Steps I Took for Thicker Hair

Repost!!!

I receive questions on ways to thicken up relaxed hair all the time. 

See below for how I did it. 

My Hair went from this in July 2010 

To this in September 2011



My hair isn't naturally thin, but because of a few Dominican blow-outs and former stylists raking a small tooth comb through my hair during the first year of my journey, my hair thinned out tremendously.

Now some people believe the only way to rid thin hair is to cut it, but I honestly believe there are ways to achieve thicker hair with-out doing so.

Here's what I did in the last year:

Minimized Direct Heat- I used to get my hair washed, set, blow dried and flat-ironed very often the first year of my hair journey(if I wasn't in braids). I realized that was way too much heat for my fragile hair. Last year, I only used direct heat on my hair 2 or 3 times and air-dried instead.

Decreased Manipulation- Now in the last year, I incorporated co-washing to my routine, but I still only de-tangled my hair once a week. I realized that combing my hair daily was too much manipulation. I also stopped doing roller-sets because in order to achieve a nice one, a small tooth comb must be used...and that was also too much manipulation for me.

Maintained a consistent Moisture and Protein Balance- I spoke about this a lot in my blog (do a search). But I always moisturized my hair at night and sealed with a penetrating oil such as Coconut, EVOO or Avocado Oil. I also did weekly light protein treatments (Aphogee 2 minute Reconstructer, ORS Replenishing Pak, Mendex, ORS Hair Mayonnaise) and followed up with a Moisturizing Deep Conditioning Treatment(if I felt my hair needed it).

Dusted Regularly- When reading through my blog, I realized that I dusted my ends at least once every 8 weeks. I didn't cut a lot off, but I think the general maintenance of my ends stopped any potential damage or excessive split ends that could have happened.

Incorporated Henna and sometimes Indigo Treatments- Henna binds to the hair strands which helps hair gain thickness and strength. I would do Henna Glosses or full Henna treatments at least once a month last year. I would use Indigo when I got tired of the reddish hair Henna produced.
You can read more about Henna Here


Those are the main ways that I believe helped me achieve thicker, but I also:

Stretched my Relaxers 4 months at a time- I believe the relaxer run off(the relaxer washing off your hair) was causing my ends to get thinner and thinner. So other then protecting them, I also decreased relaxer touch-ups from 6-8 times a year to 4.

Took MSM- I will have to come back and post more information on the vitamin MSM. BUT once I started taking MSM, my shedding decreased. The less hair you lose from shedding, the more hair you have on your head.



My hair isn't the thickest it can be, but it's better than it was last year.