Longer hair = Thinner looking?

[Donyyful]

Hey guys!

This question must of been addressed a thousand of times, but I can't seem to find any threads on it >.<

I've been growing out my hair for about a year and a half now, and its currently mid back length, growing from neck length when I first started. Over that period of time, I'm not sure whether I am actually losing excessive amount of hair, but my hair now seems to look so much thinner and has lost its circumference when its long now? My individual strands itself are very thick, but overall, it looks like I don't have a lot of hair on my head. I have 1A hair.

When my hair was short, my hair looked and felt very thick so its just confusing and worrying me a bit. I see other people who have just a long hair as me, but their hair seems to look so much thicker and fuller :(

Its definitely not breakage or anything of that sort, and I eat healthy whilst I make sure to keep up with my hair care regimen to stimulate hair growth and scalp health.

Does anyone else have this problem?

x

[Wosie]

Have you checked your circumference somewhat regularly, to see if it has gone down?
If the circumference is around the same, then you have nothing to worry about. Hair often looks thinner the longer it gets, as it might lack the volume that shorter hair provides.

Another thing is that 1a hair often looks thinner than, say, 1c hair as there's barely any air between the hairs (if that makes sense %)) and all the hairs lie neatly next to one another, creating the illusion of thinner hair.

[MsBubbles]

Hi! I'm a 1a also. So many things could cause your length to look thinner, or have a taper. But here's a GREAT video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G4RyJMKtTc) explaining it much better than I ever could.

Also there are other factors that could cause your length to look/be thinner than say, at shoulder-length, such as mechanical damage, growing out dye, nutritional deficiencies, hormonal interference, a previous heavy shed brought on by trauma, stress, anxiety or surgery, etc.

I have been growing my hair to tailbone now for 6 years, and have only just now gotten to the point of having thicker-looking ends rather than a wispy taper/fairy tale (and BTW, some people adore a fairy tale hemline!). I have grown out bleach and past heat damage from blow-frying, and gone through 3 really big hair-sheds where I lost a lot of hair - mostly the longest ones of course! So this all stole thickness from my length. It just REALLY shows up on my hair because it's dead-straight, and fine.

[spidermom]

I find that the weight of longer hair keeps it from fluffing out and makes it look thinner, which in my case is a good thing since my hair tends to look bushy at shorter lengths if I don't blow-dry it or even flat-iron it.

[DreamSheep]

I suppose the aspect ratio changes, as the length of the hair gets longer but the width or number of strands stays the same, giving perhaps a thinner look to it. Especially if your hair is pin straight, the length probably weighs it down and compacts it more, giving that impression.

If it bothers you, you could always try out braid waves or heatless curls of some description to create some "volume", but to be honest I don't think pin straight hair is a bad look either :)

[Rowan Will-o']

Enjoyed the video very much - rather complex idea, but I think I get the gist of it. Could someone explain measuring the circumference, and what all that means. It might be too late for me, because my hair is already long, approaching tailbone length (longest hairs only). Another question to add to this is whether it is or is not a good idea to get regular trimmings and whether that might help spur growth or whether it makes any difference at all. Thanks for your answers.

[DreamSheep]

Enjoyed the video very much - rather complex idea, but I think I get the gist of it. Could someone explain measuring the circumference, and what all that means. It might be too late for me, because my hair is already long, approaching tailbone length (longest hairs only). Another question to add to this is whether it is or is not a good idea to get regular trimmings and whether that might help spur growth or whether it makes any difference at all. Thanks for your answers.
Measuring the circumference refers to gathering all of your hair and measuring its circumference with a tape - giving you an idea of the "thickness" of your hair - although this is determined really by the density of individual strands, and the thickness of each one. The measurement varies somewhat as on different days hair compacts differently, but it allows hair to be easily classified into a thickness type (i, ii or iii). Also, if excessive shedding occurs, a decrease in circumference would show this, so I guess it could be used as a "diagnostic" tool to a certain extent.

Trimming doesn't make hair grow faster, but it removes damage which otherwise would travel up the strands and cause breakage further up, so by removing the damage earlier, you lose less length overall. It can also give the illusion of a fuller hemline because you cut out the bits that are longer.

Hope this helps?

[Donyyful]

Have you checked your circumference somewhat regularly, to see if it has gone down?
If the circumference is around the same, then you have nothing to worry about. Hair often looks thinner the longer it gets, as it might lack the volume that shorter hair provides.

Another thing is that 1a hair often looks thinner than, say, 1c hair as there's barely any air between the hairs (if that makes sense %)) and all the hairs lie neatly next to one another, creating the illusion of thinner hair.

I'm not quite sure if its gone down or not, or if my minds playing tricks on me. A couple of months back when I had this idea that my thickness had reduced, it did seem like I did lose a bit of thickness. I tend to shed a lot on a regular basis anyway, but I never thought about it being a problem until now.

Thanks for your reply! x

[Donyyful]

Hi! I'm a 1a also. So many things could cause your length to look thinner, or have a taper. But here's a GREAT video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G4RyJMKtTc) explaining it much better than I ever could.

Also there are other factors that could cause your length to look/be thinner than say, at shoulder-length, such as mechanical damage, growing out dye, nutritional deficiencies, hormonal interference, a previous heavy shed brought on by trauma, stress, anxiety or surgery, etc.

I have been growing my hair to tailbone now for 6 years, and have only just now gotten to the point of having thicker-looking ends rather than a wispy taper/fairy tale (and BTW, some people adore a fairy tale hemline!). I have grown out bleach and past heat damage from blow-frying, and gone through 3 really big hair-sheds where I lost a lot of hair - mostly the longest ones of course! So this all stole thickness from my length. It just REALLY shows up on my hair because it's dead-straight, and fine.

Ah I've seen this video before years ago but it wasn't relevant till now! I've actually been a subscriber to her for a very long time too aha :p Thanks so much for bringing it up again, I shall watch it. ^_^
Oh no! that must of been horrible going through that >.< but i'm so happy that your hair is in a happier place now, it looks lovely! x

Thanks again for your reply! x

[Donyyful]

I find that the weight of longer hair keeps it from fluffing out and makes it look thinner, which in my case is a good thing since my hair tends to look bushy at shorter lengths if I don't blow-dry it or even flat-iron it.

Thats pretty interesting :o I have a slightly oily scalp so I don't tend to experience frizz at all. This could possibly make my hair look even thinner because its just sleeked down. :(

Thanks for replying! x

[Donyyful]

I suppose the aspect ratio changes, as the length of the hair gets longer but the width or number of strands stays the same, giving perhaps a thinner look to it. Especially if your hair is pin straight, the length probably weighs it down and compacts it more, giving that impression.

If it bothers you, you could always try out braid waves or heatless curls of some description to create some "volume", but to be honest I don't think pin straight hair is a bad look either :)

That makes sense. I would love to try some other hairstyles, but my hair does not hold waves or curls at all. If I attempt to, within 10 minutes its back to bone straight 1A hair again :'(

Thank you for your reply x

[chen bao jun]

Interesting. I've been confused by this. My hair is now bottom bra strap stretched and looks very thick but not insanely thick. I have the same circumference but keep wondering if I thinned and didn't notice because it falls and behaves differently

[Catatafish]

That's one of the reasons I want to grow my hair long. At the length it is now, it just goes into a triangle shape, and I think it will fall better once it is longer. I have a friend with hair nearly as thick as mine and it looks more normal when it is at least waist.

Not that thin haired folk don't also look nice with longer lengths or thick haired folks with shorter lengths, I think I'd just prefer that on me.

[raudr]

I have noticed that, mainly when I go for too long without a trim. If it's split ends/breakage, it's more visible when worn straight, but I if I braid my hair than it looks thinner than usual due to the elastic cut-off.

[MsPharaohMoan]

I enjoyed the video too, but then am confused. How does microtrimming allow some people to grow past the length of their fte or what they had thought was their terminal length? Or where does microtrimming come into play?

It's late x3

[lapushka]

It's quite normal for a natural taper to occur. When that occurs depends on your thickness and hairtype. There are people who've grown to knee on here (Igor) with thick hemlines all the way down and only taper in the last 30 cm or so. For some that taper starts way earlier, and that's where microtrimming comes in (to let the thickness catch up). It does grow down when you're patient enough (and a lot of patience is required as this can take a *long* long time).