How to care for fine natural hair

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For some reason or the other, I have not been able to get my edges to grow long. I don’t know why. I mean by now, it is no news that I have extremely full edges, but I want them to grow long like other parts of my hair. They are very curly and fine, just think about a new born baby’s hair. And when they grow to one level, they break again.

I have used so many excuses like “edges are not supposed to be very long, so far they are existent.” And “It’s because you have extremely full edges. If they are long, you will probably look like a monkey.” And some others that don’t make sense.

I know I am just deceiving myself, because the fact that they actually attempt to grow long is a testament to the fact that they are supposed to be long, if only I would be more careful. My edges are extremely fragile, they don’t do well with extensions, and a little pull, tug, or rub causes them to just break away, though they grow back in a matter of days. Yes, I know, I am a mutant, lol.


Attempting to grow the edges




I am wise enough to know that I shouldn’t apply the same hair care practices like I do to some other parts of my hair around my edges. I have come to realize recently that even though my hair density is very high, the individual strands are not that coarse. They range from fine to medium. Treating my hair like coarse hair is seriously impeding my hair growth. Layering my hair with LOC, LCO, LOCO and all that too often is weighing down the fine part of my hair, and causing it to break off.

I have decided that as from today, I will be treating the whole of my hair like it is fine, in order to aid my edges. Let us see how that will help it. No more LOCing every 2 days or so. Build up is really bad for my edges. The hair just falls out with the build-up.

If there is a way I can care for the inner part of my hair one way, and apply another method on the circumference area, I will go for it. Although it might be too much stress, so I will just treat the whole thing as fine. This mid-back length must magically transform to waste-length by fire by force, lol.

In summary, if your hair strands are fine,

1. You do now want to layer it with LOC, LOCO, LCO method all the time. Leave that to the medium and coarse-stranded naturalistas.

2. You also want to make sure you avoid product build-up as much as possible

3. You want to moisturise with a light moisturising cream or whipped butter. Please, stay away from raw Shea butter or cocoa butter, they will weigh down your hair and cause it to break.

4. You do not want to keep in hair styles for too long. Two weeks is enough for your twists, so they don’t mat or soak all the build-up.

5. You want to stay away from loose twists, and stick with regular twists. Stay away from styles that encourage meshing.

6. You want to stay away from heat as much as possible. You know that question you’ve been asking about whether heat is good for your own natural hair? Well, here is the answer. If your hair is fine, it is not good for you.

Is your natural hair or part of it fine? How do you go about caring for it? Do you do anything different from what people with medium and coarse natural hair do? Let us know in the comment section. Thanks

P.S: I will be cutting part of my hair very soon. I had some hair damage in the past couple of weeks, which caused my hair to go from almost-waist length back to mid-back. I will put up the story of how it happened soon. I think the mini hair cut is imperative, so I can have the damage reversed. Besides, it is just hair, so it will grow back.

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10 comments

  1. Ah yes, the fragile edges. Mine are too, tug and they snap or even get uprooted. Heavy stuff are a no-no. Castor oil in fact did a number on them ironically. I've been planning a post on that.
    naijagirlnextdoor.blogspot.com
    I want your mutant edges o

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yea, castor oil is great, really. But they don't convert fine edges to medium-coarse edges.

      Delete
  2. Wait. What? Cut? Your hair is almost waist? What? Really????

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not cutting the whole thing off naa. Just some, to reverse the damage. Maybe one day, I'll gather enough courage to do a heated length check, and put pics up. For now, let's focus on even growing the hair back.

      Delete
  3. I have mutant edges too. It only takes me days to grow back my edges. Even when I was relaxed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lol!
    This is so true except that I have fine hair all over my head and even finer ones on the edges. For a long time my edges were the bane of my life! I'd put my hair in a bun and it will be messy because my egdes were too short. I got so mad one day, I shaved them all off to give them a fresh start. I used weaves with bangs to hide my monk like style...lol!

    It has changed now and grown considerably longer. Here are some steps I took that may have made a difference.

    I think using pure aloe vera gel really helped cos it kept the fine hair moisturised and gave light hold.

    I also made sure I rinsed off products from my edges and then sealed with a light coat of castor or shea. I feel they were thick enough to protect them from night time friction.

    Not using brushes to tame flyaways also helped. I use my fingers instead.

    When I braid with extensions, I make larger sections on the edges and use a smaller amount of extensions than the rest of my hair so the extensions don't weigh them down.

    Hope this helps...
    Hadassah A.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You shaved your edges??? Wow, I don't even know what to say. I have come to accept, and eventually, love my frizzy edges, and don't even bother my head about them anymore.

      I am one of those people whom Aloe vera gel doesn't work for. Edge-control, edge-taming? Those words don't even exist in my hair dictionary, lol.

      Delete
  5. Lol! I had to cos I have little patience for petting hair that's damaged...off with it!
    The aloe vera is usually more for moisture and nuture than hold.

    ReplyDelete
  6. One thing that helps me is massaging my castor oil mixture before I wash my face to protect the edges from the harsh soaps, toners vanishing creams etc I use for my oily skin. Try it every time you have to wash your face. Might help.

    ReplyDelete

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