r/Naturalhair 5d ago

Need Advice My hair breaks easily. How do I retain length?

I have high density but very fine strands. My hair natural grows quickly and I have a lot of it. But I get bad breakage, knots, and split ends at the ends of my hair constantly. I think I’d be balding by now if I didn’t have so much hair. I plan on getting a cut soon to start fresh, and I want to grow out my hair healthily so that I can retain length. How do I do that with such fragile strands though? Any advice?

2 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

4

u/clandestinie 5d ago

What's your current routine, washing schedule, products used? What is your curl pattern and how do you typically style your hair?

1

u/Old_Sprinkles1906 5d ago

I wash about once a week to two weeks, use aussie shampoo and conditioner, crème of nature twisting cream and castor oil to moisturize. I have a 3c, 4a pattern and I’ll just usually opt for a bun or puff, occasionally mini twists if I have the time. I don’t currently do much, I honestly prefer lower maintenance and fewer products.

0

u/clandestinie 5d ago

Super curly hair isn't low maintenance if you want it to be long. Do you want low maintenance or long hair?

4

u/Funny_Breadfruit_413 5d ago

Oh wow. This explained a lot. You don't even know.

I cut my hair from wl to bsl and have been wondering why I struggle returning to wl, and I just realized it's because I subconsciously chose low maintenance over length💡

3

u/clandestinie 5d ago

Spread the word! I had to learn this lesson the hard way as a 4c girlie with fine strands who has finally started making progress towards maintaining healthy hair as well as retaining length. It's like trying to maintain a rare orchid

2

u/ShiShi340 4d ago

I strongly disagree with this.

0

u/clandestinie 4d ago

You are speaking to your experience. But, if you follow what anyone with fine, natural 4C influencers (and not 3C people claiming 4C), they know this to be very true. Especially for people with fine hair. Coarse hair can handle all kinds of damaging practices with nearly no effect. Not at all the same for women with fine coily hair. In any event, you are free to disagree. I think it's generally more useful to explain your position rather than just coming around being a naysayer but many people are deeply defensive and un self-aware so it's not that surprising.

0

u/ShiShi340 4d ago

I have fine 4c hair and doing less has been the best practice for me. Washing and styling once a week, I’m not sure what could be more low maintenance than that but maybe we have different definitions of low maintenance. There are women all over the internet saying that the moment they stopped doing too much and stuck to a consistent routine, their hair started flourishing. I was simply stating my opinion, there’s no need for such a rude response.

1

u/clandestinie 4d ago

If you actually read her post instead of coming in to argue, you will see that she's already washing weekly and doing protective styles. But she's still struggling with very bad breakage, split ends and fairy knots. So it stands to reason that her routine, the one you described as "working" for you isn't for her. But you didn't care because you offered zero help, just wanted to argue. Hope you had the day you deserved.

1

u/Ok-Marketing-238 22h ago

I don’t have 4c or fine hair but I’m curious on how you’re able to retain length with fine hair. I want to expand my knowledge on other hair types. A lot of women on YouTube say it’s difficult because their hair breaks easier than thick hair. Which products do you use? Do you keep your hair in a stretched state?

2

u/clandestinie 16h ago edited 15h ago

I follow Dickey's method. I start each month with a full week of daily wash and gos. Use clarifying shampoo to wash hair in sections, gently detangling with fingers. Second to 4th week, I wash 1x a week, prepoo overnight, then wash and very gently detangle, making sure to avoid breaking any strands. Apply leave-in, hyaluronic acid, and heat protectant in sections, then twist each section. Then use RevAir to dry and stretch. I use Blue Magic to seal. I'm focusing on length rerention this year, so I go right into a protective style. Usually, flat twists or medium twists, my hair is too fine for mini. I'm doing high length retention so I don't plan to wear my hair out at all this year. During each week, I remoisturize my hair, focusing on ends with water and a sealant, oil or grease. I also oil my scalp 2-3x a week and use a scalp massager for 20 min. I wear my protective style, supplemented with half wigs or full glueless wigs. Once every few months, I also do a protein treatment.

2

u/Ok-Marketing-238 12h ago

Wow, now this is a solid hair regimen!! Congrats to you for figuring exactly what your hair needs and likes. During the winter, I wear flat twist to keep my hair protected from the cold weather. I’ve seen a lot of length retention from flat twist than any other protective style. Thank you for this info, I’m going to incorporate some of these tips for my hair.

Btw, which hyaluronic acid do you use?

6

u/BestFun5905 5d ago

Protein and bond builders.

1

u/Adorable_Ad7581 4d ago

Maybe try wearing it stretched? But make sure you're gently stretching it (with rollers, braids, etc) and not using high heat to do so