Thick-Thin Hair??

Ok so I've been trying to get my hair cornrowed for a month of Sundays and finally decided to take my protective styling in my own hands. I decided to just plait my hair all over so I could possibly wear different styles without actually having to do my hair, per se'. Well, I for the LIFE OF ME cannot figure out why my hair is so thick when dry and loose but appears so thin and sad when I twist or plait it. What gives?? This is what my hair currently looks like:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

girl u sound like me... giggles (in a good way). you may have a fine hair texture that is densely packed, as I do. my hair appears very thick in puffs, dry twist outs, etc. but it looks "scalpy" when i wear protective/up-do twist styles. also, by your ends being relaxed, that cuts down on fullness as well.

I co sign with the lovely young lady above me ... my hair seems to be fine and thick too lol [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I didn't notice the style the first time yep you have the same syndrome it looks thick when out but thin when braided or in twist that's why i use to have to add weave when i was relaxed

LOL you can as my braids get frizzy they look fuller lol but if you don't want the frizz you'll get the scalp , just try applying some moisturizer on it mines doesn't friz so much it looks like cotton more i just twist it smh

also, please keep in mind ... your roots are 'newly natural' and our hair is constantly shedding, or maybe even breaking (hopefully not). so the longer you are natural, more hairs will eventually grow in to fill those 'voids.' when i first BC'd, the scalpiness was a bit overwhelming and twisted styles looked e-l-e-m-e-n-t-a-r-y. but now that it's been awhile, my hair is filling in nicely and twists/protective styles aren't as detrimental to the naked eye. in regards to the 'frizzies', that's the nature of natural hair. there are a few things that we can do to tame it a bit (i.e. tie the hair down, apply heavy butters, gel, etc.). but i have discovered that [unlike with relaxed hair] frizz will be frizz and it's something that took a little getting used to. our strands grow at different rates and when natural, it's more noticeable than when relaxed. so hang in there chica

Lol, oh no! Not BREAKAGE! Can you say worst nightmare? Y'all I wish I could just press fast forward to see my "graduation" hair! Alas, patience is not my strong suit. I'm hanging in though. at least some things are becoming second nature. I think I have found most of my stple products too. Oh, btw my hair looked better today but I got fidgety and ended up taking it down. Will try again tomorrow, lol.

i would like to join the thick and fine club too, lol! in my dreams i can wear beautiful un-enhanced(no weave) 2-strand twists and box braids, but alas it is not to be. i have lots of hair on my head but it's really fine so any style that separates and tightens is a disaster lol. it's cool though, i have a classmate who's hair i lust after lol, her staple style is aforementioned two strand twists, and in a twist fate she lusts after my soft fluffy afro that doesn't quite stand up lol!

I'm also a fine haired, dense lady! Dry styling definitely looks best on me.

I have the same exact problem with my hair! I think it's because our hair is just dense but not necessarily "thick". I've always been the person with "a whole lot of hair" but when i put it in a bun instead of being full it's small and my whole head only makes about 6 medium size braids

here's a good vid for us fine haired chicas to achieve a full-fro look

https://www.youtube.com/profile?feature=iv&user=napngo&annotation_id=annotation_919439#p/u/9/WxCe-vHFlM8

thus far, maintaining definition has been a challenge, mostly because i haven't really taken much effort to find a styler that gives decent hold without being too crunchy and causing dryness. i'll style a twist-out in the a.m. and end up as a Chaka Khan look alike by the p.m. but hey, i don't mind "big" hair. if i discover a decent styler at some point, i'll report back chica.

Thats me. Crazy looking twists and cornrows and definitely had to add hair when I was relaxed. Fine and densely packed, but it could be worse, it could be fine and thin. That's even harder. I'll admit my hair was making me crazy because I could only have a decent twist out for more than one day, but recently I've fallen in love with Darcy's Botanicals Curl Styling Cream Gel. Crazy curl definition. I don't even know if it's for sale yet, (it's a new product that she'll be releasing soon). It has taken care of that Chaka Khan puff thing I had going on the second day of a twist out. (Really by the end of the night on the 1st day). I love it. I've gotten five day hair with it. I remoisturize with her Daily Leave-in.

But you can experiment with what you have at home to see if it'll help tame your hair. I'm also able to achieve the same look by using a EP Olive Oil and Mango butter with a gel over top of it (I use Kiss My Face Upper Management Gel (medium hold)). Same principal as the Darcy's - cream and gel mixed. I stumbled upon this accidently on a hair board and tried it. It worked. Then I purchased the Darcy's and got even better results. I'm in love and my puffy roots problem is solved. I used very little gel and I twisted on dry hair.

yes, you are absolutely right...i'd rather have fine/dense any day. i'm going to try mixing gel with Qhemets burdock root butter cream to see if i can get some hold/lasting definition and report back. thx Renny.

Sthrngal92 wrote:i would like to join the thick and fine club too, lol! in my dreams i can wear beautiful un-enhanced(no weave) 2-strand twists and box braids, but alas it is not to be. i have lots of hair on my head but it's really fine so any style that separates and tightens is a disaster lol. it's cool though, i have a classmate who's hair i lust after lol, her staple style is aforementioned two strand twists, and in a twist fate she lusts after my soft fluffy afro that doesn't quite stand up lol!

OMGosh!!!!! I thought I was the only person who had dreams of wearing certain styles and my hair was all thick and luscious. I've even imagined styles in my mind and when I do them...it's a different story for my thin hair (newly named Charlie)...LOL

That is me all day, twist are always scalpy and sickly looking but when i take them out I look like Freddrick Douglas Great Great Grandaughter. Or when i straighten it is thin. I've accepted that is just my hair type.

Nikcoils wrote:That is me all day, twist are always scalpy and sickly looking but when i take them out I look like Freddrick Douglas Great Great Grandaughter. Or when i straighten it is thin. I've accepted that is just my hair type.

mizcreativelyme wrote:yes, you are absolutely right...i'd rather have fine/dense any day. i'm going to try mixing gel with Qhemets burdock root butter cream to see if i can get some hold/lasting definition and report back. thx Renny.

I have the Qhemets Burdock too. I keep forgetting I have it. I'll have to try it as well. Let me know how you make out.

Nikcoils wrote:That is me all day, twist are always scalpy and sickly looking but when i take them out I look like Freddrick Douglas Great Great Grandaughter. Or when i straighten it is thin. I've accepted that is just my hair type.

LMAO!!!! that's funny as hell, great great grand daughter!!! LOL My hair is the same way, NOW!!! My hair used to be nice and thick and the it started shedding and breaking for some unknown reason. But when I do my twist outs my hair looks way better. While twisted the twists are all thin but hey. I can't do anything about it until all this hair grows back. So for now, I just embrace it how it is.

By the way, Nikcoils, your hair is a great length!!!! That's what I am shooting for. How long is it when it's curly????

curlista wrote:I have the same exact problem with my hair! I think it's because our hair is just dense but not necessarily "thick". I've always been the person with "a whole lot of hair" but when i put it in a bun instead of being full it's small and my whole head only makes about 6 medium size braids

Now that's exactly how my hair is. It appears thick when styled, but if i do twists or something, I don't have to do too many. I wouldn't trade her in for anything though lolz so I'm learning to deal. I still have to use a little braiding hair when getting a sew in. This hair business gets to be a little crazy at times.

misskris wrote:

Nikcoils wrote:That is me all day, twist are always scalpy and sickly looking but when i take them out I look like Freddrick Douglas Great Great Grandaughter. Or when i straighten it is thin. I've accepted that is just my hair type.

LMAO!!!! that's funny as hell, great great grand daughter!!! LOL My hair is the same way, NOW!!! My hair used to be nice and thick and the it started shedding and breaking for some unknown reason. But when I do my twist outs my hair looks way better. While twisted the twists are all thin but hey. I can't do anything about it until all this hair grows back. So for now, I just embrace it how it is.

By the way, Nikcoils, your hair is a great length!!!! That's what I am shooting for. How long is it when it's curly????

This is my hair curly I had just washed it

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This how it draws up even more when it is dry when i attempt a wash n go but tend to stick to twist out to stretch it and then fluff.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]