Is new growth always ugly?

[Toweller]

Hello, first time poster here! 3.5 years ago I became dedicated to having healthy hair. After much research I came to believe that natural hair is easier and cheaper to keep healthy and beautiful than a lot of dye and heat treatments. It had been dip dye bleached and that took a year to grow out. I noticed back then that I had what looked like breakage all over my head. Now 3.5 years later I've been dye free, heat free ( not even blow drying since I go to a barber), regular 3 month trims, mason pearson brush and comb, gentle hairstyles, I even use a scrunchie! Despite all of this my hair has just as much breakage as before. On closer inspection I have very few split ends, the short hairs all over my head must be new growth. But it looks terrible! My straight hair looks frizzy, unkempt and unhealthy. Is this just how it is? Is there more that I should be doing to keep my hair healthy? Is this just what happens to very fine hair?

[lithostoic]

It'll grow out eventually. My new fuzzies went from eyebrow length to chin length in about a year.

[DweamGoiL]

Hello, first time poster here! 3.5 years ago I became dedicated to having healthy hair. After much research I came to believe that natural hair is easier and cheaper to keep healthy and beautiful than a lot of dye and heat treatments. It had been dip dye bleached and that took a year to grow out. I noticed back then that I had what looked like breakage all over my head. Now 3.5 years later I've been dye free, heat free ( not even blow drying since I go to a barber), regular 3 month trims, mason pearson brush and comb, gentle hairstyles, I even use a scrunchie! Despite all of this my hair has just as much breakage as before. On closer inspection I have very few split ends, the short hairs all over my head must be new growth. But it looks terrible! My straight hair looks frizzy, unkempt and unhealthy. Is this just how it is? Is there more that I should be doing to keep my hair healthy? Is this just what happens to very fine hair?

I'd love to see a hair typing photo of your hair. I used to think I had straight hair for the first 30 years of my life, and like you, I thought my hair did not behave. But, it turns out it was just wavy all along and I was treating it like straight hair. When you mentioned frizzy, it's usually an indicator of a different texture rather than just stick straight.

[Corvana]

I'd love to see a hair typing photo of your hair. I used to think I had straight hair for the first 30 years of my life, and like you, I thought my hair did not behave. But, it turns out it was just wavy all along and I was treating it like straight hair. When you mentioned frizzy, it's usually an indicator of a different texture rather than just stick straight.

This is why I wonder about my own typing. But I feel like I need more length to tell because if it were wavy it'd be only barely so and the whole flippy-at-shoulder thing would skew the results.

Anyway, OP! Yeah new growth that's on top is probably not gonna want to lay as flat because it's so light. Nature of the beast tbh. I've found some oil (I'm talkin 2 drops MAX spread on my palms and then super lightly run over my canopy) helps, though.

[lapushka]

This is why I wonder about my own typing. But I feel like I need more length to tell because if it were wavy it'd be only barely so and the whole flippy-at-shoulder thing would skew the results.

Anyway, OP! Yeah new growth that's on top is probably not gonna want to lay as flat because it's so light. Nature of the beast tbh. I've found some oil (I'm talkin 2 drops MAX spread on my palms and then super lightly run over my canopy) helps, though.

I think judging from your signature picture (and it is long enough to type) it is 1b. And the typing is correct.

[lapushka]

Toweller, yes a hair texture typing picture of your hair would help!

[spidermom]

Ugly depends on your perception. Those short fly-aways are your future long hairs.

[Corvana]

I think judging from your signature picture (and it is long enough to type) it is 1b. And the typing is correct.

Yeah, I had combed it several times by then, so I'm not sure it "counts" :laugh: I just really really want wavy hair! Don't crush my dreams yet! :rollin:

[Nique1202]

Hello, first time poster here! 3.5 years ago I became dedicated to having healthy hair. After much research I came to believe that natural hair is easier and cheaper to keep healthy and beautiful than a lot of dye and heat treatments. It had been dip dye bleached and that took a year to grow out. I noticed back then that I had what looked like breakage all over my head. Now 3.5 years later I've been dye free, heat free ( not even blow drying since I go to a barber), regular 3 month trims, mason pearson brush and comb, gentle hairstyles, I even use a scrunchie! Despite all of this my hair has just as much breakage as before. On closer inspection I have very few split ends, the short hairs all over my head must be new growth. But it looks terrible! My straight hair looks frizzy, unkempt and unhealthy. Is this just how it is? Is there more that I should be doing to keep my hair healthy? Is this just what happens to very fine hair?

Yes, new growth will always look a little wild unless you tame it with oil or gel. And you will always have it. Every time one hair falls out, a new one starts growing from the scalp. You'll always have some hairs at every length between your scalp and your ends, and it shows a lot more when you wear your hair loose and straight, because wavy and curly hair tends to clump and hide the new growth whereas straight hair lets the new growth float up. It's not a sign that your hair is unhealthy, just that your hair is not cropped short.

As a side note, though, if your hair looks fluffy, how much are you brushing it? Brushing will break up natural wave or curl patterns, as someone else pointed out. This will not only cause the new growth to break free, but it also keeps the hairs from clumping so they all try to dry at the natural texture on the micro scale but won't nestle in against each other, making it fluff up. A lot of people who think they have fluffy or frizzy hair just have curly or wavy hair that they've been treating as if it were straight hair. It may be worth just squeezing the water out of your hair one of these days after you wash/condition and letting it dry untouched, to see if you do have more curl or wurl than you thought you did.

Also, "3 month trims" doesn't necessarily mean a thing for your hair's condition. And depending on how much you're getting taken off that doesn't need to be, you could be slowing down your progress if you plan to grow longer than it is now.

[Anje]

Honestly, just about everyone with hair more than a few inches long has stuff around their face that doesn't get as long as the rest of the hair. It sticks up with the first gust of wind, pops out when you're trying to look polished, and otherwise makes a nuisance of itself. Some people deal with it by having face-framing layers or bangs that don't need to grow long. Some people use a bit of gel or hairspray to hold it in place. Some make adorable little accent braids that contain it. A lot of us just laugh it off as a "halo" and don't really worry about it on a day-to-day basis. But yeah, just about everyone who wears their hair up will have flyaway babyhair bits. Notice that other people have it too and comfort yourself with it being totally normal.

[lapushka]

Yeah, I had combed it several times by then, so I'm not sure it "counts" :laugh: I just really really want wavy hair! Don't crush my dreams yet! :rollin:

LOL Corvana! :lol: I won't; it's just... it is what it is, you know? But I'm curious now to see a true hairtyping picture. :)

[ShahMat]

It is normal, when you switch from a damaging routine to no heat/dye/bleach to have a lot of flyaways because of the new growth. I don't think they're ugly, I mean they can be hard to tame but I like to think of them as a sign that I am doing hair care right :) They will eventually grow out, don't worry. Well probably not all of them, I lost hope for the hair at my temples, they just grow enough to be really visible when they pop out from ponytails :demon:

[Angeni]

Yeah, It's normal. BUT I don't think it's ugly. Plus it should make you happy knowing that all of that will soon be added volume once they grow out.

If they bother you though, take a drop of your favorite oil, rub it between your hands, and lightly smooth it down your hair on the areas where the flyaways are particularly bad. Not only will this help them lay flat by adding weight, but it'll also make your hair shiny and pretty. :D

[arcadianblue]

Lol, I've long given up on the hair at my temples too.

I've got a ton of fluffy new growth as well. I found that washing every other day so as not to have a very oily scalp, and blow drying partially after a wash help tame them down as much as they can be. Otherwise, they dry in awkward directions.

[spidermom]

Oil never did a thing to tame my short squigglers. I always had to use gel, hair spray, styling wax or pomade to get them to lay down if I wanted to look polished. Most of the time I just let my freak flag fly.

[Toweller]

I have pictures of my hair! How do I attach them?

[Anje]

I have pictures of my hair! How do I attach them?
Upload them to a photo host like imgur.com, then paste the URLs here. Photobucket is no longer recommended.

[Jo Ann]

New growth isn't ugly--it's baby long hairs in training... ;)

[Arciela]

I have a TON of new growth since I stopped bleaching in May..I don't think they're ugly! It's exciting..hehe new growth and thicker hair! :flower:

[kganihanova]

Yeah sadly :( It's going to look sad for a while before it looks ok/good. Like it's exciting to have new hair and all but damn I wish I could skip over the short stage.

[Simsy]

I do small braids around my hairline to contain my new growth. Keeps them under control, and safe until they are long enough to join the rest of hair.

[leayellena]

I like when I see new growth. it gives me hope :)
I can do some sort of messy style without looking like any trendy Girl out there
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=27796&d=1499072798
PS: you can always tame your fly aways with some oils or leave-in conditioners.

[lapushka]

Upload them to a photo host like imgur.com, then paste the URLs here. Photobucket is no longer recommended.

Yes, imgur is great so far (I'm there). I can totally recommend it.

Until we have pictures of the OP's hair, there's just no telling what she means precisely.

[Dendra]

My new growth does not look the best, at all. It's the most noticeable when my hair is down and under bright lights, it's so fuzzy. But like the others have said, at least it means more hair in the future. Overall it doesn't bother me.

[spidermom]

Combing my hair after washing used to give me gigantic frizz, but last night I combed some curl creme through after washing it because we were going out to dinner and I wanted it to look like I made some effort. To my surprise, it dried wavy and curly with very little surface frizz. New routine!

[lapushka]

Combing my hair after washing used to give me gigantic frizz, but last night I combed some curl creme through after washing it because we were going out to dinner and I wanted it to look like I made some effort. To my surprise, it dried wavy and curly with very little surface frizz. New routine!

Your routine doesn't involve a leave-in or curl cream and gel after? :shocked: You're kidding?

[Toweller]

https://imgur.com/pRskGqP And https://imgur.com/4Jz5bfo here are the links of my hair for you all! Thank you so much for all of your replies! I agree that broken hairs grow out but I haven't used a single hot tool on my hair in 3.5 years and as you can see the breakage starts at about the bottom of my ears. If hair grows at .5 inch per month and that hair is 8 inches long that ithat meant hs the breakage started Two years ago. See? It doesn't make sense. I must be seriously doing something wrong I just can't figure out what it is.

[lapushka]

I think those are just wispy hairs, and that is normal. We have hair in different lengths on our head and I see a normal head of hair, Toweller. :flower:

[Andthetalltrees]

https://imgur.com/pRskGqP And https://imgur.com/4Jz5bfo here are the links of my hair for you all! Thank you so much for all of your replies! I agree that broken hairs grow out but I haven't used a single hot tool on my hair in 3.5 years and as you can see the breakage starts at about the bottom of my ears. If hair grows at .5 inch per month and that hair is 8 inches long that ithat meant hs the breakage started Two years ago. See? It doesn't make sense. I must be seriously doing something wrong I just can't figure out what it is.

It just looks like frizz to me, It doesn't look like breakage at all. Mine looks like that too because I have messy not really waves that I brush out often because I actually love frizz haha. But seriously, It looks normal and healthy.

[spidermom]

https://imgur.com/pRskGqP And https://imgur.com/4Jz5bfo here are the links of my hair for you all! Thank you so much for all of your replies! I agree that broken hairs grow out but I haven't used a single hot tool on my hair in 3.5 years and as you can see the breakage starts at about the bottom of my ears. If hair grows at .5 inch per month and that hair is 8 inches long that ithat meant hs the breakage started Two years ago. See? It doesn't make sense. I must be seriously doing something wrong I just can't figure out what it is.

That's just how hair is. You've probably noticed that every single day you shed out a few (or a lot of) hairs. What you probably haven't noticed is that every single day you grow a few (or a lot of) new hairs. You will always have hairs that vary in length from barely poking out of the follicle to whatever your longest length is. Look around at other heads. You'll see that everyone who doesn't keep short hair has those shorter hairs. It does show up more in some hair types than in others. People with very straight hair generally don't get hairs that poke out, although some do. Those of us with wavy and/or curly hairs have short hairs poking out all over the place. So you see, while you might have a little breakage, what you have a lot of is hairs that have been growing for less time than your longest hairs, and you always will.

[Corvana]

That's just how hair is. You've probably noticed that every single day you shed out a few (or a lot of) hairs. What you probably haven't noticed is that every single day you grow a few (or a lot of) new hairs. You will always have hairs that vary in length from barely poking out of the follicle to whatever your longest length is. Look around at other heads. You'll see that everyone who doesn't keep short hair has those shorter hairs. It does show up more in some hair types than in others. People with very straight hair generally don't get hairs that poke out, although some do. Those of us with wavy and/or curly hairs have short hairs poking out all over the place. So you see, while you might have a little breakage, what you have a lot of is hairs that have been growing for less time than your longest hairs, and you always will.

This exactly, but I'll also add that in my experience the finer the hair the more likely it is to just float off on its own. Mine is medium density and will float about until it gets maybe 6 inches? Long or so, and by then has enough weight on its own to only pop out a little (unless I've just done a deep treatment, then everything is pretty smooth). But my son's fine hair? Constant lil halo, and if someone breathes near him his hair wisps away from the pack lol. It's also wavy, so I'm sure that has something to do with it as well.