Hairline-Friendly Styles and Tips

[Arctic]

I recently started to suspect, that my front hairline might be slightly thinner than it used to be few years ago. I might be wrong, I need to keep an eye on it for a while. I'm not panicing or anything, but wanted to be proactive, and make sure I'll wear my hair in styles that are not putting stress on the front of my hair (both top "fringe" area and sides/temples).

Googleing brought up sites and results aimed mostly for African heritage / kinky curly hair (no tight cornrows, etc), or were more about how to cut your hair, aimed both for males or females (=short) or were trying to sell some camouflaging products or snakeoils. Maybe my search words were not the best though.

Sooo, I was thinking if we could make a thread about hairline-friendly and also hairline-unfriendly styles (so we can avoid the latter!) for longer hair, and other tips, which does not involve cutting hair into short bob or pixie. :)

All hairtypes are welcome, by no means I don't want to exclude tightly curlies or anyone else from chiming in. I just mentioned type 4 hair above, based on my google searches. There is lot of info aimed for this hairtype, and I have found the articles to be very helpful, through and informative for the most part. Yet there seems to be very little aimed to straighter hairtypes especially with longer hair. Also men are welcome to post, they have their unique problems. I'd love tips from all hairtypes: 1 to 4, thick to thin, fine to coarse, shorter, long and loooooonger.

My own hair is not long yet, but long enough for many braids and updos (about collarbone length), and we can concentrate on ideas concerning medium to long/longer hair.



Cutting a fringe seems popular advice. I already cut some face framing layers last autumn, which helps from having too much tension on my fringe area hair.

Tight hairstyle are bad.

What about crown braid, french type braids, normal buns. Somewhere someone said that high buns (the very popular top knot) put more pressure on front hairline than buns at the nape. Do you agree? My hair might be a tad too short for nape buns.

For tightly curly: How would you style longer lengths?

For men, long haired men specifically: what style you'd do? I assume vintage inspired style where sides are pushed forward might not be your thing?

For thinner and /or sparser hair: what styles work best for you making the most of what you've got and being hairline-friendly?

There are also many home remedies, it seems. I personally can't use oils other than essential oils. I have also started doing caffeine rinses. :)


Sooo, let's get brainstorming!

Oh, and if your tips/idea is specific to some hairtype (say only a very thick hair could make that hairdo), maybe write that down too.


ETA: In these posts I explain more how I envisioned this thread - I probably should edit the first post a bit:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=130234&page=3&p=2965869&viewfull=1#post2965869
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=130234&page=4&p=2966061&viewfull=1#post2966061

[Madora]

How to create a "pouf" when bunning: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=126475

Inversion braiding: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=126929

I also use inversion braiding for a faux lace braid effect: lace braided in the front (tension not tight so front hairs are not pulled back tightly) from one ear to the other, then remainder of hair loosely braided and wound around the head to form a braided crown.

[lapushka]

You can't but bun tight at shorter lengths - comes with the territory. It takes length to be able to do updos like you are supposed to do them. What I recommend for shoulder and APL is a simple peacock twist. It won't pull on your hair one bit.

[meteor]

I like sectioning hair or doing double/triple buns to distribute the weight and reduce the pulling in one spot. I also noticed that center-held buns pull more (in that center) than spread-out buns (e.g. cinnabun, infinity/figure-8 ).

For sectioning, I think these approaches can be pretty helpful:
- braiding some areas and adding the braids to the main bun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBlPI-JsMfE
- half-ups to buns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZvXrEOfJ4w
- braided beehive (2 or more braids - each going on top of the other bunned braid): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEdMa1HvQmA
- hair-taping (2 coronet braids, taped together): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlwnlfDYzk8
- Amish braids (2 braids woven into pockets, forming an updo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PYjubahR6g
- faux hawk (3 or more buns stacked on top of each other in a Mohawk-ish way): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHsFIslbwkM
- bun + coronet(s): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQXu9enBrK0 (Regency updo), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOHj74Kk7DU (Renaissance updo)
- double/triple/multiple buns side by side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgXwdARH_oM

etc. etc. ...

[MINAKO]

I think this issue rather depends on the weight of the hair than the style, unless someone buns insanely tight all the time, which i imagine to be too hurtful to wear anyways.
Like every six months when my hair has become noticabl longer and heavier i have this moment as well, asking myself if my hairline is starting to receed verrry slowly. So far it doesnt. You can actually tell by raising your eyebrows up intensely, where your hair would naturally start and if anything is missing.
I think the key is to not overtwist the base when bunning, stop before your forehead starts to feel tight and you will be fine i guess. Also distribute the weight of the bun evenly by properly inserting the toy. The wider the two points are apart and the more hair you grab from the scalp along the way the less tension will occur in one particular spot. Whith this in mind almost any LHC typical updo will be hairline friendly.

[Colochita]

As someone with a kinkier texture, I rarely slick all of my hair back into a low bun. My hair is so thick that the very front of my hair would have to be held super tightly to flatten everything beneath it. Instead, I usually do something with the front - a pompadour or small crown braids - and pull the rest back loosely.

[Arctic]

Thank you ladies! So we have 4 thick haired persons giving tips and sharing thoughts. Any other hair types?


Madora - thank you for the links! I'll have to practice some sort of poof too, I have best luck, visually, with poofs that are off-center, sort of vintage-y style (long face shape).

lapushka - thanks you for chiming in! Oh my, I most certainly did wear too tight buns last summer, it was just grown long enough to bun and I was extatic! Thankfully by now, with my thickness, I can do many comfortable styles that are not too tight. I can't yet make many buns popular on LHC, but I can do few. Mostly I have been braiding lately.

Peacock twist is a great idea! I would add french twist too!


meteor - Wow thanks so much for the numerous links! I'll have to check them out in the coming days! Good points about sectioning! I'll have to start practicing that more.


MINAKO - Considering that four first people commenting on this thead are of iii thickness, you are probably right that the weight of the hair is a big factor. But I am sure people with all thicknesses suffer from thinning hairlines and pulling hairstyles.

I'll have to try your method of checking the hair line, thanks for the idea! Also thanks for sharing your experiences about hairline-friendly styles!

You are probably right that many popular styles at LHC are automaticly hairline-friendly too.

[Arctic]

Colochita - We were posting at the same time. :) Thank you for participating! So you'd say nape buns pull more than buns that are more up? I'll have to start doing the small pompadour more, too. I do small french braids on the fringe and / or sides quite often too, and have noticed they do seem very comfortable. I bet your crown braid style looks great! I love crown braids!

[Arctic]

Talking about crown braids:

I recently learned finally how to make a crown braid that looks neat and pretty, and works on my hair, that is thinner in the front and thicker in the back. Now I wonder if it is, however, good for the front hairline area - especially if I sleep in it (because I get nice waves!).

I don't know if any of you who have very thick hair can imagine in your minds, but my front hair is really quite sparse, has always been, and when I add sections from the front to the crown braid, the braid is sort of connected to the hairline with these relatively few added sections. I have not counted, but I might have enough hair in the front to add something like 15 thinnish sections to the braid (and that is the whole distance from ear over forehead to other ear). I don't keep the sections super thin, because that seems like the braid would be hanging from only few hairs. I think my added sections are about pinkyfinger size.

I use lace braid because it makes distributing my hair easier, but it also means the braid itself isn't as sturdy as a regular dutch braid would be, and it literally hangs from those sections added from the front. I don't braid tightly at all, mind you, and it feels sturdy enough and I always pin it in place all around the braid. It feels comfortable and doesn't seem to pull or move.

Now would this braid be considered bad for the front hairline?

[Colochita]

Thank you Arctic. :) Yes I'd definitely say for me that nape buns pull more versus one higher up. I guess the weight is distributed more evenly on all of my edges versus pulling at just the front.

[hannabiss]

before i had bangs (in the before time) i found doing a center part ,even though my hair was tied back , helped a lot with not tugging at the front hair.

[hannabiss]

you could also part on side

[Breanna]

I just had this problem today! I finally learned how to do a LWB but it pulls on the front of my hair a bit.
Maybe it would be helpful to get some kind of barrette and clip some hair on the top of your head before you do your bun, so the hair is held a little forward and won't be pulled back as much, if that makes sense. I'll have to try it tomorrow.

[chen bao jun]

I think it's hairstyle related more than hairtype. 3 types people I have heard are prone to non medical related, hair loss around edges, tightly curlies, ballerinas (and Gymnasts) and Amish women. All wear hairstyles which drag on hair, and often brush edges abusively for smoothness.

Suggest you go n to doctor even though it seems early and be sure no medical cause.

[Arctic]

Colochita - That makes sense. :)

Meteor - Ok I watched the videos, great ideas there! Thanks again for sharing!

hannabiss - Good idea!

Breanna - Yes it makes perfect sense, it's one way of sectioning the hair to divide the weight. Hope it works for you!

chen bao jun - Aaah, the standard advice to see a doctor. :) I was wondering when it would be brought up! He he. Thank you for your concern, I have seen my doctor regularly and am relatively healthy.

Like I said I'm not even sure if I have any thinning, but thinning on women is actually very common (genetics, hormonal changes, aging...) from what I've read. If, after I have been following the situation and actually see reasons for real concern, I can make some better decisions. My hair has always been thinner in the front. I had a pixie cut few years ago, and started to grow it out again. There were few years when I didn't pay particular attention to the temples/sides area for a long while, until some days/weeks ago (actually, when I came back to LHC after a long hiatus, and started taking some hair photos again).

If I do come to the conclusion that I'm sure it's thinned, I'll definitely will talk about it with my doctor.


***

As a long time member many (but not all) of the suggestions are ones I am more or less familiar with, but it's good to refresh my memory, and collect these things into a one thread, there are probably many whom are not so familiar with these methods of making hairstyles. I'm sure I'm not the only one trying to google hairstyles for longer hair, that are hairline friendly.

I haven't been doing much sectioning lately, but can start doing it more, and also add more pouff to the sides and top.

Keep the ideas coming, everyone!


ETA: Has anyone an opinion of my crown braid I posted at the end of page 1?

[Panth]

Personally, I find low buns to be fine and ear-height and crown-height ones hurt lots due to the tension. In my case, I think there's a number of reasons for that:
- the bottom half of the back of my head has probably at least 50% of my hair, despite being less than 50% of my scalp, so the weight of a nape bun is distributed among more hairs
- I do nape buns with a centre parting and minimal tension, whereas to do a higher one I need to erase my parting and do high-tension to make it stay put
- I'm not used to higher buns

A good tip is this - if you can slide your fingers between scalp hair and scalp once you've finished your updo and do this on all sides of the bun then it's probably ok. Conversely, if your bun makes your scalp ache (and not in that "hair brushed the wrong way" feeling, but as in "scalp being pulled") and/or your forehead skin feels taught once you've bunned, then it's definitely too tight.

Traction alopecia (hairloss due to hair being pulled out) is principally a problem of curlier hairtypes (cornrows, in particular, are often done tight or too tight - some people report their scalp aching for days after the braids are put in) and ballerinas (the high bun combined with very flat, very slicked-back scalp hair that's under high tension, plus the tightness needed to make a bun that won't move during the dancing). It's generally less of an issue for other hairtypes simply because the commonly used styles aren't liable to cause it.

[YvetteVarie]

What I do to create a hairline friendly style is similar to Colochita. I do a small braid in the front without much tension, and then bun back the rest of the hair. I also do loose buns, I do not slick down my hair flat against my skull.

[CoveredByLove]

I know this isn't really tension hair loss at the hairline, but my mother has a small spot in her head about the size of a quarter that is completely bald because she wore her metal barrette in the SAME EXACT spot every day. I suppose it pulled in that area, and the hair just decided one day "This woman doesn't want us here! She keeps pulling us out!" :lol: Before she acquired this bad habit, she wore her hair DAILY in a classic french braid. Her hair was insanely thick and around classic length. I find myself lately wearing a french braid most of the time, because it is VERY comfortable. It seems to distribute the weight evenly across your head. When I decided to wear a bun one day, my scalp gets sore where I inserted the stick/flexi/bobby pins. When I take my hair down it's a huge AHHHH moment. I'm always careful to make sure nothing is pulling anywhere on my scalp and that my hair is not pulled tight. I guess some folks just have more sensitive scalps. :shrug: I'm happy wearing my french braid. My scalp is never "relieved" when I take it down. It doesn't required any hair toys, other than en elastic on the end. Maybe one day when my hair is much longer, I'll have more hair to stick my toys in and my scalp won't gripe so much. :)

[Arctic]

Panth - so apparently hairtype affects a lot which feels comfortable, and everyone has to test where their buns feels the best.

My hair is also noticeably thicker at the back, probably much like yours.

That was second time part was mentioned, I'll have to start wearing more parts with buns, I am often doing the "mean old lady buns" look :D

Thanks for the tips about checking the tightness, that's very handy!
For me, I think mine are mostly not too tight (sometimes I like that slicked back style, though, but might reconsider it from now on), but I admit when my hair reached to bun last summer, for the first time since I started to grow it again, I did wear them quite tight, because otherwise they wouldn't have stayed. :/ Thankfully that phase is over now and I have more wiggle room! I don't think my buns are/were tight enough for that facelift effect though (neither of the mini buns last summer or the occasional slicked back style of today), because after all I've been a LHC member a long time and many things have been internalized, like avoiding too tight styles - but they might have been now as a retrospect more tight than would have been good.

BTW the super-tight high bun has even a name, Croydon facelift; many celebrities use it when they need an instant "facelift" :D

I'm not really considering I'd have a Traction alopecia per se, more like possibility of slight general thinning (of either the front area alone or all of my hair?), which in the latter case would possibly be more visible in the front because it's always been thinner. If there even is any thinning I'm still not even positive. I wanted to make sure not to put any stress into that area if there is/has been some thinning, so I am not making it worse. My hair has always been thinner in the front and it grows in sparse. When I have this quite thin and sparse front area (sides and top) I just started to think, if my hairstyles might put more pressure to the area than I have realized, because there is less hair to begin with to distribute the weight/pressure.


YvetteVarie Thanks for commenting! It does make sense to avoid really flat against head styles with curly hair. Braids in the front are really nice accent to any style, I love them! Not only they look great and add something to even simplest of styles, they have this great effect of protecting our hair for any possible pulling :) Win-win!


CoveredByLove Oh wow, I knew wearing your hair always in same way with same toy (in same spot) can be damaging, but I never knew it could be so extensively damaging as causing a bald spot! :bigeyes:

My scalp is not sensitive in that way you describe, and I can't remember it hurting/aching from my hairstyles in a long time. When I was young my scalp did ache if I had worn a style where the scalp hairs went into wrong direction, so I do know what you mean and how it's like.


***

Ok so what I am picking from most of you is that I might be over-reacting a bit: unless there are medical reasons or constant wearing of super tight styles I shouldn't worry. And when wearing the usual LHC-type styles all should be more or less fine. (Ofcourse my particular hair is too short for many popular LHC styles, but I can still use the basic tips and modify the styles to suit my length.)

That there are some basic things to remember: varying your styles, toys and positions. Distributing weight and possible pressure/pulling by dividing hair in sections and using for example multiple buns instead of one and multiple pins/toys. Make use of parts, bangs/face framing layers and test if buns of certain height are more comfortable than others. Avoid slicked back, tight styles. Make sure scalp hair is not too tight and is not pulling anywhere. Use poofing, pompadours, vintage inspired styling and loose braids of different kinds in the front. And many more.


I would still like to hear opinions about my crown braid and sleeping with it, which I posted at the end of page 1.

[CoveredByLove]

I would still like to hear opinions about my crown braid and sleeping with it, which I posted at the end of page 1.

I personally haven't worn my hair in a crown braid enough to really give an experienced opinion. I've achieved a crown braid a few times, but am still slow at it so it's not a hairstyle I attempt too often. However, when I have worn one I find it to be very comfortable and do not have a problem with pulling at my hairline. Crown braids DO give fantastic braid waves...the best I've ever achieved on myself. Unless you are braiding very tightly, I wouldn't worry about it. I braid with decent tension, but I always braid the front more loosely than the rest for volume.

[Arctic]

CoveredByLove - Thanks for your opinion. Yes my crown braid feels really comfortable too, and I don't make it tight (because that would make my braid look smaller, lol!). I agree on the waves, they are super nice! From roots to tips :D

[meteor]

Traction alopecia (hairloss due to hair being pulled out) is principally a problem of curlier hairtypes (cornrows, in particular, are often done tight or too tight - some people report their scalp aching for days after the braids are put in) and ballerinas (the high bun combined with very flat, very slicked-back scalp hair that's under high tension, plus the tightness needed to make a bun that won't move during the dancing). It's generally less of an issue for other hairtypes simply because the commonly used styles aren't liable to cause it.

The part I bolded is really the one that makes me the most concerned, because it seems tough to solve. LHC-ers know not to pull hair tightly into updos and it's easy enough to avoid that mistake, but if you are a ballerina or an athlete, and your hair happens to be slippery, well, you'll pull that hair tightly, or else it will fall out. :( I don't really have a solution beyond trying those vortex buns and other braided and sectioned styles pinned or hairtaped into submission.


I would still like to hear opinions about my crown braid and sleeping with it, which I posted at the end of page 1.

I think a crown braid is an extremely comfortable style, just don' pull the sections tightly, obviously. I can't do it on my hair but I do something similar: a coronet out of 2 braids, and it's hands-down the lightest, most comfortable updo I've ever experienced, due to excellent weight distribution. :)

[chen bao jun]

glad you aren't having a medical problem.
I sleep in a crown braid all the time, in fact doing it for the last three days in a row (same cornrow), no thinning whatsoever.

Just do not make it incredibly tight.

If you are worried about possible future thinning due to age, it doesn't happen to everybody. It's genetic, largely, as you know, but if you would like to take preventative steps, massage your scalp and edges with Jamaican black castor oil, burdock root oil is also good, Jamaican black castor oil has been known to fix actual bald spots for a lot of people (did for my mother.)

I don't think African curly hair is more prone to thinning at the edges than anybody else's, given proper care, in fact I know its not. But you will find warnings about that whenever you search google because medical people and people that it has happened to are trying to get the word out that the use of super tight braids (often combined with extentions), harsh brushing the edges of hair with very stiff brushes and 'edge control' products are making black women bald at younger and younger ages. Its a cultural, not genetic thing and not one that you need to worry about unless you plan to start wearing tight cornrows and extentions and/or chemically straightening your hair with products that can melt coke cans or burning the edges off with a hot comb any time soon. I don't worry about it, and I'm black, because I've never done any of those things.

Ballerinas and Amish women, I don't know what can be done for them. Amish women wear that 'kapp' thing that helps to hide their epidemic traction alopecia.

[Arctic]

Sorry it took me a while to comment back, seems like if I don't answer immediately, I forget :blushing:



Meteor Yes it's difficult for those people, but they are quite small a group after all (longhaired female athletes whose sport needs them to wear tight hairstyles + Amish).

Thanks for giving opinion of my crown braid :)



chen bao jun Thank you, too, for your crown braid opinion. I guess I can continue wearing them to sleep and otherwise. :)

That's probably hitting the nail, me ultimately being worried about thinning hair as I get older. Thankfully my family seems to have relatively nice hair even when older. We Finns tend to have thinner and finer hair in general, than many other nationalities, tough.

Oh I would LOVE to try that castor oil, I have read so many good things about it! Unfortunately my skin does not stand any oils (other than the essential oil types), I get long-lasting, painful and HUGE acne breakouts :( :( I have tried and tried and same thing happens every time. I've tried with lot of different oils and ways of usage. I have finally given up trying, because my skin's health weights more than any benefits of oils. I haven't tried castor oil per se, but I have tried probably something like 7 or more different oils/butters and they are often quite expensive here too, especially if I end up not using them. I have too many bad expriences to consider investing into one more oil. :(

I have thought about starting to use essential oils mixed in aloe vera though, I used to do scalp massages with that, and loved them! Not sure if my hair grew faster or thicker, but it was so relaxing! I also started an experiment to use caffeine rinses, jury is still out on their effects on growth, but they do make my hair feel great and don't irritate my skin!

I understand kinky-curly or otherwise tightly curly hairtypes in themself (genetically) not being the reason for edges or other thinning, and the culprit often being the commonly worn styles, chemicals, care methods, etc. I don't think I implied, that there would be genetic reasons for the assumingly somewhat common (?) thinning hairlines on type 4 hair in general (though probably some do have the genes). I follow many natural hair blogs (and blogs of many hair types) and am familiar at least on the very surface level with some of the challenges of having kinky-curly hair. I hope I didn't express myself in my usual "foot in the mouth" manner, I sometimes have tendency to do so, even when my intentions are harmless. I blame the Finnish conversation culture :) I didn't, and still don't, however, think that other hair types wouldn't suffer from thinning hairlines too, because it's a complain I see often. It's hard to believe it all being because medical conditions or because the person is an athlete or Amish (we don't even have Amish people here where I live).



***

The following is general thought flow...

I think many reading my original post automatically thought, that I meant I'd suspect myself having traction alopecia, which I didn't actually mean, and that seems to have coloured the given comments and advice aimed for me specifically. I meant I suspect more like some kind of general thinning (maybe? I'm not even sure yet if it even is thinned?), which shows in the front the most. That would be because it was thinner to begin with, and has always been. And since I've only recently started to even suspect such, I haven't really had time to think throughly or read a lot about it all. (And yes I will search for my doctor's help if it comes to that.)

That's why I mentioned in my OP, that when I was looking for Z, I saw mostly advise/information of X and Y (kinky curly hairtype specific problems, traction alopecia, men, short haired women, snakeoils and such) - and I used tons of different searchwords. What I found didn't fit into what I was looking for. Now there are, for example, lot of styling ideas, and other info/advice for straighter female hair that is short, and has thinning hairline - but the info and ideas for long(er) straighter hair seemed to be noticeably more or less absent, which I found interesting. I assume people with all hair lengths and hairtypes share problems with thin or thinning hair or sparse hairlines - from whatever reasons. The reasons don't really matter in the intended context of this thread.

In short, as a refresher, with this thread I was looking for hairstyles and tips A) primarily for my particular hair [shoulder+ length and aiming to become longer, on the lower side of medium thickness, uneven distribution of denseness, thin in the front, loves doing braids and buns], B) secondarily for long(er) hair in general, and for many different hairtypes in general, C) other tips and info and discussions of these subjects, and D) last but not least I was hoping to find people with same concerns of thinning or thin hairline. Many of these subjects have already been touched, which is a great start! As I said, I didn't see much anything when searching for straighter long hair specifically, even though I'm sure many people suffer from pulling buns and hairdos (goodness know I have seen members here talk about these things many times over the years) that put pressure in/ pull from the front area (and elsewhere too). Although, as is already mentioned, a certain general hairfriendliness overlaps with hairline friendliness when it comes to typical LHC-style hairdos (which I can yet do but a few).

To highlight the last (D) point: I was hoping when starting this thread, that people who, like me, have more thin hair in general, and/or more thin or sparse front hair (from what ever reasons), would chime in with their experiences. Whereas most of who thus far have answered, have super thick, dense hair. I love you guys, and I do appreciate all comments, I hope no-one gets that wrong, and I did invite everyone to join. You all are wonderful and your comments were great and helpful! And my hairline wants to to like yours when it grows up! By all means, please do continue posting! But I admit I did expect/hope people with similar problems and/or worries and/or hairtype and/or thickness as me, to weight in more, too, so we could also give peer support to eachother. I was hoping a discussion of many hairtypes and thicknesses and densenesses (is that a word?), and I ended up being the almost onlyone who even considers having thin front. It makes me feel a bit awkward to talk about my sparse hairline, when almost all the commenters have super thick hair, you know :D

I still think that my concerns and the topic of this thread are valid, even though the general consensus from thick haired members seems to be that I shouldn't worry (and even with overlapping with general hairfriedlyness). Like I said in my first post, I'm not panicing or even really worried about my hair now, this is just something I recently started to pay attention to, and am trying to decide if it is thinned or not - and then I can worry lol. I thought it certainly wouldn't be harmful to treat my hairline as gently as possible in addition to the rest of my hair.

I don't really differentiate (in this thread), if the thinning or thin hair of a person is medical, genetic, age-related, hormonal, or because of care practices... I wouldn't want the thread to become one person (me) elaborating on their (my) problems or medical or genetic history. I personally am, infact, quite happy with my hair in general, yet this thread somehow makes me feel like I would be complaining, or expressing displeasure with my hair, even when I'm not, and I did not start the thread for that purpose at all. I love my hair and want to be able to make the most of what I've got and work with it. To me it doesn't really matter in the context of this thread, if my hair is thin or thinned, and if it is, thinned, why. (After all, my hair is thin in the front, always has been.)

I just want to find new hairline friendly styles (and many are already posted!), and information, and also to collect in one place information, observations and personal experiences, about what makes some styles bad and what makes them good, what would you recommend and what you'd consider should be avoided, and so on, have you had any aha-moments... while connecting with others in similar situation. While many points have been mentioned already, I still hope to ALSO hear from those people too, who actually do have thinner hair in the front (or elsewhere). And by capitalizing the word "also", I try to say that everyone continues to be welcome to give their two cents.

Maybe I can't quite put into words what I'd want from this thread, that hasn't been already said. All I know I haven't quite gotten it, yet :D Thus I wish more people would step forward. Maybe I just would want to hear from other people like me (thinner hair in the front), in addition to people unlike me. :) There is room for all kinds of heads of hair in this thread. But still: yoo-hoo, where art thou thinner, sparser haired people.... *yodeling*

[Arctic]

Question: What does "edges" literally mean in the hair context? Is it the temples, or whole front hairline (sides, top), or something else. Non-native speaker alert! :)

[Arctic]

Good thread about sectioned and braided buns: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=130109

[lapushka]

Question: What does "edges" literally mean in the hair context? Is it the temples, or whole front hairline (sides, top), or something else. Non-native speaker alert! :)

The small hairs at the edge of your hairline.

[Arctic]

Aah, thank you Lapushka!

[Breanna]

I think I get what you're saying, you just want some styles that will be easy on your hairline whether there is a real thinning problem or not, to maybe get a head start on preventing damage?
Anyway I have mostly fine hair and I hate when I make a bun and it pulls on my scalp at the front, but after reading suggestions on here I figured something out with sectioning and twisting that is very comfortable and looks cute, and I might make a video for it tomorrow. (hopefully)

[meteor]

I think I get what you're saying, you just want some styles that will be easy on your hairline whether there is a real thinning problem or not, to maybe get a head start on preventing damage?
Anyway I have mostly fine hair and I hate when I make a bun and it pulls on my scalp at the front, but after reading suggestions on here I figured something out with sectioning and twisting that is very comfortable and looks cute, and I might make a video for it tomorrow. (hopefully)

Oooo Sounds awesome, Breanna! :applause I'm always curious about new sectioned and comfy styles! :popcorn:

[Arctic]

I think I get what you're saying, you just want some styles that will be easy on your hairline whether there is a real thinning problem or not, to maybe get a head start on preventing damage?
Anyway I have mostly fine hair and I hate when I make a bun and it pulls on my scalp at the front, but after reading suggestions on here I figured something out with sectioning and twisting that is very comfortable and looks cute, and I might make a video for it tomorrow. (hopefully)

Breanna, you put into couple of lines of text what I've been writing and editing what feels like the whole day :D Yes, that pretty much sums most of it up!

Plus I'd like to connect with others too, to feel understood if you will, and share peer support if someone needs it (not that I'm any type of expert, but I have always had thin hairline/front of the hair, so I know how it's like, when many hairstyles just don't work when I don't have enough hair in the front). My original post was probably a bit off (I wanted to include everyone welcome to post), as is the title. With that I tried to think a sort of umbrella title that would cover all these areas. :)

And I'd also think it would be good to have collected some info/links/videos/tips/personal experiences into one place, I'm sure I'm not the only one, who has been googling styles for longer hair that are friendly to the hairline, edges and thinner front areas. Even if my hair is not long yet, the websites/hits (for straighter hair types) that came up with my searches were aimed mostly on women with hair so short they can't do updos or braids, whereas I have my hair up a lot (and will be having it up even more as it grows, I love braids and updos). So I am sort of considered a long haired person when it comes to most sites/articles/videos/etc that dealt with thin hairlines. :)

There seemed to be this huge absence of directing information about sparser/thinner/thinning hairlines/front of the hair, to the group of people who have long, straighter hair, who wear their hair up and who might not know about these things, like balansing the weight and stopping pulling. There are ofcourse tons of fantastic hairstyle tutorials and browsing LHC will bring up many styles, but I feel the info is scattered, and maybe not always mentioned for example in a tutorial in a vein of "I do this step to prevent my bun from pulling the front of my hair". And when things like that, experience based silent knowledge is not shared, it's difficult to find too.

And, which I think I haven't actually mentioned yet as I was hoping others with thinner front hair would join in, I would also love to have a collection of hairstyles that not only wouldn't pull but which would also look good with thinner and sparser hairline.

There is the "Fine and Thin" thread which is a lovely thread, but I don't quite fit there because I don't have fine hair anymore, and it's not really thin either from overall thickness, only from the front of my hair. I think there could be room and need for this type of thread too.

Oh my blather fingers strikes again. :D



I'd love it if you would do a video! It's been several years since I had longer hair the last time, and I have probably been forgetting lot of things.

[endlessly]

I know exactly what you're going through! I started noticing thinning in my hairline about a year ago as a result of tighter buns and too tight of braids at the roots. Since my hair was starting to look a little flat up front, I started doing a sort of "poof" hairstyle up at the front, then would section out two braids on either side of the "poof", then tie the rest of my hair into my typical bun, and lastly wrap my braids around the bun to help anchor the style. The poof - which I would typically bobby pin to stay in place - gave a little bit more body to the top so my hair wasn't so flat, but also helped to alleviate the pressure and pulling off of my front hairline. Since I have a lot of hair, the braids are relatively thick and that helped to put even more weight off the front.

[meteor]

I know exactly what you're going through! I started noticing thinning in my hairline about a year ago as a result of tighter buns and too tight of braids at the roots. Since my hair was starting to look a little flat up front, I started doing a sort of "poof" hairstyle up at the front, then would section out two braids on either side of the "poof", then tie the rest of my hair into my typical bun, and lastly wrap my braids around the bun to help anchor the style. The poof - which I would typically bobby pin to stay in place - gave a little bit more body to the top so my hair wasn't so flat, but also helped to alleviate the pressure and pulling off of my front hairline. Since I have a lot of hair, the braids are relatively thick and that helped to put even more weight off the front.

That's an awesome way of doing it! :thumbsup: By the way, if you want to avoid using bobby pins on that poof (bobby pins can be a bit damaging), you can loosely braid or twist that front section, but don't start too close to roots, leave a few inches from hairline and then start braiding. Then you can push that braid a little bit forward - to create that poof - and then style the hair in your usual updo/bun. HTH :flower:

[Arctic]

Good point Meteor, to avoid bobby pins up there, especially if poof is done regularly.


endlessly So great that you posted! Thank you for sharing your experiences! The poof style seems to popular trick according to this thread. Braids at the sides and top are very in now too, so we can braid to our hearts content! There are tons of fun ideas all over the internet :D (I love braids, can you tell :) )

Have you noticed your hairline getting better with distributing the weight more and preventing pulling?



I have a general question/observation. When ever I try to make a pony, braid, bun at the middle of my head, it always ends up slightly to the left side. I try to be so careful to make it in the middle and ALWAYS it's lopsided. Why this keeps happening, does anyone have ideas? As my hair grows longer, I want to be able to control the exact spot where I make my updo. (Ofcourse as we have learned, varying the spot of of bun/braid, etc is good, but mine never seems to be right in the middle even when I try.) I have started to think my skull might not be symmetrical or something back there, and this would always tip the bun more to the left even when it feels like it's in the middle.

[Beezle]

My hair, while fine and thin all over, is particularly sparse at the front. This, leads to a fierce old lady bun (or the otter look, as Madora so graphically described it!). I try to loosen the sides a bit before I put my hair in my usual LWB but fine hair doesn't obey all that well and often just looks untidy. A higher bun gives a very odd look as the side hair can no longer be loosened and draped to cover the thinnest areas directly above my ears. Unfortunately I can't braid my hair - uncooperative arthritic fingers - so I'm always looking for alternatives to "otter buns". But maybe I am a fierce old lady, so it's not false advertising after all:agree:

[meteor]

My hair, while fine and thin all over, is particularly sparse at the front. This, leads to a fierce old lady bun (or the otter look, as Madora so graphically described it!). I try to loosen the sides a bit before I put my hair in my usual LWB but fine hair doesn't obey all that well and often just looks untidy. A higher bun gives a very odd look as the side hair can no longer be loosened and draped to cover the thinnest areas directly above my ears. Unfortunately I can't braid my hair - uncooperative arthritic fingers - so I'm always looking for alternatives to "otter buns". But maybe I am a fierce old lady, so it's not false advertising after all:agree:

Nothing wrong with the otter look! I love how fierce, business-like and no-nonsense it looks! :thumbsup:
If you want to soften the look, but can't braid, you could just twist some 1 - 3 hair pieces in front and then bun the hair the way you usually do. It's amazing how much a strategically placed twist or pinning can change the overall look.
You could also try bunning the bottom section of your hair your usual way and then simply wrapping the top/canopy hair over the bun to give it more lift/volume.

[MINAKO]

I personally love the otter look and always try to flatten my hair at the roots as much as possible (whithout any crazy pulling action)
To make it all nice and tidy i dampen my roots and use a fine tooth comb to guide all the hair in the same direction, then bun and smooth over the top once again with a small goat hair brush. i love how slick and elegant it looks. Look at vintage Serge Lutens advertisement and you will see no more nagative about it ;)

ETA: frontview very unlike your average grandma, innit?
http://40.media.tumblr.com/2d04c7fc8ad5075a70c9f4e7be33cada/tumblr_n1fix4DjNG1qbkmx9o1_500.jpg

[rags]

My hair, while fine and thin all over, is particularly sparse at the front. This, leads to a fierce old lady bun (or the otter look, as Madora so graphically described it!). I try to loosen the sides a bit before I put my hair in my usual LWB but fine hair doesn't obey all that well and often just looks untidy. A higher bun gives a very odd look as the side hair can no longer be loosened and draped to cover the thinnest areas directly above my ears. Unfortunately I can't braid my hair - uncooperative arthritic fingers - so I'm always looking for alternatives to "otter buns". But maybe I am a fierce old lady, so it's not false advertising after all:agree:

I can relate Beezle, right down to the braiding being difficult (though when I'm on a higher dose of prednisone I can sometimes braid). I've been doing the half=up, twist it and put a teeny claw in it, then make my bun that Nightshade showed somewhere. I can't make much of a poof at all, as my crazy cowlicks will just make it separate, but it does give it some volume and is really easy to do even when your hands are bad.

[Beezle]

Thank you meteor, Minako and rags for your suggestions.

I loved the picture Minako but the contrast between her and me was really funny as I'm now on the wrong side of 60 and somewhat over-fed but I do thank you for the thought. And definitely thank you for the laugh - that's always a bonus.

The hair twists were successful in that the twisted piece could be loosely looped and then joined at the tiny claw grip that Rags suggested. I had forgotten my past attempts to do that so I was very pleased to be reminded. The bulk of the extra clip is very helpful in scrawny buns. So thank you all. I really benefitted from Arctic's post.

Are you right or left handed Arctic?

[Brad]

I myself have thin hair only to the top of my shoulders, just touching. My side are (look very) thin I wonder if I should let it grow or not ( I am in my sixties). In my picture I am the one in the hat, the last time it was long, maybe 2 years ago. I don't do much to it because, it doesn't really hold a curl, I can put it in a ponytail at times and do that, to keep it off my face. It is my natural hair color, dishwater blonde with natural highlighting, I really don't blow dry as I don't want split ends, I sometimes use the curling iron if I am going out.

Any help or suggestions are welcomed. Thanks

[Brad]

I can relate Beezle, right down to the braiding being difficult (though when I'm on a higher dose of prednisone I can sometimes braid). I've been doing the half=up, twist it and put a teeny claw in it, then make my bun that Nightshade showed somewhere. I can't make much of a poof at all, as my crazy cowlicks will just make it separate, but it does give it some volume and is really easy to do even when your hands are bad.

I can agree with the both of you, rags, pretty picture, looks like my hair when longer, the grey hairs are in the same placement on me, only I have bangs because I don't look good with out bangs, I've tried. Nice reading your posts.

[Brad]

Do post get delete? I posted something before I posted the one above at 12:33PM today, rags, and Beezle I had mention and it's not here now, wondering?

[Brad]

Sorry, I did not see page 5 till I posted the last post...ooooooopppppsssss!

[Arctic]

My hair, while fine and thin all over, is particularly sparse at the front. This, leads to a fierce old lady bun (or the otter look, as Madora so graphically described it!). I try to loosen the sides a bit before I put my hair in my usual LWB but fine hair doesn't obey all that well and often just looks untidy. A higher bun gives a very odd look as the side hair can no longer be loosened and draped to cover the thinnest areas directly above my ears. Unfortunately I can't braid my hair - uncooperative arthritic fingers - so I'm always looking for alternatives to "otter buns". But maybe I am a fierce old lady, so it's not false advertising after all:agree:

Welcome! I hear you on the old lady bun, but have also learned to embrace it :D There used to be a fun thread called Tightly Bunned Mean Ladies and I totally subbed to that thread!

I know what you mean with high buns. When the side hairs go upwards instead of horizontally, it somehow makes the sides area look thinner.

If you are not against hair styling products, I can WARMLY recommend hair powder. It doesn't damage, and adds some volume and grip to the hair. These both qualities mean the hair looks denser and thicker. It also helps hairstyles to stay.

I have a braid suggestion for you. Maybe it would be kinder to your hands. This braid looks very much like a normal 3-strand braid. I don't know if it has a name, and I lost the tutorial where I saw it.

- Divide hair in 2 equal parts, lets call them A and B.
- Divide the other, no matter which, let's say A for this instruction, into 2 (A1 and A2)
- Wrap these A1 and A2 around B so that A1 goes from behind B and A2 in front of B.
- Combine A1 and A2 again into one whole section A. Now B is inside strand A.
- Do the same with section B. Divide into B1 and B2, wrap around A so that A will be inside section B.
- Continue in same way, always divide the section that is on the left (or right, doesn't matter other than keep the side same)
- BUT NOTE: every time you divide the other section into 2, do it in slightly different spot. You will feel with your finger where the section was divided the last time. Dividing the sections always from the same spot makes the braid not work (there will be big holes).
-->TIP: you could use topsy tail tool as a help, so there wouldn't even be dividing sections by hands.

I hope you understand, it difficult to explain. I also hope you could do this one, I imagine it being much gentler to your fingers.



Nothing wrong with the otter look! I love how fierce, business-like and no-nonsense it looks! :thumbsup:
If you want to soften the look, but can't braid, you could just twist some 1 - 3 hair pieces in front and then bun the hair the way you usually do. It's amazing how much a strategically placed twist or pinning can change the overall look.
You could also try bunning the bottom section of your hair your usual way and then simply wrapping the top/canopy hair over the bun to give it more lift/volume.

I, too, like the tightly bunned mean ladies look. We always want the greener grass from other side of the fence, don't we. :D

Great idea to do simple twists, they sound very arthiris friendly. Good explanation on the sectioned bun too!



I personally love the otter look and always try to flatten my hair at the roots as much as possible (whithout any crazy pulling action)
To make it all nice and tidy i dampen my roots and use a fine tooth comb to guide all the hair in the same direction, then bun and smooth over the top once again with a small goat hair brush. i love how slick and elegant it looks. Look at vintage Serge Lutens advertisement and you will see no more nagative about it ;)

ETA: frontview very unlike your average grandma, innit?
http://40.media.tumblr.com/2d04c7fc8ad5075a70c9f4e7be33cada/tumblr_n1fix4DjNG1qbkmx9o1_500.jpg

Thank you and everyone else who has said they like the tighly bunned look!

Yeah, those are good tips to use fine toothed comb and brush!

I already have posted about it elsewhere, but my secret weapon agains scalp cleavage is a small natural bristle tooth brush (not used to brush teeth, lol). It's perfect side to smooth scalp cleavage from braided styles!


I can relate Beezle, right down to the braiding being difficult (though when I'm on a higher dose of prednisone I can sometimes braid). I've been doing the half=up, twist it and put a teeny claw in it, then make my bun that Nightshade showed somewhere. I can't make much of a poof at all, as my crazy cowlicks will just make it separate, but it does give it some volume and is really easy to do even when your hands are bad.

Welcome!

Have a look at the braid instructions I posted for Beezle, it sounds like something that is more handfriendly than normal 3-strand braid.

Can you elaborate on the hairstyle more? Does the mini claw clip keep the halfup a little voluminous? And the bun covers it? Sound pretty and a good example of sectioned styles!

Ha ha, I have those cowlicks too, they try their very best to make my hairlife difficult! LOL!



Thank you meteor, Minako and rags for your suggestions.

I loved the picture Minako but the contrast between her and me was really funny as I'm now on the wrong side of 60 and somewhat over-fed but I do thank you for the thought. And definitely thank you for the laugh - that's always a bonus.

The hair twists were successful in that the twisted piece could be loosely looped and then joined at the tiny claw grip that Rags suggested. I had forgotten my past attempts to do that so I was very pleased to be reminded. The bulk of the extra clip is very helpful in scrawny buns. So thank you all. I really benefitted from Arctic's post.

Are you right or left handed Arctic?

Great to hear the twisting worked for you!




I myself have thin hair only to the top of my shoulders, just touching. My side are (look very) thin I wonder if I should let it grow or not ( I am in my sixties). In my picture I am the one in the hat, the last time it was long, maybe 2 years ago. I don't do much to it because, it doesn't really hold a curl, I can put it in a ponytail at times and do that, to keep it off my face. It is my natural hair color, dishwater blonde with natural highlighting, I really don't blow dry as I don't want split ends, I sometimes use the curling iron if I am going out.

Any help or suggestions are welcomed. Thanks


I can agree with the both of you, rags, pretty picture, looks like my hair when longer, the grey hairs are in the same placement on me, only I have bangs because I don't look good with out bangs, I've tried. Nice reading your posts.

Welcome! You have almost same length of hair as I do! I have been collecting many hairstyles for shoulder length hair in my blog, when you have enough posts (25+) have a look; I'm sure you'll find something you like there!

Please don't call your hair colour in degoratory terms. I'm sure your dark blonde/tawny hair is lovely!

[rags]

Arctic, for the half-up I was suggesting, you gather hair for a half-up (or just your bangs area if that's all you want "poofed" a bit). Then take the hair back as if you were going to put a barrette in the half-up, twist it where you would be placing the barrette, push it forward a bit (thus making the front looser, not really a poof, just looser), and place the mini claw clamp there. Then go ahead and make your bun. I remove the claw clip after as my bun is a bit lower, but I suppose you could leave it if you wish. This leaves you with just a softer, more voluminized look in front, not really a poof (though you COULD do it enough to poof it if you wanted to I suppose).

Sadly, even rope braids are impossible for me to do at times. I am glad I can still do buns and leave it at that.

Brad, welcome back and thank you for the kind words! :flower: I think if you want long hair you should grow it, thin or not. My hair is barely at 1.5" ponytail myself. Thin hair can look beautiful and ethereal long. And you can do buns waaaay before those with thicker hair can!

[Arctic]

Rags - Thanks, yes I did get what you meant after all on the first explanation :) Glad I asked anyway! I have done something similar, my latest was a fancy bun tutorial in my blog, where I used similar technique for the crown area only.

[LauraLongLocks]

A photo of me last night. I am growing out my bangs, so I had them pulled back away from my hairline. This made it possible to see how my left temple is really sparsely populated with hair. My hair naturally parts on that side, and I've been parting it on that side all my life until I read George Michael's book where he recommended that women part their hair opposite the direction of their growth. This adds volume and reduces the stress from repeatedly parting in the same place. Now I go back and forth from parting on left or right, and pulling straight back.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/Bestbirth/bald%20left%20temple.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/Bestbirth/media/bald%20left%20temple.jpg.html)

I *think* my hair has actually started growing a little longer on my temples since I started brushing with a BBB twice daily. I noticed it a few months ago. The temples are still sparse, but the hair is a little longer, about 2-3 inches now, whereas it used to only grow 1/2 to 1 inch long.

My hair has always been thin there, and I am incredibly healthy. I do not believe I have a health problem causing thinness at the temples. Whether long or short, my hair has always been thin there, so I do not think it is traction alopecia. I just don't have thick hair in that area.

The best way to hide it is to part on the other side, as there is a little more thickness on my right temple compared to my left. Bangs covered it also, but I don't want to keep bangs anymore.

So, anyway, here I am, with my thin temple area, and life goes on...

[mamaherrera]

A photo of me last night. I am growing out my bangs, so I had them pulled back away from my hairline. This made it possible to see how my left temple is really sparsely populated with hair. My hair naturally parts on that side, and I've been parting it on that side all my life until I read George Michael's book where he recommended that women part their hair opposite the direction of their growth. This adds volume and reduces the stress from repeatedly parting in the same place. Now I go back and forth from parting on left or right, and pulling straight back.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/Bestbirth/bald%20left%20temple.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/Bestbirth/media/bald%20left%20temple.jpg.html)

I *think* my hair has actually started growing a little longer on my temples since I started brushing with a BBB twice daily. I noticed it a few months ago. The temples are still sparse, but the hair is a little longer, about 2-3 inches now, whereas it used to only grow 1/2 to 1 inch long.

My hair has always been thin there, and I am incredibly healthy. I do not believe I have a health problem causing thinness at the temples. Whether long or short, my hair has always been thin there, so I do not think it is traction alopecia. I just don't have thick hair in that area.

The best way to hide it is to part on the other side, as there is a little more thickness on my right temple compared to my left. Bangs covered it also, but I don't want to keep bangs anymore.

So, anyway, here I am, with my thin temple area, and life goes on...

Thanks for sharing this Laura. I have been very self-conscious of my left side temple, as it is "recessed" a bit and the hairs that start off are only .5-1 inch long too and I was worried about it. I couldn't prove if it's been this way since a youngeon as I have always had bangs, but I can tell it's always been the same hairline. Then it slowly starts to transition into longer hair, but it goes from .5 inch hairs to 2 inch hairs to 4 inch, and takes about an inch inward for it to have long hairs. It bugs me too, but I'm not as confident as you are about these hairs/my temple so I stick with bangs. But it's not good either because I get so used to seeing myself with bangs, that when I see that temple, I freak myself out!

[Arctic]

LauraLongLocks - Welcome and thanks for posting your picture! I have very sparse hair on both sides at same place as you. It's probably very common.

I wonder if parting has something to do with it, especially if one parts on the same spot for years, or decades. I have always changed my part regularly, but I probably part at the left side most often, because it seems to suit my face the best. I don't part in the middle very often, again because it doesn't suit my face that well.

Great to hear BBBing may have helped! How long did you do it before noticing the positive effects?


mamaherrera - Welcome!




Has anybody tried any "tricks" to camouflage the thin hairline? One that I see often being mentioned, is to use an eyeshadow (or similar makeup product meant for scalp) in the colour of the hair roots, to cover scalp a little bit. I haven't tried it, because I have a feeling finding a correct shade would be difficult, if I can compare finding right shade of eyebrow pencils to this. The pencils are almost always too red and warm for me. Anyway, looking at some snakeoil adverticements, the before picture has a bare scalp and the after picture has coloured scalp (makeup or photoshop) :D

Oh, apparently in Korea, it's trendy to paint/draw a really unnaturally neat front hairline.

Those hair mascaras that were popular in 90s, those could help to make the front thicker lookin. If you find a colour that matches your own and if your baby hairs are fine and almost colourless, like mine are.