Thin and Fine

[dropinthebucket]

Ran into this article on fine hair:
http://www.hairboutique.com/tips/tip109.htm

Yep, advice is no longer than shoulder length, advice i want to ignore. Lots of "plugs" for products, but some interesting info. Thought it was especially funny that she suggests trying hair extensions! My (former) stylist tried them on me - my hair was so fine and thin that the smallest clips could not be properly hidden and left weird bumps. Weaving in caused a similar problem.

Anyway, I was wondering if there are other fine-and-thins out there who are determined to grow their hair long but are wondering what it's going to look like - or if any of you have already and have pics! (or avatars - been checking them as i see postings, looking for other i's!) :D

Love to hear from any other i's!

[SilvraShadows]

No pics as of yet. I have ultra fine and now thin tresses but it doesn't matter to me what it will look like... I love the saying, "I'm not here to decorate your world..." Not sure who first said that, anyhoo, long hair is much more to me than a decoration.

Somehow length outweighs the thinness. I would rather have long thin hair than short thin hair. I can't imagine having short thin hair! It would be harder to do something with it. So for now I keep my hair as healthy as I can and I am growing it as long as it will grow.

Keeping up dustings (my definition of teeny little trims) each month or so, and renewing my ends on those blue moons (because they happen so far and few) will evolve to hopefully, for me, at least tb. That's what I hope for.

I read the in "Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch (?) that if folks could stop worrying so much of what others think, we would accomplish so much more. Isn't this true!

[LadyVictoria]

I have fine & thin hair & it has always been long, I am currenty at hip. Short thin & fine would be impossible to work with (for me anyway).

[heatheradair]

I have hair that is very fine, pretty straight and pretty thin. It's at BSL now, and I grew it out from an A-line bob. I've always liked long layers in the front, and my cut was pretty much the opposite (the longest pieces were in the front, with shorter parts in the back). It has looked odder as it's gotten longer, so today I cut some long layers into the front (around chin-length). These make my hair look fuller, and I'm really glad I cut them, even though my goal is waist. I suppose my real goal is waist with layers in the front!

Long story short: for fine, thin hair, I would recommend some shorter layers around the face, as they move around a bit and add the look of volume.

Also, as it gets longer, put it in a braid while damp and then take it out when it's dry. Texture adds volume, too!

[Liss]

I used to believe that advice and I'd cut my hair shorter, only to discover that it doesn't magically look thick and beautiful, it just looks like short fine thin hair.

Every inch that my hair grows longer I think it looks better. I think that maintenance is the key to having my hair look its best at long lengths. I'm aiming for waist at the moment and completely convinced it will look great.

[verene]

My hair is fine and on the thin side of normal for thickness. Looks better longer to me, though I do have to be careful about breakage.

You may be interested in this (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=19980&highlight=superfine+super+long) thread. Lots of fine hair being grown long.

[Olde Soul]

Mine feels like it's getting thinner and finer by the day, but I've always had it at least waist length. I think I'd just feel bald if I cut it any shorter.

[mellie89]

I've read that article. There are definitely a lot of good points, like avoiding product and adding layers for movement. I don't think you should be doomed to shoulder length hair, however. My hair is thin(ish) and fine and has ALWAYS been at least APL. It looked its best at BSL. When I cut to shoulder last year it looked horrendous and had no movement or volume whatsoever.

I S&C every other day and use the blow dryer on low pretty frequently. Braid and bun waves are also my friend. :)

My ultimate goal is waist and I think it will be lovely! Good luck with your growing, and don't let anyone convince you that your hair is too fine to be long!

[long.again]

I am barely a ii and I have hair all sorts of lengths. My hair did seem thicker in a pixie - but only for the first few days after cutting because my hair was sticking up all crazy at first!

Henna really thickened up my hair but, as I'm trying to grow to at least BSL (27") with all natural hair color, I just excepted my thin & fine locks.

One thing that is a must for me is keeping an even hemline. If my ends look ragged, it makes my hair looks even thinner.

[joiekimochi]

When I had TBL hair, it looked amazingly thick yet sleek (save for the damaged tapered fairytale ends which I chopped off so I have BSL now). Fine, thin hair CAN be long...just check out some of the pictures in my album when I had very long hair.

That aside, I'm excited to see how my hair will look at TBL again, now that I know how to take care of it (my TBL hair was pre-LHC and was treated like a burlap sack).

[Tovah]

My hair is fine and thin. The products from that article scare me as my hair is finally looking healthy by not using product except for mild shampoos and conditioner and oil. My great problem now is that NO barrette will stay in my hair. Even the Goodie Ouchless one falls out. Is it because that now my hair has incredible 'slip'?

Any suggestions?

[jivete]

Mine is fine and on the thin side of normal. I can't use any product to speak of. Every time I try I end up with blah looking hair. Less is definitely more for me.

ETA: I forgot to add, I was a i when I got here. Better care and less breakage has put me into the ii range. In fact, my thickness went up about 30%. I'm pretty sure dye was my biggest enemy.

[dropinthebucket]

Great suggestions, thank you so much, everyone! k, some shorter layers round the face, no product if you can help it, keep the hemline even, add texture with something gentle (braids or sock curls) - will write all this down! :)

Yeah, I think you're right - fine and thin hair worn short still looks like fine and thin hair - no magic volume by going shorter! and i'm hoping that better care will help, too.

I'm at just below collarbone right now, and going for APL for first goal. Thanks for all the encouragement, fellow fine-haireds!

[rags]

I'm a definite i, and my hair is baby, baby fine. I wore it at tailbone for years until I had some medical problems and a med caused the Great Shed and I chopped it to shoulder. You know what? It was still thin and fine at shoulder, and I think it looked worse! I can't wait until it gets longer again.

I do concur with whoever said keeping up the hemline is good. Mine looks like mice chewed on it if I don't. Also, I do the braid hair at night when damp and sleep on it - great texture and some volume the next day.

[Ksenia]

When I measured I was astonished to find that at the neck I'm a ii, because when I do buns or braids they're so thin, but from BSL down from that I'm a solid i. Thin and fine can be long, you just have to ignore all of the conventional wisdom and find what works for your hair. I cannot use any products on my hair because they just clump it up and weigh it down.

I once had a pixie cut and it was the most dreadful thing in the world. I looked like a boy unless I spent an hour putting in products and curling my hair, and even then it would hold for only an hour or two before falling flat. My hair looks so much better long.

[Liss]

Wow, I think that Ksenia's avi pic is proof alone that fine-thin hair looks absolutely gorgeous long.

From all the things I've tried with my hair in the past at shorter lengths (shoulder and APL) I came to the conclusion that the advice was written by people who had thicker hair. I always heard that movement can be achieved with careful cutting of layers, but I never had enough hair for layers to look like anything except straggles. Instead, a U-cut hemline is the best way for movement to be achieved while retaining as much thickness as possible, and a blunt cut for straight hair makes it look slightly thicker along the hemline.

[pinkbunny]

I'm just barely at ii, and I wasn't sure if my thin hair would get very long but it has and I'm still growing! I'm glad because short fine hair is impossible to style - at least I can have braids and buns...

[MandyBeth]

I've got the really fine hair, tho' a lot of it - but it doesn't like the ideas for weird hemlines or shaping. It'll just look like I cut my hair while intoxicated.

I'm not sure it's the even hemline - since cutting in layers will ruin that - as much as it's maintaining a "clean" hemline. If you want to cut your hair into a ^^^^^^ line with pinking shears, go for it, but it looks "ratty" when the ends grow out and now the hemline looks scruffy, which in turn makes your hair look scruffy. Fairytale ends do look thinner also tho.

[Madonna-Fan]

I have got fine hair, too. My hair type is 2a F ii with a circumference of 2 inches so exactly between i and ii, but I´ve got some layers left so if they are grown out, it might be 2,3 to 2,6 inches. Though not very thick ;).

I think it isn´t about having thin hair, or not, but caring for it rightly.
If you don´t treat it bad (too much flat iron, bleaching or other "bad things") and care for it the right way your hair can be absolutely beautiful even though it´s no iii.

A i or ii-head with shiny and healthy hair is always better than hair which might be thick and voluminous as iii but shaggy and over-bleached.

Yours, Timmy

[CuddlyChicken]

I've got very fine and thin hair too! Hairdresser always used to tell me that I need to keep my hair short to get some volume. Blow drying and the use of styling products was another way of gaining volume but it usually looked good for about 5 minutes and was a complete mess for the rest of the day :rolleyes:
Oh, and LAYERS of course. No, they do NOT help my hair. Right now my neck area looks like I've barely got any hair because of all those layers.
So no more layers, no more styling products and no more blow drying :D

[Deimos]

I have thin and fine hair, and determined to grow long :D I am around waist now (there are pictures in my album)
Usually I am okay with my hair and solve issues as they appear.
My buns looks tiny so I have some ways to make them look more hueg by inserting a thick elastic and not making them supertight. Also I need to wash my hair twice a week, I cannot cut down to once a week.
Good luck with growing :)

[embee]

My hair is fine and thin and long. It used to be fine and thin and short. Length change does not make my hair thicker or coarser.

When my hair was short I sorta looked baldish, or like I was losing my hair. Now with my old-lady receding hairline and my mean-librarian-bun I also look sorta baldish, except from the back where one can actually see my itty bitty bun. ;)

Seems to me you gotta play the hand you're dealt Mine is thin straight fine hair and a receding hairline.

In case anyone wants to comment about my mean-librarian-bun causing the receding, rest assured the hairline was receding *way* before I could even make a ponytail. Forehead has always been "too high". Oh well.

[dropinthebucket]

Mine is thinning in spots along the hairline, too - trying to castor oil, we'll see! And to think, women shaved their foreheads to get receding hair lines in the middle ages because this was "beautiful"! just goes to show, it all comes down to current perspectives ... :)

[ChrissieM]

sorta thin, fine hair here. I've followed the "rules" in the past by keeping my hair between APL and shoulder with layers. But since I never blow-dry or use styling products (I honestly don't know how) it just hangs there and looks thinner than it should. Long hair just looks better on me, both loose and up.

Lately, I've had a problem with keeping it up, because my hair even cone-free has become so slippery that it spits out three-prong hair forks and even my medium ficcares. Large Ficcares have a stronger grip so they work.

I've found that using a shampoo bar gives me enough texture that my hair will stay up, but then my hair seems to tangle more. So I only use them on occasion, sticking mostly to Suave Naturals for CWC.

[firegypsy]

Ran into this article on fine hair:
http://www.hairboutique.com/tips/tip109.htm

Yep, advice is no longer than shoulder length, advice i want to ignore. Lots of "plugs" for products, but some interesting info. Thought it was especially funny that she suggests trying hair extensions! My (former) stylist tried them on me - my hair was so fine and thin that the smallest clips could not be properly hidden and left weird bumps. Weaving in caused a similar problem.

Anyway, I was wondering if there are other fine-and-thins out there who are determined to grow their hair long but are wondering what it's going to look like - or if any of you have already and have pics! (or avatars - been checking them as i see postings, looking for other i's!) :D

Love to hear from any other i's!

I'm super fine and quite thin (well, my hair anyway!) and I'm at waist. I love it, but in all fairness I never, ever, ever wear my hair down. Still though, I love being able to do fancy updo's, no matter how thin it is!

[Agnes Hannah]

My hair is also fine and thin, just over 2" circumference and creeping past BSL onto the midback abyss! I have also had pixies, layers, permanent colours and hairdressing gunk to make it thicker, and yep guess what? I had thin short hair. Now its thin but longer, so I can bun it at least.
Hello all you i's.