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View Full Version : Can fine thin hair with a lot of taper grow long?



Fira
September 19th, 2014, 06:07 AM
So I wonder if anyone with fine and thin or average hair that tends to taper fast / a lot has managed to grow them long?

I have such hair. In the past I have had more hair, it has always been fine, but I have had some shedding in the past so I am not at my best nor my worst with my hair. But I have always had quite a lot of tapper. Even now with my hair being about shoulder length, I feel like 1/3 of my hair is shorter than 5cm (about 2 inches) and doesn't even reach my little ponytail. The short hairs tend to stick out and up, since I have wavy/curly hair (wavy on top, but the ends tend to gather in little ringlets). Despite this I have had my hair grow to BSL years ago.

I am trying to grow them longer or even long, but the "enormous" amount of taper discourages me. NOT that I will cut my hair, because I feel a lot better with my hair being a little longer (at least shoulder length). A did like my last pixie cut for about a month or so, but I am regretting it now, so...

So I wonder if there is anyone that has rather fine and rather thin hair that also tends to taper at rather short lengths - and has managed to grow them long? :confused:

I need a little encouragement... :o

kdaniels8811
September 19th, 2014, 06:30 AM
My hair is really fine and I just hit waist and am going for classic. I have a huge taper from growing out from bald - shaved my head 4 years ago due to it all falling out from chemo so now I am proud of my fairy tale ends. What really helped me was catnip tea soaks after shampooing, it helped prevent breakage. That and wearing it up all the time, washing every 5 days, herbs or shampoo bars to clean, no heat or chemicals whatsoever, just following LhC suggestions for long healthy hair. Good luck on your growing journey. Check out the fine/thin hair thread.

RapunzelKat
September 19th, 2014, 07:34 AM
Welcome, Fira! :waving:

Great suggestions above, definitely come visit us o the thin/fine hair thread! :flower:
Another tip that's often helpful for fine, taper-y hair is regular small trims. My hair also tapers (not drastically, but it definitely does it) anytime I let it grow without any trims. It has to do with some of the hairs growing faster than the others. The ends are then a bit more exposed to the elements and tend to get dry and damaged more easily. A small trim of 1/2-1" every few months really helps with this, regardless of what length I'm at. :)

ETA: My current blunt hemline is the result of regular small trims. :)

Phexlyn
September 19th, 2014, 07:49 AM
Welcome to LHC, Fira :)
Check out the fine/thin hair thread, you'll find a lot of members who have managed to grow their hair very long, with all sorts of different hemlines!
So yes, of course it is possible, but it will take a bit more care and patience than if you have thick/coarse hair.

Madora
September 19th, 2014, 07:56 AM
Yes, it is possible to grow thin, tapered hair to a longer length. Since your hair is a mixture of wavy on top and little curlies at the ends, you will need to be extra patient and gentle taking care of it. S and D once a week, a trim every 4 months or so. You might try daily gentle scalp massage in the bent at the waist position to help stimulate your hair's follicles. Good luck!]

sarahthegemini
September 19th, 2014, 08:20 AM
Yes, it just may take longer
My hair thins out unless I micro trim every few months.

Agnes Hannah
September 19th, 2014, 08:47 AM
Yes, mine is very fine and has taper from preLHC days when I dyed it and blow dried it too much. The last 3 inches or so are the worst, but I have persevered and am at "can I call this waist" now. Yesterday, I trimmed off about 0.5 cm the first trim in about 18 months or so. I want to grow it down to hip so I can maintain here, this is my length goal. When I get to this point, I want to grow some more, to tailbone if possible. Good luck!

Madora
September 19th, 2014, 09:03 AM
Yes, mine is very fine and has taper from preLHC days when I dyed it and blow dried it too much. The last 3 inches or so are the worst, but I have persevered and am at "can I call this waist" now. Yesterday, I trimmed off about 0.5 cm the first trim in about 18 months or so. I want to grow it down to hip so I can maintain here, this is my length goal. When I get to this point, I want to grow some more, to tailbone if possible. Good luck!

:blossom:Can I give you the Posey of Perserverance, Agnes Hannah! I admire your persistence! Takes a lot of patience! Congrats at reaching waist! Happy growing!

Agnes Hannah
September 19th, 2014, 09:07 AM
Thank you Madora, I have followed your advice too and find you really inspirational:magic:

lapushka
September 19th, 2014, 09:36 AM
My mom has i/ii hair and she grew it out in her forties to BSL+. She wore it up in bee but buns a lot. She's almost 70 now, and has shoulder to APL'ish length hair right now.

AmyBeth
September 19th, 2014, 09:57 AM
Ithink alot of it is going to depend on the cause of the taper. If you color or bleach with chemicals, blow dry or flat iron, use harsh shampoo and styling products, your hair is very vulnerable to damage and it's going to break. That will result in plenty of taper. If it'a naturally shorter growth cycle and the dormant hair sheds, that's a little tougher to manage. All of us who want the longest hair possible are in a sort of race against time-letting the hair grow and protecting that growth as long as possible before the follicle shuts down production and the hair sheds. You may have read the comparison of long hair to antique lace-well we fineys have fine thin antique lace, so gentle care is even more of an imperative for us. Yes, we can grow long hair- but very carefully.check out the fine thin thread. You might also benefit from the info concerning the curly girl methods.

AmyBeth
September 19th, 2014, 11:13 AM
PS- when I joined, my pony was barely the diameter of a pencil! I was able to grow very straggly ends which barely reached to just shy of WL. With good care, I have doubled, maybe tripled in thickness and I have a nice even hemline which touches TBL. Hooray! It's possible, alright. I'm curious, Agnes Hannah, has your thickness increased at all over the past months?

Fira
September 20th, 2014, 06:24 AM
Thanks for all the advice in for your thougts and experiences. I already am trying to read as much as I can here and am trying out some things. I am also following the fine and thin thread and the curly thread, although I find that it makes a big difference with curly hair whether it is fine and thin or thick and coarse. For example I get buildup very quickly if I try some of the things suggested for curly girls. Still a lot of advice is useful, I just use a lot less products. :cool:
If this was ten years ago I would have read everything on LHC by now! But I do not have enough time (full time job and a two year old in the afternoons and weekends), so I am grateful to hear from everyone that is on the same path or has made it to great lengths with fine and thin hair.
As far as my taper goes - I think it is how my hair grows. It can be discouraging sometimes, and yes, I do and will need a lot of patience. I treat my hair as nicely as I can, I do not use harsh products, that is I use mild shampoo and not a lot of it, conditioner (I am traying to use conditioner on my ends before shampoo and it seems to work, I have read about it on LHC), I wash about once every 5 - 7 days, I use a dab of oil on my ends (coconut oil is great, sometimes argan oil), every now and then I oil my scalp and hair with amla oil and let it sit for as much time as I can, lately I have been using a horn comb which I love, sometimes I use a BBB (my short curls are fine with it every now and then), I havent used a blowdryer for a while - I prefer to air dry (unless I really can not - when in a rush in winter time), I use plant hair colors with henna and indigo and some other herbs (currently I use Logona), I deep cleanse before henna...
I have used chemical dyes twice in the last three years, which I regret, before that I had used henna mixes (only natural colors). I had some health issues about 5 - 6 years ago and had just fully recovered as far as my hair goes - then I got pregnant and my hair was gorgeous! A few months after birth I started to shed and this continued for a bit to long, my hair ended up being really thin again. It seems that when I have some issues with hormones it always gets to my hair... :rolleyes:
Yes, this will be a test of my patience... :D
I do want to have regular small trims but I have to find a hairstylist that can cut (only!) 1/2 cm. When my hair grows I will do it myself. I can't wait!! ;)
About S&D - is it better to do it before or after wash?

ashke50
September 20th, 2014, 07:21 AM
Glad you're finding the advice on LHC useful. My hair is F/M, and I have managed to get it from about BSL to past classic with the advice here. As AmyBeth says, it depends what the cause of the taper is. I know for me the biggest single difference has come from wearing my hair up. With fine hair it gets damaged easily, so you will probably find that it grows much better if you wear it up in hair friendly styles, rather than loose.

MeowScat
September 20th, 2014, 01:49 PM
You said you get build up quickly, I wonder if you might have low porosity, like me. Heavy conditioners and oils just sit on my hair and make it look greasy and stringy.

My hair is a little past Classic now and I trim the taper off every year or two, but it comes back quick. My hair is Fine and I swear the only way I made it this far is by wearing it up 24 / 7.

You can do it. :)

Agnes Hannah
September 20th, 2014, 02:29 PM
Ithink alot of it is going to depend on the cause of the taper. If you color or bleach with chemicals, blow dry or flat iron, use harsh shampoo and styling products, your hair is very vulnerable to damage and it's going to break. That will result in plenty of taper. If it'a naturally shorter growth cycle and the dormant hair sheds, that's a little tougher to manage. All of us who want the longest hair possible are in a sort of race against time-letting the hair grow and protecting that growth as long as possible before the follicle shuts down production and the hair sheds. You may have read the comparison of long hair to antique lace-well we fineys have fine thin antique lace, so gentle care is even more of an imperative for us. Yes, we can grow long hair- but very carefully.check out the fine thin thread. You might also benefit from the info concerning the curly girl methods.
Hi AmyBeth,my circumference has increased from 1.75" to 2",not a great deal but still an increase!

Fira
September 22nd, 2014, 01:35 AM
You said you get build up quickly, I wonder if you might have low porosity, like me. Heavy conditioners and oils just sit on my hair and make it look greasy and stringy.



Trying to quote for the first time... :o

It is the same with my hair. But honestly I have not yet researched this "porosity" theme - what my hair is and what I should do to keep it happy. ;)

I agree that wearing hair up can be helpful. My hair does like to tangle etc. But right now my hair is at this awkward length... I do wear a little ponytail sometimes though. I can not do anything else yet. Can't wait to have hair long enough to buy some "hair jewelry" (a stick, a ficcare maybe?).

maria_asa
September 22nd, 2014, 02:33 AM
My hair is also both fine and thin and I'm currently at mid thigh length. My taper is quite bad but is much better now than it used to be since I started maintaining with regular trims.

An other thing I think have made a big difference for me is pre-wash oiling with eo-infused coconut oil.

Panth
September 22nd, 2014, 12:31 PM
I have fine, straight hair, a 2" ponytail and am at knee-length. And I have taper.

Yes, it is most definitely is possible to grow this sort of hair long. It just takes a lot of patience and babying.

Kherome
September 22nd, 2014, 01:12 PM
Welcome, Fira! :waving:

Great suggestions above, definitely come visit us o the thin/fine hair thread! :flower:
Another tip that's often helpful for fine, taper-y hair is regular small trims. My hair also tapers (not drastically, but it definitely does it) anytime I let it grow without any trims. It has to do with some of the hairs growing faster than the others. The ends are then a bit more exposed to the elements and tend to get dry and damaged more easily. A small trim of 1/2-1" every few months really helps with this, regardless of what length I'm at. :)

ETA: My current blunt hemline is the result of regular small trims. :)

Yep, lots and lots of small regular trims.