Is it true? the longer the thinner

[Palms]

i have heard the other day from my hair stylist that the longer the hair the thinner the hair becomes?
how does this happen? i saw lots of LHC'ers with very long hairs and are iii!!!
please tell me this is not true!! if i had to choose between long or thick hair i'd choose thick hair! though i am obsessed with long hairs!!

[Riot Crrl]

Was s/he just talking about tapering and fairytale ends? I can't think of a way that wearing it long would thin the roots, unless perhaps wearing a style that is heavy and causes pulling.

[ChloeDharma]

I think your hairdresser must have meant that as the hair grows longer it tapers so the hem will appear thinner the longer it gets.
this is largely true because of how growth cycles work, the closer to the scalp you get the thicker the bulk of hair is.

I think there are some silly tales about that think that letting the hair grow long puts strain on the root because of the weight of the hair on the follicle is too much and causes a kind of traction alopecia......i doubt many people here would agree with that, i know i certainly don't and if your hairdresser means this then i'd take that as an indication that s/he isn't that well informed and in future would take their advice with a pinch of salt and research it further before acting on it.

[biggeorge]

This is a possibility as you approach terminal length. Terminal length for many, as you can see here on the LHC, is at classic or below.

Hair stylists make their income by cutting and trimming hair. They promote a number of ideas which have no real basis in fact, but keeps clients coming back to them every few weeks.

Only you can determine how long you can grow your hair.

[Alaia]

It seems the long hair tends to get thinner through the length, but that is only because of breakage and damage really. If you have iii hair to start with then you'll have iii hair when it's at Classic, and even if your ends have thinned out you can trim and maintain and as long as you take care of it the thickness should work its way down.

Terminal length (which you shouldn't worry about really until you get to the past-butt lengths) is most of the time denoted by fairytale ends but it seems that because of one thing or another if you are growing your hair and not trimming it regularly to keep the hemline even you will end up with them anyway (I have).

HTH

[Palms]

well, though she has a very longer hair than mine - i think she is around classic length..
she claims that when the hair is long the nutrition that was supposed to feed the short hair is distributed to the longer length which means less nutrition divided on the length..

[aisling]

well, though she has a very longer hair than mine - i think she is around classic length..
she claims that when the hair is long the nutrition that was supposed to feed the short hair is distributed to the longer length which means less nutrition divided on the length..

Well, as only the roots are alive, which she as a hairdresser should know, the same amount of nutrients are used weather the hair is short or long. There's no blood flow in the individual hairs that would distribute nutrients, your hair would then bleed as you cut it :rolleyes:

[ChloeDharma]

well, though she has a very longer hair than mine - i think she is around classic length..
she claims that when the hair is long the nutrition that was supposed to feed the short hair is distributed to the longer length which means less nutrition divided on the length..

OK, this will sound harsh but i can't help it.....the 2nd part of my post is obviously the case.....except her "explanation" is even more ridiculous than the one i guessed she might mean.
Basically she obviously knows sod all about hair (sadly true of lots of hairdressers) and i wouldn't listen to anything she says.

ETA I didn't explain why i say she's chatting crap because Aisling already covers it.

[Isilme]

This is't true, nothing to worry about. You may get fairytail ends but they can happen at TB or knee or floor, the only way to find out is to grow your hair, and if it gets thin (and it isn't due to damage) and you don't like it you can always maintain a blunt hemline at a little bit shorter length:)

[ilovelonghair]

Not to forget: wear hair up a lot, that will prevent damage!

[sapphire-o]

Oh my mom used to tell me that theory, that long hair suck up nutrition and makes you less healthy. I always had short hair as a kid. Eventually I told her long hair stores memory so it helps me with things I learned at school and convinced her. :D

[sahiba]

On the contrary, I feel that as my hair is getting long it is showing a bit of volume.

[rymorg2]

OK, I'm a hairdresser. I can say that hair DOES NOT thin as it gets longer. What DOES happen is that because it's older hair, it's more prone to breakage and splits so if you don't care for it it can APPEAR to be thinner. As for the nutrition comment from your stylist....:spitting:......that's not true either.

[Raederle]

Does this mean I no longer have to bandage the cut ends when I S & D? Rymorg 2, you have saved me a small fortune in tiny bandaids and disinfectant. Ah, I kill me.

[lil_irish_angel]

Oh my mom used to tell me that theory, that long hair suck up nutrition and makes you less healthy. I always had short hair as a kid. Eventually I told her long hair stores memory so it helps me with things I learned at school and convinced her. :D

Oh my lord it the floor laughing. I'll have to remember that one when people say when are going to cut your hair

[spidermom]

It seems the long hair tends to get thinner through the length, but that is only because of breakage and damage really. If you have iii hair to start with then you'll have iii hair when it's at Classic, and even if your ends have thinned out you can trim and maintain and as long as you take care of it the thickness should work its way down.

Terminal length (which you shouldn't worry about really until you get to the past-butt lengths) is most of the time denoted by fairytale ends but it seems that because of one thing or another if you are growing your hair and not trimming it regularly to keep the hemline even you will end up with them anyway (I have).

HTH

I'm trying to keep thick ends by careful handling and trimming, but I've got taper anyway. It appears that a lot of my hairs have a shorter terminal length. I shed out hairs of all lengths - and I know they are shed hairs because of the root bulb on one end - even as short as 2-3 inches. There simply aren't as many of my longest hairs as there are shoulder-length hairs.

[rymorg2]

Does this mean I no longer have to bandage the cut ends when I S & D? Rymorg 2, you have saved me a small fortune in tiny bandaids and disinfectant. Ah, I kill me.

:spitting: :rollin:

[Palms]

oh! that really nice to hear!!
this drives me to one thing: No for all hairdresser -with respect to all hairdressers-!! which i always say but never commit to it!!
i'll try to stick to home made recipes and personal S&D..

[Steve<3]

Everyone's hair will start tapering eventually, the longer it gets. Shedding, which is totally natural and healthy (usually, I'm not talking about excessive shedding or shedding that's caused by something else) will cause this. If one of your longest hairs falls out, and your hair grows 6 inches a year, it's going to be a long time before that hair grows back to its previous length, and meanwhile all of the longer hairs that are left will keep growing if you're still growing your hair. So you'll always have less hair at the ends than at the roots. There will come a point where the hair at the ends is noticably thin, but it doesn't necessarily mean your hair is thin. Even a type iii could have very thin ends by tailbone or classic.

[Druid of Alba]

Kind of. No mater what your hair's length is, there will always be the same amount of hairs on the SCALP. However, hairs fall out and grow back, as we all know :p, so as you get closer to the ends of your hair, there are less hairs at that length because some has fallen out and is now growing back and, obviously is at a shorter length.