growing the underlayer?

[Katze]

Anyone else have a coarser textured underlayer (on me, nape and some behind the ears) to their hair, and have trouble getting it long? Mine is the longest it has ever been since I first realized what it is (that my hair has radically different textures, I mean) - it's between chin and shoulder unstretched, longer if stretched.

Whenever I put leave-in into my hair I focus on this coarser, curlier under-hair, and I think that is responsible for helping it grow (as is no longer constantly wearing a silver chain around my neck - these hairs kept getting caught).

Still, these hairs always seem dry, the ends get white dots very easily, and they are just...odd...especially considering the hair on my crown is baby fine, seethrough, lighter in color, and straight. Maybe these hairs affect my overall terminal length (they do make my taper more severe; at the left side, where they are much curlier, there is even a 'hole' in my canopy).

Anyone else get these to grow? What did you do?

(still hoping that with LHC knowledge and help my hair might actually get long some day! Hope springs eternal! :D )

[AnimaSola3o4]

You are preachin to the choir here! Those hairs are the reason I kept having the shaved under layer on my head. I have now just been letting them grow, but they actually do the fairy knots all the time, and when I find one, I just yank the whole hair out cuz I'm not too fond of these hairs behind my ears anyway!!!

Mine grow, but noticeably slower than the rest of my hair. I haven't paid much attention to the weird hair in a long time though.

[dawnrader]

I have hair like this and i blame shaving the back of my head continually when i was younger (read 17-19). The hairs that grew back are twice as curly as the rest of my hair and also do the fairy not number, it's something i've had to get used to over the years but i can't say i like it!

I've never noticed them growing any slower than the rest of my hair but i have so much of it, it is possible. Also remember if your hair is extra curly it will seem shorter than the rest.

nic
x

[Mesmerise]

Oh yeah, I have a weird underlayer too! It is definitely curlier than on top, and is ALSO curlier on the left side than the right!

I have also had a hairdresser suggest the underlayer was getting broken because it was shorter than the canopy...but nope...I think it just doesn't grow as much or as fast :(.

I am just hoping that, with time, the underlayer will GROW!

Katze, I think you and I are almost hair twins except for the colour :D.

[Altocumulus]

My nape hair is straight, and doesn't grow as long as the rest of my hair. It's always been that way - I think it just has a shorter terminal length.

[Sahar24]

I have this too and it really annoys me. I always thought it was partly because I wear my hair in a high bun usually so the nape gets a bit of damage at night and partly because it's just different hair.

[Katze]

I honestly think it's genetic, at least in my case. Dad has wavier, coarser but with some fine, darker hair. Mom is lighter and has baby fine, mostly straight hair.

In my case, shaving, buns, etc are not the culprits, though I did blame my necklaces for the breakage for a while. I shaved my nape for a few years, but always let it grow out between shaves, and the hair started getting that way in puberty, around the time my hair went dark. It always reminded me of 'other' body hair.

Curious and glad to see there are others with weird underlayers. :D DH, interestingly, has a similar hair type as mine (but longer hair, grrrr) and his hair has a STRAIGHT underlayer, that at least LOOKS longer than his curlier canopy. His hair is only coarser at his sideburns, though.

some weird stuff, this kind of hair.

[blondecat]

ughhh my nape hair knotts curls splits hairballs furballs Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh (runs away screaming)

I twist little peices of it into small coils and bobby pin under the top hair. it helps a little.

Slathering condish leave in on it helps too [not the whole hair the nape im talking about]

[ktani]

Anyone else have a coarser textured underlayer (on me, nape and some behind the ears) to their hair, and have trouble getting it long? Mine is the longest it has ever been since I first realized what it is (that my hair has radically different textures, I mean) - it's between chin and shoulder unstretched, longer if stretched.

Whenever I put leave-in into my hair I focus on this coarser, curlier under-hair, and I think that is responsible for helping it grow (as is no longer constantly wearing a silver chain around my neck - these hairs kept getting caught).

Still, these hairs always seem dry, the ends get white dots very easily, and they are just...odd...especially considering the hair on my crown is baby fine, seethrough, lighter in color, and straight. Maybe these hairs affect my overall terminal length (they do make my taper more severe; at the left side, where they are much curlier, there is even a 'hole' in my canopy).

Anyone else get these to grow? What did you do?

(still hoping that with LHC knowledge and help my hair might actually get long some day! Hope springs eternal! :D )

My nape hair is silkier than the rest of my hair by virtue of it being finer in general than the rest of my hair and it being proteced by my length in terms of not getting any weathering (I wear my hair down most of the time).

I had the exact same problem as you on one side of my hair where the nape hair was appearing to not grow, which was actually breakage and the hair was almost curly not wavy.

It was for me caused by the linden flower tea I used as a conditioner, the way I use catnip now. The tea caused build-up and breakage, that I could plainly see as white dots, whenever I did an s&d.

By concentrating your leave-in which builds-up, on those hairs, the build-up is contributing to the very problem you are trying to solve, that may have been mostly caused by the chain you wore.

I had similar breakage, not nearly as bad with some conditioners.

Remedy? I would go lighter in product than the one you are currently using and clarify frequently enough not to have the area get dry from residue.

[LocustSpawning]

The hair right at my nape looks bad aswell. I don't really care though, nobody really see's it and it's only a small amount of hair compared to all the rest on your head that contributes to length. I don't mind that it's short and not a very nice texture compared to the rest, as long as the rest is nice ^_^

[spidermom]

My nape hair sustains more damage than other hairs because I roll around on it at night. Every time I try to S&D that area, almost every hair has a knot, a split, obviously roughened cuticle, or a white dot. My canopy is that way, too.

[SilvraShadows]

My under layer never grows past a certain length, neither does my canopy, or the the section above my temples.

:hmm:

It's a wonder I have anything left to grow because my hair is ultra fine. So overall it makes the appearance that I rip through my hair and have fuzzy dry hair... when in truth, I don't.

When I trim to about 23 inches, I have instant thickness. But I want length, so the wispy see through ends I have now I have learned to accept as I grow on to bcl.

We have similar hair, I think. Except for color...

[Mannaz]

Yep, my underlayer is not entirely of another texture , but about half of the hair is A LOT coarser, and darker than the rest of the hair. i have these wiry, almost black hairs allover my head, but the majority is in the underlayer, it's also curlier like you described...

Right now there's a lot of breakage too, which I'm not sure where it's coming from (well, high buns every night for a long time and necklaces contribute...), so I really can't wear half-ups which is kind of a bummer. About half of the underlayer reaches only to my shoulders so it looks weird.

I'm pretty sure it'll grow though, actually I think it grows faster than the rest of my hair. Go figure...

BTW SilvreShadows, your hair looks beautiful, I wish mine goes white too at some point!

[uptosomeone]

Mine isn't coarser at all, but it does get a lot of damage and is shorter than all of the rest. It doesn't help that it's about 1 cm from being able to go into a high bun either, and that's what I wear to sleep! I'm hoping that it'll grow to a length that will at least go up so it's not obnoxious in updos, because right now it's just useless. :o

[jacqueline101]

I think my underlayers are short due to my hairs growth rate. Its always been short and it bugs me always have. I would like for it to grow out. My short hairs drive me nuts when I wear up dos.

[Vanilla]

Checking into this thread too. My nape and hair behind my ears is curlier, coarser and darker than the hair on the top and sides of my head. When I used to straighten and blow dry my hair, I could never get these pieces to lay flat ever.

I wear a necklace too that gets my nape hairs caught in it, but won't take it off because of sentimental reasons.

[WaterMusic]

Me too! My underlayer is curly rather than wavy like the canopy, more porous, drier, and more brittle. I try to baby it, but those suckers are delicate.

I also have random coarse, wiry hairs throughout my canopy. They are seriously weird.

[AnimaSola3o4]

My canopy also has some coarser hair, but it's nothing at all compared to my nape hair. I just consider the canopy to be a bit frizzy at times.

It's interesting, though, to find that people of all hair types have this problem. I assumed it was only curlier folks. In fact, someone once told me that it was a redhead thing too. Guess that theory is out the window!!!

[ktani]

I think my underlayers are short due to my hairs growth rate. Its always been short and it bugs me always have. I would like for it to grow out. My short hairs drive me nuts when I wear up dos.

The underlayer is still a hairline and there are new hairs constantly growing out. I was very pleased when my dubbed "no zone" of nape hair finally grew in long again. The texture returned to normal for my hair instead of being almost curly and much less silky.

I have random coarse hairs too which I have found when conditioned properly (ETA: with build-up removed) are no longer (ETA:2 as) course to the feel but are still "unusual" for my hair. That is genetic I believe.