Moisturizing products for fine hair?

[lithostoic]

My hair is fine/medium and 1c. However with the amount of frizz I get after combing it straight while wet, I suspect I may be wavier. I've read that moisture works wonders for waves.

What are some moisturizing products suitable for fine hair? My hair is both fine and medium, very apparent when I detangle in the shower and see two distinct widths of shed hair.

[meteor]

It's all very YMMV, but I think one needs to be careful not to overdo strong moisturizing treatments with fine hair (if it's healthy and virgin), because they can potentially weigh down on hair, making it lank.

I'd recommend checking out film-forming humectants: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2014/07/film-forming-humectants-what-they-are.html

Here's a good article on how fine hair is different: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2012/03/how-fine-hair-is-different.html
It discusses how fine hair has more surface area compared to mass or inner volume than medium or coarse hair, which causes it to be weighed down more easily, so it needs a bit of structure & rigidity (often products marketed as "volumizing")

Also, hydrolyzed proteins can do many things, like patch up chipped cuticle temporarily (for damaged hair), as well as form a clear, flexible film over your hair that slows down water loss. Some proteins can penetrate below the outermost cuticle to keep hair hydrated at deeper layers. Proteins can also add a little extra support, "scaffolding" to hair, which is great if your hair is fine or medium (though it can lead to rigidity and breakage if the hair is quite coarse and if one uses protein too often/too much).

Also, I'd be careful not to overdo oils and silicones if the hair is fine, as they can weigh down fine hair quite a bit. Fine hair tends to be more easily re-shaped with oils, water, conditioners... than coarse hair (higher plasticity) and it has more surface per mass of hair for things to coat or stick to.
So try lighter oils (mineral, grapeseed) and lighter silicones that are either water-soluble or don't build up that fast (e.g. amodimethicone, PEG- silicones, ...)

This is all just a generalization and product choices are pretty YMMV, of course, I also think that fineness - coarseness is more of a spectrum, rather than discrete categories, and most people have a blend/combination of strands going on, making this issue even more complicated. I'd say: experiment with a few things and keep records on what works and what doesn't, and go from there. ;)

[lapushka]

Because of its thickness & length (which are also things you need to consider), I use conditioners for dry hair, damaged hair. I have an oily scalp so I adapt my shampoos to that, but for the lengths it's always a very moisturizing conditioner. My hair, even though it's F, can take it just fine. On top of that I condition twice even *and* do the LOC/LCO method.

I'd say use a normal conditioner, medium moisture, and see whether or not your hair needs more or less of that. It might change with length. I needed far less moisture in my conditioners at BSL than I do now! Now I need full and heavy cones, twice even.

[lithostoic]

meteor Thanks so much for the detailed response!

lapushka Thank you!

[CRX<3]

I also have a combination of fine, medium and even really coarse hair, so it's a bit tricky to know what is enough or too much for my hair! This often means either greasy temples/sides or frizzy coarse crown hair for me :justy:
Great info Meteor! :D

[JustPam]

I don't have fine hair but it is prone to build up. I use a cheap lightweight cone free conditioner and Kimberlilys defrizz spray as needed.

[ravenheather]

I like a rinse out conditioner with amodimethicone (renpure argan oil ). My favorite leave in is kinky curly knot today. No build-up ever with that for me. I also use nightblooming panacea on the ends. I used to get random white dots on the ends even though I use no heat. Now that I got my moisture balance right I hardly have any. YMMV of course.

[Anje]

My hair's no good with protein-based humectants (I'm increasingly of the opinion that henna contributes to this vehement dislike of protein that my hair has), but I do very well with other humectant conditioners. Sally Beauty sells a generic version of Biolage Conditioning Balm that I recall is fantasticly moisturizing. SMTs, which use sugar solutions as a humectant to add moisture to hair, are also really effective for me. Oils to seal in the moisture, I find I need to be very sparing with or they'll weigh my hair down and make it clump unattractively.

[lapushka]

For hair shorter than BSL, the Inecto coconut conditioner was really almost a staple in my collection. After BSL, my hair just tangled up with it. It became too light. It is a conditioner without silicones. Might be nice to look into, if they sell it in the US.

[pailin]

My fine hair tends to greasiness at the scalp, nut the length always wants more moisture. So I've always used leave-in conditioners. However I've never been happy with them because I can't seem to stop the dryness and kill the static without making it stringy. Lately I've been using rinse-out oil with mineral oil and that seems to really help. Also I use a silicone /oil serum but on wet hair only; I think it distributes better somehow because on dry hair, it always makes it greasy/stringy. I only use oils (usually sunflower, because coconut made my ends crunchy, even here where the weather is warm and the oil is liquid at room temperature!) on dry hair if I will bun or braid it.
Basically I'm going for rinse-out moisture as much as possible since it doesn't weigh hair down like leave-ins.
Also my hair seems to loooove protein, and it's not damaged. I have yet to find the limit to how much it will tolerate; I'm using a damage hair conditioner which I think has loads of protein and I've been doing gelatin treatments (again it's rinse-out moisture) almost weekly for a couple of months now.

[lapushka]

My fine hair tends to greasiness at the scalp, nut the length always wants more moisture. So I've always used leave-in conditioners. However I've never been happy with them because I can't seem to stop the dryness and kill the static without making it stringy. Lately I've been using rinse-out oil with mineral oil and that seems to really help. Also I use a silicone /oil serum but on wet hair only; I think it distributes better somehow because on dry hair, it always makes it greasy/stringy. I only use oils (usually sunflower, because coconut made my ends crunchy, even here where the weather is warm and the oil is liquid at room temperature!) on dry hair if I will bun or braid it.
Basically I'm going for rinse-out moisture as much as possible since it doesn't weigh hair down like leave-ins.
Also my hair seems to loooove protein, and it's not damaged. I have yet to find the limit to how much it will tolerate; I'm using a damage hair conditioner which I think has loads of protein and I've been doing gelatin treatments (again it's rinse-out moisture) almost weekly for a couple of months now.

Why not just use a rinse-out conditioner for dry hair from ears down (or even lower down)? I do that and my hair is oily too. As long as it doesn't come in contact with your scalp, you should be fine!

[pailin]

Why not just use a rinse-out conditioner for dry hair from ears down (or even lower down)? I do that and my hair is oily too. As long as it doesn't come in contact with your scalp, you should be fine!

I think I wasn't very clear; I do use a rinse out conditioner from ears down. For those, I'm generally going for as-moisturizing-as-I - can - possibly - get. It's just not enough without something else (ie rinse-out oil, serum or oil on wet hair).

[lapushka]

I think I wasn't very clear; I do use a rinse out conditioner from ears down. For those, I'm generally going for as-moisturizing-as-I - can - possibly - get. It's just not enough without something else (ie rinse-out oil, serum or oil on wet hair).

Oh okay, sorry... misunderstanding. I thought you weren't using rinse-out conditioner.

I typically condition twice, then still sometimes use the rinse-out oil method + LOC/LCO. It is *very* moisturizing for the length for me.

[lithostoic]

Thanks everyone c: