So...this probably doesn't entirely deserve its own thread, but I would like to get some feedback on my situation specifically. Thanks in advance for reading.
I generally have thin and very baby-fine hair. Through much time and much help from this wonderful forum, I got my hair from shoulder-length and chlorine-damaged to TBL and relatively healthy. I am thrilled with this progress. However, now that I have reached my goal length, I am realising that it's not quite what I had been hoping for. Specifically, my length is there, but the thickness is abysmal. I have a rather extreme taper. I probably lose about half of my thickness somewhere between shoulder length and bra strap length, and the last 7ish inches in my braid are less than a finger-width across.
I have tried microtrimming for a year and a half.
I have tried S&D to get rid of split ends.
I have tried being silicone free (which is what I normally do), but I have also tried silicones in case that would make my hair tear less during brushing.
I have tried brushing often to avoid tangles, I have tried brushing less often to avoid any mechanical damage.
I have tried wearing buns, braids, and even just carefully down, hoping to find a way to avoid mechanical damage.
I have tried sleeping with a silk headscarf, again, to avoid mechanical damage.
I have tried washing my hair often (every three days) to have a clean, healthy scalp to facilitate growth, and I have tried washing once a week to avoid drying hair out.
I have tried using hair masks of many sorts.
I have tried supplements, vitamins, etc.
Did I leave anything out...?
There is clearly something that is not working, but I am rather at my wits end trying to figure out what it is. I've been seriously thinking about a big cut to get back to a decent thickness, but even that probably won't solve anything because whenever I start growing hair back, the same issue would likely return. Anyway, I would have to cut it all the way to BSL probably to get back to good thickness, and that's more extreme than I want to do right now.
I know I get mechanical damage from brushing my hair, despite finger-detangling and using a tangle teaser to minimize it. I still come away with a hairbrush full of hair, and not all of it is shed hairs. My hair needs to be brushed to avoid dreading, though, so I'm not sure what to do to minimize that. Washing my hair always creates a lot of tangles, even if I brush beforehand, and I think that might be one potential source of problems. But I can't not wash my hair... And yes, I have tried detangling leave-ins, but they all weigh my hair down or don't help avoid tangles. I think I could probably do more with masks, though, especially during times when I don't wash my hair as often. I had high hoped for regular trimming, as that seems to be a common solution, but the rest of my hair just never up catches up to the maintained hemline. I am sure I have split ends between the nape of my neck and BSL, but I have a hard time reaching those. Otherwise, I think I follow the recommended practices pretty well, so this is becoming quite frustrating.
Thanks for letting me vent, and I am grateful for any recommendations.
(Photo is from about 6 months ago, taper has gotten worse since.)
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