Q&A - Natural and long, but too thin!

 Dora writes:


Q.  I am completely natural and have been for about 7 years now. I have bra length, fine soft hair. My hair does not like to be twisted. When I did wear twists, I did not like them because you could see my scalp. When I wear a ponytail I have to make sure I brush my hair a certain way, so that my scalp won't show. Is there anything that I can use or do to thicken my hair up. I henna once a month or every 3 weeks and sometimes it depends on how fast the grays decide to show up. I thought by being natural my hair would become thicker on its own.

A.  As a natural for 7 years, your hair has gone through all the phases of growth, probably several times. Let's just review:

Anagen - active growth - new hair is pushing out the old fiber and the follicle is growing deep for nourishment
Catagen - the transitional phase. Hair detaches from the blood supply and the hair follicle shrinks
Telogen - Resting. Hair fibre easily pulls out
And there is one more phase, mesanagen -- a returning to growth.

A full cycle can last anywhere from 2 to 5 years per follicle. And sometimes hair or patches of hair can get stuck in the resting, or telogen phase.

Everything you put into your body eventually comes out in your hair, usually within three to six months. . Hair grows from living follicles in the skin of the scalp. At the shaft, or root of the hair, all of your major systems are at work, including your circulatory, endocrine and central nervous system.

Other factors for thin hair and ways to improve hair health:

10 Most Important Steps for Growing Healthy, Hypercurly, Natural Hair

Acceptance and Clarity - Take off the "mental wig." Once I accepted that I would never have Botticelli curls, I began to see that my hair could be even more beautiful. To actually see my hair, I need to look at photos. Mental distortion can occur when I look in the mirror, but the camera doesn't lie.

Understanding - Observe your hair under different circumstances, different climates. Learn to understand what your hair does, not what you want it to do and build on that. Look inward at your own hair, not outward at someone else's.

Look, listen and learn - It's a given that other naturals know more than I do, especially if their hair is thick and long and beautiful, right? I'm so teachable!

Protection: At night, protect the hairline with a silk head wrap, guard against friction with a silk pillowcase. Anchor the hair in a loose puff or large twists so it doesn't shift or rub against itself. During the day, I wear my hair out 95% of the time. Protection means the right products applied to each strand and a soft, aloe-vera based gel for hold. And no touching! (that one is hard.)

Coffee Talk

I gave up coffee and Splenda in April and surprisingly my skin has improved. I no longer have to use concealer to brighten the dark spaces on the inside of my eyes by my nose. They are gone!

Since quitting, I had one cup of full decaf, and it didn't taste very good. So it was the caffeine that kept me drinking coffee -- and gave me a 5-day headache after quitting, until I drank some yerba mate. This was as serious an addiction as cigarettes and as hard to quit. Now my new hot beverages are Guayaki Chocolatte Mate and Taylors of Harrogate Scottish Breakfast Tea with soy creamer. And I make smoothies. Instead of Splenda I use stevia from NuNaturals.

I still miss the coffee ritual: grinding the beans every other day (decaf and full caf mixed), brewing the coffee, frothing the milk, garnishing with nutmeg and cinnamon. That cup of coffee was better than anything you could get at Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or a gourmet coffee place. Even Quebrada Bakery in Wellesley where they make some of the best coffee I've ever tasted and where I got a taste for Ethiopian. Their Dancing Goats was so good.

I used Ethiopian Sidamo beans for the caffeine mixed with Whole Foods Everyday Decaf beans.

Yes, I'm coffee reminiscing. Not as good as drinking it.

Coffee drinking face

Non-coffee drinker face