Advice for stringiness?

[dropinthebucket]

Stringy hair is making me want to cut!! Help!

My hair is superfine and thin, and has gone from a 1c to maybe a 1b as it gets longer. It seems fine around SL (avatar pic), which is where I've almost always worn it, but after that it does get straighter and separates into piecy, stringy, flat (not wavy) sections, and generally just looks like crap! I'm about an inch from BSL now. I've only gotten through the last 6 months by wearing it up all the time. I'd like to be able to wear it down once in a while, but it always just looks awful. Well, maybe it's ok the day I wash it. After that, forget about it.

I don't want to wash too often, since my hair is fragile. The scalp and hair down to my ears is fine for up to 5 or 6 days after a wash, but the hair from the ears down separates into strings. (You'd think it would be the other way 'round!) Maybe I just have really bad hair? Maybe I'm just not meant to have long hair? My hair always did this as it crept past SL when I was growing up, and my mom would say it was getting rats' tails and time to cut it. :(

The hemline still looks fine, it's not thinning into fairytale ends, it's just separating, and it always seems to do it right up to the ears, then it stops. I would so prefer the fairtyale ends, if it would make some! Is there anything that will help? I'm sick of my hair. :(

[Loviatar]

I wish I could advise, I have this exact same problem. I'll be watching your thread and hoping.

[Fethenwen]

If my hair looks stringy due to over oiling it, I can get it to look fairly decent with using corn starch as a dry shampoo. Maybe you could invest in a commercial dry shampoo that is better if you are to use it daily for the ends of your hair.

Dry shampoo makes hair more full also, but might take a way shine.

[daaisychains]

Awh, sorry you're hair is making you unhappy. Please don't fret :)
I think we're all used to seeing adverts where the models etc have glowing perfect hair when truthfully not everyones hair cascades perfectly.
I too have thin hair '1b' (genetically thin) and I know that i'm never going to have super thick buns and braids. My hair goes like that too what i find that if i wear my hair up in a bun it 'lasts longer'.

As in
Day 1 -Wash day- Hair = perfection
Day 2 - Bun
Day 3 - Bun
Day 4- down.

If i'd slept in a bun that night it usually stops my hair going 'stringy' on day 4.
Eeh this is turned into a bit of a ramble.. but it helps me anyway :)
I hope you find something that works for you.

[daaisychains]

If my hair looks stringy due to over oiling it, I can get it to look fairly decent with using corn starch as a dry shampoo. Maybe you could invest in a commercial dry shampoo that is better if you are to use it daily for the ends of your hair.

Dry shampoo makes hair more full also, but might take a way shine.


Also i agree with Fethenwen too much oil and it causes my hair to turn stringy.

[Gulbahar]

I usually have the same problem and it's nothing to do with oil. The best solution for me is spraying my hair with water containing some sorbitol. I use about a pinch of sorbitol on 150ml of water. This makes my hair not only soft and shiny but also fights the dreaded stringiness.

[schweedie]

I feel your pain - I have the same problem. What sometimes works for me is braiding or bunning overnight or just for a few hours before wearing it down. Like daaisychains said, keeping my hair in a bun on the days after I wash seems to make it slightly less likely to go stringy once I let it down. Doesn't always work, mind you, but sometimes. But my strands just really want to cling to each other.

[Marjolein]

Ah, yes, that's a problem for many people with our hairtype, me included. The only thing that works for me is to wash it every other day. I know you don't want to do that, but I have very fine hair and it hasn't harmed my hair in any way. (ends are eight years old now and are soft with few splits). You just need to be very gentle when handling it. Otherwise, do what somebody else already suggested. Enjoy it down for the first day and wear it up for the rest of the days.

[sedonia]

In my experience, the lengths between shoulder and bra band were very awkward. I complained here and was given the advice to stick it out, and my hair (and opinion of it) would be very different in the upcoming months. I found this advice to be true. You might also find that things sort out differently with a few more inches of growth.

Some other styling suggestions:

Don't fight the strings, work with them. Maybe try some styling products and scrunching or plopping to help exaggerate your waves a bit more and go for a tousled look.

You could also try occasionally drying with a warm or cool (not hot) blowdryer and a diffuser, again to coax out some tousled waves.

Wash more often if you need to. I'm not convinced that long times between washings are necessary for healthy long hair. I have a friend at classic length who does CO every day and another friend with knee length hair who washes with regular shampoo/conditioner every other day. Both have very healthy, undamaged hair. I wash about every other day, but if I need my hair looking good I will wash it on a no-wash day.

[Marjolein]

In my experience, the lengths between shoulder and bra band were very awkward. I complained here and was given the advice to stick it out, and my hair (and opinion of it) would be very different in the upcoming months. I found this advice to be true. You might also find that things sort out differently with a few more inches of growth.

<SNIP>



Yes, that happened to me too. My hair is just past BSL and it's finally starting to look good again. Strings seem to have been changed into waves :). Now, I still get stringy hair quite easily, but not as much so as 2-3 inches ago.

[heidihug]

Maybe I just have really bad hair?
I see this terming of hair as "bad" all the time. Honestly, there's no such thing as "bad" hair. Your hair is your hair. You have to learn to live with what you have, don't fight it. Perhaps what you term as "stringiness" is actually your hair's natural texture showing itself - hair separating out into slightly wavy little sections. When I had a perm (a couple decades ago) and it had relaxed significantly, my fine and thin BSL hair separated out into what some would term "strings". Instead of brushing it constantly and trying to get it to unclump into a nice curtain of hair (like we are deceived into believing is normal or perfect by hair ads), I decided to work with it, putting in leave-ins to encourage separate sections, which revived the curl a little bit.

Now I no longer have permed hair and it is quite straight, but it still sections out when I have it down drying. [shrugs] That's just the way it is, and I wear it up all the time, anyway, so no matter. There are some great suggestions here for how to work with your hair if you do want to wear it down - I hope one works for you!

[CarpeDM]

I have stringiness in the front where my hair is thinner and it has always been a battle for me. The best option I have found are half updos. If I leave it down it is just too stringy, so I usually pull it back in one way or another.

[Anje]

Some of it's a texture thing, I think. It seems like 1c tends to break up into chunks like wavier hair, but the waves aren't as defined, so it looks stringy. Mine does it too. Then again, I think we're our own worst critics -- my DH prefers my hair when it's a little messy and is breaking up into strings.

I've heard some people say hard water accentuates it. I haven't felt compelled to mess with it much, but you might want to try doing your final rinses with distilled water and see if that makes a difference.

[dropinthebucket]

Thank you so much everyone! Ok, so it's just a 1-type thing, good to know it's not just me with "bad" hair. My mom doesn't have my hair type, and never did get over her admiration of '80s big hair :) - mine was always "abnormal" in her eyes! Scissors and lots of plumping products were meant to tame it. It's funny, no matter how old you get, you can suddenly still realize you're hearing your mother's voice in your head, and seeing yourself through her perspective sometimes.

I think I can hang on for another 3 inches - maybe it will get better, then. I'm sure I can hang on with that hope in sight! I will be like the little engine that could ... I think I can, I think I can .... all the way past BSL. :D

Excuse the dumb question - what is sorbitol? vitamin c? I must try this, if it works, it will get me through to longer, hopefully better behaved clumps.

I will try more frequent washing, too. Maybe even just the ends.

I'm sorry I didn't quote where I should - my quote button is not working right now, dunno why. But I really, really appreciate all the advice!

[Chiara]

Yes, I get stringy hair fast too, most annoying. It is partly the length (its just got below shoulder length) and partly that it just likes to separate.
One thing I have found kind of worked is using some mousse (Garnier Mousse for Waves) and then scrunching my hair when it is wet, leaving it to air dry. My hair is not that wavey, but bringing the waves out, and thickening it up a bit with the mousse seems to make it look better when it does separate out, and seems to make it a bit less likely to string.

[Gulbahar]

Excuse the dumb question - what is sorbitol? vitamin c? I must try this, if it works, it will get me through to longer, hopefully better behaved clumps.
Not vitamin C! Sorbitol is a sugar substitute.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbitol

[Naphthylamine]

I'm having this problem since I clarified my hair a week ago (apparently it actually didn't need the clarifying :() It does get worse if I try to separate and smooth them, because it causes static.
For a week now, I do heavy oiling before shower, followed by ACV rinses. And apparently it needs moisture; since the strands that cling together are extremely dry. Those solutions seem to improve my stringiness.
I also advice bunning in day 1 & 2. Light oiling of the ends and protecting them inside the bun prevents them from grabbing the neighboring strands.

[jojo]

I am wondering if you are mistaking stringy with clumping. I get clumping and I have wavy hair. Have you tried CO washing or other wavy washing methods? I am thinking that you are maybe more wavy than straight and its by using the wrong methods why you are experiencing this.

[CariadA]

I get VERY stringy if I do not wash frequently enough. I don't mind going a week or more without washing, but even with my hair up, it looks horrendous.

I have to conditioner only wash every other day. I use a small amount of lavender-scented baby powder on my roots only on the off-day. Then once a week I condition-wash-condition just to clean my scalp better.

I also find that over-oiling will make the hair to stringy. Mixing a small amount of oil (I use coconut) with a small amount of aloe vera gel helps the oiling stay less greasy. And I make sure to clarify once every month to two months as buildup can cause stringiness,

[Chiara]

I also find that over-oiling will make the hair to stringy.
I find that grease and oil is what makes my hair stringy, too. So its quite a balancing act, finding what gives your hair moisture without overloading it.