Is some hair naturally just dull?

[blackgothicdoll]

Wondering if dullness isn't an implication of health, but some hair is just unyieldingly dull and will always be so? :(

[Laurab]

So I don't have extensive knowledge of this, but what I do know is hair is shiny when the cuticle is laying flat.
Some hair types naturally have a flatter, tighter cuticle than others.
You can try and get the cuticle to lay flatter by adjusting the PH (i've heard good things about apple cider vinegar rinses), or doing oil treatments.
Silicones also work to make hair shiny by coating the cuticle to make it appear flatter.

I'll also say that I know we all think of super shiny hair as like, the goal, but I've known some girls with absolutely gorgeous hair that isn't super shiny. Think of it like lipgloss vs matte lipstick, both can be really pretty.

As long as you're healthy and your hairs healthy it'll look nice, even if it doesn't shine like crazy.

[Nini]

I think we've been wrongly conditioned (no pun intended ;) ) by commercials. Most natural hair won't be that shiny, glossy thing you see in media.

[nycelle]

I think so yes. But I don't believe it's health related. More about the type of hair and how the cuticle lays.

[lapushka]

Shiny hair isn't my goal, let's just say that. Healthy hair doesn't mean it "needs" to be shiny. Some hair, that is slick and smooth is just naturally shiny. The second there is a wave or curl in it, shine kind of goes a bit. If we are talking about that "mirror" type shine. Heck you can make any hair shiny if you just put some oil in it, enough so to really coat the hair, but it fast borders on "oily" IMO.

[spidermom]

My hair only looks shiny if there's a strong light on it.

[Begemot]

I often feel that my hair should be more shiny since I'm a brunette (darker hair typically reflects hair better) and my hair is straight (natural oils supposedly travel easier down straight hair shaft helping to create shine) but it's just... not. It is what it is :shrug:

[Natalina]

This was one of the reasons I disliked my natural dark brown hair on my hair texture/type. It looks dull in comparison to when dyed to lighter colors (in my opinion, anyway). But since I'm determined to finally give up dye, I tried to combat dullness by oiling a little bit more excessively (but not too much that it's an oily mess).

I think most others have mentioned the reasons behind what makes your hair appear dull. Maybe try ACV rinse to bring some shine if oil doesn't suit your liking. In my experience, black tea deep conditioning also tend to make my hair shinier. But it acts like protein, so also feels a bit rough (but much stronger by the strands!).

[katsumii]

So I don't have extensive knowledge of this, but what I do know is hair is shiny when the cuticle is laying flat.
Some hair types naturally have a flatter, tighter cuticle than others.
You can try and get the cuticle to lay flatter by adjusting the PH (i've heard good things about apple cider vinegar rinses), or doing oil treatments.
Silicones also work to make hair shiny by coating the cuticle to make it appear flatter.

I'll also say that I know we all think of super shiny hair as like, the goal, but I've known some girls with absolutely gorgeous hair that isn't super shiny. Think of it like lipgloss vs matte lipstick, both can be really pretty.

As long as you're healthy and your hairs healthy it'll look nice, even if it doesn't shine like crazy.

This is very good to know. Thanks for sharing this information. I wish more people knew this (including myself). As @Nini said, hair company commercials have conditioned (lol) us to believe that shiny hair means healthy hair.

[ExpectoPatronum]

You know, I never really thought of this. I was always chasing some idea of having super shiny hair but now I'm rethinking that. My hair has never been extremely shiny but it is healthy, so I guess you can have healthy hair without it being shiny.

[cjk]

My hair gets shinier, the dirtier it gets. It's never really greasy, but it's the oils that make mine shine.

I can emulate it with Softee products, as well. Takes extraordinarily little, too.

My own experience is that healthy and moisturized hair is shinier than damaged or dry hair. On average. So yes, it might be affected by health. Or hair care.

[blackgothicdoll]

I often feel that my hair should be more shiny since I'm a brunette (darker hair typically reflects hair better) and my hair is straight (natural oils supposedly travel easier down straight hair shaft helping to create shine) but it's just... not. It is what it is :shrug:

Huh, I could swear your hair is blonde, or are you growing out bleach? or am I totally blind?

-

It seems in my culture we tend to think dark (black) shiny hair is healthy and dull (brown) hair is unhealthy. Which gives me total discouragement since my hair is just naturally dull and brown, it seems, and as I'm growing out black dye it looks like my hair is becoming less healthy as it grows.

If I use a lot of gel and oil it's shiny but it then feels awful. It is also dry, so that could be part of the problem. I'll look into ACV rinses, but I think I'll mostly just have to accept that this is the way it is.

Definitely commercials, ads, product labels, etc shoving shiny hair down my throat are soooooo irritating. -_-

[guska]

My hair gets shinier, the dirtier it gets.

My hair stays shiny as it gets greasier, but it goes from a sharp, glossy shine (from using vinegar rinses) to a dull shine.

[Begemot]

Huh, I could swear your hair is blonde, or are you growing out bleach? or am I totally blind?

-

It seems in my culture we tend to think dark (black) shiny hair is healthy and dull (brown) hair is unhealthy. Which gives me total discouragement since my hair is just naturally dull and brown, it seems, and as I'm growing out black dye it looks like my hair is becoming less healthy as it grows.

If I use a lot of gel and oil it's shiny but it then feels awful. It is also dry, so that could be part of the problem. I'll look into ACV rinses, but I think I'll mostly just have to accept that this is the way it is.

Definitely commercials, ads, product labels, etc shoving shiny hair down my throat are soooooo irritating. -_-

I have some old bits of highlight left (max 5 inches long I'd say) but I'm mostly natural level 7 light brown. Some consider it blonde-ish so you're not blind :D if you want you can check out my photo albums to see more of my color. I think my hair lacks shine because it's so prone to sun damage.
I hear you about gel (and other products) making hair shiny but so awful and icky feeling. Can't do those.

[Ylva]

My hair is the opposite - it's bleach-damaged but shiny as heck (without flat ironing or anything). So I'm definitely not one to mistakenly think that shine = health, because I know that a part of my hair is absolute garbage in quality. I second, third of whatever that it's mainly about how the cuticles lie, and I don't think anything particular about hair that isn't shiny. I think it's one of those 'one' and 'the other' things rather than 'good' and 'bad', just another quality that makes every head of hair unique and interesting.

[paulownia]

I think it has to do with hair porosity to some degree. Low porosity hair is " healthy " the hair shaft lies flat. High porosity hair is usually less shiny, more dull.

[lapushka]

I think it has to do with hair porosity to some degree. Low porosity hair is " healthy " the hair shaft lies flat. High porosity hair is usually less shiny, more dull.

Good call! When my hair was bleached to death (aka highly porous) it was so dull, even almost matte and very dry and brittle feeling. That is something that I never want to experience again.

[blackgothicdoll]

I think it has to do with hair porosity to some degree. Low porosity hair is " healthy " the hair shaft lies flat. High porosity hair is usually less shiny, more dull.


Good call! When my hair was bleached to death (aka highly porous) it was so dull, even almost matte and very dry and brittle feeling. That is something that I never want to experience again.

Oh, well this confuses me even more! I'm almost positive my virgin hair is low porosity, and that's the hair that is dull. Water sits on top of the strands, it has a very hard time absorbing product, etc. My dyed hair is shinier, though perhaps its just the color itself that's more reflective.

[nycelle]

Oh, well this confuses me even more! I'm almost positive my virgin hair is low porosity, and that's the hair that is dull. Water sits on top of the strands, it has a very hard time absorbing product, etc. My dyed hair is shinier, though perhaps its just the color itself that's more reflective.

Straight hair is generally smoother and reflects more light, more surface area is flat I guess. I don't think it's just porosity.

[lapushka]

Oh, well this confuses me even more! I'm almost positive my virgin hair is low porosity, and that's the hair that is dull. Water sits on top of the strands, it has a very hard time absorbing product, etc. My dyed hair is shinier, though perhaps its just the color itself that's more reflective.

I think that may be it, because when my mom has freshly dyed her hair, I notice the shine as well, whereas other times... not so much! She has 1b/c hair.

[MusicalSpoons]

I think it has to do with hair porosity to some degree. Low porosity hair is " healthy " the hair shaft lies flat. High porosity hair is usually less shiny, more dull.


Good call! When my hair was bleached to death (aka highly porous) it was so dull, even almost matte and very dry and brittle feeling. That is something that I never want to experience again.

I think it's one cause of non shiny hair - but healthy hair can also be high porosity, so lower porosity doesn't mean healthier necessarily.


Y'know, I cannot for the life of me remember the reasoning, but I read somewhere that fine hair tends to be shinier than coarse hair. I can't even remember the context in which I read it, let alone *where* though. If it comes back to me I'll try to find it.

My hair is on the fine side of medium, and not the healthiest in that it's had several years of pre-LHC neglect, but even my roots aren't particularly shiny. In pictures taken with a flash it looks shiny but in reality it's not.


As cjk says there is some basis for 'shiny = healthy' being true for people, but I certainly don't think it's true in every case.

[lapushka]

As cjk says there is some basis for 'shiny = healthy' being true for people, but I certainly don't think it's true in every case.

I don't think that has to be true at all.

I have very healthy hair (no splits, no white dots) and I take care of it, and it's not particularly shiny.

[MusicalSpoons]

I don't think that has to be true at all.

I have very healthy hair (no splits, no white dots) and I take care of it, and it's not particularly shiny.

I didn't explain myself very well. For hair that would naturally be shiny, if not taken care of so it's dull, an increase in shininess in those cases then indicates better health. So there is a basis of truth in it for some - perhaps even many, whose hair gets shinier than it was, but still doesn't end up obviously shiny. Certainly 'shiny = healthy' is not universally true. It's just not universally untrue either!

[lapushka]

I didn't explain myself very well. For hair that would naturally be shiny, if not taken care of so it's dull, an increase in shininess in those cases then indicates better health. So there is a basis of truth in it for some - perhaps even many, whose hair gets shinier than it was, but still doesn't end up obviously shiny. Certainly 'shiny = healthy' is not universally true. It's just not universally untrue either!

Well that's kind of what I said when I said, "has to be true".

[MusicalSpoons]

Well that's kind of what I said when I said, "has to be true".

Ah, I tripped over the 'at all' bit. Sorry! Glad we've uncrossed wires now :o

[lapushka]

Ah, I tripped over the 'at all' bit. Sorry! Glad we've uncrossed wires now :o

Gotta just cross 'em sometimes, right? :o :lol:

[AmberWillow]

I have thought about this a lot, too. My hair is definitely shinier now than it was when it was bleached, but it's certainly not glossy or nearly as shiny as some other people's hair - I think it's all to do with the texture of it. We just have different hair types and textures - animals do too! I kept all my horses together in the same fields and with the same diets etc., their coats all had a little shine but one was just so beautifully shiny and glossier than all the others - he got so many comments from other horse owners, too. The weird thing was, though, in the ten years that I owned him, his mane didn't grow one inch. It must have been about 3 inches long at it's longest point :roll eyes: I had a mare for a year whose mane had been cut when I got her, but it grew out another 8 inches in that one year that I owned her. Her mane was a lot thicker and coarser than his, which was fine and silky feeling. She didn't shine half as well as he did, though. :shrug: She was a Welsh cross bred and he was a Welsh, so they had similar breeding, too! It just seems to be one of those things...

[Spikey]

......gives me total discouragement since my hair is just naturally dull and brown, it seems, and as I'm growing out black dye it looks like my hair is becoming less healthy as it grows.

I wonder if this is the problem? Growing out darker dye is really tough because it usually looks odd to have ends darker than your roots. How far along is the demarcation line? If you've only grown out a few inches, it's probably just the contrast of the two colors making the darker bit appear shinier.

EDIT: Also, could it just be the lighting you see it in most often? In direct sunlight, when it's greasy my hair looks shiny as hell (like my sig pic), but with indoor lighting on a normal day it's about as reflective as dirt.

[blackgothicdoll]

I wonder if this is the problem? Growing out darker dye is really tough because it usually looks odd to have ends darker than your roots. How far along is the demarcation line? If you've only grown out a few inches, it's probably just the contrast of the two colors making the darker bit appear shinier.

EDIT: Also, could it just be the lighting you see it in most often? In direct sunlight, when it's greasy my hair looks shiny as hell (like my sig pic), but with indoor lighting on a normal day it's about as reflective as dirt.

It's been a year, so it's far-ish down depending on hairstyle. If I put it in a bun, it's not all the same color at the top, if that makes sense. it's lighter maybe halfway down-ish. I usually see my hair in indoor light, but when I take pictures I set right under the window when the sun is highest, which of course would look shiny since it's as much light as possible haha. In regular indoor light it's super dull,.

I'm sure the contrast is part of it, but I have a looooooong way to go.

[Messyhair]

My hair is only shiny when wet or grossly oily. I think darker colours will be shinier than lighter shades, but healthy hair isn't going to be glaringly shiny like in commercials. Unless we have amazing lighting.

[YvetteVarie]

Huh, I could swear your hair is blonde, or are you growing out bleach? or am I totally blind?

-
It seems in my culture we tend to think dark (black) shiny hair is healthy and dull (brown) hair is unhealthy. Which gives me total discouragement since my hair is just naturally dull and brown, it seems, and as I'm growing out black dye it looks like my hair is becoming less healthy as it grows.

If I use a lot of gel and oil it's shiny but it then feels awful. It is also dry, so that could be part of the problem. I'll look into ACV rinses, but I think I'll mostly just have to accept that this is the way it is.

Definitely commercials, ads, product labels, etc shoving shiny hair down my throat are soooooo irritating. -_-

I think it's because of relaxer use (at least in my experience). Dry, overprocessed hair used to change from black/dark brown to a lighter brown. I remember a girl in high school who was nicknamed dusty because her hair was so damaged by relaxers

[Milady_DeWinter]

I don't consider shine to be the ultimate goal. My natural hair was never particulary shiny, it's just a tawny medium brown, no matter how healthy it was. The shiniest my hair ever was happened while I was using henna, but I don't miss how waxy it felt at all. I pursue more it feeling soft and nice, not the shine thing.

[Faraniel]

I guess so? I have never had shiny hair but my friend was always complimented on how pretty her hair was. She said she had fine hair so maybe it has something to do with that?

[blackgothicdoll]

I think it's because of relaxer use (at least in my experience). Dry, overprocessed hair used to change from black/dark brown to a lighter brown. I remember a girl in high school who was nicknamed dusty because her hair was so damaged by relaxers

That is SO MEAN! I had the opposite. My hair looked very black when I was relaxed. I remember the first time I went natural my hair was warm brown (and dull in comparison) and I was very confused, so I kept dying it black. Perhaps because the relaxer laid the cuticle flat, it then looked darker? Really don't know on that account, but I've been dying my hair black for years, or otherwise getting highlights (which could also have a nice glossy look). This is the longest I've been growing out my natural color, so I'm finally having to deal with it not meeting my expectations I guess. :/