Question for iii's

[Shibe]

What does your hair look like when it's wet? My poor ii hair clumps together and I have 'bald' spots all over until it dries, unless I comb it out- which I never do.

Is your hair still all Mufasa when it's wet?


Please sate my curiosity!

[JadedByEntropy]

You have to almost define wet first haha. Mine lays flat and the waves are weighted out a bit, but it takes a lot of water and it keeps the wave. Having coarse, thick hair, makes it almost like an otter or poodles... no water gets through that fur, so to get it wet (clean) or dry is a hassle. but once the roots dry it stands up again just because there is nowhere else to go.

[-Fern]

Mine clumps together in some approximation of curl clusters... It isn't attractive, haha, but I am on a strict no-touchy regime when it's wet, because mine breaks like crazy when it's any degree of damp. If I need to go out while it's still wet, the scarf or bandana goes on. There is still a ton of it, but the weight of it keeps it from going all over the place.

[darklyndsea]

In pictures you can't tell the difference between my wet hair and my dry hair, except at the very tips. When it's dry the tips floof out a lot more. When it's wet the last...foot? foot and a half? seem a lot skinnier and the curl pattern's a lot more defined. Near the scalp it's even harder to get my fingers through my hair when it's wet than when it's dry.

[lapushka]

What does your hair look like when it's wet? My poor ii hair clumps together and I have 'bald' spots all over until it dries, unless I comb it out- which I never do.

Can't say I have scalp cleavage or bald spots when it's wet. The longer it gets the more it is weighed down, though.

Why the curiosity?

[Shibe]

Scalp cleavage, love that!

My hair is so thin and baby fine that whenever I get out of the shower I kind of just sigh at it. My husband has INSANELY thick hair (his circ would definitely be in the 5 inch category if he let it grow long), and I always wonder what I would look like if I had a lion mane. One can dream :C

[Nique1202]

I wash my hair standing up with my head leaning back, and it straightens right out while it's wet and damp and falls wherever the stream of water goes. I don't part it after I get out of the shower (no parting line = fake Bump-It effect for volume since the weight pulls it flat on top) so my hair basically looks like a solid black plaster casing for two hours after I shower unless I move my head and the hair bends somewhere. XD It's only after 1.5-2 hours that my curls and waves start coming out.

[Hairkay]

It looks like I have less volume wet but it's still thick and the scalp remains fully covered. Somehow my black hair looks darker wet. The curls get looser, stretching out, looking like 3b instead of 3c/4a and it looks longer than it does when it's dry. Then the hair shrinks up when it's drying, around 50% shrinkage. I go for more braids/plaits than two strand twists because twists unravel completely when wet but braids/plaits only unravel partway. If I have hair in just one or two braids/plaits that also mostly unravels completely so I go for 4 or more when hair is going to get wet.

[meteor]

My hair clumps into wavy clusters when wet and it looks much darker.

I don't get that beautiful sleek, smooth look like what they show in shampoo commercials - mine looks like a huge clumpy mop. :lol: And I got the whole bathroom soaking wet every time I washed my hair... until I started washing in braids. Yay!

About the appearance of "bald spots" / "scalp cleavage" concern, some scalp cleavage happens on every head, especially when it's very oily or really straightened and sleeked back in a specific way. Those thinner temple areas are naturally thinner and finer: I remember seeing a video where a trichologist was analyzing somebody's scalp and commented on that area being always sparser than the rest.

[chen bao jun]

Meteor, I have never ever had any scalp cleavage. In fact, I didn't even what that was, the first time I saw the term. When I realized, I was like, does that happen to other people's hair? Because I hadn't even imagined such a thing was possible. I don't think its a problem in any way (probably because I still, in spite of improving, over focus on how wild my hair looks naturally and see that as such a problem that I can't imagine being perturbed if that doesn't happen to you), but it did startle me.

so my answer is no, I never have any scalp cleavage of any kind. The hair at my temples is shorter and softer, but it completely covers them at all times.

What happens to my hair when wet is that it shrinks. And shrink. and SHRINKS. I don't have the most shrinkage that is possible (you should see how my mom;s hair shrinks) but when wet it appears to be somewhat less than 50% of its true length. It also corkscrews immediately into corkscrew curls of varying sizes, but they are all small corkscrews, nothing is larger than a sharpie pen and a lot are like pencil or crayon sized.

The corkscrews are very cute, but they tangle up together into each other and with the hair that ought to shed, so that they trap it in there, so when I wash my hair, when its full of conditioner, I have to detangle and get rid of shed hair (and I shed massive amounts) and braid it immediately, while wet, still with conditioner in. If I don't, it wont be able to be detangled when dry. Seriously. A garden rake wouldn't be able to get through there and small objects have been known to get lost up in there for weeks, I am not kidding.

but you definitely won't see my scalp. Not any of it. I don't think I've ever seen my scalp, unless I've parted my hair and even then its hard to see the scalp way down there. When my hair was chemically straightened or flat ironed, you could see my scalp a little bit, if I made a part, but even when flat ironed the most possible to dead straight, my hair has so much pouf, looking for my scalp is like looking for a valley down between hills. When its not straightened (and I don't even bother to try to part it usually because there is just no point to it), its like trying to find a valley down between mountains, when it is straightened, its like trying to find a valley down between very high hills.

I'm serious, its to the point where when I do make a part, even though my skintone is a definite olive tan sort of color, my scalp is WHITE. Dead white. Because no sun has ever been able to penetrate down there, is my best guess, lol

[meteor]

^ Oh sure, parts on kinky-curly hair would look different :agree: , but yeah, hair is sparser and finer on temples anyway. :)

[dancingrain91]

Not a iii but my circ is 3.75 and my hair looks flat and thinner but no bald spots. And as it dries it floofs out quite a bit.

[Arciela]

When mine is wet it forms curls if I scrunch it slightly, if I just leave it it makes curls/waves :)

[chen bao jun]

I write such massive posts, what I want to say disappears in a mass of words. Sorry.

When my hair was chemically straightened flat, so had no curl, didn't even have curl when wet, you still could never ever see any cleavage wet or dry.

The hair is finer and sparser at temples, but you do not see my scalp at my temples. And not because my hair is curly there because actually at my temples, my hair does not spiral, it just slightly waves, VERY slightly, even when my hair is natural and thus curly everywhere else.

You would need to get someone with low density kinky curly hair to post to see how much hair type has to do with this but due to the experience of hair being straightened, and staying straight when wet, it was just lank when wet and did not corkscrew at all and not seeing cleavage then (or even knowing what it was, I never heard of it until I came on LHC), I'm thinking having extreme high density iii hair has something to do with lack of scalp cleavage, even if not everything. And I know it has something to do with being unable to see a part even when my hair was straight, because my sister and mom, who have much curlier hair than I do, but normal density, you could see parts in their hair just fine, either straight or curly. I remember this because I remember envying it. However, I don't know what their hair does when wet (other than shrink a lot more than mine). I don't know what it does so far as scalp cleavage.

I hope that's a bit clearer and I hope its helpful.

Thanks, meteor.

ETA: circ is over 5 inches, not counting bangs and that's actual circ, not poufiness from curls.


^ Oh sure, parts on kinky-curly hair would look different :agree: , but yeah, hair is sparser and finer on temples anyway. :)

[TrapperCreekD]

iii on most days here. When my hair's wet (I'm assuming you mean after washing) it's quite flat and a couple shades darker, think drowned rat. I actually do get some "cleavage", usually on my crown but I think its common to have whorls there; I use a claw clip for root volume and there's usually a couple spots around the clip. It drives me crazy! Once it's dry, though, you'd never know... until the greasies roll around then a couple comb strokes and nobody's the wiser.

[jeanniet]

5" pony here, although it's layered quite a bit now so might look like somewhat less, and yep, I get all kind of scalp cleavage when my hair is wet due to a number of cowlicks. I get thick clumps of curls that go every which way. I have to pay attention and use claw clips in some areas, or I get weird flat spots like crop circles, lol. Especially around my crown/back of the head, which is where I have the most cowlicks.

[hennalonghair]

My hair takes an effort just to get it all wet to begin with. While wet it looks like wet hair and it takes AGES to dry which is why I only wash it once a week. It does like to clump together and most curly girl methods will tell you to leave it alone as it is drying but I never do. I plop the ends as it is drying so the weight of the water doesn't straighten it out. It usually takes all day to dry. I can't damp bun or it never dries and I end up with scalp issues. I don't think I have scalp cleavage but I also am not so curly that I have no part mark (like Chen) either. I actually understand exactly what you mean though.
Thick hair has its pros and cons for sure. One of my downfalls in having course wavy / curly hair is that I get short wirey pieces that stick out all over the place whereas people with fine thin straight hair can make such impeccable neat updos with no hairs out of place. For me personally: THIS will NEVER happen. :(

[hennalonghair]

5" pony here, although it's layered quite a bit now so might look like somewhat less, and yep, I get all kind of scalp cleavage when my hair is wet due to a number of cowlicks. I get thick clumps of curls that go every which way. I have to pay attention and use claw clips in some areas, or I get weird flat spots like crop circles, lol. Especially around my crown/back of the head, which is where I have the most cowlicks.

Cowlicks!!!!! I have those darn things all over my head:whip:

[DreamSheep]

I don't know whether I get scalp cleavage - probably yes because when I have a part you can see my scalp. Usually when my hair is wet I am glassessless and my hair is rapidly inserted into a towel...
What I have noticed is that when my hair is wet it shrinks! It gets a lot curlier (wavier really), and as it dries, these loosen out. It's weird this topic comes up as I was thinking of starting a thread - most people mention hitting milestones when wet before dry, but for me it feels the other way around :3

[meteor]

Thick hair has its pros and cons for sure. One of my downfalls in having course wavy / curly hair is that I get short wirey pieces that stick out all over the place whereas people with fine thin straight hair can make such impeccable neat updos with no hairs out of place. For me personally: THIS will NEVER happen. :(

Argh, tell me about it! :agree: I've tried to get that perfect sleek look for ages, but I have bulges of hair from undernealth the canopy sticking out all the time! Which is why I love getting my hair as oily as possible before even trying to put it up! :lol: The more oil, the better! :cheese:

Also, definitely agree on taking a while to wet it fully down and taking more than a day to dry (unless I'm fanning it loose for quite a long while). Wet hair is very heavy on me - and very, very annoying. :violin:

[mamaherrera]

I'll share a pic, mine doesn't have scalp cleavage, except for parts and yes at my temples for sure. But in fact, I see less scalp when it's wet, because it's plastered to my head, but when it poofs, it allows more light in, so kind of weird for me on that note. I'm not a iii. either though. but my biggest thing is how "little hair" I have when wet, and the big trasnformation at the end.
http://s296.photobucket.com/user/mamaherrera/media/Picture%20684_zpsuvrfvhri.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1
http://s296.photobucket.com/user/mamaherrera/media/Picture%20458_zpsj6qp7jcs.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

[Ingrid]

Mine is reeeeally straight and slick when wet. It's also at its longest when wet. It doesn't look like it ever has "scalp cleavage" on wet or dry hair unless I make a parting, which I guess is the cleavage? As it dries, it shrinks and forms fairly loose waves, and poofs out.

It also takes a really long time to wet it completely, and definitely more than a day to dry. And lately now that it's longer and thicker I've been feeling like it's really heavy when I'm in the shower with it wet.

[Nadine <3]

This thread is interesting. As an i, I usually see more scalp than hair when wet and my hair clumps together and kinda looks like a tiny tentical off the back of my head lol It's getting longer though!

[hennalonghair]

Argh, tell me about it! :agree: I've tried to get that perfect sleek look for ages, but I have bulges of hair from undernealth the canopy sticking out all the time! Which is why I love getting my hair as oily as possible before even trying to put it up! :lol: The more oil, the better! :cheese:

Also, definitely agree on taking a while to wet it fully down and taking more than a day to dry (unless I'm fanning it loose for quite a long while). Wet hair is very heavy on me - and very, very annoying. :violin:
I know. Like everyone we all appreciate having freshly washed hair but with unruly thick hair we 'often' have to wait until day 4 or 5 after wash day before our hair is slicked down enough with oils to look picture ready ;but by then its usually border lining stinky scalp too:nono:
Right?:shrug:

[chen bao jun]

Yeah, I've coarse hair, too, very coarse.

I never know whether how it behaves is due to coarse (I've sewed buttons on with this); very high density or afro curly or what combination thereof.

I try to be careful though because I've often had it happen that people that don't have afro curly hair assume some characteristic of my hair is 'typical' of afro curlies and a whole lot of the time, its not, my own mother couldn't figure out why my hair behaves the way it does (and was frustrated and angry) and black hairdressers and yours truly could not get along because it didn't do anything the way they were used to, I think because of the extreme coarseness and the very high density. the coarseness is very definitely not typical of hypercurly hair types, which are usually very fine, though on LHC I've met other hypercurly coarsies, I never meet them in real life.

Bit oversensitive on the subject, sorry.

[meteor]

I know. Like everyone we all appreciate having freshly washed hair but with unruly thick hair we 'often' have to wait until day 4 or 5 after wash day before our hair is slicked down enough with oils to look picture ready ;but by then its usually border lining stinky scalp too:nono:
Right?:shrug:

Exactly! :agree: My hair doesn't start looking nice until day 3-4 post wash and my buns/updos get the most compliments on severely oily hair, lol! :lol:

It's like that awesome Hair Meme I saw on our hilarious Hair Memes thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=121839):


http://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/57485690.jpg

...or this one for times when buns explode:


https://i.imgflip.com/glo32.jpg (https://imgflip.com/i/glo32)via Imgflip Meme Maker (https://imgflip.com/memegenerator)

[jeanniet]

Cowlicks!!!!! I have those darn things all over my head:whip:

In addition to cowlicks, I also have this one really thick, ropey curl that sprouts out of my crown and doesn't seem to know where to fall, so it flops to one side or the other and often looks kinda weird. My stylist likes it, but it's really odd.

[chen bao jun]

Funny memes, meteor. Thanks

[Sharysa]

My hair has awesome wave definition when wet and even a few spirals now and then. However, it tends to look like a black sheet of paper from the side. I don't get scalp cleavage, per se, but my part is often REALLY stark white against the black hair.

I wish my hair wasn't so darn HEAVY, though. I just wrap it in a towel and let it get half-dry or damp before combing my leave-ins through.

[hennalonghair]

Exactly! :agree: My hair doesn't start looking nice until day 3-4 post wash and my buns/updos get the most compliments on severely oily hair, lol! :lol:

It's like that awesome Hair Meme I saw on our hilarious Hair Memes thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=121839):



...or this one for times when buns explode::rollin:


In addition to cowlicks, I also have this one really thick, ropey curl that sprouts out of my crown and doesn't seem to know where to fall, so it flops to one side or the other and often looks kinda weird. My stylist likes it, but it's really odd.
I have the same thing on both sides of my bangs which was why I kept them long but my last hair stylist ( almost 3 years ago) cut them so now they are like wings. You KNOW what I'm talking about.
Then at the very back of my head , right in the middle, I have two cowlicks that curl completely opposite to each other. It can fall nicely though but it's still a PAIN.
They are like curls on 'steroids.'

Most of my hair is course.

[Puffer Fish]

My hair behaves itself when wet. It lays flat, turns into nice waves/wurls, and goes where I tell it to for the most part. This lasts for until I go to bed post-shower, so a few hours or a whole day, depending on when I do it.
But as soon as it's dry and I've slept on it. I get triangle head, weird random waves mixed in with all the bits that have gone straight again, and ends that don't know where they want to point, so they just go everywhere. Even in a ponytail!

I'm hoping my hair makes up its mind on what it wants to be as it gets longer and doesn't have to deal with shoulder bouncing anymore. :P

[chen bao jun]

PufferFish, it will
Length does wonders for triangle head. Even when you have hair that WANTS to go sideways because its so curly, so with your type 1c/2a you will be fine.

Really thick hair is created to be either extremely short, like pixie or long, like BSL and more, it behaves badly at shoulder length but its temporary.

[Seeshami]

I am totally naked under that towel :eyebrows:

This goes from as wet as I can manage to just squeezed out, to seriously wrung out to towel fluffed aka as dry as I am patient enough to get the naughty mess because he's a jerk
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/BrokenCagedBird/48e3470f-68ff-4542-b996-4aabad85dedf_zpscichq02u.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/BrokenCagedBird/media/48e3470f-68ff-4542-b996-4aabad85dedf_zpscichq02u.jpg.html)http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/BrokenCagedBird/6e685688-6518-4c2b-9455-4196d348da02_zpsqltbgash.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/BrokenCagedBird/media/6e685688-6518-4c2b-9455-4196d348da02_zpsqltbgash.jpg.html) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/BrokenCagedBird/754c927e-ca94-4cda-96ee-903be175ce9c_zpsn6dbjjxd.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/BrokenCagedBird/media/754c927e-ca94-4cda-96ee-903be175ce9c_zpsn6dbjjxd.jpg.html)http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/BrokenCagedBird/75638cf9-c0be-4ddf-b045-97fd7a1a41a4_zps2miklidn.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/BrokenCagedBird/media/75638cf9-c0be-4ddf-b045-97fd7a1a41a4_zps2miklidn.jpg.html)

The Naughty Mess says, "I AM NAKED!"

No that would be me you weirdo.

[YvetteVarie]

When my hair gets wet, it first gets nice curl clumps (no scalp cleavage). Then it shrinks about 90% so I get from CBL to 1 inch in a flash. Not much fun at all

[chen bao jun]

Seeshami, your hair is stunning, wet or dry. when I see my Ukrainian friends I may show them your wet photos to see them die of admiration once again...they are your permanent fans since the skirt bun...

Yvette Varie, everyone has a different idea of 'fun'. The first time my mom let me wash her hair I was astonished and thrilled when I saw her hair shrink about 90% and get thick, soft and velvety looking with water beading in the little curls like diamonds. I actually always feel thrilled when I see my own spirals reappear like magic when the water hits the hair and don't mind the loss of length, since as I said, it looks so much prettier--and anyway, it is going to stretch again, so I can have my cake and eat it too, just not all at once.

I also think that those of you whose hair does this do NOT appreciate how much fun it is for others to either stretch out or see you stretch out and see all the amazing length that is there, seriously like magic. I love (finger) combing my mom's hair and just seeing it stretch and stretch and strettttcccch... even though mine does a similar thing, so I'm used to the idea of it, hers does it so much more, its a real thrill. Also, her hair feels so good. its so very soft, because its fine, curly hair....I have never felt any hairtype that feels as lovely as fine type 4 hair. I see you are a 4a though, which is not as curly as my mom (she's got to be 4c) and also you have M/C hair so I don't know what yours feels like? I bet it feels lovely, but you are probably so used to it that you don't notice.

What I do mind though is the tangle fest if I don't immediately braid my hair after washing. I'm grateful I know this and don't try to just air dry plain hair, and the braiding is not so much trouble (I just do two quick braids) but then the DRYING time is insane, because its in braids. I've waited two days sometimes for dry hair. I'm reconciling myself, but its a pain.

I do see parts a little bit when I braid my wet hair, but then as it dries they disappear.

Its looking so far as if hypercurly hair doesn't have scalp cleavage but since me and YvetteVarie are both iii's and both have at least some coarse hair, we need more input to decide.

[Seeshami]

Thank you Chen. You and your Ukrainians make me laugh. :flower:

[Puffer Fish]

PufferFish, it will
Length does wonders for triangle head. Even when you have hair that WANTS to go sideways because its so curly, so with your type 1c/2a you will be fine.

Really thick hair is created to be either extremely short, like pixie or long, like BSL and more, it behaves badly at shoulder length but its temporary.

Truthfully, I don't know if I'm really 1c/2a; my hair is very straight with body waves from day 2 to my next wash, but as soon as I wash it it gets wurls for a while. I'll type for real once it gets longer and my shoulders stop messing it up by bumping the ends all over and affecting how it dries..
The worst part is that I've been between chin and shoulder for about 9 years now! You'd think I would have given up by now and let it go one way or the other (though let's be real, I loathed my pixie...), but I've kept myself in length hell for no good reason all this time. :doh:

[chen bao jun]

Join the club, Puffer Fish. I don't really know if I'm 3c, either. It's basically a guess, I don't think I'm 3b but I could certainly be a 4a, who knows..I'm basing if off the fact that my curls look more like pencil or marker to me than crochet hook, but truth to tell, I have no idea what size crochet hook they mean...

who knows...

I know how to work with it now and that's what really matters.

LHC will help get you out of length heck. My hair stayed between ear and shoulder for 12 years, just before I got on here. AFter I BROKE IT OFF to that length with this kind of braid out/dread hairstyle that looked entirely cute, but involved ripping out teeny braids every single morning...I know better now.

[YvetteVarie]

Hey Chen. My hairtype is actually a mix of all type 4s (A, B, C) and one tiny patch of 3C. My hair is actually soft when I have the protein-moisture balance right. Its only my mega shrinkage that hurts since I have a lot of hair, and it always looks shorter. I am happy though that I am an iii, its a fun way to scare the stylists when you sit in their chairs

[Islandgrrl]

No naked scalp here when it's wet. It gets flat though, and lays close to my head....it's very heavy when wet. As soon as the scalp hairs dry a bit and are not holding gallons of water, they get all floofy again.

[kganihanova]

My hair does its best impression of a wet heavy flat blanket and usually succeeds and my scalp stays soaked for hours EVEN AFTER turbie toweling.

[meteor]

^ That's interesting! :) My scalp hair is the first area that dries (maybe thanks to the heat coming from the scalp), it's my ends that stay soaking wet for a day or two.

Sorry for OT, but I wonder about the many terms I'm seeing used here: "scalp cleavage", "bald spots", "naked scalp" - are they different and what exactly do they mean? On straight hair, is it something like this: http://www.rapunzelsdelight.com/stan-shuttleworth/second-batch/img72.jpg or this: http://www.rapunzelsdelight.com/stan-shuttleworth/sixth-batch/imgD1.jpg ? Because to be honest, this looks like absolutely normal sleeked back look on straight hair to me (since temple hair is finer and sparser)... - and I would think it might also be "scalp cleavage"? :confused: When I google images of "bald spots", only really obvious, clear balding shows up and when I google images of "scalp cleavage", I see what looks like totally normal parting on straight hair?... :hmm:

[MINAKO]

my hair takes abit to get properly wetted, but then it completely flattens out and is straight in the upper 2/3, then some waves in the last 1/3. It still spreads nicely due to the amount of fine hair i have in my underlayers. It doesnt clump because i make sure its perfectly detangled before i apply my cleansing conditioners.

[lapushka]

Sorry for OT, but I wonder about the many terms I'm seeing used here: "scalp cleavage", "bald spots", "naked scalp" - are they different and what exactly do they mean? On straight hair, is it something like this: http://www.rapunzelsdelight.com/stan-shuttleworth/second-batch/img72.jpg or this: http://www.rapunzelsdelight.com/stan-shuttleworth/sixth-batch/imgD1.jpg ? Because to be honest, this looks like absolutely normal sleeked back look on straight hair to me (since temple hair is finer and sparser)... - and I would think it might also be "scalp cleavage"? :confused: When I google images of "bald spots", only really obvious, clear balding shows up and when I google images of "scalp cleavage", I see what looks like totally normal parting on straight hair?... :hmm:

I call it scalp cleavage when a part shows up partly elsewhere on the head, due to weight or oil.

[mamaherrera]

For me, my hair is the same as you Meteor, the scalp and even the "underlayers" dry first and then "outer layers take the longest to get completely dry. which I think is weird because you would think the underlayers would take the longest since they have wet hair on top of them, but that's how my hair is. But then my hair drys in "clumps" so there is air getting in there to help with the drying process. For me, scalp cleavage is not just a part, but wherever you see scalp off to the sides of a part, you know when the hairs just begin to fold/build layers and so there is that .5 cm area that you can see scalp off to both sides of the part, unless I'm the only one. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=11167&attachmentid=13577 this is me and my daughter showing "scalp cleavage" (I have a bit more) but maybe we are all using the same term to describe different things.
Now on my temples, I have lots of scalp cleavage due to how the hairs grow (direction, they all lay back, so they do not build any kind of layers) Looks kind of funky but that' s me. Like this: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=11167&attachmentid=5039
But like I said,for me, I see actually LESS scalp when my hair is wet, because all my hair is lying flat on my head, but when it POOFS up, then it allows the light to come through.

[mamaherrera]

For me, my hair is the same as you Meteor, the scalp and even the "underlayers" dry first and then "outer layers take the longest to get completely dry. which I think is weird because you would think the underlayers would take the longest since they have wet hair on top of them, but that's how my hair is. But then my hair drys in "clumps" so there is air getting in there to help with the drying process. For me, scalp cleavage is not just a part, but wherever you see scalp off to the sides of a part, you know when the hairs just begin to fold/build layers and so there is that .5 cm area that you can see scalp off to both sides of the part, unless I'm the only one. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=11167&attachmentid=13577 this is me and my daughter showing "scalp cleavage" (I have a bit more) but maybe we are all using the same term to describe different things.
Now on my temples, I have lots of scalp cleavage due to how the hairs grow (direction, they all lay back, so they do not build any kind of layers) Looks kind of funky but that' s me. Like this: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=11167&attachmentid=5039
But like I said,for me, I see actually LESS scalp when my hair is wet, because all my hair is lying flat on my head, but when it POOFS up, then it allows the light to come through.

[lapushka]

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=11167&attachmentid=13577 this is me and my daughter showing "scalp cleavage" (I have a bit more) but maybe we are all using the same term to describe different things.

To me that's just a middle part. A parting and "scalp cleavage" aren't synonyms.

[chen bao jun]

Hey Chen. My hairtype is actually a mix of all type 4s (A, B, C) and one tiny patch of 3C. My hair is actually soft when I have the protein-moisture balance right. Its only my mega shrinkage that hurts since I have a lot of hair, and it always looks shorter. I am happy though that I am an iii, its a fun way to scare the stylists when you sit in their chairs

It must be interesting to deal with 4 different hair types.
I'm always forgetting that my mom doesn't have mega shrinkage because she's a 4c, she has mega shrinkage and just happens to be a 4c. I know a girl who is a 3a/3b and has so much shrinkage that her hip length hair looks barely longer than her shoulders, shrinkage I guess is just an independent factor.

I would think that curls and shrinkage would be good at hiding scalp cleavage and bald spots but I know that's not true because I see more black women with various type 4 hair types with no edges, bald spots and even actual baldness than people with any other hairtype, due to harsh chemical and heat processing and tight hair braiding, I'm sure.

I don't know why some people's hair is soft and others' is not, I'm just sort of sorry that mine is not.


all those women that METEOR posted don't look as if they have scalp cleavage or thinning edges to me and mama herrera, I don't see anything in your photo either, although I couldn't see your hair very well, your hand was over both sides.

I wonder if scalp cleavage is one of those things like so-called 'big thighs' that a lot of women think they have when they actually just have normal curves, because if people are saying they have scalp cleavage and look like those photos, I would say they don't have pouf like me, but they don't have a thin hair problem either.

[mamaherrera]

I guess it's good that we are clarifying how these "terms" are being used. I thought that was what it referred to,so "scalp cleavage" is like where a part opens up due to hair being pulled in a different direction, but a lot of women use it to refer to the scalp they see at their temples as well, which is normal, some have less than others. . . I have more, but it's all in the direction of the hairs, how they lay, how you pull them back.

[lapushka]

I wonder if scalp cleavage is one of those things like so-called 'big thighs' that a lot of women think they have when they actually just have normal curves, because if people are saying they have scalp cleavage and look like those photos, I would say they don't have pouf like me, but they don't have a thin hair problem either.

Ha! Good point! :)

[meteor]

^ Oh that's really good to know! :D Thank you, guys! :flower:
Because I got a bit confused when I saw some LHC threads with what looked to me like totally normal hairlines talking about scalp cleavage, bald spots... So I thought, maybe we should define the terms, because normally, when you part hair, you see scalp anyway.... and temple hairline area is sparser than the rest of the scalp, too. :shrug:

[Arctic]

Ooh you lucky lucky people who don't even know what scalp cleavage is :D

I would post a photo but I usually delete the ones which show scalp cleavage, and I'm not really sure I'd actually want to post it :)


It is a spot where scalp is visible in a place where it shouldn't be, for example if you make an updo, braid or half-up (etc etc) and right there where your hair would supposed to lay nicely as a opaque sheet on top of your scalp, there is an ugly spot of scalp peeking through [ETA: so that the hair on each side of the scalp is divided, thus it's called scalp cleavage]. A part is normal and that's not scalp cleavage. I usually tend to call the thinner temple area as see-through hair (if it is see-through, that is. If it isn't I wouldn't really think it as thin at all), but that area can also get scalp cleavage when for example that area is french braided.

One of the reasons I get the cleavage is my double crown cowlicks, which make it look like I'd have a bald spot there at the crown. I need to style that area after every wash to try to tame it. And one is the wave patter, which makes my hair grow in certain directions against my scalp, and one is simply the thickness or lack thereof. (Having darker hair and pale skin doesn't help either!) For example my front hair (bangs area and sides) are quite see through and thin, and I get really bad visible scalp from my front hairline all the way to my ears easily, if I don't pay attention to it.

Say I want to make a half-up. I pull the top half of my hair/canopy into a ponytail and it looks great from the front and I even get the thin sides look nice. Then I check the back, and there often is ugly visible scalp at the edge of the half-up, so it is situated in the middle of my head. Or if I make an intricate braided style incorporating, say, dutchbraids. (And braiding thinner hair in general in french-type braids tends to create visible scalp easily.) There usually is at least one spot where the added hair sections look wonky and reveal scalp where I would wish there wasn't any showing.

I guess the last sentence captures it: visible scalp where you wouldn't wish it to show, excluding normal part that are on top of your head and normal slightly thinner hair at the front hairline. It is not just "a little scalp peeking through" but actually quite ugly and distracting. Even depressing. It makes hair look thin and like there is a bald spot, people are not just saying that as a hyberbole. And it's often difficult to cover unless you start the style/styling (depending if my hair is up or down) all over again.

[Arctic]

Oh, and PS, I bet most people on LHC only post the very best and most flattering photos, so I doubt you will often see bad scalp cleavage photos here.

[chen bao jun]

HaHa! Yeah, I don't post the photos where my hair is super all over the place. I post nice photos like my siggy, half ups where its not doing the Mufasa--or not too badly...And soon after washday. As the week goes on the frizzzz takes over...

If I took that comb out in the siggy, which is holding the restraining braids in place, my hair is as wide as my shoulders. And I have wide shoulders. they are actually wider than my husbands.

You know other people are usually too busy hoping you don't notice their issues too much to notice yours....

[Ava Ruu]

One of the reasons I get the cleavage is my double crown cowlicks, which make it look like I'd have a bald spot there at the crown. I need to style that area after every wash to try to tame it. Oh, I get these too. My cowlick makes most of my hair grow straight towards my face when it is shorter, and with longer lengths it turns my part more into a Y or a 7 than an I when looked from the front. The horizontal bits of the parting are rather awkward for updos. I have no idea how to tame it, though.

[lacefrost]

I don't think my scalp has ever seen the sun. And wet. . .well if you look at my sig picture, that's APL hair wet.

[Arctic]

Oh, I get these too. My cowlick makes most of my hair grow straight towards my face when it is shorter, and with longer lengths it turns my part more into a Y or a 7 than an I when looked from the front. The horizontal bits of the parting are rather awkward for updos. I have no idea how to tame it, though.

Our cowlicky part/crown sound quite similar, mine also make a weird sharp turn and indeed does recemble number 7, not that you said it. Sometimes it looks like my part would be superlong, it just seems to continue and continue :D

I have found 2 ways that really help me reliably. One is after washing my hair, browdrying that area with medium heat, starting as soon after my shower as possible. The more wet the hair the better the results. The more the hair has dried the less likely any styling will work. I usually only use my hands and no brush, and put some tension on those hairs growing from the crown. This helps a lot, but the cowlick is usually back after sleeping. The other thing is a styling product called hair powder, which I found recently. It makes hair grippy and voluminous, and somehow helps me to control the crown area quite well! It even seems to help the area stay acceptable over night!

Every other thing I have tried, almost every no-heat styling method (except sometimes making a french braid that goes over that area when hair is damp and letting it dry, and sometimes making a bun that is right on top of the crown when damp and letting dry, work, but they are not reliable), every other product, back-combing... my cowlicks just laught at them :D


/end highjack

[jeanniet]

Double-crown cowlicks, yup, yup. And then with the curls clumping, I really have to pay attention. Actually I pay a lot more attention to the back of my head than the front. Otherwise it looks like I have bald spots.

ETA: If you look at my sig pic just to the left of that curl coming right down the middle, you can see a little scalp cleavage, where it looks kinda thin. It was worse farther up, but I cropped it out. Shoulda checked before taking the pic!

[therebelqueen]

To the original question, you know how long haired cats look when they're wet? Where they go from fluffy luxuriousness to scrawny big-eyed demons? That's what's my hair looks like when it's wet. The black cat is still black, there's just a lot less of it.

And no, I don't get scalp cleavage. In fact, I've learned that if I'm planning on going out in the sun for a long time, I should make sure I don't have a part of any kind because my scalp will get a sunburn.

[Shibe]

LOL my moms cat certainly went from fluff ball to angry chihuahua. Excellent imagery!

[Halliday]

Oh, and PS, I bet most people on LHC only post the very best and most flattering photos, so I doubt you will often see bad scalp cleavage photos here.

Hehe me too :magic:

[Angela_Rose]

Sorry for the huge pic, but this is my hair fresh out of the shower. http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B_xtXxrWEAAvaM6.jpg

[Shibe]

Angela, I would love to see your gorgeous hair but unfortunately it doesn't load for me!

[Angela_Rose]

Let's try this one.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=735&attachmentid=16212

[chen bao jun]

I still can't see it.

[ExpectoPatronum]

My hair looks icky when wet. It clumps together, but you can't see my scalp. It's odd though because the clumps make me look like I have no hair.

[curlylocks85]

What does your hair look like when it's wet? My poor ii hair clumps together and I have 'bald' spots all over until it dries, unless I comb it out- which I never do.

Is your hair still all Mufasa when it's wet?


Please sate my curiosity!


My hair does not clump when it is wet and I do not have any bald spots. I leave the conditioner in my hair and let it air dry that way; maybe that is why my hair does not clump? Since I do keep the conditioner in my hair, I think it keeps it from looking like Mufasa.