Fed up and need advice/ideas.

[Boudicca]

I would really like some advice, as my hair is driving me bananas. The part from my scalp to just past my shoulder is fine, reasonably thick - but the bottom half seems really thin. I've switched to no-cones and reduced my washing frequency (as of 10 months ago) - but I can't see any improvement.

Does anyone have any advice? I feel that it looks really awful. I'd like more thickness and gloss to it (esp. to the bottom half) - but all I get is very soft hair with a tendency to frizz.

Both pictures below are air dried, one combed, one uncombed. Any advice would be appreciated.

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z136/Boudicca_01/SN850070.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z136/Boudicca_01/SN850076.jpg

[lilalong]

I know some people here are trimming off their new growth little by little to give the shorter hairs a chance to catch up and for the thickness to travel down to the ends. It seems to take a long time, though.

[FrannyG]

It does take time for the new thickness to travel down after you start a good hair care regimen. I also suggest that perhaps you hold at this length for a while, and have frequent trims.

I also advise you to take regular length photos monthly, so that you can see your progress visually. While you may not see any progress from month to month, it's always quite amazing to look at two photos say, six months apart.

I hope that you feel better about your hair, and soon! :flowers:

[Islandgrrl]

Boudicca... it looks like all your new growth since you started 10 months ago is in really good condition. It looks really great. Thick and glossy. And beautiful waves.

What kind of damage is there below the new growth? It looks to me like you might have some breakage issues.

I think you should keep doing what you've been doing - clearly it's working. Consider trimming part or all of your new growth each month to help get rid of the damaged ends. If the thinnest part of your hair is thin because of damage, find ways, such as wearing your hair up, to protect the damaged length.

It looks to me that you might have a process that's a couple years long until your hemline thickness has caught up with the rest. :) Don't be discouraged! You're doing a great job of it already!

[tiny_teesha]

Hey, look at my hair, i'm in the same boat.
For me, more frequent washings worked better, DON'T let any mask or conditioner touch your scalp. Chemical hair dyes as well as henna causes shedding too.
It may be the case of letting the hairs catch up, or unfortunately it may be that your hair is just programmed to have a high taper/shedding rate. (mine is 165- above average)
But honestly i think your hair looks wonderful! :) Truely. Thin hair especially looks good with curly hair or wavey hair.
Check out Nastasska's journey :) She is my inspiration.

[suicides_eve]

do you wear you hair down often? is it at all possible that the friction causes breakage past your shoulder? that is just my guess

[chainedangel]

Personally I would let it grow as is. You'll have gorgeous fairytale ends if you do. But that's me who has wanted fairytale ends for almost 30 years.

[Faepirate]

Ahh. I second the fairytale ends envy. Nicest fairytale ends I've seen in ages! *_*

Personally, I think it looks stunning as it is, but I can understand the frustration of wanting more even thickness throughout the length. I think the best advice has already been given - maintain for a while and the trims should eventually result in thicker ends.

It looks in wonderful condition though! Really gorgeous hair. Uncombed, especially (it looks glossy to me in that pic :) I believe most curlies find they get a nicer shine if they leave their hair uncombed when dry. I know I do. Comb/brush = bring on the frizz!)

Good luck! :)

[burns_erin]

I think it looks gorgeous as well, I am sure all the strait hairs around you, and probably alot of the thick curly heads to are quite jealous of your lovely defined curly hair, I know as a straight hair I certainly am.

As far as practical applications, well Vitamin B/Biotin etc are said to help and while most people thing of it as mostly an ingestion thing, my mom and her mom have one thing they used to do, a yogurt, egg yolk, and cauliflower mask applied ONLY to the thinned ends.

[wintersun99]

............

[GlennaGirl]

Oh my goodness, are you kidding???? It's gorgeous!!! Oh holy cow. I don't know what I was expecting to see based on your description, but...not that. Please, for the sake of continuing to be a role model for us shorties, keep it growing. :p

[spidermom]

It looks like you have plenty of gloss. Your hair is shiny from scalp to tips. I also think your hair looks very pretty with fairy tale ends, and I'm not a big fan usually. I don't see a need to change anything other than perhaps trim a tiny bit so that the very bottom is a little less wispy.

[julya]

I think your hair looks really pretty in the uncombed photo. If you really feel you need a trim, start with an inch or less.

[DiyaC]

I have the same problem. But regular trims, tiny ones, seem to be helping me. Maybe they'll work for you too.

[jojo]

It does take time for the new thickness to travel down after you start a good hair care regimen. I also suggest that perhaps you hold at this length for a while, and have frequent trims.

I also advise you to take regular length photos monthly, so that you can see your progress visually. While you may not see any progress from month to month, it's always quite amazing to look at two photos say, six months apart.

I hope that you feel better about your hair, and soon! :flowers:

I totally agree with Franny's comments, couldn't have put it better myself!

[goodenough]

I don't know how you feel about loosing length, but maybe if you trim an inch at a time? I had to cut my bangs in an inch at a time (about once a week) because I couldn't emotionally deal with seeing hair of any length on the floor:)

I cut my daughters hair an inch at a time once a month all winter, and her thickness has caught up, all while not upsetting her. Most moms would have hacked off the thin straggles, but the slow and steady trims worked great. I didn't need to to the trims as long as I thought I would, because she was having less breakage due to getting fresh ends each month. Her hair is gorgeous now!! I won't cut it again until she gets breakage again (probably not until after Christmas or even longer. She wants classic length hair, and I'm gonna help her:)

If I were you (and I would love to have curly hair even for a day:) I would trim to waist, because everything above that looks great to me.

[Riot Crrl]

Here's just one crackpot theory of what it might have been. 10 months = an average of 5 inches... putting the line where it starts to thin out at approximately your nape as of 10 months ago. Did you used to use really breaky ponytail holders and stop 10 months ago?

[Boudicca]

SO many replies! Thanks so much, guys, for them. :)

lilalong - you're right, small trims every so often probably would be a good idea to let the thickness catch up. It's a bit scary, though, the idea of trimming freaks me out - I'm always scared it'll go too short. Even a bit above the waist feels strange for me.

FrannyG - You have gorgeous blonde hair! The frequent pictures are a great idea, I find it hard to see a difference day to day. I'll start regular photos from now on. I think trims are the way to go , judging by most of the replies. Thank-you :)

Islandgrrl - thanks for the compliment, that's very sweet. It's nice to hear that the extra care might be working. I don't know about breakage issues - I do get a *lot* of splits, though.

tiny teesha - I love the updo in your avatar. You're so right about the conditioner - CO made me shed like crazy. I'll steer clear of masks too.

suicides_eve - You're eagle-eyed! I do tend to wear my heair down quite a lot. Do you think that could cause the breakage?

chainedangel - thank-you :) Why won't your hair grow fairytale ends? I thought that they were inevitable if you didn't blunt cut.

Faepirate - thanks so much, you're very sweet :) You have gorgeous thick hair, just the kind of thickness I'm after! I try not to comb, as you say, it just brings the frizzies.

burns erin - that's such a coincidence, I just started to take B-complex this week. I've never tried a mask on the ends before, but I have the ingredients in there - so I suppose I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

wintersun99 - Thanks for the suggestion. I'm reluctant to use anything that might colour my hair; I've never dyed it and want to keep my original colour. Is cassia really very effective?

GlennaGirl - That's really lovely of you to say! Your hair looks super-healthy. I'd hardly call it short! :)

spidermom - Gorgeous ringlets, by the way. I agree, from looking at most of the replies, I might have to start regular small trims. I never trimmed for years, and I wonder how much of the 'damage' is splits that have been allowed to travel up the hair shaft.

julya - your avatar picture is awesome! How long have you been growing your hair?! As I've said, I think small trims might be the way to go.

DiyaC - it's encouraging to hear that small trims are working for someone else. Thanks :)

jojo - I think the photos are a good idea too. Your own hair looks really healthy. Thanks :)

goodenough - The idea of trimming an inch freaks me out a bit. Like you, I hate to see my hair on the floor. I think that might be the way I have to go, though. It's great that you've been really gradual with your daughter's hair. I can remember getting *big* trims when I was a wee girl, and never liked it.

Riot Crrl - your hair colour from your avatar looks brilliant, really vibrant! Do you find your hair colour darkens in winter? Mine does. As for your theory, it might not be so crackpot. :) I used to ponytail my hair really tightly, and my holders aren't exactly high quality. Do you know the best type to use?

[Riot Crrl]

Riot Crrl - your hair colour from your avatar looks brilliant, really vibrant! Do you find your hair colour darkens in winter? Mine does. As for your theory, it might not be so crackpot. :) I used to ponytail my hair really tightly, and my holders aren't exactly high quality. Do you know the best type to use?

Thanks :) Actually mine's gotten darker since winter because I've been adding more henna. :p It's now more like this (http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/1182/ficcaresilveractionzs3.jpg).

I dunno, I've just been using cheap scrunchies that seem to be some kind of microfiber. I only really wear them at home or to the store so I'm not fussed about how classy they look. I wear my other clips and stuff the rest of the time. Another thing that I use sometimes (even klassier) is that I wear cotton blend tights, and when they eventually get a hole that renders them no longer suitable as legwear, then I cut them up into bands.

[brok3nwings]

I dont really know how to advice you i just want to tell you that i think you have the most beautiful curls and colour! And i think you have a "romantic" hair ;)

[danacc]

For pony tail holders, you can try "hair hosiery" by scunci: http://www.scunci.com/product_detail.aspx?gid=4&pid=9999999999, or make your own with a pair of panty hose. Scrunchies made with slippery fabric are good, too. With any of these, don't wrap them too tightly.

I'm struggling with taper, too. I had breakage from tangles when sleeping, tangles from friction with chair backs, tangles from wind. I now wear my hair in a braid to sleep (folks have mixed success with tangles at the nape with this; it works for me), and I've been wearing my hair up during the day. I use super-smooth sticks or forks, or around the house, I just leave it in an English braid that is not fastened at either end. The waviness in my hair keeps it from unraveling itself; it might work for you, too. It's hard to see progress unless I take pictures to compare since the thickness is "growing down" with normal hair growth. For me, whether or not to trim is more about how comfortable I am with the look of the taper versus the loss of length. I'm now at a place where I just S&D.

[wintersun99]

SO many replies! Thanks so much, guys, for them. :)

wintersun99 - Thanks for the suggestion. I'm reluctant to use anything that might colour my hair; I've never dyed it and want to keep my original colour. Is cassia really very effective?

Hi, well, it is my understanding that Cassia can be prepared (in much the same way as Henna) to produce a yellow dye, but that would require setting it for dye release (i.e. mixing with water and letting sit for 8 hours or so) but if it was to be mixed and used immediately, it would NOT produce color... it would just then be a fabulous conditioner.

My disclaimer, I have NOT actually used Cassia though, but there is a great thread here somewhere that would be quite helpful. :)

[rubyann]

Boudicca, I would love, love, love to have your hair! Maybe in a coupla years.

At any rate, I do believe that your healthier hair treatment started 10 months ago, so you have to wait till your healthier hair grows down. Did that make sense? Sorry, I've had some wine and shoud probably be barred from posting under the influence! Just keep doing what your doing.

[Missie]

ooh yes... looking at your photos
I think the character your ends give your hair is beautiful.. very feminine and delicate.. to my eyes it's beautiful