How to keep thickness down to the hemline?

[guccixx]

I've seen pictures on here of so many beautiful heads of hair that are so thick all the way down to the very ends and it looks great! I only wish my hair could look like that. When I gather my hair into a ponytail and feel down the length of it, I start to feel it get thinner around half way down. When i last got my hair cut, the stylist said that it was from "having long hair." Now I know this is not true! I want it to be thick all the way down, how do I do this?

[Gumball]

A lot of it is trying to be as gentle to your hair as possible. Often times even a small amount of taper won't be overtly visible. The better care you can take of your hair, the healthier it will be, and it can keep on growing without breaking. Hair may always have some taper because everyone has a shed cycle of hair falling out versus new hair growing in.

In short: Take as much care of your hair as you can. Good growing!

ETA: Also remember depending on how you style your hair the layers change. If you do a mid-head ponytail and you started with a blunt hemline then the hair growing from your nape area is lifted up before it hits the hair band, shortening the amount that is left to fall. Compare that to the hair that grows out right where the band is, which has most of its length falling down.

[verene]

Hi guccixx! Welcome to LHC!

It looks like we have similar hair. :-) Tapering is normal, though I think our hair type may be more prone to greater taper than others; fine hair is very susceptible to damage. I used to go from a normal thickness circumference at nape to less than pinky-width by the end of a braid, before I learned to take care of my hair. I have managed to thicken my hemline up by being dedicated to protecting my hair (wearing it up a lot, especially in styles that tuck the ends under.) I've also had good luck with periodic (about once every 6 months) microtrimmings. I find taking off 1/8 to a 1/2in of hair removes damage and evens up growth making my hair look thicker, even if it isn't actually any thicker.

[GoddesJourney]

The main idea is to not damage it any further. I would suggest taking anymore advice from that stylist with a grain of salt. How dare she blame your long hair, right? Anyway, it gets thinner like that because your hair is of different lengths. Some of this is unavoidable, some of it is from breakage. Avoiding damage will reduce breakage. S&D will help keep the old damage from continuing. Microtrims maybe every month or so will help remove old damage and straggly length so that the thicker, healthier part can catch up. When this happens, it will be thick at the hemline. Of course, this all takes time and some discipline on your part, but it's definately attainable. You will have to give up whatever is damaging your hair the most. A good place to start is your comb/brush. Are you ripping it through your hair? Stop it now. A wide tooth comb is probably the most gentle. Remember that plastic molded combs have a seem inbetween the teeth that causes friction and eventually damage to your hair. Sand paper is the key. Plastic brushes also have this. I have a seemless horn comb and I just bought a wooden paddle brush with wooden brush pegs attached to the rubber cushion part. It's great.

[jera]

The main idea is to not damage it any further. I would suggest taking anymore advice from that stylist with a grain of salt. How dare she blame your long hair, right? Anyway, it gets thinner like that because your hair is of different lengths. Some of this is unavoidable, some of it is from breakage. Avoiding damage will reduce breakage. S&D will help keep the old damage from continuing. Microtrims maybe every month or so will help remove old damage and straggly length so that the thicker, healthier part can catch up. When this happens, it will be thick at the hemline. Of course, this all takes time and some discipline on your part, but it's definately attainable. You will have to give up whatever is damaging your hair the most. A good place to start is your comb/brush. Are you ripping it through your hair? Stop it now. A wide tooth comb is probably the most gentle. Remember that plastic molded combs have a seem inbetween the teeth that causes friction and eventually damage to your hair. Sand paper is the key. Plastic brushes also have this. I have a seemless horn comb and I just bought a wooden paddle brush with wooden brush pegs attached to the rubber cushion part. It's great.

This is true. Seamless combs can help. I wouldn't brush at all because this can snarl and tear even the healthiest hair. I'd also try oiling the ends lightly to help seal in moisture and prevent further drying and tapering. I'd like a thicker hemline too. It's a challenge.

[myotislucifugus]

Check out Cinnamon Hair's profile. She has managed to thicken up her hemline through microtrims and cuts. If you have the patience for it, you can see where she started, and judge where you might be able to go from there. I'm in the same boat, best of luck to you.

[Anje]

To some extent, your hairdresser is right. When you grow your hair out, fewer hairs reach to the hemline, while others are shorter and still growing to reach that point. Everyone has a bit of taper, therefore, and this becomes more pronounced the longer hair gets.

How much taper you have depends on several things. One is genetics. Not everyone gets that awesome nearly taperless look that some of our members sport, no matter how hard we wish. Some folks have a significant portion of hairs that have a shorter terminal length than the longest ones, and there's nothing I know which can change that.

The other factor is trimming. If you keep shortening the longest hairs and can keep the shorter ones from breaking, all the ones that won't reach terminal before they get there will catch up to your hemline. Of course, because there's always shedding, there will always be new hairs growing, but you can eventually get a thicker hemline simply by maintaining a length for a long time. The longer that maintained length is, the longer this process seems to take.

[guccixx]

Thanks for the great advice all! I will definitely stop using my brush and use my wide toothed comb. I also have some carrot oil that I'll start using - I use hate that oily feeling! But if it's for the best, I'll do it. I will def check out her profile once I allowed to, haha, I am a new member after all. Again, thanks for all the advice!

[LadyLongLocks]

This is the biggest challenge for me! At classic I was good, but now its a real challenge! I maintained my hair for at least 10 years between tailbone and classic. My hemline was good. Now at my extreme length the big challenges are here!
I am at 58" and got here very slowly trimming often. When I get to 60" I will need to maintain it there for a long time to see if I can get it to how I want. Maybe some of my hair will never reach 60" but the test is on!
I have bangs and a shorter piece in the center of the back of my head to catch up.This has diminished the volume at the ends. The center piece is 12" shorter than the hemline and I don't know how I got this! I am not ready to cut 12"!!
Anyway, I try to really pay more attention to the ends now by being more careful when I tuck them under a bun. I also condition the last 12-18" between shampoos. I do dustings often, and trim when needed.
I think the most disappointing thing is not having the hemline thick. Its something I never thought of years ago. It will take me about 2 years to maintain and see if it gets better. The short 12" should be caught up by then. ( I hope)
My long hair journey has taken several turns! I just want my hair to be healthy with a blunt hemline. In 2 years if I can not get it where I want, then I will go shorter, probably back to classic. This was a good length with a hemline I liked!
Classic length is still LONG and I know that classic to many is their goal here.
I have been following Cinnamon and was impressed by her improved hemline!
It gave me hope!

[Cinnamon Hair]

[B]I have bangs and a shorter piece in the center of the back of my head to catch up.This has diminished the volume at the ends. The center piece is 12" shorter than the hemline and I don't know how I got this! I am not ready to cut 12"!!

I have the thinner/shorter hair thing going on in my nape region as well. I think it is rather common. Not only is that area thinner, shorter, and more tangle prone, but a big chunk in that area is a much lighter color than the rest of my hair (I would say blonde, but it's really just blonde compared to my normal color, not sure if it's a true blonde on its own).

Anyway, I agree with most of the other posters. It is all about trimming. You can either do it along the way, or wait until you reach your desired goal length. Either way works. Personally, I liked to trim once a year while I was growing. That way I would not have to think about it or keep going back to trim more, which is what I find happens when you don't have a regular trimming schedule. Lots of little trims here and there can end up taking away all your growth. So I prefer to do it once, trimming whatever amount is necessary, and be done.

It takes a while after my hair reaches a new length for the slower growing or shorter hairs to catch up. So at first it is just the leaders, but once the other hairs catch up the ends begin to thicken. Whereas if you maintain one length for a long time more hairs have a chance to reach the ends, giving you a thicker hemline.

Of course, since we all have taper (hairs in different stages of the growth process) there will be a terminal length at which growth=shed rate. Usually people who reach that length cannot maintain a thick hemline, since once a hair reaches the tips it is near at the end of its cycle and will fall out.