Can I do this Without Relying on a Blowfryer??

[dolcevita]

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2541&pictureid=38966
After (my first) henna and a teeny bit of blowdrying.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2541&pictureid=38965
Airdryed/loose bun (just a few days after the above picture!!).

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=2541&pictureid=38964
Airdryed in a loose braid.

Ok see the difference? Also, members keep commenting that my hair looks so nice and thick and healthy in my siggy. Yes it does (and it did in the above picture 2 days after henna-ing). But unless I blowdry it looks like the mess you see above. Sparse and unhealthy looking. So since I plan on growing it long and want to lay off the heat styling, it looks like this if I wear it down.

If I put it up, you can see some SERIOUS thinning at the hairline.... Also, if I don't style my bangs, I have to pin them back, which makes the thinning look worse.

What on earth do I do? It's really getting my confidence down...:confused::(

[dolcevita]

Also, I am about 1.5 months away from my 1-year anniversary at LHC. After seeing the wonderful progress pictures I would love to show the same. I could fake it and only show the blowdried ones, but that's not just faking it to everyone, it's faking it to myself. :(

[Flynn]

First up, I think you're being too harsh in judging your hair (it's okay, everyone judges themselves too harshly.) I think your hair looks lovely airdried, with all those pretty waves.

If you want it straight and sleek, though, Rach posted up a Guilt-Free Straightening Method (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=22459), which gave her lovely results (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=514997&postcount=17). Don't know if you've seen it yet. Might be worth a shot...?

[SimplyLonghair]

The question that I have is this, is the difference the blow dryer or the brush that you use when blow drying? It seems to me that the difference is the styling with the brush. I know that it makes a difference on my wavy hair. I just thought that I would mention it. :shrug:

[Elenna]

From one wavy to another

To straighten hair maybe try putting your hair up in a ponytail and letting it dry. Or you might try cold-air blow drying. While not as quick and as great as heat styling, these are easy to do and results in straighter and neater hair.

How are you conditioning your hair? Softer hair helps too.

Well, everyone shows their best pictures.

[dolcevita]

Thanks for the advice everyone - I have tried the head-wrapping method and I just got frustrated... I think practice definitely makes perfect on that one!

I think the issue is that my hair is thicker when it's blowndry... or at least it appears that way. And more uniform. Thus more socially acceptable.

[MsBubbles]

Self-confidence-wise, I'd never use a pic of my hair taken in a hoodie! Hair won't lie flat or 'together' like that unless it's massively thick and heavy. Again, just my 2 cents' worth. In the 2nd pic it looks like a lot of your hair is forwards in front of your shoulders.

I think your waves are very nice and I'd work with those instead of fighting them, but that's my opinion.

[Furiana]

Some good advice so far, esp. about the hoodie. :)

Here's my own thoughts. I know it's a long post -- I'm making it into two posts, in fact -- but please read through it all; I don't know which of these ideas will help you!
-----

I'd address the thinning hair/hairline before growing further. It would take much less time to get new growth down to your hemline at that length than at a longer one.

For the thin hair and thinning hairline: If I were in the same position, I'd make this my priority. The more new hairs you can grow, and the more hairs you can keep, the better off you'll be!

- First of all, have you seen a doctor? Tons of health stuff can affect hair thickness and the rest of your life besides!

- I'd personally be wary about trying the yeast infection ointment scalp treatment thingy (what's it called? Micronozale?) and other scalp ointments. I'd even switch to unfragrenced or lightly fragrenced hair products until I could rule out allergies *for sure*. Oils are a safer bet, although EOs might not be. Be very careful with these (ointments, fragrent products, EOs, etc): if you try any, introduce them one at a time and give each one several weeks before accepting it, just to make sure that you don't have a bad reaction to it. My own allergies/eczema tend to flare up three days after trying a new product, but I don't even know if you have any yet. Thickening your hair will be a long, long-term process anyways; better safe than sorry.

- Scalp massages may be a good idea, as long as you're gentle. No products are required, which reduces the chance of allergic reactions, irritated scalps, and other problems. You can also try exercise, which improves your whole body's circulation and thus the circulation of your scalp. Seriously, five minutes is enough!

- Gentle exfoliation (brown sugar scrubs) have also been known to stimulate the scalp and remove gunk so that new hairs can grow back in.

[Furiana]

In the meantime, I'd say you'll have to minimize damage as much as possible to preserve the hair you have. While you fix your scalp and hairline...

- I would start microtrimming. Doing a large chop won't help a whole lot, because the thinning is throughout the length; no matter where you cut to, you probably wouldn't have a blunt-looking hemline. Microtrims would slowly thicken your length while keeping your ends fresh.

- You'll need a fallback hairstyle that looks pretty good without blowdrying. (It doesn't have to look gorgeous, just decent; and you don't need ten cool styles, just one that's gentle enough to wear every day.) Since putting your hair up makes your hairline look thin, I'd recommend finding a signature hat, headband, or scarf that disguises the fact.

- Styling your bangs won't hurt as much as styling your length, because your bangs stay shorter. They can take more damage because they'll get cut off sooner. If styling your bangs lets you protect the length, then style them!

- For an occasional change of pace, you might want to try rag or pin curls. Corkscrew curls give extra volume, shorten hair (making it look even more compact), and otherwise work forgivingly with thin hair.


I know I haven't gone through the exact same thing as you have, but I hope something here helps!

Good luck, girl, and don't give up! :flowers:

[Katze]

great advice so far.

As someone with similar hair that does similar things, I'll tell you what helps me.

-hair gel. It's less damaging than hairspray, I mix it with conditioner and use it to help keep my frizzy length hanging together better.

-combing. Just plain air dried looks 'socially unacceptable' as you say, especially in the back. I have to sacrifice waves, I've decided, for hair I can wear down.

-don't try to straighten it, since this might cause weird bumps where there were once waves. Light combing with a wide toothed comb helps keep waves.

-blowDAMP. Let hair mostly dry on its own, boosting the process and styling with a cool dryer set on low air held farther away from the hair. Focus on drying the roots, keeping away from the fragile length. This does not seem to be damaging IF used sparingly.

-address the underlying issues. If you have hair loss, see your doctor and examine your diet, stress level, etc.

I recently had professional photos taken to share with my family, and ended up blowDAMPing my hair that morning and it looked GREAT in the pics. However, I combed it 5 min before we started the session.

I have decided that my hair has to be either 'messy on purpose' (updos), dirty and slicked back with oil and sebum (any kind of braid, see profile pic) or blowDAMPed if I want to wear it down. All my LHC pics are indeed 'cheating' (except where noted) and I have the same kind of taper and unruly waves you do. But it is getting better.

Hope you are feeling better and that something here can help you...

:flower:

Katze

[GlassEyes]

Uh, I'd like to point something out.

If you're blowdrying with a round brush, which I ASSUME you are because otherwise it'd just dry wavy/curly, it's probably CONTRIBUTING to your thinness. Those brushes pull out hair like NO TOMORROW. If I were you, and I wanted to thicken up your hair, I'd seriously just drop it altogether. Some hair can handle it, but fine hair is prone to snapping, and it probably isn't helping things.