I’ve grown out my hair for the first time since middle school, and to my surprise it is in bad shape. It is baby fine, fairly thin and dry. It isn’t hideous or anything, but it isn’t great. I imagine the dmage is from various home dye jobs years ago, or maybe a few yeas of anti-malarials. Who knows.
I’ve been taking a multivitamin, giving it lots of heavy conditioning, and brushing it to stimulate the roots. This seems to be helping.
Are there any salon treatments that would help? Or products you reccomend?
Going blonder is right out, right? I’m a dirty blonde, but I’m happier a few shades lighter. Would it kill me to get some highlights?
Dye jobs years ago should not affect your hair now unless you’re Crystal Gayle. Dye, perms, and heat styling can all damage hair, but it’s all on the hair shaft. As such it grows out and gets cut off within weeks or months if you have fairly short hair. And they should never cause your hair to be thin or fine; that’s something that’s determined by the hair follicles and if you’re damaging your follicles with dye, you’re doing it very very wrong. Some drugs can negatively impact rapidly dividing cells like hair follicles, though I don’t know if anti-malarials are among those drugs.
More likely causes are genetics, hormones, and diet. Of the three, there’s really only the one you can reliably do anything about, and you’re already doing it.
If your hair is really thin and fine, you’ll probably want to leave it relatively short. Length means weight, and weight pulling on fine strands completely flattens them out so your hair has no volume or body. How much length is too heavy depends on just how fine and/or thin your hair is–mine is reasonably thick but nearly baby-fine, and shoulder length is pretty much my outside limit. My mom’s is not nearly as fine, but it’s quite a lot thinner, and her cut-off point is more around jaw level.
Speaking of my mother, learn to work with your hair rather than against it. Trying to fight your hair’s inherent nature means a lot of chemical processing, product, and heat styling, all of which tend to make hair more dry and brittle than it would otherwise be. Also, it’s a huge time sink and typically doesn’t look all that great.
I have taken gelatin for my nails for years, and I do think it also helps my hair as my hairdresser says it’s quite strong and full for my age (64) and it didn’t used to be. Gelatin is cheap (tho sometimes hard to find; guess there’s no profit in it) and harmless so it might be worth a try. I get it at drugstore.com.
I noticed an enormous difference in the strength of my formerly weak and easy-to-split nails after I started taking biotin supplements, and also, ahem body hair started to grow out faster as well. Seems to help all your keratin-based appendages!
I started taking the vitamins about a year before we even started trying to get pregnant and I noticed a big improvement.
Then I noticed a HUGE improvement when I was actually preggo, so that is an option.
I will say I would quit the heavy brushing - that is great for very think hair that tends to be oily, but for fine hair you’ll just wind up damaging it more. If you want scalp stimulation I would suggest giving yourself a scalp massage when you’re in the shower.
What, specifically, are pre-natal vitamins? There’s no chance of me getting pregnant again in this life (nor any desire to) but I do suffer from similar hair problems and I’d be willing to give the pre-natal vitamins a go.
Not in the US, so I might have to hunt around. I gathered what they were for but was wondering what specific vitamins they might contain which would be different from regular multi-vitamins.
I’ve got really finely textured hair, but an abundance of it. Depending on your issues with it (do you have “frizzies” to go along with the fine and thin?), you may benefit from using products that tackle the specific issue that is the biggest problem. I like Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine because I need something to keep my hair from turning into a weird Hermione-esque poof while still keeping my thin hair well-conditioned and not greasy-looking. I go from poofy and dry to greasy and gross within a couple of days, regardless of washing or not washing routine, and CO-washing or "no 'poo"ing just gives me serious dandruff.
Vitamin E, Folic, Biotin and Iron are the really key ones for hair
Sulfate-free shampoos tend to be better for dry hair because the sulfates act as a surfactant that strip more moisture from your hair
Heavy conditioning generally means you’re coating the hair shaft with lots of silicone, so be careful about how heavy you go, because you’ll weigh your hair down. Find a gentle clarifier to remove buildup
I have fine, dry hair, but it’s not particularly thin. Several years ago I stopped using shampoo altogether. I just wet my hair, put on the conditioner, did my shower stuff, then rinsed it out. It took a few weeks, but my hair and scalp never felt better. I never had a problem with build up or my hair getting gicky or anything.
You can do what this year’s Miss America did and shave it/cut it really short, buy a wig, and grow it out underneath. That’s a little drastic, but if your hair were truly unsalvageable, it’s one way to go.
I recommend a boar bristle brush, never ever combing or brushing while wet, and never ever heat-processing. No blow drying, no straightening, never. The best way is to wash it, condition it, squeeze out the water (no towel drying!), and don’t touch it again until it’s dry. Go in for deep conditioning treatments every month, at least (I get mine done for just $9 at a cosmetology school, with Redken’s all-soft line, which I LOVE). Find out what kind of water you’re showering in, if it’s hard find a way to soften it. Try no-sulfate products.
You can try the no-poo method, but this doesn’t work for me because my scalp is too oily.
Consider braids. They’re easy to do on wet hair, and ensure that you won’t be tempted to brush it or run your fingers through it while it dries. I’ve been noticing my temple hair is thinner lately, which I believe is due to touching it too much. I tend to wear low ponytails with a center part, and compulsively tuck strands behind my ears when I get stressed out.
