Will these dents ever grow out?

[bigdreamer]

Hi, 1st time post here. I would first like to say thank you for being here, the advice and all the beautiful hair in here is such an inspiration I could cry. Sorry so corny, but it's true.

Would you all have some feedback for me please? I am a long-time long hair dreamer, have kept it mostly shoulderlength or thereabouts for a long time. It's got some wave and I recently grew out my bangs-yay! :) That took about a year.

I have some good habits - never permed, never colored and don't even own a hair dryer, always air dried.

The bad habits, and one in particular, are bad (and I'm trying to cold turkey stop). The first is (was!) constant curling iron usage to smooth the waves. My canopy is fried, which I gather is the outside layer? Underneath are smooth strands. The second is the major revelation about non-sulfate shampoo and 'cone conditioners. I have recently switched my stuff and am stunned about the difference. Thank you for that.

The big problem? Since I've always been a bit of a "lazy stylist" for a long time I have used a "claw clip" to pull my sides back and onto the back of my head while my hair was still wet! Now I have big permanent dents in my canopy that are on the entire circumference about 1.5 inches below my part. "Permanent" as in it dries with the dents, same place, everytime, and they do not smooth out at all. And which claw-clips have also encouraged what seems to be huge areas of self-inflicted cow licks on the underneath hair as well. I think they are growing out, and thanks to your wonderful inspiration to keep going I will use them as a growth guide (ha ha).

Sorry so long for a 1st post! I was really wondering though if someone could let me know if they know what I mean and if they survived through this misery and if these dumb dent things and the canopy are really going to grow out.

[Woven Darkness]

I have some canopy damage from chemicals, and it is slowly growing out. I now have about 3-4 inches of nice, healthy henna'd hair from my part down. I think you will start to see your damage moving down and eventually you will be able to trim it off. Patience!!

[Curlsgirl]

Wow, I have never heard of PERMANENT hair dents. Hmmmmm, it couldn't be a wave pattern could it? I guess you would know though sorry! I would say just baby your hair and worst case you'll have to wait until it grows out and cut it off. I do think it will get better along the way though while you are growing and trimming. Good luck!

[manderly]

I've never heard of that. My hair lets go of everything when it's wet.

Have you tried putting your hair up in different ways to counteract the dents? Try bunning your hair, which would smooth out any denting from a the side like a half-up.

Welcome to LHC. :flower:

ETA: Yes curlsgirl, I'm wondering if it's more of a wave pattern as well. My waves tend to begin in the same spots and look like dents.

[bigdreamer]

Thank you for the replies and welcome! I guess "permanent" sounds goofy - what I mean is, this dent doesn't smooth out as my hair dries. It's like a dent that would be on your head if you had a dent from a hat, all the way around. I'm sure I'm obsessing about it but it really is quite noticeable.

I think I was using the curling iron to smooth it out and now I am on a serious quest to lose the iron and to let it grow out and get healthy and this just recently hit me - I pretty much have a full head of hair to grow out to look good even though it's well past my shoulders now.

Thanks again, I think I need to learn to put it up gently and really leave it alone, I've never cared for the way I look with my hair up but I must do that now to reach my goal. I'm glad to hear someone else's dent is disappearing! Gives me hope. Thanks :)

[Carolyn]

I've never heard of a permanent dent either. I know you can "train" your hair as in "training" it to part on one side or the other. I'm also guess its a wave pattern you didn't know you had.

[bigdreamer]

Some of you mentioned wave pattern - wow that did not occur to me since I have been focusing on the evil claw clip thing, when I test the claw clip issue it seems to hit right where the dent is currently but I do have somewhat wavy hair.

So a wave pattern will grow out as well? I'm guessing so. Lot of inspiration in here, thank you!

[spidermom]

Welcome to LHC. Often times extra length/extra weight will pull a wave pattern into something that looks quite different. Walk far, far away from that curling iron; they burn hair.

[bigdreamer]

Thanks, and that makes sense about the weight helping to smooth it out over time. I'm going to put my dents to work and measure them growing right out of my head! (I hope)

BTW - I'm 45 yrs old and am enamored of the beautiful hair on everyone, but really inspired by anyone my age or older with beautiful long hair. I sometimes get the "you're too old for long hair" bit from dear mom, but it's just what I want in my future and it looks fantastic on everyone. This place really helps!

[RancheroTheBee]

I used to get the same thing before I hit puberty and I got this wonderful afro (which also changed once I hit the age of 21.)

Believe me, it's a wave pattern, and it will go away eventually. Once your hair is longer, the pattern will look more S-shaped and it will be pulled down more.

In the mean time, you might want to "scrunch" it slightly while it dries to encourage a more uniform wave pattern.

[bigdreamer]

That's an interesting thought, Ranchero, because what I AM doing isn't working. Short of reaching for the curling iron I'm twisting it or twirling it or combing it against the dent - and the nasty wave/dent sets right back into place!

Do you have a type of scrunching product that you recommend using? Right now I'm using Bumble & Bumble Leave-in conditioner as my last product on my hair, not sure if that has any type of "hold" to it. I'm still experimenting with all the product info I'm learning in here! It's great

[Cinnamon Hair]

No advice from me; it looks like the dent issue has been covered. I just wanted to say welcome to LHC! :D You are never too old to start growing out your hair. If that's what you want, then do it!

[heidi w.]

Hi, 1st time post here. I would first like to say thank you for being here, the advice and all the beautiful hair in here is such an inspiration I could cry. Sorry so corny, but it's true.

Would you all have some feedback for me please? I am a long-time long hair dreamer, have kept it mostly shoulderlength or thereabouts for a long time. It's got some wave and I recently grew out my bangs-yay! :) That took about a year.

I have some good habits - never permed, never colored and don't even own a hair dryer, always air dried.

The bad habits, and one in particular, are bad (and I'm trying to cold turkey stop). The first is (was!) constant curling iron usage to smooth the waves. My canopy is fried, which I gather is the outside layer? Underneath are smooth strands. The second is the major revelation about non-sulfate shampoo and 'cone conditioners. I have recently switched my stuff and am stunned about the difference. Thank you for that.

The big problem? Since I've always been a bit of a "lazy stylist" for a long time I have used a "claw clip" to pull my sides back and onto the back of my head while my hair was still wet! Now I have big permanent dents in my canopy that are on the entire circumference about 1.5 inches below my part. "Permanent" as in it dries with the dents, same place, everytime, and they do not smooth out at all. And which claw-clips have also encouraged what seems to be huge areas of self-inflicted cow licks on the underneath hair as well. I think they are growing out, and thanks to your wonderful inspiration to keep going I will use them as a growth guide (ha ha).

Sorry so long for a 1st post! I was really wondering though if someone could let me know if they know what I mean and if they survived through this misery and if these dumb dent things and the canopy are really going to grow out.

The "dents" as you describe them are actually normal for the way you acquire them!

If you wind hair up and pin it, or claw clip it, or braid it, or band it in a ponytail, wherever that point of the pins go in, the band for the ponytail goes in, the pattern of the braid....this will be reflected as "dents" in the hair once dry.

Additionally, by your description you're placing your hair up the same way, placing the claw clip in the same locus, every time. This then accounts for the consistency of the pattern and its placement.

SO the real solution if you don't want those patterned dents is to not claw clip the hair while wet. Allow the hair to air dry.

If a curly girl and doing so causes more problems (such as frizz), then you'll like plopping.

As for your canopy, some of that may be new growth. When we have a big new growth spurt, that frizziness can look like a halo effect. IF there are no white dots (ETA: test is hair bends at the white dot at 90 degrees, and we all know healthy hair curves -- not bends--and it's literally a white dot and the hair can easily break off at this point (it's a burst cuticle and possibly cortext too, and very common in flat ironing land!) and these hairs do not break off, then more than likely it's new growth growing in and they'll lie down when more length and thus weight is gained. IF a curly girl, this halo effect may be part of your natural hair's look. Some people use aloe vera gel effectively to gain a sleeker look. You could reserve this idea for days you need to look more polished, such as a job interview.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

I used to get the same thing before I hit puberty and I got this wonderful afro (which also changed once I hit the age of 21.)

Believe me, it's a wave pattern, and it will go away eventually. Once your hair is longer, the pattern will look more S-shaped and it will be pulled down more.

In the mean time, you might want to "scrunch" it slightly while it dries to encourage a more uniform wave pattern.

Correct. I have to assume you're a curly girl.

Also, a lot of curly girls will twist length in hair sections (a gentle spiral twist) to help them acquire a more uniform pattern and control frizz.

Remember, with added length, your hair will gain "weight" and it'll actually not be quite as curly, to a degree, depending on degree of curl factor in your hair type.

Finally, given you're a flat ironer historically, you have been trying to undo the nature of your hair type, or so it seems. You aren't used to working with your hair in it's more curly state. So it does take time to adjust and accept the behavior of this hair type.

Might I recommend the book CURLY GIRL!?!

heidi w.

[SpecialKitty]

I have those wave patterns too that look a bit like dents. As my hair has gotten longer, they have smoothed out a bit. You might even have curls you didn't know about ;) - when your hair gets longer you may be surprised! Welcome to LHC by the way :waving:

[bigdreamer]

Thanks again for the tips heidi and welcome specialkitty.

You are so right, I have been advised by a stylist to "twist" my wavy hair while air drying, it sometimes works. And claw clips are GONE, they are very strong binders on hair. BAD!

I am deep in the middle of my 'poo and condish overhaul since learning about sulfate-free and 'cone free, etc. I'm annoyed that I've been reading beauty magazines for so long and hadn't come across these important distinctions in formulas before.

And I am looking forward to the weight pulling out some of these wave/dent issues. Oh, I did see the curlygirl book online, wondered if I should get that. Will investigate some more...thanks

[nowxisxforever]

I am deep in the middle of my 'poo and condish overhaul since learning about sulfate-free and 'cone free, etc. I'm annoyed that I've been reading beauty magazines for so long and hadn't come across these important distinctions in formulas before.

It happens! The beauty industry doesn't make money by showing us how to properly care for ourselves, after all... it makes money by telling us "in order to be pretty, you need to purchase this or that horribly expensive product" which in turn creates a need for more product, and the only way to get a "decent" look is by making yourself a bit of a cocktail for your hair and skin.

Yuck!

[Labs*R*Us]

Forget the "too old for long hair" yarn... it's time we broke that mold, right, everyone?

OK, now we're past that ... welcome to LHC! If you want healthy hair, these guys/gals have the low-down. The first year I was here, I grew to almost TBL, and cut back a year later to less than BSL. Due to the care and nurture info I received here, ( read about the scalp massages!), I am almost WL, in a year. In fact, DD made a comment on how much my hair has grown - she forgot she was the one who cut my hair last year! (and her 3XXXXXX hair is so healthy, due to coconut oil - she won't admit it, but so much of my hair product, and hair toys seem to disappear...)

We all grow differently. It doesn't seem to be how much one grows, as much as how much you can retain, as you grow.

[longhairedfairy]

My mother used to put barrettes in my hair to keep the little "baby hairs" back out of my face, one on each side of my head. I wore them up to around 7th grade, so about age 12. Wearing something like that for so many years absolutely will put dents that stay there, even when you don't fix your hair that way any more. It takes a while, but it will eventually grow out. When I first stopped wearing the barrettes my hair stayed that way for a long time, even after washing. My hair had sort of been "trained" into a position in which it was flat to my head for a couple inches or so and then it would stick out past the point where the barrettes had been for so long. I don't know how long it will take, but it will grow out.

[heidi w.]

One other thing to know:

Putting hair up the same way every day with the same placement of a pin, or clip, or barrette or scrunchie or band of some kind, even if hair safe, is not a good idea.

It can cause a line of demarcation (dents?), and it can lead to thinning in targeted spots, if done long enough.

It's vital to switch one's updo. It's ok 2 or 3 days in a row, perhaps, but not months and years in a row.

This is another reason to have at least 3-5 updo solutions, so you can switch how the weight of your hair is carried on the head, and the type of binding that's used to hold an updo or braid in position.

heidi w.

[bigdreamer]

Thanks for the suggestions. Actually I was wondering if even constant use of just soft things like scrunchies can do the denting thing, I guess it makes sense if they are always placed in the same location. I am now really paying attention to losing the bad habits!

Also I think I'll start working out the updo stuff soon. It really doesn't look like claw clips are used much on many photos - but I have limited photo access and haven't really seen all the various ways people put their hair up. The hair sticks look so cool!

I have been brushing a light layer of coconut oil and doing a french braid in the evening and to sleep - my hair is absolutely loving the coconut oil. I had no idea how thirsty my hair was. I don't think the dents are damaged, and I have been using Giovanni 50/50 'poo and conditioner, which seems to weigh it down a little and the dents are slightly smoothed out. CWC is working really well for me, too.

Yay for LHC!!! Love it in here :)