Fine, Thick, and Straight Hair

[MissManda]

I was talking to my MIL today about hair toys and she gave me tips on updos that I can do to keep my hair out of the way. It was a very nice conversation because she is a very wise and fascinating person to talk to. So the subject moved to a hair tool/toy called a bodkin (she told me that it was kind of the predecessor of the bobby pin).

While she was looking for her bodkin to show me (I'd never seen one before), she made comment that I don't have much hair. I calmly told her that I totally disagree with her because I have fine and thick hair that is pretty straight (my ponytail circumference is around 4"). So she grabbed my hair and put it into a ponytail and she took my point and acknowledged that I have a finer hair texture. She compared it to her son's (my BF's) ponytail. His hair is more of a medium texture than mine is and is pretty wurly and curly.

Now, my MIL is a very honest person and sometimes she makes statements that can really make others feel insulted (I have this tendency as well to a lesser degree). Her comment about my hair didn't make me feel this way, as she was just stating what she observed. What it did was make me think about just how my hair looks. Since it is straight, it does like to lay against my scalp which does make it look thinner than it actually is. And when I actually make an effort to style it, my hair can appear to have TOO much volume.

Is there anyone else who has fine, thick, ans straight hair that experiences this? Actually, has anyone (who deosn't necessarily have fine/straight/thick hair) had someone else underestimate your hair thickness? What about overestimating your hair thickness?

Oh, and happy Turkey Day, everyone! :D

EDIT: I should have chosen a different title for this thread. Something more like Hair Thickness Misconceptions or something to that effect.

[Whimsical wind]

Yep! I have fine and thick hair. I got my friend to dye my hair once and when she was combing it through she said "You have more hair than you seem to."

[MissManda]

Yep! I have fine and thick hair. I got my friend to dye my hair once and when she was combing it through she said "You have more hair than you seem to."

Yep. My mom, who has the same kind of hair as I do (fine and straight) said she has always been jealous of my hair because it is so thick. I can get volume at the back and sides, but the scalp is where it just likes to lay there.

I've been thinking about using aloe vera gel. Does it really work? What about natural (chemical-free, as I am sensitive to that kind of nasty stuff) hairspray?

CWC does very good things for my hair, but I'm not sure if it's helping with my scalp's flatness. I did find that CWCing with my head upside-down kinds helps and I have actually observed my individual strands getting bigger.

[ChrissieM]

My hair is very fine, but I have a lot. Hairdressers are always surprised at how much I have. It's average thickness, about 3 -3.5 inch circ. My mom once said to me, after watching me put my hair up, "it's amazing that you can get all that hair into that little tiny knot" :( whatever. I think my bun is pretty good-sized, especially for BSL hair. I can't wait until it gets longer so I can make bigger buns.

[Clarisse]

I have the excact opposite kind of hair. My hair is very average in thickness, but people always over-estimate my thickness, because my hair is wavy and poofy without giving the impression that the volume is, for the most part, simply air, seperating my strands.

Perhaps you could dampbun or dampbraid you hair to truly show your thickness and boost the volume. It doesn't take to much effort and it can give some amazing results :)

[Roseate]

I haven't really had this happen to me: my hair is big, coarse and wurly, WYSIWYG.

But I do it to other people, usually in the overestimating direction. I've done updos on a couple of friends for special occasions, and I always come armed with lots of my big 3" pins, but then I find I can actually hold their hair up with cute little hairpins that my hair would eat for lunch!

It's especially surprising on curlies, all those lovely spirals can compact down to nothing on some folks.

[JCFantasy23]

I have the opposite issue. My hair is medium thickness with some coarse thick strands but it's thin in volume.

[squee]

I have all 3!
My hair is mostly fine, but about 1/3 is a little thicker, and my hair is slightly wavy but not a lot.
I am about 4inches, but people think I have less hair, until they start playing with it . :)

[WaimeaWahine]

Everyone always says mine is thick but it's really very limp and thin.

[SunRae]

Me too!
I was having my hair colored once (way pre LHC), and the woman had to mix up more color mid way because she was shocked at how much hair I had. We had met many times, she just had never actually played in my hair before.
My dad has thin, fine hair, and my mom has a lot of coarse hair (it is crazy bushy). I always figured that I got the best of both worlds!

As I have gotten older, my hair has grown in less fine, so I now classify myself as medium - I'm probably somewhere in between. It is just so hard to tell because some of my hairs are quite coarse. I've got it all!

[Leena7]

I had a hairdresser tell me that I had "fine hair, but lots of it" while she was doing my highlights. I always thought that my hair was thicker than it seemed, but her comment solidified my thoughts.