Methods to thicken fine hair?

[Amelie]

Hi all, sorry this probably gets posted a lot but I'm currently on the cusp of getting a weave in the hopes of finally adding some volume to my hair!

I am a very low maintenance kind of girl and rarely if ever style my hair, so I really would appreciate low maintenance tips to thicken it up. I'm willing to try most things!

I'm planning on going to have an inch or two cut off at the hair salon next Tuesday, as my ends are really atrocious -dry, super knotty, and a lot of breakages. I was planning on just getting a simple blunt hemline, with little to no other trimming (I have had layering and feathering in the past and I fear they both made my hair appear more thin). If anyone has any recommendations of other hairstyles that might create volume I'd love to hear from you!

Currently my hair is bra strap length, I henna, and am hoping to start hendigo-ing shortly.

Thanks!

[Emme76]

I also have very fine/thin hair - and looking for methods to make it appear thicker. So I think this thread is GREAT! :)

At the moment I am sitting with a honey lightning treatment that I will follow up with a cassia treatment. I read in another thread that it will make the effect of cassia even better - and thicken the hair strands. I am not sure if it will work on my hair. But everything is worth a try!

I got another suggestion. To spray one´s hair with rooibos tea. The effect is also suppose to be thickening. I haven´t tried this. But I think I will - soon.

I am also thinking about caca brun. I understand you use henna already. I prefer my brown tones - so for now I am staying away from henna. But it is also suppose to have thickening qualities.

My hair is a bit odd - since it never is really happy. Either I use to heavy products. Or to light products. It lays flat...or just fly away. :confused: And I have tried a bunch of different products.

If I stay to a strict routine it is happier and thicker. I can´t wash it so often. And I need to do a moisturizing treatment every week. Cassia once in a while, and a protein treatment every 2 weeks. But during summer I didn´t have energy for any treatment at all. I got really lazy. And it is starting to show on my hair. Just dry, flat mess. And I am not happy at all :(!

So I will keep my eye on this thread. I hope others will have even better ideas :D...

Oh - almost forgot. I did try castor oil on my roots - and a bit on my length. I did find it´s qualities nice. Made my hair feel a bit fuller. But even that I diden´t have the energy to keep up. It is a very heavy oil - so it felt a bit messy.

30 more minutes to go on my honey lightning treatment. Then time for cassia. I will let you know how it turns out :):)

I do use dry schampoo on my roots. Just to add some volume. Otherwise it lays flay to my head. :(

bye for now...:cheese:

[Madora]

You can achieve the illusion of thicker hair with henna (or so I've read) but henna is permanent so tread carefully.

There is no way of thickening your hair. You are born with a certain number of follicles and that is what you're stuck with.

The only natural way to thicken hair is to let it grow longer so that the shorter hairs grow out more and add to the bulk of the longer strands.

A blunt hemline is a good way to give the illusion of thicker hair.

[ratgirldjh]

My hair isn't really fine but it is a little thinner than I like and I seem to have some thinning going on. I've recently started with egg washing again (1 egg, 1/2 (or less) tsp castor oil, lime juice and water + drops of EO and shaken up til foamy) and my hair is MUCH thicker! I lose almost no hairs now and people have actually commented that my hair is much thicker so it isn't just me!!!

Evidently some of my washing methods (esp. co) made my hair look thinner and finer than it really is. I love at least the appearance of thick hair! It seems like my amount of hair has almost doubled some days! Hope it isn't build up lol :)

[Emme76]

Almost forgot.
About haircuts that work for me. I tried layers but my hair just looked thinner. When everything is one length (with longer bangs..but still shorter than the rest of my hair) it looks the best. I always regret when I get layers.

Good luck with your cut!!!

[Emme76]

Illusion of thicker hair works great for me :D!
I know there is no way to get thicker hair - all due to genetics and what not. But ways to make it appear thicker means alot for someone with thin/fine hair like me. :cool:

[MsBubbles]

I highly recommend Feye's Self Trim method instead of a salon, unless you have a stylist you know 100% you can trust, not to put layers back into your ends.

Since I'm a 1a/F, there is nothing I can do to create any kind of volume, but for you fineys with any kind of body to your hair, you can probably achieve some volume through some kind of plopping, or bunwaves.

To give my hair a fighting chance of appearing 'thicker', I use no heat styling at all, no bleach, no box dyes, no hair-shaft stripping chemicals, no brushes (just a really wide toothed comb). I do scalp washes to save my ends, and try to minimize mechanical damage as well as my shed triggers. All of this is to keep the maximum amount of hair on my head for as long as possible :). That's the only volumizer I really have to choose from!

Braidwaves and bunwaves provide very temporary volume for me, until I hit any kind of humidity, then it's flat again within seconds.

[Amelie]

I actually have techincally thick-ish hair, in that I have a lot of strands, they are just incredibly fine. I already henna my hair, but this has made my ends really dry, and my already knot-prone hair, even knottier - I tried snowy's moisture treatment but it didn't seem to make much difference.

[Jorja]

Evidently some of my washing methods (esp. co) made my hair look thinner and finer than it really is.

I find that co washing makes my hair look thicker, anything siliconey makes my hair feel 'smaller'.

Hair is a fickle creature! :bluebiggr:shrug:

[MsBubbles]

I actually have techincally thick-ish hair, in that I have a lot of strands, they are just incredibly fine. .

I was going to reply to Madora, also, that fine haireds have MORE hair strands, but the strands are way finer (obviously!), taking up less space than coarse hair.


I find that co washing makes my hair look thicker, anything siliconey makes my hair feel 'smaller'.


What works for medium or coarse strands often doesn't work for fine, and vice versa. Cones don't make a blind bit of difference to my volume. For me it's either flat without cones, or flat with 'em! LOL.

CO washing isn't for everyone, and I think fine haired people also tend towards needing their scalp washed more often with actual shampoo, probably because the strands lie so close to the scalp that they catch more grease than strands that stand out away from the scalp a bit more. This might also be true of fine-but-curly heads (perhaps Rini and Girlcat can fill me in here). But that's my completely unofficial and unscientific opinion!

[eros]

*sigh* I wish my hair would be finer and lay more flat. you're all being silly.

[pvtteeny]

You can achieve the illusion of thicker hair with henna (or so I've read) but henna is permanent so tread carefully.

There is no way of thickening your hair. You are born with a certain number of follicles and that is what you're stuck with.

The only natural way to thicken hair is to let it grow longer so that the shorter hairs grow out more and add to the bulk of the longer strands.

A blunt hemline is a good way to give the illusion of thicker hair.

I could be totally wrong on this, most of what I've read says just what you do, but I just can't make myself believe that hair density is purely genetic. I used to have thick hair, I got compliments on my thick hair. It wasn't until my late teens/early 20's that it became fine. It's classic length, so I can also attest to the fact that letting it grow long does next to nothing to make it seem thick. When my hair is up no one has any clue as to how long it is.

So my point is, I don't think this is a hard and fast issue. I do believe that hormonal changes and nutritional changes play a big role in thinning hair/making it finer, but what I haven't found a good (in my opinion) answer to is whether this can be reversed by changing those elements. If I ever find out I'll definitely post about it! :)

[DweamGoiL]

I think we are confusing "fine" hair with "thin" hair. Fine hair is where the individual strands are very thin, but there is no decrease in the amount of them. Fine hair can be quite dense. Thin hair means there are not that many hair follicles or there has been a decrease in them because of hormones, medications, medical conditions, sometimes age, damage, etc.

"Density refers to the number of hairs in an area, usually expressed as in a square inch. Hair can be described as thick or thin. Thick means a very large number of hairs in an area, thin means very few hairs.

Texture refers to the size of each hair shaft. Hair can be described as coarse or fine . Coarse means the each hair itself is very fat, fine means each hair is very skinny. You can feel the texture of hair. (think coarse salt or fine icing sugar)"

I have fine hair, but do not have a decrease in density. Notice the hair tends to lay flat against my head. Volume is always a challenge for us fineys:

http://i987.photobucket.com/albums/ae360/dweamgoil/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/Henna%20Sooq%20Henna/NewPicture1_zps15f98e8f.png (http://s987.photobucket.com/user/dweamgoil/media/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/Henna%20Sooq%20Henna/NewPicture1_zps15f98e8f.png.html)

You can do something about making fine hair look thicker by the way you style it and the routine you keep, but you can't do anything about it's texture (the hair being thin)...that is purely genetic.

[Scarlet_Heart]

I've been washing with diluted castile soap. For whatever reason, my hair seems thicker since using it.

[Hairheart]

I have the very same problem! Have superfine, thin hair. I can recommend Toppiks "Hair Fattener", it acctually really makes it feel and appear somewhat thicker. I haven't used it now for quite sometimes since I just been through a TE shed since I've been afraid of putting anything on my hair in case it blocks the follicles. And when I use it, I don't use it everyday. I did feel it created some build up. And, a tiny amount goes a long way with this!

My hair also felt thicker when I washed my hair with shampoo bars and finished off with an ACV rinse. It does roughen up the cuticles, but if used too often it can make the hair look dull. No shine. Sadly I had to quit using it all together after my scalp got red, itchy and very irritated.

What is a weave? Is that something that's sewn into the hair for a longer period of time? I've heard that hair extensions, especially on thin hair, can thin it out much more. It's too heavy. So be careful! But you might already know that. :)

[Naiadryade]

I agree with ratgirldjh, in that I have found egg washes increase my volume.

Also, brushed-out braid waves give me some poof--the smaller the braids, the better. I don't have 1-type hair though, and my hair tends to hold whatever shape it's slept in (braids or whatever) for quite a while, so if your hair just straightens out regardless this might not work. Along the same vein, heatless curls give the illusion of volume, though they also give the illusion of shortness due to the length being eaten up in spirals.

For updos, maybe try going for the top-of-the-head poof that seems popular these days? In all the videos I've seen it requires a little teasing, which is why I haven't tried it, but if you don't mind that or you can figure out another way you might like that look. Hope you know what I'm referring to.

If I brush my hair upside down, then flip back up and don't brush it after, I get nice lift at my roots for a little while.

Things that make my (relatively thick) hair appear flatter/thinner include over-oiling, using leave-in (I do it anyway), and not brushing after sleeping in my sleep cap. Actually, not brushing in general (aka, brushing gives me volume), but that might be a wavy-hair thing, not sure.

[evelynmosby]

I'm very curious. How do you wash that out?

[evelynmosby]

I highly recommend Feye's Self Trim method instead of a salon, unless you have a stylist you know 100% you can trust, not to put layers back into your ends.

Since I'm a 1a/F, there is nothing I can do to create any kind of volume, but for you fineys with any kind of body to your hair, you can probably achieve some volume through some kind of plopping, or bunwaves.

To give my hair a fighting chance of appearing 'thicker', I use no heat styling at all, no bleach, no box dyes, no hair-shaft stripping chemicals, no brushes (just a really wide toothed comb). I do scalp washes to save my ends, and try to minimize mechanical damage as well as my shed triggers. All of this is to keep the maximum amount of hair on my head for as long as possible :). That's the only volumizer I really have to choose from!

Braidwaves and bunwaves provide very temporary volume for me, until I hit any kind of humidity, then it's flat again within seconds.

How exactly does one do scalp washes?

[evelynmosby]

My hair isn't really fine but it is a little thinner than I like and I seem to have some thinning going on. I've recently started with egg washing again (1 egg, 1/2 (or less) tsp castor oil, lime juice and water + drops of EO and shaken up til foamy) and my hair is MUCH thicker! I lose almost no hairs now and people have actually commented that my hair is much thicker so it isn't just me!!!

Evidently some of my washing methods (esp. co) made my hair look thinner and finer than it really is. I love at least the appearance of thick hair! It seems like my amount of hair has almost doubled some days! Hope it isn't build up lol :)

How long do you leave this on and more importantly how do you wash this off your hair and your tub?

[Horrorpops]

I have fine hair and what I've found that worked for me were:
- dry shampoo on the roots on 2nd, 3rd, 4th day hair. Any oil or grease in my hair makes it look so flat and stringy. I can barely get away with a light oil of the ends. Oil is treacherous for my volume!!
- brushing with my boar bristle brush gives good volume
- brushing hair upside down, or changing my part throughout the day to fluff it up a little and give those roots some volume!
- when my hair is in braids or buns I always massage and tug at them to flatten and fatten it up a little. It gives a messier look which mightn't be for everyone but does help make my hair look thicker while up

I think thats all I have but I'll keep lurking around here for more suggestions from my fine haired peeps! :D

[Cg]

My hair is both fine and thin. To make each strand appear fatter and to improve the appearance of volume, I wash WO weekly and bbb daily upside down. The buildup of sebum along each strand makes them seem -- and probably be -- microscopically fatter.

I braid upside down every night, including when it's still damp from washing. No waves, just some fake volume.

Also I change parts and styles from one day to the next.

On rare occasions I oil the tips before washing and condition no more than the last two inches. Never all the way from the ears down as a lot of advices suggests.

[Horrorpops]

I braid upside down every night, including when it's still damp from washing. No waves, just some fake volume.

Good idea I like this :)