I am fine and thin - are you???

Hey ladies. I need to hear from those who have both fine and thin hair. My hair has always been soft - never had a problem with that, which is what a lot of naturals seem to struggling with.

However, I am looking for products that can give the appearance of thickness or maybe even thicken the hair - but that will work and are good for natural hair.

Genetically, I think this is my hair cross to bear (my mother and grandmother both have thin hair) and I'm a Type 1 diabetic, so I think this may affect my hair too since it affects other parts of my body.

Any tips/suggestions on products? Thanks and [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] .

I work with diabetic individuals and I agree about the hair part. I hear a lot of complaints about perms (perms not relaxers) not taking, hair thinning, and falling out. For that all I can think to suggest is being meticulous with your hair care regimen.

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread cuz I have fine hair too.

tiashauntee wrote:I work with diabetic individuals and I agree about the hair part. I hear a lot of complaints about perms (perms not relaxers) not taking, hair thinning, and falling out. For that all I can think to suggest is being meticulous with your hair care regimen.

Tia, do you know if they are Type 1 (juvenile, get it as a kid) like me, or are they Type 2 (adult-onset)?

My hair hasn't started thinning or falling out - it's just thin. But, my mother has started to use hair on her crown and I figured that was coming for me next, so that's one reason I went natural.

Diabetes affects your immune system and thyroid I think, so I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

Wondering if I can find a Type 1 Diabetic natural with thin and fine hair....

BlakButterfli wrote:

tiashauntee wrote:I work with diabetic individuals and I agree about the hair part. I hear a lot of complaints about perms (perms not relaxers) not taking, hair thinning, and falling out. For that all I can think to suggest is being meticulous with your hair care regimen.

Tia, do you know if they are Type 1 (juvenile, get it as a kid) like me, or are they Type 2 (adult-onset)?

My hair hasn't started thinning or falling out - it's just thin. But, my mother has started to use hair on her crown and I figured that was coming for me next, so that's one reason I went natural.

Diabetes affects your immune system and thyroid I think, so I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

Wondering if I can find a Type 1 Diabetic natural with thin and fine hair....

I interact mainly Type 2 diabetics and of course they are on other meds like a metformin or TZD and so I wonder if those also have any impact of their hair. I would love to see more research but of course my job could care less about those few people.

Hi,

I have fine/thin hair as well and I have found that Infusium 23 liquid leave in has help to give my hair a thicker appearance. I have given up on the idea that my hair will actually "BE" thick and have just found ways to make it appear thick. Both of my parents have very soft, fine, thin hair so there is no escaping it for me.
Just a few tips that I use regularly:

* Dont use too many leave in products. I found that just using one creamy leave in works best and doesn't weigh my hair down which is good for more volume and bigger hair!
* Go easy on the oils. For thick hair lots of oils can be great, for fine hair the oil can actually start to dissolve the hair shaft over long periods making the hair more fragile and thinner. I use oil only on my scalp and only a couple times a week. I don't "seal" my ends I just keep them moisturized and covered when possible.
* Color/Henna. Darker color (try to use henna [if your hair likes it] or a natural hair color system) will give your hair the appearance of being thicker. I keep my hair my natural color, but have to color it darker in the summer because my natural color (chestnut brown) turns almost blonde and the lighter it is the thinner it looks.
* Diffuse. This is something I do when I want big obnoxious hair. Since this uses heat I only do it once in a while. I let my hair air dry with conditioner about 80% then I diffuse the crown and front until completely dry. I then flip my head over letting all my hair fall to the front (take the diffuser off) and blast my hair with the "cool" setting on my dryer using my fingers to stretch my curls a bit. Flip back over and WHALA! Big thick "looking" hair :-)

Hope this helps

I have fine strands and for thicker looking strands I use products that have vitamins like" Pantene conditioners(great) and ones that say they are "smoothing" products because they bond to the strand and they appear "thicker" also go to the hair product section in vitamin shoppe they have lots of JASON products for volume and thickening up hair.
I also found doing Brahmi/Amla treatments has kept my hair from shedding and being fragile.
Henna didnt work well with my hair it left it super crunchy and drying even after 2 steam DC treatments. And leave ins are awesome too.

Im with you on the thin/fine hair. What i do is two strand twist ( the bigger the twist the fluffier your hair would be) i have 4-6 twist i do at night. I take it down and fluff in the morning in order for my hair to look thick. I stay away from heat and all times.
I co-wash only with Herbal Essence Hello Hydration once a week.



I agree on the oils, it makes me look as if i dont have that much hair at all, so i dont use alot of oil. I do use Coconut oil to oil my scalp, twice a week... very little.

Hope that helps.

@ MicaiahTy - thanks! I think your hair is pretty, but nice to know I'm not the only one out here who struggles with this.

Yes, I straightened my hair last night (random things I decide to do at night when I'm bored) and it was a frizzy mess. When straight, my hair just LOOKS that much thinner.

I will try doing bigger twists. Are you doing them on dry hair? And if so, do you blow it out first? I read that gives you a 'bigger" look, but if I use a water-based product to twist, I get shrinkage again.

@OmoOsun,

Yes, I've given up on actually HAVING thick hair. lol One can look at my eyebrows (something I've gone to looking at to determine if people have thick hair) and tell I don't have thick hair. On the plus side, I have no hair on my legs and have never had to shave them.

I really haven't found a leave-in I like, that doesn't make my hair shrink. However, I do prefer a heavier one, as to me, it seems to weigh my curls down. In my head, that equals a thicker look, but I could be wrong. lol

I plan on doing a henna this weekend and am BEYOND exciting to see how my hair changes! My hair looks black, though it's not jet black, so I hope any color changes don't make it look thinner.

Ok - confession - I don't know how to use a diffuser! You appear to have 3 hair and I have 4a, so I'm not sure how much "hang" I would get flipping my hair to the front, but I'm willing to try. If there is conditioner in my hair, then I get shrinkage - will the diffuser help alleviate some of that?

Doesn't shrinkage help make your hair appear thicker?

As for strengthening the hair, I loooove love love amla for that. For some people henna strengthens their hair, but henna dried me out.

My routine is:

Saturdays, i co-wash with either Organix Shea butter or Coco Butter Conditoner.

When it is completely washed out, i use Herbal Essence Hello Hydration or Totally Twisted conditoner and just put goob globs of it in my hair. I start doing the tightly curly method by separating the curls, i put them into six sections (three on each side) and i twist my hair (wet)

I let that air dry (takes about 3-4 hours) sometime i just leave the twist over night. Sunday morning, i untwist and sunday night, i retwist dry hair. i will either seal my ends with coconut oil or Olive oil.

I retwist/untwist dry hair Sunday - Friday. This should give me fluffy (fake) thick hair for a week. i dont add any other products. In the morning i after i untwist i wet my hands and fluff.

Because i live in Houston where the humidity is a hot mess, my hair does the Dr. Jeckle/ Mr. Hyde thing and magically grows to look thicker than what it really is.. which is a beautiful thing. I try not to touch it because it will look frizzy.

No heat at all..

OH.. Last night, i bantu knotted my twist.. took it down today... OMG.. i got a new hairstyle..

Oh hair looked even thicker!!! U cant tell me i didnt look cute today!!!! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


Well take photos when i get home..

Oh Lawd!! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] LOVE IT!!

Hope this helps.

Ty

MicaiahTy - I want to try Bantu knots, but just not sure how to do them. Please post pics - I can't wait to see.

I tried the tightly curly method, but maybe I didn't do it right or it could have been the conditioner. My hair was just frizzy and the next day, I likened it to a dirty eraser. It was very dull looking - maybe it was the conditioner I used?

i have a video on youtube about it.

www.youtube.com/micaiahty

i did it and showed what it came out to be.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

http://public.fotki.com/micaiahty/

I use Herbal Essence Totally Twisted or Hello Hydration. I like Hello Hydration because it has no scent to it.

oh the bantu knots came out really well, i think i will do a video on them as well.

that photo was the tightly curly method. it lasted 8 days.