Hairtype help please

[mshizzleceba]

Hi all,

I did CWC today and let my hair air dry. I have a photo and am so appalled at how gross and damaged it looks :( Anyways, that's why I'm here, to get help! I'm not exactly sure how to insert a picture though...could someone please help?

I believe my second classifier is fine to medium and third is thin.

Thanks to all in advance!

[vampyyri]

Here's a thread about how to post a picture: Click me! (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=7240&p=159789&viewfull=1#post159789)

[mshizzleceba]

Here's a thread about how to post a picture: Click me! (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=7240&p=159789&viewfull=1#post159789)
Thanks so much! :)

[mshizzleceba]

http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah101/Michelle_CeBrooks/image1_zpsjwovl54a.jpg (http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/Michelle_CeBrooks/media/image1_zpsjwovl54a.jpg.html)

[vampyyri]

From what I see, I would say 1c/2a (to me, at least). Soft body wave with more wavy bits mixed in.

[lapushka]

I would say 1c/2a as well. Re-post a picture when it's about APL, because waves often don't form right until they get a certain weight & length to them. But I'd say that for now.

[Arctic]

You ain't finey, my dear. :D Your hair also doesn't look thin, that is easy for you to measure yourself. Try to gather as much of your hair into a pony and measure around the base of the pony. If all your hair doesn't reach yet, they you need to guestimate. But from the looks of it, it is not thin. Coarseness/fineness isn't as straightforward to measure at home, but having seen so many photos of hair textures I am pretty confirent to claim you are on the M, possibly even M/C range (strands look thick, they are very clearly visible against eachother and against background, even in your small photo).

The wave pattern is difficult to say at your length, but it looks like big, bouncy, strong waves, and I would put you in 2a. I assume as your hair grows, it will look wavier still (I mean when I imagine there will be those big huge waves one after another). Or it could end up looking straighter :laugh: Time will tell. Maybe the 1c/2a people above suggested would be good for now, as you wait for more length and it's effects on your wave pattern.

Now you say your hair looks damaged. The question is, is it damaged? If it's not, then look into more coarse hair care and wavy hair care. It might be you'll just need to adjust your routines a bit to bring out the best of your type. If it is damaged, look into damaged hair care and trim away the damage little by little.

And don't worry about hair typing photos not looking perfect - sure some people's hair looks good in typing photos too, but these are not beauty photos. These are to see the natural texture.

[lapushka]

Like Arctic said, you'll have to measure your circumference yourself and I'm guessing it's M as well, maybe even M/C. The picture is blown-up and broadened quite a bit though so that might skew things.

[mshizzleceba]

Thanks all. The pic is small since I was following the guidelines of posting for height and width.

Sounds like for sure I've got some natural wave. I have always straightened it dry with a blow dryer or flat iron or used a curling iron to make it curly. I don't know the first thing about air drying wavy hair to look decent. Could someone point me in the right direction? I'm totally open to embracing the wave!

[Arctic]

There are no limitations to photo size when posting to threads, other than not to make the photos HUGE because that slows the loading time. Avatars and signatures are a different issue, they do have limitations. I tend to scale my photos so that the longest side is 500 or 600 pixels, or if I am posting something very detailed, maybe 700 or very rarely 800 pixels. The way your resized your photo distorted it quite a bit.

Anyway, here are few very good wavy threads:

Wavy Women: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=1366
Wavy and Wurly: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=31563
1c/2a thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=54163

It sounds like you might have some heat damage in your hair if you have been regularly using those styling methods, unfortunately.

[mshizzleceba]

There are no limitations to photo size when posting to threads, other than not to make the photos HUGE because that slows the loading time. Avatars and signatures are a different issue, they do have limitations. I tend to scale my photos so that the longest side is 500 or 600 pixels, or if I am posting something very detailed, maybe 700 or very rarely 800 pixels. The way your resized your photo distorted it quite a bit.

Anyway, here are few very good wavy threads:

Wavy Women: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=1366
Wavy and Wurly: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=31563
1c/2a thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=54163

It sounds like you might have some heat damage in your hair if you have been regularly using those styling methods, unfortunately.
I see.

Thanks I'll check out those threads and I suspect you are correct re: heat damage. Do you think it can be improved By just limiting their use or do I also need to apply some sort of treatment?

[lapushka]

I see.

Thanks I'll check out those threads and I suspect you are correct re: heat damage. Do you think it can be improved By just limiting their use or do I also need to apply some sort of treatment?

Stopping heat styling is like starting from a shaved head with regards to damage. Check your hair for white dots along the strands, if you have those, that is impending breakage and heat damage.

[mshizzleceba]

Stopping heat styling is like starting from a shaved head with regards to damage. Check your hair for white dots along the strands, if you have those, that is impending breakage and heat damage.

Sounds promising :D

[mshizzleceba]

Stopping heat styling is like starting from a shaved head with regards to damage. Check your hair for white dots along the strands, if you have those, that is impending breakage and heat damage.

Slightly different question...I read in other posts about you using hello hydration. That has silicones in it, no? How do you prevent the damage from using it?

[lapushka]

Slightly different question...I read in other posts about you using hello hydration. That has silicones in it, no? How do you prevent the damage from using it?

Silicones do not cause damage. I think I answered your question in the HE thread already, but if you mean build-up, that washes out with any sulfate shampoo!

[Arctic]

I see.

Thanks I'll check out those threads and I suspect you are correct re: heat damage. Do you think it can be improved By just limiting their use or do I also need to apply some sort of treatment?

I have no personal experience with heat damage, but in general I think you can a) make it look better by masking the damage, and b) help those damaged hairs to hold together a bit better with right hair care, until you trim them off. Alas, you can't really fix the damage already done.

Limiting heat usage is a great step, but you have to know that every time you do use heat it can (and often will) cause a little bit more damage. And as you hair grows, if you continue using heat - even in a limited manner - you can also damage the new growth. This is why many of our members will stop using heat all together.

Blow drying is ok as long as you use cool to warm air and don't aggressively brush it and stretch it with brushes. We have many threads about gentle blow drying methods. BUt all kinds of hot iron type tools tend to be very bad for hairs, they are just so very hot.

Damaged hair usually likes and needs protein treatments, because proteins will help patch the damaged areas temporarily, and will temporary give some structure back to the compromised strands. Using water based moisturizers is also very important, and proteins and moisture goes together hand in hand. When damaged hair has some supplement protein from products it can hold the moisture in better.

Then all kinds of nourishing ingredients are good too, like oils. Silicones and other ingredients that coat your hairs will make it look and feel better temporary.

You will probably need to decide a trimming plan, and whether you want to grow out your damage. And if you want a healthy head of hair, you need to start preventing as much of the everyday damage as possible.

Hang around and you will pick up many hair care methods, and step by step you can be on your way towards healthy, wavy hair! Trying to encourage your natural waves and limiting your heat usage are great steps!

[mshizzleceba]

I have no personal experience with heat damage, but in general I think you can a) make it look better by masking the damage, and b) help those damaged hairs to hold together a bit better with right hair care, until you trim them off. Alas, you can't really fix the damage already done.

Limiting heat usage is a great step, but you have to know that every time you do use heat it can (and often will) cause a little bit more damage. And as you hair grows, if you continue using heat - even in a limited manner - you can also damage the new growth. This is why many of our members will stop using heat all together.

Blow drying is ok as long as you use cool to warm air and don't aggressively brush it and stretch it with brushes. We have many threads about gentle blow drying methods. BUt all kinds of hot iron type tools tend to be very bad for hairs, they are just so very hot.

Damaged hair usually likes and needs protein treatments, because proteins will help patch the damaged areas temporarily, and will temporary give some structure back to the compromised strands. Using water based moisturizers is also very important, and proteins and moisture goes together hand in hand. When damaged hair has some supplement protein from products it can hold the moisture in better.

Then all kinds of nourishing ingredients are good too, like oils. Silicones and other ingredients that coat your hairs will make it look and feel better temporary.

You will probably need to decide a trimming plan, and whether you want to grow out your damage. And if you want a healthy head of hair, you need to start preventing as much of the everyday damage as possible.

Hang around and you will pick up many hair care methods, and step by step you can be on your way towards healthy, wavy hair! Trying to encourage your natural waves and limiting your heat usage are great steps!


Thanks for such a great post. I can certainly search around the site, but if you can think of a thread with a good protein treatment or can suggest one, I'd really appreciate it

[Arctic]

Thanks for such a great post. I can certainly search around the site, but if you can think of a thread with a good protein treatment or can suggest one, I'd really appreciate it

I hope others will give you product recommendations, my own hair hates protein with passion and thus I haven't much looked into them. I remember brands like Joico and Aphogee (I hope I got that right) being mentioned often. In general conditioners/treatments that are called "reconstructing", "repairing" (which is a lie, as we know), "protein", "for damaged hair" tend to be good indicators of them containing protein. Ingredient lists will give you more information than the product descriptions. Look for "hydrolyzed" proteins, they should be the most useful for damaged hair as they are small enough to actually go inside the hairs.

For DIY treatment, this gelatin mask seems to be popular here, if you are not opposed to using gelatin: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.fi/2014/04/gelatin-protein-treatment-recipe-update.html

Always follow protein treatment with a non-protein, moisturizing conditioner/treatment (water based moisture), this way the hair will have a balance between moisture and protein, and that's important for healthy hair. SMT is very popular DIY recipe many of our members swear by. You can find the recipe at the Recipes sub-forum.

ETA: If you'll tell us which country you are from, people can give better recs. :)

[mshizzleceba]

I hope others will give you product recommendations, my own hair hates protein with passion and thus I haven't much looked into them. I remember brands like Joico and Aphogee (I hope I got that right) being mentioned often. In general conditioners/treatments that are called "reconstructing", "repairing" (which is a lie, as we know), "protein", "for damaged hair" tend to be good indicators of them containing protein. Ingredient lists will give you more information than the product descriptions. Look for "hydrolyzed" proteins, they should be the most useful for damaged hair as they are small enough to actually go inside the hairs.

For DIY treatment, this gelatin mask seems to be popular here, if you are not opposed to using gelatin: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.fi/2014/04/gelatin-protein-treatment-recipe-update.html

Always follow protein treatment with a non-protein, moisturizing conditioner/treatment (water based moisture), this way the hair will have a balance between moisture and protein, and that's important for healthy hair. SMT is very popular DIY recipe many of our members swear by. You can find the recipe at the Recipes sub-forum.

ETA: If you'll tell us which country you are from, people can give better recs. :)


Makes sense! I'm Canadian! :)