Retaining length for fine hair ladies

[bride91501]

What has helped my mostly fine strands is weekly PTs, my monthly henna session, and PSing. I've also learned to keep my moisture-protein balance in check - very important for my hair.

I use Aphogee 2 minute or Joico K-pak as my weekly PT, followed by a moisturizing DC. My monthly henna mix includes amla powder, castor oil, olive oil, HE condish, green tea and water. Leaves my hair feeling heavy, soft and strong.

I'm currently BSL. HTH

 

[tashboog]

tashboog How much does the Komazacare Hair Analysis cost? I looked at their website and they don't have a price listed. TIA

MileHighDiva the analysis cost $65. Komazacare has a huge backlog due to the LHCF ladies . When they have a large backlog then they will remove the analysis info from their website until they get caught up. There is a thread on the analysis which usually ladies give updates when its back available so you might want to subscribe to that thread if your interested. HTH .

 

[coyacoy]

What has helped my mostly fine strands is weekly PTs, my monthly henna session, and PSing. I've also learned to keep my moisture-protein balance in check - very important for my hair.

I use Aphogee 2 minute or Joico K-pak as my weekly PT, followed by a moisturizing DC. My monthly henna mix includes amla powder, castor oil, olive oil, HE condish, green tea and water. Leaves my hair feeling heavy, soft and strong.

I'm currently BSL. HTH

This same regime (just with different products) is what has helped me too. I am close to bsl in the back with shorter layers on the sides and front.

I use Komaza care protein strengthener weekly or biweekly followed by a moisture dc....henna once a month with coconut milk and PS 80% of the time....i also dust monthly

 

[JulietWhiskey]

@JulietWhiskey how do you use it? And do you still need to do protein treatments when using this?

Sent from my SGH-T959 using LHCF

Froreal3

I use it in a variety of ways.

About once a month, I spray my hair before applying my DC then sit under the dryer for an extra deep DC since it works with mechanical heat (dryers, flat irons) and body heat.

I ALWAYS use it after I rinse my DC and before I apply my leave-in, styler and sealer.

I add some to my KCC concoction of KCC and glycerin. 2tbs does the trick!

I know this sounds like a lot but I'm not protein sensitive and I think having hydrolyzed silk as the 3rd ingredient after hydrolyzed keratin helps to "soften" the effects of the keratin.

Back, back, BACK in the day, I used to use the Aphogee 2 Minute consistently and my hair retained like "WHOA!" I don't use this product anymore since it now has 'cones but the Green Tea Spray is a wonderful alternative!

Like I said, I will not be without it and attribute most of my retention to adding product this to my regimen.

HTH!

 

[Froreal3]

Thanks JulietWhiskey. I tried the Aphogee 2 Minute once. I want to use mostly non-coney things right now, so I think I will give this a try. Do you use any other proteins with this product? Recently, I've been using AOGPB every other week.

 

[JulietWhiskey]

Thanks @JulietWhiskey. I tried the Aphogee 2 Minute once. I want to use mostly non-coney things right now, so I think I will give this a try. Do you use any other proteins with this product? Recently, I've been using AOGPB every other week.

@Froreal3

One of my DCs (Giovanni Nutrafix) has hydrolyzed soy protein in it, but I think this type of protein is very mild which is why, although I love this DC, I needed something more powerful to strengthen my hair. I mix the Nutrafix with Doo Groo Deep Down Intense Penetrating DC (no protein) for a nice balance. To this mixture, I add glycerin, EVOO, EVCO, and Wheat Germ Oil.

I sit under my dryer for about 30-60 minutes, let my hair cool, detangle, rinse and VIOLA!: super soft, super strong, super moisturized, super detangled hair!

Like I said before, about once a month, I'll spray my air-dried hair with the Aphogee Green Tea then apply my DC and go through all my steps. I will still use the AGT after my DC because my hair is not protein sensitive and my strands are super-fine and need all the strengthening they can get!

My advice is to play around with how you'll use the product and how frequently. You may find that you can only use it once a week or once a month does the trick. You may find that using it daily or every other day is just what your hair needs. Adding some to another product may prove a God-send or a hell-scape: just listen to your hair! I know some women even use it before blowdrying to protect and strengthen their hair. All I know, is that for me, adding this product to my reggie COMPLETELY turned my hair life around, !

ETA: I went from shoulder length to just below APL in about 4 months and my hair, decimated by Post-Partum shedding, has thickened up nicely! Hubby has been like, "Dang!" and when I wear it out, I get tons of compliments!

Let me know how it works for you and HTH!

 

[Froreal3]

JulietWhiskey Ok I'm sold! lol

 

[JulietWhiskey]

@JulietWhiskey Ok I'm sold! lol

Froreal3
!

Yeah, I am too! I gave a bottle to my fine-haired neices and sisters and now, they about that life, too!

Before I tried it, I asked some folk on the board about it and I heard nothing but love. After about 2 weeks, I understood why!

After you've tried it for a while, please let me know via this post or a PM how it's working (or not) for you!

 

[Nayna]

Hello ladies! I'm also a fine hair lady and I'm natural. The only time I'm able to maintain moisture is if I use my curlformers. Even then my hair dries out & then turns into a poof ball. I've also had a hair analysis from Komazacare and they were the ones who told me that I have fine to medium strands. They said I have normal elasticity and normal porosity. I also use their protein treatment every 2 weeks as suggested by them. So my problem is that I have tried every product under the sun and nothing has worked to keep my fine hair moisturized. It initially feels good but it dries out within minutes. Since I have normal porosity I would expect that my hair should be able to hold onto moisture. I have also become a product junkie cuz I have yet to find any moisturizing product to work on my hair. I have tried Komazacare, Bee Mine, Purabody naturals, CC's natural, Kinky Curly, Kimmaytube recipe, Camille Rose, Jane Carter, Natty moist, & the list goes on. I have tried the LOC method, the Curly girl method, heavy sealing, no sealing, u name it & I have tried every bandwagon that you could think of! Lol! Ok can any of you ladies help me figure out what I'm doing wrong cuz its so frustrating spending time doing styles and having them turn into a giant poof ball. Also glycerin makes my hair swells so I avoid it. I'm open for suggestions and sorry I was long winded. Thanks in advance ladies.

Maybe we can start with your regimen. Although I like playing around with different products I've found that it was really my basic regimen that mattered. My hair is fine and I'm natural as well.

How often do you wash your hair? Do you shampoo often or do you cowash? Do you style on wet hair or do you blow dry or air dry?

 

[coolsista-paris]

Thanks, where do you get your neutral henna? I'm reading up on henna and stuff, I find it a little confusing with all the ways to do it but I'm working my way up to it. I found a moisturizer with henna in it that I might get, hoping it won't change my color.

ETA...so I read on mehandi that neutral henna is cassia. Wonder why they call it that cuz henna and cassia are two different things. I'll prolly test the waters starting with cassia.

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

i had missed your post. so sorry!!!!
i buy mine in à normal grocery store. its neutral henna.

i.mix it with eggs+olive oil + sometimes.amla.oil.

great!!!it gives slip ,strenthens my hair.without drying it out. the oil makes it easier to rinse the henna.

 

[charmtreese]

Thinking about getting kinky twist for the spring/summer, I have fine 4 hair....is this a good idea?

 

[darlingdiva]

Thinking about getting kinky twist for the spring/summer, I have fine 4 hair....is this a good idea?

How does your hair normally act towards extensions?

They make a great protective style, but the extensions can put too much stress on the hair. This was my experience with individual extension braids. It was a great protective style, but the stress of the extensions proved to be too much for my hair over time.

It's all about how your hair responds to it. If your hair generally responds well to extensions, go for it. Just be sure to tell the person doing your hair to be gentle with your hair, especially around the edges. That was another reason that I stopped getting braids: the stylists' refused to listen.

 

[charmtreese]

How does your hair normally act towards extensions?

They make a great protective style, but the extensions can put too much stress on the hair. This was my experience with individual extension braids. It was a great protective style, but the stress of the extensions proved to be too much for my hair over time.

It's all about how your hair responds to it. If your hair generally responds well to extensions, go for it. Just be sure to tell the person doing your hair to be gentle with your hair, especially around the edges. That was another reason that I stopped getting braids: the stylists' refused to listen.

My hair does okay with weaves, but I haven't had a full set of individual braids in years. My friend would be doing them...I'm still a little nervous.

 

[darlingdiva]

My hair does okay with weaves, but I haven't had a full set of individual braids in years. My friend would be doing them...I'm still a little nervous.

It should be fine. Just explain your hair goals to your friend and tell your friend to be gentle. Also, make sure to keep your twists moisturized. That helps a lot with retention.

 

[HoneyA]

Found out recently that my hair is fine. Moisturising, low manipulation and protective styling have really helped me to retain length over the years. I stick to the basics.

 

[ilong]

I am under wigs at the moment.

I always used to wash and mess around with my hair 2x per week.

This year I only wash and comb through my hair (apart from occasional rinses) 1x every 3, or 4 weeks. This year I retained every one of those 6 inches.

I'm going to carry on doing this for another 2 years until I reach the goal. Not my preference but extreme low mani seems to work for growing my fine hair.

:scratchch Hmm, I fight this so much!! I want to be able cowash often, change my hairstyles often, etc, but I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and try to be extremely low mani this year and see if i retain more.

@Vanthie and @naturalagain2 - this bolded^^^. I experience a lot of growth with weaves and braids. I didn't retain because I didn't keep my hair moisturized and conditioned during those times. I know better now. Yesterday I had my own hair cornrowed so I could leave my hair alone for 3-4 weeks. I will do shower/stocking cap shampoo/conditioning. I will switch up between wearing wigs, braids and weaves.

I plan to wear my hair in cornrows under wigs through March, braids in April and May, weave in June, July, August, braids in September, October, and back to my hair in cornrows under wigs in November, December.
My long term goal is MBL but short term (June 2014) is BSL.

 

[HoneyA]

I am under wigs at the moment.

I always used to wash and mess around with my hair 2x per week.

This year I only wash and comb through my hair (apart from occasional rinses) 1x every 3, or 4 weeks. This year I retained every one of those 6 inches.

I'm going to carry on doing this for another 2 years until I reach the goal. Not my preference but extreme low mani seems to work for growing my fine hair.

Extreme low manipulation works but it is not for everybody. It serves me well though. I wash 1x every week, lately it's been 1x every 2 weeks because of my schedule (and I get lazy ). I only comb through and detangle on wash day though.

When I started my HHJ, I was washing 2x a week using the Cathy Howse method and for maybe 6 or 7 months this was fine. My hair thickened and grew well. I started at just above SL with a blunt cut. But then as it got longer and the ends got older, washing 2x a week proved to be too much for my ends precisely because my hair is fine which I didn't realise at the time. At one point I was only detangling every 4 weeks (but washing weekly). Best retention ever!

 

[Froreal3]

I typically only detangle twice a month, but wash weekly. So low mani works for me too.

Sent from my SGH-T959 using LHCF

 

[ArrrBeee]

Took some advice from this thread & experienced minimal shedding!

I sprayed Aphogee Green Tea condish on dry hair, layered Evoo & Aubrey White Camelia condish. Baggied & left on for 30 min. My hair was soft and detangled very easily

 

[Froreal3]

I'm putting the Green Tee stuff on my to try list.

 

[Hair Iam]

Good thread ...fine hair lady checking in just as long as my fine hair remains strong..I'm grateful

 

[Bublin]

She has some good tips....and she also confirmed what I always thought about long-term hairstyles on fine hair - you can't. After 2 days is frizz city!
The cross over twists is an excellent idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eukc1HaF6s

 

[koolkittychick]

She has some good tips....and she also confirmed what I always thought about long-term hairstyles on fine hair - you can't. After 2 days is frizz city!
The cross over twists is an excellent idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eukc1HaF6s

That cross over twist idea sounds great! And yeah, I constantly have to do a delicate dance between over manipulating my hair and keeping the tangles at bay, since my fine strands love to keep each other company and will just as soon turn into locs if I don't stay on top of them! Currently I found that if I take the time to carefully finger detangle at least twice a week, moisturizing and sealing as I go, I lose much less hair when I wash once a week. Hopefully this will translate to better retention, as my goal is to retain as much of the 6 inches or so I grow each year as possible, instead of the 1 or 2 inches I average due to breakage, scissor-happy stylists and neglect due to laziness.

 

[coolsista-paris]

@Vanthie and @naturalagain2 - this bolded^^^. I experience a lot of growth with weaves and braids. I didn't retain because I didn't keep my hair moisturized and conditioned during those times. I know better now. Yesterday I had my own hair cornrowed so I could leave my hair alone for 3-4 weeks. I will do shower/stocking cap shampoo/conditioning. I will switch up between wearing wigs, braids and weaves.

I plan to wear my hair in cornrows under wigs through March, braids in April and May, weave in June, July, August, braids in September, October, and back to my hair in cornrows under wigs in November, December.
My long term goal is MBL but short term (June 2014) is BSL.

i used to love conrows under wig. until my edges were coming off..... im.still.recovering from that. its quiet ok now.

how do you protect your edges?? especially on fine hair?

id love to put my weave back on

 

[greenandchic]

i used to love conrows under wig. until my edges were coming off..... im.still.recovering from that. its quiet ok now.

how do you protect your edges?? especially on fine hair?

id love to put my weave back on

It's hard enough protecting the edges without wigs, LOL.

Sent from my ADR6350 using LHCF

 

[DarkJoy]

My fine haired people!!

Crochet braids seem a decent compromise between weave and wig for my hair. Mine can't take cornrows very long. 2weeks is pushing it. It starts to snap and thin along the parts if in too long.

Hate leaving the edges out because never found hair as fine as mine so it NEVER blends!

____________
*.~.*Sent from a distant Galaxy in the Unicorn-verse*.~.*

 

[*~*Afrolicious*~*]

two strand twists = tangle city with my fine hair. My hair stays less tangled when I do braidouts.

 

[Jewell]

My hair is fine, there's just a ton of it. I can retain fine so long as I dont use heat tools regularly. I have no desire to, but they cause me a lot os splits and then I have to trim often...which leads to less retention. I ps a lot and retain pretty much all I grow, thank God. I also air dry only and that helps me retain elasticity, thickness, length, and moisture. I will always air dry. It's been so good for my hair.

 

[almond eyes]

Fine haired lady over here.

Because I have so much hair and my hair is low porosity, I never knew that I was fine haired until LHCF opened my eyes.

I find that when you are fine haired and your hair is collarbone length or shorter, braids, extensions, weaves may be okay. But once I hit APL, no more of that stuff. My hair cannot take extensions of any type because the weight of the extension hair weighs down and pulls out my hair, I can no longer detangle my hair sopping wet and even too strong a water pressure is not great for my hair.

Best,
Almond Eyes

 

[Bublin]

Question about mid week co washing?

How are you styling your hair so it's decent for work the next day. Bunning is not an option as my whole head dries frizzy, even with gel my whole head looks like one big fly away. And a wet bun means breakage.
Am i really destined to wearing ugly plaits mid week??