade flaxseed gel works wonders. And since I am participating in the ayurveda challenge I have high hopes in the hair powders. So far, the shikakai and the brahmi were the bomb!!!! I regulary henna and do cassia treatments on occasion.
The staple style ? My trusted wash'n go. As for protection bunning or a ponytail....I was concerned that my hair does not like the protective styles so much and i do have breakage, but I compensate this with weekly nourishing treatments and dc (whatever is in the house, mostly also aohsr mixed with honey or rhassoul/cocoa/cocoa butter/honey-mix)
And I waved longer hair goodbye and instead of retaining length I want to retain loooots of volume....

I appreciate reading all of these posts. I really was beginning to think something was wrong with me for not being able to do twists. It's like the default style of natural heads, right? Whew. I feel better all ready. Seriously. I was thinking of trying yet again tonight, but I know the results will be the same. I've tried too many times and gotten the same results each time (even following suggestions found here and on YouTube).

Volume is my goal as well and so far, I only get volume from a WNG. So I'll have to stick with that.