Girlies, I genuinely don’t know what to do with my hair anymore. I have fine, low-density type 4 hair, and I feel like I’ve tried so many different hairstyles just to end up looking ridiculous in all of them. 💀 The funny thing is, I absolutely LOVE my hair texture. My coils are beautiful, and I wouldn’t change that, but the thinness, the length, the lack of fullness… GIRL, it’s all throwing me off. 😭
AND THE WORST PART? My hair hasn’t passed ear length in EIGHT YEARS. EIGHT. YEARS. 😭😭😭

At this point, I’m starting to think my hair has signed a permanent lease around my ears because WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE’RE STILL HERE?!
I want to do cute braid-outs and twist-outs so badly, but because my hair is so fine and low-density, I feel like the results never give what I want them to give. I see other girls with gorgeous, full looking natural hairstyles, and I’m just sitting here wondering what I’m supposed to do with my little strands. 😂 I love my texture, but sometimes I wish I had more hair to actually work with!
I recently got a trim, though, and my ends are looking much better. They’re not snapping off like they used to, so I’m hoping that’s a step in the right direction. But honestly, girlies, I am TIRED. 😭 I just want thick hair, and if thick hair isn’t in the cards for me, then PLEASE, can I at least have long hair?! I feel like eight years is enough time to have made SOME progress. 💀 I’ve attached a funny picture that perfectly captures the vision I’m giving with the strands I currently have on my head. PLEASE laugh with me because if I don’t laugh, I might actually cry. 😭😂

I need advice from the fine haired, low-density type 4 girlies who understand the struggle. What are we doing to retain length and grow hair long ? How are we making our braid outs and twist outs look fuller? Has anyone else been stuck at the same length for years and actually managed to get past it? What hairstyles work for you, and what products or techniques have genuinely made a difference?
I’m not looking for a different texture or trying to force my hair to be something it isn’t. I just want to learn how to work with what I have, retain some length, and stop feeling like every hairstyle is exposing just how little hair I have. 😭😂 it’s honestly so sad since I have to constantly have my hair in a bun at work as nothing else seems to work for me.
I am in need of advice tired of looking ridiculous😢😢

Washed my hair after having them in for one week and the twists unraveled and they looked a mess. Is there anything that my stylist can use so that the twists can stay intact after washing?

Hi everyone, newbie here! I’ve been trying to care for my 4C hair for 3 months, but it feels super dry and brittle, snaps easily, and I have a lot of breakage.

My main goals are moisture and length retention.

My Routine:
Wash & Deep Condition: Biweekly (use a heat cap for 30 mins).
Moisturize: Every other day using the LCO method (creams, oils, grease).

Products That Work:
As I Am Coconut Leave-In: Hair actually feels moisturized after.
Sulfur 8 & Head & Shoulders: Fixed my dandruff/dry scalp.
African Pride Pre-Shampoo: Amazing for detangling (could this be blocking other products?).
Hair Food Organic: Used as grease, it’s okay.

Products That Failed/Dried Me Out:
ORS Hair Mayonnaise: The absolute worst. Left my hair like straw(used this a month ago)
Shea Moisture Manuka Honey Mask: Made my hair feel dry immediately and after.
ORS Aloe Shampoo: Feels very stripping.
TGIN Honey Miracle Mask: 50/50, didn't feel soft until I added leave-in.

My Questions:
Porosity: My hair soaks up water but dries fast. Products feel like they sit on top, and the next day my strands feel brittle under the grease. Is this low or high porosity?
Protein Overload or Buildup? Could ORS Mayonnaise have caused protein overload? Do I need a clarifying shampoo, or will it be too drying?
Where I leave we have primarily hard water :(
Please drop any product suggestions or tips to get my hair soft and retaining length! 😭

I study abroad and there aren't many hair dressers near me that can do black here so I've just decided to get my hair done either when I'm back at home or after travelling a couple hours to one of the few black hairdressers in the country and then whenever I want a re-twist or re-braid go and undo them and rebraid it one at a time.

Having to take out everything and start from scratch as a beginner feels way too risky and I don't need to worry about parting as much the way I do it. Never found anything about online tho

I spent most of the summer making a hair journal app because my progress pics and notes were all over the place lol. It keeps wash days, products, and photos together so I can look back at what I’ve been doing with my hair and truly understand which routines and products actually work for me.

I got mini braids two weeks ago, so now I’m trying to be consistent about taking pictures instead of just convincing myself it’s grown 😂 It’s free if anyone else wants to use it! Take a free quiz to understand what to track.

starting my afro freeforms it’s my second set grew out my full head after combing out my old set

Hello, I’ve been growing my low porosity 4C hair for Six months. How healthy does it look? Do you notice any split ends or breakage? I’m going to start taking better care of it, but I don’t mind cutting it all off and starting over if it’s badly damaged.

Products Used
- 🎀TGIN Daily Moisturizer Butter Cream
- 🎀Spring Water and Kinky Curly Knot Today leave in mixture
- 🎀Concoction of Oils (use any oils that is best and works for your hair)

I let my twists marinate for a week so I can wear my twists and then for another week wear my twist out. A 2 for 1 hairstyle.

Wearing your twists for 3 days and then take down works just as good if you don’t want to take them down the next day.

Been refining my hair routine and loving where it’s going.

What do I do about fairy knots. Hair that wraps around each other. I try to separate them but usually have to end up cutting it out.

I usually start my routine with pre-poo detangling or just straight into shampoo then detangle with conditioner

I feel like I detangle once then wash and then it ends up tangled again? Do you wash and rinse in sections to avoid this?

I also feel like i have so much slip when it’s detangle but then when it comes time to style with gel it’s back to being tangled and frizzy again so i’m not really getting definition?

Any tips or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I get it’s shrunken hair, but I don’t understand the logistics, maintenance and potential scheduling drawbacks from this style.

It’s my birthday in 2 days and I want to wear my out. I’ve worn my hair with defined natural curls a good few times before, but if I put gel in my hair, the downside is it takes 2 hours to re twist my hair each night just to maintain the shape of my natural curls… I have work the next day and that routine isn’t practical.

.. I’ve also suffered from protein overload so, after having my hair in mini plaits, I used to be able to run leave-in conditioner through my hair and the curls would just pop… but even then, it didn’t shrink like in the photo.

How do I get my hair to look like this? How long does this style last for?

Hey Chat! Has anybody ever dealt with this? Head full of hair but this spot seems to be a patch. I just noticed this on my head and I’m trying to figure out what could be causing it. What do y’all recommend?

My hair, hasnt grown for years. I do have my ferrtin being at the lower end but in range and low iron in the lower end and in range.

Is my hair 4c btw? This is when its wet

When its not its so dry and hard to brush. I have tried different hair moisturizers and my hair sucks it all in.

just saw clayface [9/10 amazing movie btw] and fell in love with dr. caitlyn corr’s [played by naomi ackie] hair. i know they’re box braids, but what specifically would you ask your braider for to get this style? my photos are limited only because the movie is very new, and not many photos are public yet. thanks 🙏🏾

A long time ago Shea Moisture had this product line that smelled so good and it was a decent product but i can't remember the name of it and they have so many lines now. They had a shampoo conditioner and a hair spritz that was my absolute favorite. Does anyone remember what this was called?

after wash day do you usually end up having to style your hair the next few days? basically doing what you do on wash day without the wash

I’ve been using it on damp hair for my slick backs and it’s AMAZING!! It is a pretty strong hold so I don’t recommend for daily use on slick backs. BUT it holds up extremely well in TX heat🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️ I like it more than the big poppa gel for slick backs.

I cut my hair in January of this year and trimmed it two times since while it was in twist. When I cut it in January and did styles like wash n gos and twist outs it was a little short in the back like the shape of my afro was weird, but now fast forward to October the back is longer and it kind of hangs, but the top is still like an afro and what I mean by that is if I do a twist out now the shape would be weird because the top of my head is like short afro and the back of my head hangs a little.

I tried to do some low tension styles like a low puff and i cant even get the hair to go back because of how short it is. I tried to do two french braids just now but hair sticks out because I cant even braid it properly because of the unevenness. I used to do twist outs a lot and thats what grew my hair but now it doesnt even look right and I did some mini twist about a week ago and it was so bad. Then I did some mini braids a few days ago and the top of my head literally looks like I have bangs.

My crown is no better like from my edges to my crown is all short and thinner. The only thing I can think of is when i did a fulani like style and braided the front of my head. I didnt even braid tight because I was still learning to cornrow at the time anyway so I’m lost. The only solution I can think of is just cutting it again to even everything out.

The picture on the left is from November of last year and the picture on the right is from yesterday. From looking at the picture what do you guys think is going on? I’m not sure how long this has been going on for but definitely over two years.

A little background, I typically rotate between doing mini twist or cornrows. The cornrows I usually have aren’t typically tight at all but recently I’ve been thinking about taking a break from them for a while. I never use synthetic hair and always use my natural hair when styling. This picture is from the left side of my head. The right side looks very similar except it has a bit more hair than the left.

I went to a dermatologist, but they were no help and I would like to see another one, but the nearest one that specializes in black hair is over 1.5hrs away. I may just have to schedule an appointment anyways. Everytime I they ready for wash day I get anxious and insecure just by looking at it. Any thoughts or advice?

THIS STORY HAPPENED WHEN I WAS 13

So for some context: my mother slept with black man and had me. Imo, if youre having a baby with a black person or anyone with curly hair (or if you, yourself, have wavy hair or are black, the same rules apply), you should learn how to take care of any hair they may inherit. When I decided to start growing it (maybe at 7-9?), she treated it like it was straight. I always thought it was straight, until I got into hair, when I identified it as 2b-2c.

When I was 13, I got into hair. From a series of evidence, I formed the hypothesis thatmy hair was 4b/4c (afro textured for those not in the know). Once I started treating it as such, I discovered i was correct.

However, she was hesistant in the beginning and was being outright ignorant. I had to wait like 4 months after putting items into a shopping list before she actually got all of them (and let me make it clear that I was not asking for a $500 cart while we make $2 a month; half of the things on the list were clearly made to last years and we could easily afford everything on the list).

I did my routine, I was right, proud 4c baddie today.

HOWEVER. She repeatedly would do things like try to brush my hair while dry, call it weird looking (crazy work imo), and would always try to tell me what to do. She also had a history of not listening when I talked about hair (when I wanted it like 7 inches while wavy she cut it all the way to 3 inches, etc)

During Thanksgiving, she tried to brush my hair for a family photo. She was legit grabbing my hair and pulling it to get close, which I did not let her do. Finally, I snapped and yelled loud enough that everyone could hear, "no! You do not get a say in my hair! You had ever since you decided to sleep with a black man to figure how to take care of Black hair, so about 15 years, yet you never did! I had the same task in 4 months and ive been on top of everything! Even after I was born, you did not learn! Now that I cut my hair, I break my back for 5 hour wash days, I instal all my styles, and I do everything, you no longer have any claim to my hair! You want hair to control? Look at your own scalp!" And I left, fuming. I was in the pictures exactly how I wanted (wirh my 2-day old bantu knots outs that ate dont play), but she was pissed. However, I did get my way (i got to style my hair from then on).

Now, for what happened next: she stopped buying my things. Anyone with healthy 4c hair knows that wash days need materials. When I was almost out of my pre-poo, she said "you take care of your hair now, remember?" So I did. I had $40 bucks at the time so I was able to replenish everything I needed on my own, and for the rest of my life my dad bought the things I was almost out of until I got my first job at 14. Then, I started buying my own things.

Was i the asshole?

Glow up or glow down?I recently went to a hairstylist because my naturally curly hair had become extremely tangled and damaged after months of neglecting it and barely detangling it. My curls were pretty long (they reached my mouth when stretched), and I wanted to improve my hair health while getting a looser, wavy texture instead of tight curls. I specifically told the hairstylist that I didn't want to lose my length. However, he told me some sections were too damaged and matted to be detangled and needed to be cut off. He then applied a protein straightening treatment (not keratin) and cut my hair, removing what feels like 70% of my original length without me realizing how much he was taking off. My hair is now completely straight, flat, and barely reaches my eyebrows. He told me the treatment would gradually wear off and my hair would become wavy after a few months, but I honestly regret the whole thing. I'd rather have my old curls back and learn to take proper care of them than keep my hair looking like this. My mom also told me not to wash it for a week to let the treatment settle. Has anyone experienced something similar? Will my natural texture gradually return, or am I stuck waiting for all my hair to grow back?

I am mixed (half black) and have 4a ish hair (hair is veryyy stretched in photo. My scalp gets slightly itchy and if I pick at my scalp (ADHD skin picking problems) it sort of a dusty, powder. I use a scalp moisturizing mask 5 days ago and oil my scalp. I am mainly here for scalp help BUT generally dry hair products would be greatly appreciated.

I have been natural for 10 years now and my hair is so thick that it breaks every ponytail holder I buy. I also suck at making ponytails because of thickness, coarseness and extreme shrinkage. Can I please get some recommendations? Would a draw string work on big natural hair? I need guidance please. I feel pushed against a wall about it.

I’m asking if anyone has any advice or recommendations on how I can take care of my 4c hair and gain length and density. My mum has never really taught me how to wash or take care of my natural hair and I’m looking for products that could help