Question for those with BIG HAIR!

[loyaboya]

I have BIG hair! It doesn't seem to matter if I have it straight or curly, my hair always seems to try to cover as much space as possible. It's always a little frizzy, always quite full, and very VOLUMINOUS :) And I love it. Right now I'm just shy of APL but as I think about the growth I want to achieve, I can't help but wonder: "what the heck am I gonna do with all this hair?" It's intimidating!

Does anyone else wonder how they're gonna be able to physically manage their hair as it grows and grows? I guess it might sound like a weird question, but I think those with BIG hair will know what I mean :)

[rhubarbarin]

I know exactly what you mean! For me, length is essential (it has to be past shoulder when curly before it starts to hang), and so are adequate amounts of moisturizing leave-ins. With both those things I can get it to grow down instead it up and out!

I love big hair. :)

[spidermom]

My hair floufs and poufs all over the place, but length is taming it; thank goodness!

[Roseate]

I got the big hair! Paradoxically, it seems smaller as it gets longer, and starts to pull itself down some. You'll see what I mean when your hair is finally longer than it is wide! :)

[Lady Mary]

Aw, you lucky gals... I want your hair :laugh:

[RancheroTheBee]

I think more length will weigh it down. But you're lucky; by the time you get super-long, it will still look enviably thick.

[klcqtee]

When my hair was BSL mine was incredibly large and over whelming (before dying it and losing a lot of hair). When I would buy hair ties new (the metal free kind), I could only fit it around my hair once. It simply would NOT stretch to fit around a second time, luckily it stayed pretty well only going around one time. Circumference, if I had to guess would have probably been about 5 inches around.

I wish I'd known about hairsticks back then! It would have given me a lot more options for putting it up (This was pre-LHC, so my updo knowledge was limited to a cinnabun, messy bun, and ponytail.)

The biggest problem I had with it was hennaing (there was just so much hair to cover!) and drying time. I'd shower in the morning right when I got up, and I'd have wet hair at dinner still!

Now that I know my goal is to grow out my hair (instead of just letting it happen), I'm a little intimidated by it. It was really heavy, even at BSL, and seeing as how my goal is waist-terminal...I don't know if I can really handle it...

Good luck!

[PhillyGirl1978@]

Well...the curls help with the "biggness" of it. Length pulls some of it down, now that mine is almost waist it hangs nicely. But if I were to blow dry it, or not leave some conditioner in or comb it while wet...you couldn't see my face!!!lol Sometimes I really go for the slight frizz and super volume it looks kinda wild and sexy. You do really need length to help it makes me much happier with mine now. If you can make it big but still have form not frizz...it looks really sexy-kitten-ish.

[Bellona]

I have really thick hair too. Luckily it seems to be at it's hugest around APL and seems to get a bit more tame as it gets longer. Still thick, just less wild :)

[camirra555]

My hair used to be pretty big but a combination of henna, drying it in braids after a wash and length has made it "smaller". I don't worry about how I'll manage my hair when it gets longer, but I do worry about how much money I'm going to be spending when it reaches that point because my hair just devours moisturizers and leave in conditioners.

[nowxisxforever]

My hair floufs and poufs all over the place, but length is taming it; thank goodness!

Me, too. My hair when shorter was fairly formidable, it's not all that thick, but each hair hates each other hair, so it tends to be rather big-- with length it just lays down because the length weighs it down :)

[Charlotte]

You lucky thing! I dream of BIG hair....sigh... :o :p :)

[ladylibra]

Does anyone else wonder how they're gonna be able to physically manage their hair as it grows and grows? I guess it might sound like a weird question, but I think those with BIG hair will know what I mean :)

You know, I wondered that about having BSL hair back when I first cut mine down to 2 inches. Now that my shortest layer is almost BSL... well, it's not so bad, really.

We'll see how I feel once it's all waist length :laugh: but, I've discovered that over the years, you kind of adjust to it gradually getting longer.

[going gray]

I always had "big hair" it was totally unmanagable it drove me crazy. That was about 12 years ago. How thankful I am today that my hair was so thick because I've lost quit a bit of volume due to age & of course menopause. Fortunately, my hair is still of thick!

You are a very lucky gal, enjoy that gorgeous "big" hair.

[Laylah]

When my hair was at APL-BSL, it was so poofy and big it had the big "pyramid head" phenomenon. I'm at waist length now, and the length has helped pull my hair down, but it's still hard to tame. I use braids and braided updos to "compact" the poofiness, lol.

[loyaboya]

Yeah, I think "compacting the poufiness" is key :)

I guess I'll have plently of time to adjust as it grows, but I wonder- what is it that causes poufy hair? I don't think it's just curls, because even when I straighten my hair it's big. Like nowxisxforever said- it can almost be like each hair hates the other. Or at least has a very strong opinion of it's neighbors. I also don't think it's thickness or dryness. Or at least not any of those things alone. Maybe it's just "opinionated" hair :)

[LadyGunn]

I call it CBHS - Chronic Big Hair Syndrome. I've been looking at my shed hairs lately. Occasionally I get a perfect spiral, but most of them spiral one way, then twist around the other way, then go back to the first direction. No wonder they seem to be everywhere - they can't curl around each other without persuasion since they're all so wonky! Length is helping some, but I still have a halo of shorter hairs that sproing up. Sometimes I'll find one single hair in a perfect spiral that I can slide my pinky finger through, sticking straight out from where my fringe used to be. :shrug: Eh, it's my hair. It has... personality. :p

[Sheltie_Momma]

I saw this thread and was like - oops that's me... my hair is big. Big all over, big poofy and big as in each individual hair is really big around, like dog hair. I had good 80's mall hair. Even flat ironed - my hair is big. Since starting the CWC method and damp bunning to air dry, it has become much much more manageable, I think using the blow dryer was making the puffiness/frizziness worse. If I stay away from the brush all together then my waves clump more and the other day I even had a full barrel curl going, I was so excited. I feel excited to see what the added length and health will have in store for me in the upcoming years.

[swanns]

Another big-haired gal here. When my hair was shorter (above shoulder) I think it was wider than it was long. My friends called it the Poodle (in a nice way). I didn't feel self confident if it wasn't big - I think I did use some products at times but it definitely was that big on its own as well. As it's got longer it's less poofy at the top but when I wear it loose it's still huge. I used to wand shiny, stick straight hair when I was younger but I've learned to like my hair, it's quite unusual round where I live :)

[rhubarbarin]

My hair is 'big' but it is thin. I appreciate the optical illusion.

[BlndeInDisguise]

I was in the bathroom when they handed out big hair. ;)

[Brownie]

I saw this thread and was like - oops that's me...

Same here :D
I simply couldn't handle my hair when it was shorter. It went from slightly wavy, silky children's hair to stubborn BIG HAIR when I hit puberty. With added length it becomes a bit more manageable, but sometimes I'm not able to tame my mane. Like Roseate said, it seems smaller as it gets longer, and starts to pull itself down some. My braids were much thicker back when I was at APL or BSL.
My hair isn't crazy thick- the circumference is only 9 cm (ii) when I can get it to be smooth, but it's never smooth and sleek. It's dry, frizzy, stubborn and BIG → iii (usually 11 cm). It's an optical illusion (much volume), it looks like I have crazy thick hair, but when I braid it or put it up you see the real thickness. And it goes POUF when I blowfry it or undo a braid :laugh:
My hair is parted to the side and when I try to brush it back (when I want to do a french braid or a bun at the top of my head) it puffs up, even if it's not blow dried. I'm at a loss what to do. Wet it down? Keep it oiled all the time?

[nmarie33]

The last inch or so has somehow made mine pretty big and crazy. I usually only leave it down at home, but I've been doing that less and less often because I feel like a wild jungle woman or something. I hope it will simmer down a bit when I get some more length and weight. Partly I'm just not used to it since my hair has never been this long or curly!

[paintedmuse]

My hair isn't especially big as long as I use conditioner and leave-in all the time (without it it would be a lot bigger^^), but it is heavy. It's only BSL, but henna and indigo were a nightmare, even though I was laying on my back most of the time. And when I went swimming recently I got a terrible headache because it was wet almost the whole day. Also I get headaches from ponytails that are any higher than the nape of my neck. This kind of intimidates me, because my hair is still very layered at the moment, I wonder how heavy it will be when it's waist or longer and all one length?
We'll see.

[spidermom]

I call it CBHS - Chronic Big Hair Syndrome. I've been looking at my shed hairs lately. Occasionally I get a perfect spiral, but most of them spiral one way, then twist around the other way, then go back to the first direction. No wonder they seem to be everywhere - they can't curl around each other without persuasion since they're all so wonky! Length is helping some, but I still have a halo of shorter hairs that sproing up. Sometimes I'll find one single hair in a perfect spiral that I can slide my pinky finger through, sticking straight out from where my fringe used to be. :shrug: Eh, it's my hair. It has... personality. :p

This is my hair exactly. Sometimes there will be a spiral in one direction, a straight area, then an area that looks something like this: VVwwwwVV and then it might end in a big arc. Crazy! Most of you have probably already seen this; it's my favorite picture of out-of-control short hair (washed, conditioned, air dried):
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/BOONEW.jpg

[GeoJ]

Me, too. My hair when shorter was fairly formidable, it's not all that thick, but each hair hates each other hair, so it tends to be rather big-- with length it just lays down because the length weighs it down :)

That sounds like my hair! :bluesmile

The longer it gets the more tame it gets, especially if I weigh it down with oils and conditioners.

[Angharad]

Here another big haired!

I have to braid my hair when it's wet and the let it airdry, otherwise my hair gets too much volume around my face ( the braid weighs my hair down a bit). I put lots and lots of oil and water as a leave-in in my hair so there is some control and it gets some lenght. I suppose the longer it gets, the less big it is gonna look. I always have to use conditioner to make it as moisturised as possible, so I wash my hair only once a week with a herbal wash and after that during my everyday shower I only use conditioner and then again oil my hair to make it heavier.

If I would wash it, put nothing in my hair untill its is dry and then brush it I could easily be mistaken for a Muppet.