Thin Ends Advice

[Rebelkat]

Hi, I'm a fairly new user here and I need some advice from anyone kind enough to help. I have some issues with my ends being significantly thinner than the rest of my hair. Well, actually, the thinness starts about 6"-7" from the bottom of the longest part of my hair. I do regular trims, and the hair that is there is healthy and split-free, so I know that it's not breaking off:shrug:. I can't bear to cut it up to the point where the thinness ends, because there's nothing else wrong with that hair. Will maintaining it's current length for a while improve it's appearance, or am I just going to have to cut it? :undecided

[Lixie]

It could be that your hair just naturally tapers a lot. I wouldn't cut yet if I were you, if you continue to maintain the current lenght the ends might thicken up.
If not, your hair will still probably look lovely with thinner ends. There are some members here with beautiful fairytale (tapered) ends that look just beautiful. :inlove:

Also, welcome to LHC. :flowers:

[Cinnamon Hair]

Unless someone comes along with a crystal ball, I think you have to keep growing to find out. Not trying to be a smarta** but that's the truth. Some people have thin ends past a certain length and shorter terminal length than others. Others just have slow growing hair and need time for the shorter hairs to catch up with the ends (like me). I have dealt with thin ends since I started growing and while they are better now, they're not super thick. Babying your hair will improve the ends, but only so far as genetics will allow.

[Rebelkat]

Thanks for the advice. And thank you for the lovely welcome, Lixie. You didn't sound like a smarta** Cinnamon Hair. I can be an airhead sometimes, and I appreciate it when people call me on it. Sarcasm is an art form. :D

[Flaxen]

I agree that the thing to do is keep growing and see. Decide if the thinness bothers you to a degree that you'd rather not have the extra length. If it doesn't, then don't cut. There's no reason you have to.

We can keep each other company. My hair is tailbone length, but if I were to trim to some kind of thickness, it would mean going to midback. I'm not going to do that. The thicker part of my hair is advancing downward, but it is very, very slow. I wish it were thicker farther down, but it is what it is, and I love it anyway. :heart:

[willowcandra]

I think my hair is around terminal and is much thinner at the ends.....how ever there are a few other known reasons why my hair got so thin so I am just gradually trimming off an inch every couple of months. My ends do seem to be thickening up slowly with each cut. but there are some bits at the sides that have stuck at waist length and I am not sure if they will ever join the hemline. I may have to eventually say goodbye to my dream of a blunt cut and let it fairytale out. Butu I am going to give it a couple of years to see if it all catches up.

[Katze]

I've got a similar issue with much shorter hair. The longest layers are heading for waist, but the shortest aren't even at BSL. From shoulder down, my hair starts tapering

Trimming has helped, a bit, since I had a very severe "V" shaped hemline, but I've decided I am not going to trim any more unless it gets really bad. My ends are still see-through, but my thickness is also slowly moving down. Two years ago, i had the same amount of taper from chin to shoulder that I now have from APL to BSL. My hair's now thicker at shoulder, but my goal is to have that same thickness at BSL. And it grows slowly.

Looking at all the posts you've got it seems like this is really normal, even if it can be frustrating.

Your hair in your pic looks beautiful, long and healthy, so be patient. :)

and welcome here!

Katze

[heidihug]

Yes, rebelkat, I agree, just be patient. Your hair looks like it's healthy, so a tiny trim once in a while may be all that you need to get more of a blunt appearance. I have fairy tale ends going on now, have had them pretty much since I let my hair start to grow, and I am at classic length or a bit longer. Eventually I would like a more blunt appearance, but I figure that will come with time and very judicious trimming and maintenance.

[Nightshade]

Rebelkat, you could do very small trims frequently. I had a lot of damage and resulting thinness at my ends, and just taking a quarter inch off every other month is helping me with the thinness a lot. A great style for people with a taper is the Equilibrium Bun (see link in my signature) as it lays the thickest part of your hair against the thinnest and evens out the updo nicely.

[Altocumulus]

Growing out my henna has revealed something that I never noticed before, which is that my hair grows at wildly different rates. The hair at the front hairline grows much slower than the rest, which is why that hair never seems to get longer than waist. I still hope to get thicker ends by slowly trimming to get rid of old layers and what have you, but I think I will always have a certain amount of fairytailing at longer lengths.

[harpgal]

Will maintaining it's current length for a while improve it's appearance, or am I just going to have to cut it? :undecidedI think maintaining for a while may be a good thing to try, Rebelkat. That way you can still enjoy your length and not have to do anything drastic. I have read story after story around here where that technique has helped. It certainly is worth a try. :)

[spidermom]

Welcome to LHC!

I started out my hair-growing journey thinking that, if I kept my ends trimmed regularly, I wouldn't get taper. But I was wrong; I've got it. In my case, I think it's because a lot of my hairs have a shorter terminal length than the longest hairs. Sometimes I shed out hairs as short as 2-4 inches. So I'm struggling with the same thing: length vs thick ends. We both have to do what will enable us to feel best about our hair and how it looks. I recently cut back 3-4 inches of thin ends, but I had a lot of splits. If it had been in better condition, I think I would have just let it keep growing, with my usual small trim every 3-4 months to maintain shape.

[Irishred]

Rebelkat, Welcome to LCH!

Another reason for a sudden taper area could be a big shed at some point. I have 2 step tapers right now from post baby sheds one around shoulder and one around waist. Hormones and stress can do interesting things to your hair. Most have a natural taper at some point and it all varies.

Maintaining at your current length could let you know if it will thicken up or not.

[sibylla]

For years when I didn´t brush my hair, I had a very uneven hemline...But since I started to brush my hair wirh 100 strokes with a good BBB, I started to notice that the hemline got more even and it grows at almost the same rate. I can´t explain why though...

[Rebelkat]

Rebelkat, Welcome to LCH!

Another reason for a sudden taper area could be a big shed at some point. I have 2 step tapers right now from post baby sheds one around shoulder and one around waist. Hormones and stress can do interesting things to your hair. Most have a natural taper at some point and it all varies.

Maintaining at your current length could let you know if it will thicken up or not.
Ah. Interesting theory. Could trauma from surgery cause a major shed? I had back surgery about a year ago, and now that I think about it, that's when my ends started fairytaling. :doh:

[Rebelkat]

A great style for people with a taper is the Equilibrium Bun (see link in my signature) as it lays the thickest part of your hair against the thinnest and evens out the updo nicely.
I'm definitely going to have to try that one out. It's a lovely style.

[Delila]

I seem to recall that others here have had to cope with thinness as a post-surgical issue, so it is a definite possibility.

I decided that for my own hair-growing adventure, that I'd just do the most minimal of microtrims at regular but well-spaced intervals. Seems to work for me.

Over time, I've noticed that my hair's gradually getting thicker and longer. When I braid it, the point at which noticeable taper begins has gradually moved down my braid.

Yes, I still cope with taper, but more gentle handling and management have made a visible difference.

[busnutmedic]

I have seriously thin end theses day. It feels super thin if I wash it with a sleeking conditioner - it feels so nice and sleek but it's like nothing!

I wish I knew the solution, because I'd tell you and start doing it myself :D

Bonnie

[bruteforcegrl]

Welcome Rebelkat,
The only thing I can add to the wisdom expressed above is that my hair seems to benefit from being frequently in a bun for daily wear. It has some natural taper but also seems vulnerable to the friction of daily life after it hits a few inches below BSL.
bfg

[MusingFrog]

I'm in a similar place right now. Some parts of my hair just want to race, but the rest come along more slowly. In order to combat the thinness I've started trimming a bit every once in a while. In my case it has helped a lot and the ends have started to thicken up a bit. However, as someone else said, genes only take you so far. I'm never going to have super thick ends and my braid starts tapering right from the base.

I'd wait it out and trim a little bit every month.