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Hair advice and new shoes and pretties!

Elly

Veteran

Hey ladies!

I am having a serious bout of hatred with my hair. Despite appearing wavy in these photos, I have stick straight fine, thin hair that just hands and looks dirty easily. With medications/illness, it is only thinner than ever and even the new growth tends to break. To avoid constant tangles and the unflattering image in number 3 (with straight curtains) I tend to wear it pulled back, and I don't have enough hair for it not to look tight. I am really sick of it. I went and took pictures and of course after being twisted up today because of "chicken with head cut off syndrome" it looks better than it has in weeks. Argh! Any ideas what might work/be flattering?

Also, thought I would show off an early grad present from a friend (the necklace).

And, I bought new shoes to wear with an old dress to my commencement.

Despite being comfy for heels, I am not sure when I could wear them again, as the heel height makes them too fancy to wear with my super casual day stuff and most of my more dressy events call for something more covered or dressier than cork and suede. Also the color combats the summery-ness.

http://www.shoebuy.com/clarks-.....319/925531

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22 replies

Latest reply was from path2

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

My dear Elly! You have such beautiful hair ... mmmm, it looks so pretty! I wish I had hair of that colour!

For the breakage, what products do you use in your hair? I swapped to a salon shampoo and I also do a hair treatment once a week to stop breakage and my hair (what of it; it's fairly short) that sprouts is a lot thicker than it used to be! Also, I started eating more protein and more healthy and my hair loves me

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

Like Lyn, I think your hair looks nice. Some face framing layers and bangs might allow you to wear it down without feeling like it hangs like a curtain. I like your necklace.

Elly

Veteran

I'm afraid their isn't much to be done about the breakage as far as product prevention-- my understanding is it is caused by very weak spots in hair from flare ups in my condition when it was growing. I already use a mild organic moisturizing shampoo and conditioner and take supplements. I'm pretty gentle on it.

Thanks for the complement-- I guess it is the combination of having a father with strawberry blonde hair and my mother who is close to raven-haired.

Girl X

(website)

Veteran

I've gone through the illness/medication hair thinning/breakage and it sucks. Vitamins helped a ton for the regrowth. I took Centrum Silver for women (high in vitamins K, A, & Bs, and it didn't have iron in it), then a separate iron & Vitamin C. I took the iron separately since Calcium lessens iron absorption - VitC improves it. My iron count was low so this was important for me, but you could probably avoid the extra step. As an added bonus, my nails improved as well. Oh - I also started using L'Oreal EverStrong Overnight Repair Treatment, which seemed to help prevent my existing hair from breaking - I had a bunch of weak spots as well (you could actually see them under a microscope - which is very cool!)

Even at perfect health, my hair tends to be dry and prone to splits, so the L'Oreal stuff was pretty useful. My hair (almost an afro!) is on the complete opposite side of the hair spectrum from yours though, so a different product might suit you better.

I hope your health improves quickly!

Elly

Veteran

Thanks ladies-- I already take supplements but am afraid to deep condition too much because I don't have dry hair-- actually I have very oily hair and in combination with it being fine heavy conditioners tend to be bad.

Part of the reason I am so frustrated is that unless I go shorter several hairdressers have advised against cutting many layers and or bangs because it would just emphasize the thiness.

Julie

Veteran

Elly, based on what you've reported from the hairdressers, I think you need to look at going short. Nothing longer than Angie's. You probably wouldn't want it as short as mine.

Cheers
Julie

crazyone

Veteran

Elly, to be honest, I actually like the way your hair looks in picture 3! That was my favorite picture.

I wonder if you could...fluff up your hair to give it more texture, somehow? There's probably some product that could do that...I have the opposite problem of having very thick hair that's all over the place and is plenty "fluffed up" so I wouldn't have any suggestions.

Steph

Veteran

Elly, I agree with crazyone that photo 3 was my favorite. Your hair may be thin, but it doesn't look it in the photos. It does look like you have a lot of hair (which is common when people have thinner hair--they have more of it), and that's great! My hair does have a lot of volume, so I don't have personal experience with this, but perhaps some volumizing products, like mousse? Also, drying your hair upside down can help to puff it out and make it look fuller.

I know you said that your hair is stick straight, but as you noted, it does look like it has a little bit of a wave in some of these photos. Are you sure you might not have a subtle wave that has been hidden? If so, maybe trying some curl-enhancing products could be a big help. Maya used to think her hair was straight and now she is happily wavy, after switching her shampoo and conditioner and changing some styling techniques.

Maya

Veteran

Hmm, I wouldn't know just by looking that there was anything "wrong" with your hair. It just looks like normal hair to me: Fine in texture, but fairly abundant.

It's probably true that you don't want to do any heavy layering, but I can't imagine why you couldn't just do some subtle shaping and face-framing. It's hard to get volume when your hair is so heavy at the ends, especially without product or a blowdryer (which seem harsh if your hair is fragile). Lightening it up, especially in the front around your face, would definitely help IMO.

As to whether it is wavy or straight: I would agree that it's straight. Very few people have truly pin straight hair, but that doesn't make it wavy or curly either. Besides the superficial differences, wavy and curly hair have a different textural quality than straight hair. Hard to explain but I totally get it now because I have experienced both types. When my hair was straight, it was oilier and had more weight to it, and it would dry as a unit. Now that it is wavy, it is much drier and the hairs tend to dry either individually or in clumps.

This was what my hair looked like the first day after I stopped blowdrying it straight (which I had been doing for years):

http://img.photobucket.com/alb.....ff9e75.jpg

That picture is what gave me my first hint that my hair was not straight. Compared to mine, yours is much sleeker. There's just a gentle bend to it which I think is normal for straight hair. The only thing that could get it straighter is a flat iron.

RandomThoughts (Andrea)

Veteran

Elly, have you considered short? I don't mean pixie short, but around jaw length with lots of layers? My hair is straight and I do mean STRAIGHT. I have had hair dressers comment on how insanely straight it is. It is also of very fine texture (though surprisingly thick).

Anyway, when my hair is long it tends to hang there flat against my head and it will not hold any sort of wave or curl unless I am in a desert (very arid) environment. My hair has much more body when shorter. Google 'short straight hairstyles' and lots of stuff comes up. With your features I think short hair would look great.

Seems like short layers might help disguise breakage and give you the lift you want.

Girl X

(website)

Veteran

It sounds like you might have to go short. Your hair looks good in the photos, as mentioned a few times in the comments, it isn't at all obvious that you have thinning or breakage, but if you're uncomfortable with it - short might be the only option. Short cuts can be super cute - and you've got a great face and face shape for it.

Scarlet

Veteran

Well go figure, I like 3 the best too. I think your hair looks healthy and normal in the photos, although I can understand that nevertheless it is delicate and prone to breakage. There are several leave-in products available to strengthen hair (but not add oil necessarily). Maybe it is worth investigating something like that? Mousse could help as well for light, non-moisturizing volume. I think maybe cut in a few shorter layers to frame your face and give your hair more movement. I could also imagine cutting it above your shoulders to make it a little lighter. That would look nice too.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I have no words of wisdom for you Elly, other then that we wait for the hair pros on this forum to weigh in.

Your hair looks luscious in the photos. I too like #3 best because its soft around your face. But does the style bother you when its not tucked behind your ears?

Elly, you have a very pretty face. That's what we all notice long before we look at your lovely hair!

Elly

Veteran

Thanks ladies.

I possibly should have waited to take pictures until I had washed my hair. The wave/kink you are seeing in these photos that make it curve around a bit, especially around my face is usually non-existent. It is the product of putting my hair up and tying it back wet. I have ZERO natural wave except two cowlicks and a small strand that always curves the opposite direction under one of my ears.

While I do like the curve around my face in picture 3, it isn't possible to replicate without a curling iron. I felt that 3 was less flattering because in addition to having my hair hang in my face (which I am not used to and don't like-- when I had more hair it never happened as I have cowlicks on each side of my face which gave it enough body at the crown not to) it entirely hides the fact I have cheekbones and a jawline, which are some of the only "sharp not squishy" features on my face. Since I have oily skin and hair I do try to keep hair off my face, although a few layers or a side bang are usually ok.

I attached some photos of my hair before--- still straight and fine, but a lot more shine (less breakage) and body/volume at the crown. I asked the woman who gave me these cuts to do something similar, and she said that it couldn't be done, which was mimicked by another hairdresser. Right now I have to be careful with how my hair lays because you can see through it to the scalp at the temples, ect.

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Kari

Veteran

Elly, even in the current pictures your hair really doesn't look thin to me - it looks like you have *plenty* of hair! I love the way you are wearing your hair in #3 of the pictures on top of the thread - very soft and pretty. It looks very much like my hair texture - fine, but I have a lot of it, and it gets oily very easy so I have to wash it daily. And I hear you on the random cowlicks, too - my hair is naturally flat, but I always have to go over a couple sections with a flatiron to prevent the ends from flipping in weird directions.

The disadvantage is that unless I cut a *lot* of layers in my hair, it hangs very heavy and flat on my head - the "tight" or severe look you mentioned that you dislike. I used to wear my hair longer, like your current length, and found I just could not maintain healthy, pretty looking hair when it is shoulder-length or longer. The ends split very easily, my hair was very flat on my scalp, and I had no volume. Also, I did not like the severe look I had when I wore my hair back in a ponytail. It made me feel very flat and boring. That's mostly why I have opted to keep my hair near chin length for such a long time. It's just easier to maintain it and get it looking fuller. I usually have my hair cut so that the longest layers are jaw-length, and have my stylist cut a *lot* of face-framing layers and especially a ton of layers in the back, which is where my hair hangs the heaviest. We've found that my hair responds very well to a razor cut.

Anyway, I hope that helps if your hair is indeed similar to mine, and I wish you well in your search for a hairstyle that works for you. (Pretty necklace, by the way!)

Anonymous

I wouldn't add layers. You can get more volume from just cutting a couple of inches off, to the shoulder or slighly longer, a nice blunt cut. If you want to go shorter you could do a very short bob or wedge cut, the under hair is shorter and that gives volume to the top hair. You can also add volume by using a dry shampoo (baby powder works good on light hair) in between regular shampooing. The dry shampoo will absorb oil and add volume. Fine hair doesn't work well with too much product, they might weight it down. I think hair spray used as styling spray works better than gel or mousse on fine hair.

Anonymous

Love the necklace!

Elly

Veteran

Thanks for the tips everyone!

I will definitely have to think about it.

Tracina, your advice was exactly what my hairdresser always says-- she said I could do a bit more if I went shorter. It was right at my shoulders (but not above) a couple months ago and it had more body but I wasn't happy with the way it looked around my face. I had wanted to keep it sort of long, so I could put it up because I was working out often was trying to keep it off my face because I have a funny shaped head that doesn't work with headbands.

biscuitsmom

Veteran

You have *such* a beautiful smile! Thats what people will notice....You've gotten some great advice...I honestly think your hair looks lovely, as is

Sparky

Veteran

I am pretty useless for hair advice, but I just had to say that you have SUCH a lovely face ~ the words that spring to mind when I look at your pics are "classic beauty."

Melissa

I'm with the short hair crowd on this one. You have a lovely face and beautiful hair. I think you'll find that you can get a lot more volume out of it if it's shorter. I have extremely fine straight hair and was never happy with it longer. I could definitely see you rocking a bob of some sort, maybe even an asymmetrical one.

path2

I also have fine thin hair that can be a struggle to deal with. I dry it from the roots using a large round ceramic brush after putting product in it. Although it took some getting used to I get along better if I don't wash it every day although I still have to wet it down each morning to get the roots off my scalp. Day 2 usually looks better than day 1 despite common wisdom that product would drag it down. Also, pulling it back especially when wet may add to the breakage.