Has the appearance of your hair texture improved as your hair got longer?

[Emmental]

I cannot stand my hair texture. It's always been bad. If I let it air dry, it's a frizzy, poufy mess. Or, it could look beachy and within two hours, it's a frizzy, poufy mess. If I try doing the curly girl method, it just looks wavy and poufy. It's not good. I've never found a stylist that has helped me with it. When I straighten it, I love it - it's smooth, silky, and it looks great. The problem is, I don't have the time to dedicate to straightening it every few days. And, as I donate, I try to keep it in great condition.

I'm wondering what other people do in my shoes and/or whether the appearance improves as it gets longer. Thanks! :)

ETA:

Hair Type: 2a/M/C/iii
Routine:

*Wash every 2-3 days.
*Use sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner. It's a Costco range, which I believe is a Pureology knockoff.
*I put in almond oil or olive oil in my hair (neck down) immediately after showering and then put my hair in a braid.
*I do use various deep conditioning treatments every two weeks or do, depending on my mood, time, etc.
*I do want to add, I sometimes add cocoa powder to my roots as a dry shampoo because of my workouts.

[DweamGoiL]

I think it would help if you shared your hair type and what your current routine is; what products you use, etc.

For myself, I have fine wavy thick hair. As it's got longer, the wave has stretched, but what really made a difference for me was to cut out cones and use non-SLS shampoo as well as treating it with lots of TLC.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Mine has improved a lot as it has grown longer and I have learned more about what it likes. It was much frizzier a year ago.

[Johannah]

Like DweamGoiL said, tell us a bit more about your routine.

Did you ever hear of the LOC method? This might work for you, even though it's not winter. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=118167&

[embee]

Hm. Interesting topic. When my hair was shoulder length it was always stringy and (as my mom said) in "rat tails". It always looked unwashed or unbrushed. I washed every single day. I was unhappy.

Now that my hair is about classic and I wear it up all the time, I never see stringy or rat tails - hair is not down or loose. Now my hair looks smooth and sleek. People sometimes comment on how smooth it looks.

For me, I think the difference was in how I wear my hair - loose or in an updo.

[lapushka]

Just like DweamGoiL, I think sharing your hair type with us would be beneficial. Otherwise, how can we give you the right advice? Frizzy and pouffy, are all kind of vague terms and are even used by 1s.

[Heavy Raindrops]

Nope, my hair texture didn't change at all. Probably got worse as it became longer.

[CremeTron]

Well everyone is different but mine got better. I think the added weight makes it look smoother and shinier- more tamed. At first my hair just actually looked shorter and shorter and more tightly curled for about 18 months and didn't seem to be growing but since March of this year it magically started to look longer. I woke up one day and showered and just went "woah".

I think as well I have learned through trial and error a good enough routine and how to tweak if it is raining or I am in a rush. At first I had a series of bad hair days.

[spidermom]

The weight definitely helps, to a point. At shoulder length, my hair was a puffy frizz-ball if I didn't use heat tools to tame it. At classic length, it had very dry ends and looked pretty much straight, with a cloud of short curlies that stuck out all over the place and looked frizzy, kind of weird since otherwise my hair appeared to be fairly straight. Now it's just beyond waist length and layered, which brings out the natural wave with a bit of curl so that it looks natural to also have the surface curlies.

[patienceneeded]

Generally having long hair is helpful for me. My hair is too thick to go short without the dreaded triangle-head look. When I have gone short (chin) it has been massively layered and then thinned-out. I either have to straighten it or go curly-girl (which makes ringlets when my hair is short). No second-day hair, it needed to be washed daily at chin-length.

Long hair does pull the curls straight on me, making nice-looking waves. The longer it gets the straighter it looks due to the weight. The last few inches still have wave to them. I wash and condition (nothing special, just Herbal Essences with sulfates and cones) every 3 days...occasionally I can stretch one more day. I use a coney serum on the length after washing, that I apply while my hair is still damp. I let it air dry. No heat styling, no tools. Nada.

Once I found what my hair likes and decided to just let it do what it wants, I and my hair have been much happier.

[Emmental]

Thanks for all of the responses! It seems like a lot of people do have a better result with longer hair. Maybe I just haven't found the best routine for my hair. It does feel like I've tried it all, but I obviously know I haven't.


I think it would help if you shared your hair type and what your current routine is; what products you use, etc.

For myself, I have fine wavy thick hair. As it's got longer, the wave has stretched, but what really made a difference for me was to cut out cones and use non-SLS shampoo as well as treating it with lots of TLC.

I thought I had my hair type in the box, but apparently not. Here is what it is based on the sticky: 2A, M/C, iii. In terms of routine, I do switch it up, but lately it has been as follows:



Wash every 2-3 days.
Use sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner. It's a Costco range, which I believe is a Pureology knockoff.
I put in almond oil or olive oil in my hair (neck down) immediately after showering and then put my hair in a braid.
I do use various deep conditioning treatments every two weeks or do, depending on my mood, time, etc.


My frizziness can be managed with oils, but then I'm always left with the dreaded pouf.


Like DweamGoiL said, tell us a bit more about your routine.

Did you ever hear of the LOC method? This might work for you, even though it's not winter. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=118167&

I've never heard of this or tried it. I'm going to watch the YT video right after responding to this.

[molljo]

LOC and WCC (wash once, condition twice) have been wonderful for my hair. My hair doesn't really understand the concept of being weighed down, but the poof now translates into volume, the frizz into nice waves. I honestly think that together, these methods should be the first thing any wavy tries.

[Weewah]

My waves were more manageable when shorter because they pop up nicely and I have more root volume. So I don't think your hair texture problem will go away once it gets longer. Try getting more moisture into your hair, and doing CG friendly practices. If you post your detailed routine you can get better advice.

[Emmental]

LOC and WCC (wash once, condition twice) have been wonderful for my hair. My hair doesn't really understand the concept of being weighed down, but the poof now translates into volume, the frizz into nice waves. I honestly think that together, these methods should be the first thing any wavy tries.

I will try these together. I feel like every time I come back to this forum there are several new methods to try! LOC and WCC are two things I've never tried. Thanks!


My waves were more manageable when shorter because they pop up nicely and I have more root volume. So I don't think your hair texture problem will go away once it gets longer. Try getting more moisture into your hair, and doing CG friendly practices. If you post your detailed routine you can get better advice.

I've tried the CG method and it just didn't seem to work for my hair. I actually liked it the first time or two, but it just didn't seem to work well for me the longer I tried it.

I added my routine later in the thread when someone asked. I updated my first post, too. HTH!

[chen bao jun]

Don't try them too close together, Emmental. (isn't that the name of a cheese, forgive me if I'm wrong. We love cheese on this forum). anyway, try one thing for at least 3weeks before you try something else.
My hair texture has improved a great deal on this forum, but I don't think length has anything to do with it as it started to feel way better long before it grew (and still is not that long).

[darklyndsea]

Your hair might be like mine. As my hair gets longer, and more damaged from everyday wear and tear, it becomes easier for the moisture (that my hair really wants) to penetrate the hair shafts. I don't worry much about frizz, so I can't say if that's changed, but my visible curl pattern is affected by the same factors as frizz. At SL+ I barely have any wave; at BSL I'm 2B/2C; at classic I'm 3A.

Hair weight can affect the poof a lot, but it might take a while. Your hair is probably not as bad as mine, but my hair still looked extremely poofy at hip. It doesn't look nearly as bad now, at classic.

[Ambystoma]

*I put in almond oil or olive oil in my hair (neck down) immediately after showering and then put my hair in a braid.


How does it go if you damp bun? I know my hair looks absolutely appalling if I leave it to dry in a braid - it looks ok and mermaidy as soon as it comes out but once it gets touched or combed or moves around then bad 80's perm land here I come!
Also, mine gets frizzy and poofy without sulphates - I know that's the opposite of what's meant to happen but there you go :laugh: My texture hasn't changed with length, it's all about the routine for me.

[Rosa Harris]

Mine - when its short short it is beautiful shiny jet black poof but as it gets longer it fades to mouse ass red-brown with no shine which is why I henna'd it recently. The roots to about 4 inches are always beautiful to me. The texture itself stays about the same - regardless.

[Emmental]

Thank you all for the responses. It is so helpful to read them. And, it does give me a little bit of hope, even though my hair texture has been this way for many, many years (save pregnancy/after pregnancy changes). :)


How does it go if you damp bun? I know my hair looks absolutely appalling if I leave it to dry in a braid - it looks ok and mermaidy as soon as it comes out but once it gets touched or combed or moves around then bad 80's perm land here I come!
Also, mine gets frizzy and poofy without sulphates - I know that's the opposite of what's meant to happen but there you go :laugh: My texture hasn't changed with length, it's all about the routine for me.

I haven't done the damp bun in a while. I looked up a thread on here for it and I will have to try it again. I have the same exact experience as you with the braid, though. And, I've only found this one range of sulfate-free that works for me. The rest leave my hair looking horrible.

[longhairedlady]

When my hair was short it was a 2a/2b. I could scrunch loose curls in it. I have thick, coarse hair. Now that it is almost knee, it is closer to a 1c, definitely no curl and it lays straighter. I consider that an improvement, just because it appears smoother to me. I do miss the waves though.

[ravenreed]

Going CO has reduced my frizz almost completely. Any sort of shampoo, even sulfate-free, gives me frizz. As for wave, as my hair has gotten longer the wave has almost completely flattened out except at the very end. However, that took quite a while. I think past waist it was much tamer, and at mid-thigh it is hard to tell I have waves at all. I never straightened mine. I am too lazy and kind of like my hair's wild nature. It suits my personality perfectly.

[Sharysa]

Definite improvement as my hair got longer. Shoulder length thick hair is way too short to wave properly, so I kept getting frizz and then straightening it in a desperate attempt to keep it presentable. My hair only started looking good at a very long midback.

[Jumper]

Routine/products have made more of a difference for me that anything.

[Dark40]

With mine being a little passed the shoulders it's all in a rawl mess, and all frizzy when I also let it air dry.

[ErinLeigh]

I can see length effecting weight, and weight effecting appearance on hair. It makes a lot of sense to me that hair would lie better on my hair type and the one described when longer.
That being said, I had the same issues as you described Emmental , pretty much exact. My hair has not gotten longer but what fixed my issues were a few things.

For me coconut oil helped as a pre wash treatment as it penetrates strands and helps with my porosity problems , I starting using better conditioners to get more moisture into hair so it wouldn't suck so much in from the air, learned to start sealing moisture in and reducing moisture out coming out with a modified LOC method. Started sleeping on satin pillowcases to reduce friction frizz and breakage.
Somehow over time my hair stopped being a frizzy, poufy mess and became a lot more manageable. It only took a few months actually.
I would have never thought it possible, I always assumed I had the worst textured hair in the world. Once I understood why my frizz happened and changed my products and methods the texture and appearance changed a lot. My hair has not gained any length since I made these changes so I know it was the new routine that corrected things. Just mentioning so you know it can be possible to get hair you want sooner rather than later waiting for a certain length. I was surprised to see changes and think it will get even better as hair grows out so now there is more to look forward to.

[jacqueline101]

I don't know if this has to do with texture but my hair strands have gotten thicker for some reason and tougher. I noticed this on my s&d. That part on my behalf is good. Maybe my hair won't break as much. Since the beginning of my journey my hair has improved from that botched perm. It's not a fuzz ball now.

[florenonite]

My hair texture is definitely better when it's longer. Between chin and around shoulder or collarbone length, I get waves around my face, while the hair at the back stays at around 1c. When it's longer it's all around 1c, making it look a lot neater.