How Do I Thicken My Thinning Ends?

How Do I Thicken My Thinning Ends?

by Lesjahn
(NJ)

Aphogee Two Step Protien Treatment

Q: Hi Camille,

I'm glad I found this site because I really need help. I'm 20 and in college and have been perming my hair since I was 12 and have had no problems taking care of it... till now :(.

Recently in the past year or so I've noticed my shoulder length, healthy hair has been thinning out towards the ends. I mean, you can just about see through my hair; it's getting so thin lately.

I get regular perms every 6-8 weeks depending on how thick my roots are at the time and on my last visit, my hair dresser noticed how it was getting thin and told me to change what I was doing to it style wise and get either braids or a sew-in weave to keep me from touching it and giving it time to grow some. Only problem with that is that when I get braids with weave, I have a lot of shedding hair when I take it out. My hair sheds a lot as it is, so I don't know if my hair that comes out with the weave is normal or if the braids caused the breakage.

Also, how do you care for your hair underneath a sew in weave style?

I feel like I should give you a description of my hair so you can visualize:

My hair is over shoulder length on one side and above shoulder length on the other (and the change in length is pretty noticeable!) It wasn't always like that, but has become that way in the past year. I have healthy, thick hair at the roots, but the ends are getting thinner all the time and I always have hair on my shoulders from all the breakage.

I hope my questions made sense and you can help me repair my hair.

Thank you so much,

Lesjahn

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How Do I Thicken My Thinning Ends?

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Hair repair mission...
by: Camille

A:Hi Lesjahn!

Girl before I get down into the details I want to tell you to keep the faith and just breathe. I know how bad having a not so great hair phase is. Just remember that no matter how bad it looks not keep saying this…”its hair and it always grows back”. I say that to get me through any of the hard times I’ve had.

I understood all of your questions. I’m going to try and break my suggestions down and address your specific issues.

Try stretching the time between relaxers – I know that we’ve always been taught that perming every 6-8 weeks is good timing but think about this for a minute.

Let’s say my hair grows ½ an inch a month and yours is ¼ inch a month. In the 6-8 weeks I would have had about an inch of new growth and you’d have half an inch.

Think about the times you’ve been to the salon and gotten your hair permed. Unless your stylist is super doper careful there’s a big chance that they’re going to overlap the relaxer onto hair that’s already been straightened.

When you keep overlapping the harsh relaxer on already relaxed hair it makes it get weaker and weaker over time and it starts breaking, splitting and thinning out.

The solution is to start thinking that you should get a relaxer when you have at least an inch of new growth. That means if you were growing ¼ of an inch a month you’d be relaxing every 16 weeks rather than every 8. I know that it might sound impossible to you reading that but it really isn’t once you learn how to do it right.

Protective styling can help – Your hairdresser has a point. It sounds like your hair could benefit from some TLC and a break from daily styling.

Wearing braids or a weave just for the sake of wearing them isn’t going to do anything for your hair without the right care for your hair underneath. In fact it could make your hair even more damaged if you just put braids in your hair now without getting it back to a certain level first.

I recommend you start a regimen that combines some serious deep treatments like Aphogee to add strength into your hair. You need to follow that up with rich moisturizing conditioning treatments like Keracare Humecto or Mizani Moisturefuse.

You also need to get your hands on a good daily moisturizer to rub (when your hair is loose) and spray (when your hair is in the braids or weave) into your hair everyday to keep it moisturized under the weave or braids.

The shedding you’ve had with braids is totally normal. If there’s a white bulb at the root of the hair then it’s shedding, if there’s no bulb that means your hair is breaking and that’s a big no-no.

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Submitted by: Camille

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A:Hi Lesjahn! Girl before I get down into the details I want to tell you to keep the faith and just breathe. I know how bad having a not so great hair phase is. Just remember that no matter how bad it looks not keep saying this…”its hair and it always grows back”. I say that to get me through any of the hard times I’ve had. I understood all of your questions. I’m going to try and break my suggestions down and address your specific issues. Try stretching the time between relaxers – I know that we’ve always been taught that perming every 6-8 weeks is good timing but think about this for a minute. Let’s say my hair grows ½ an inch a month and yours is ¼ inch a month. In the 6-8 weeks I would have had about an inch of new growth and you’d have half an inch. Think about the times you’ve been to the salon and gotten your hair permed. Unless your stylist is super doper careful there’s a big chance that they’re going to overlap the relaxer onto hair that’s already been straightened. When you keep overlapping the harsh relaxer on already relaxed hair it makes it get weaker and weaker over time and it starts breaking, splitting and thinning out. The solution is to start thinking that you should get a relaxer when you have at least an inch of new growth. That means if you were growing ¼ of an inch a month you’d be relaxing every 16 weeks rather than every 8. I know that it might sound impossible to you reading that but it really isn’t once you learn how to do it right. Protective styling can help – Your hairdresser has a point. It sounds like your hair could benefit from some TLC and a break from daily styling. Wearing braids or a weave just for the sake of wearing them isn’t going to do anything for your hair without the right care for your hair underneath. In fact it could make your hair even more damaged if you just put braids in your hair now without getting it back to a certain level first. I recommend you start a regimen that combines some serious deep treatments like Aphogee to add strength into your hair. You need to follow that up with rich moisturizing conditioning treatments like Keracare Humecto or Mizani Moisturefuse. You also need to get your hands on a good daily moisturizer to rub (when your hair is loose) and spray (when your hair is in the braids or weave) into your hair everyday to keep it moisturized under the weave or braids. The shedding you’ve had with braids is totally normal. If there’s a white bulb at the root of the hair then it’s shedding, if there’s no bulb that means your hair is breaking and that’s a big no-no.

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More to add...
by: Camille

Recommendations continued...

You'll need to make a fresh start – To get your hair back on track you’re going to need to get a “deep trim”. This is where you ask your stylist to really go into your hair and cut away all the damaged, split ends and even up your hair so one side isn’t longer than the other.

Once you’ve had all the damage banished you can start to rebuild your hair from the ground up.

I have 3 questions for you when you come back to read this:

1. What products are you using in your hair now?
2. What have you changed in the last year regarding how you take care of your hair?
3. How do you usually style your hair every day?

When you answer these questions we can start to design a regimen for you that will get your hair back on track and growing again.

SAME ISSUE ; )
by: TAMELA

I THINK THAT IS SOME VALUABLE INFORMATION REGARDING HAIR CARE TREATMENT. I ALWAYS BUILD MY HAIR UP BEFORE I DO ANY TYPES OF BRAIDS BUT I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN CONCERNED WITH THE BREAKAGE FROM REMOVING THEM.

THANKS FOR THAT EXPLANATION.

TAM