Hi gals, hoping some of you who might have thin hair can help me out. My 10-year-old daughter has thin, straight hair and a lot of it. It tangles if you look at it wrong. It tangles while I’m brushing it, for crying out loud. She prefers to wear it down which doesn’t help, and she loves to swim which also doesn’t help. To me, it feels dry and brittle, especially after swimming and even after letting conditioner sit on it in the shower for a while. After spending 20 minutes brushing it out last night after a day in the pool and a long shower, I told her I at least need to braid it before swimming, but that’s not gonna solve it 100% because her flyaways at the top of her head are still gonna tangle; it’s insane. Anyone have any products or techniques that you swear by to help combat this issue? We go through an awful lot of leave-in conditioner but I feel like it’s just a bandaid to a bigger issue. Thanks in advance!
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I’m not a hair specialist or anything, but if she swims a lot frequent exposure to chlorine can damage her hair. My sister has a friend who swims a lot and I know she either uses a swim cap or a special type of hair gel to protect her hair.
I have straighter than straight hair that loves being in a tangle. What works for me at the moment is combing while wet to detangle and a bit of argan oil after blow drying. You only need a small amount, applied from tips to mid-length and not the scalp.
For the swimming, I also highly recommend a silicone swim cap. They won’t pull at her hair like rubber ones do. She can also wet her hair before getting into the pool to minimize the amount of chlorinated water it absorbs. Or do both!
I despair of getting her to wear a swim cap (she prides herself on her fashion — ladies, I am in for it with this kid, she is a force) but you are absolutely right that she should wet it beforehand and I doubt she ever does. I’ll pick up some argan oil and try that too, can’t hurt! Thanks for the advice!
If she’s sensitive to how they look, maybe something more stylish like a swim turban could convert her?
Make sure she uses a swim cap to filter out the chlorine from the pool. There are some conditioners that you can leave in that help too. Another thought: My mum got me this “silk therapy” stuff which has worked wonders for me, and might work for your daughter.
I’ll look into that, thanks!
Are you sure it’s straight? I used to think I had mostly straight hair and it tangled a lot too. Turns out it’s actually wavy if I take care of it correctly.
Either way, some things you could try are detangling it while conditioning (ideally with a wide-toothed comb) and trying out different conditioners. Not every conditioner works for every hair type. For example everything with coconut oil makes my hair horrible while others love it.
I always thought my hair was straight but have also discovered that it is wavy as an adult. But hers is much finer than mine, and I always thought mine rather fine. I wonder if it comes from my mother-in-law. It doesn’t seem to act quite like mine does, but also it’s fairly damaged and mine is not at all.
I use a comb in the shower with conditioner, and I’ve suggested that she use it, but she’s still a bit inept and managing her own hair (which, I suppose I can’t blame her when it’s so troublesome) and she’s also now at an age where she wants her privacy in the shower, so I can’t easily help her. I guess it’s going to take some trial and error with conditioners. Thank you for the advice!
I get it, old enough to want and deserve some privacy and independence, not old enough to manage everything quite as an adult would.
It was hard enough to figure out what my own hair wants and needs, I imagine it’s even harder in your situation, so good luck!
I don’t know where your hair journey took you, so maybe this is something you already know. But for me the key bit was figuring out the porosity of my hair. I used to think it was mostly about my hair being very fine, but the most relevant key to finding the right products is that it’s very low porosity.
Totally. I think I’m learning that hers is more porous than mine, and I can’t expect it to behave like mine does, even though in many ways it looks similar. She’s hitting puberty so her hair is getting oily faster, so I need to learn how to balance the oil management with her higher porosity… anyway, work in progress!
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Are you using a shampoo for swimmers? You might have different products where you are. There’s one here called ultra swim. Sally Beauty Supply sells one that is more affordable. But only available at their store. I would cautiously try a product like that and see how it does on fine hair. If it seems too harsh, discontinue. I have been loving cerave conditioner. To me, it feels very hydrating without being greasy or heavy. While I do not have fine hair, I would give it a try. Or maybe look at product reviews from people who mention fine hair.
I haven’t tried one specifically for swimmers. We were doing mostly okay during the winter with it not being totally dried out, but now that the pool is back on the menu, I’m quickly remembering the end of last summer when it was a complete disaster. I have Sally’s where I am so I’ll see what I can find there, thank you!
I have a kid. Best i can describe her hair with chlorine build up is “sticky.” She already doesn’t like brushing her hair. With the chlorine, it becomes a real challenge. Best of luck.
I have extremely fine hair, and all through my youth it was so dry it made a fine nimbus around my head of fly away hairs and frizz. I tried all sorts of fancy shampoos and conditioners and hair oils but it was expensive and I couldn’t keep it up.
What worked for me was to stop buying and using shampoo altogether, and wash my hair less often. Instead, I use a paste made of rye flour (has to be rye, not wheat) in the shower on my scalp only when it’s getting noticeably greasy. Then, I use a normal daily conditioner and rinse it out after a couple of minutes. The rye flour is messy and a pain to rinse out but I am so much happier with my hair now. It’s soft and shiny and falls the way it should, and has much more body to hold waves and styling.
I agree with other posters that protecting her hair from the pool chemicals is probably the biggest thing that will help. I also think an oil treatment like coconut or olive oil would help.
Here’s my suggestion from one fine haired girly to another:
Have a spa day where you comb oil into her hair (coconut, olive, avocado, etc), leave it in for at least a half hour, and then wash it out using a rye flour paste. I know it sounds kooky, but it really does work. It gently absorbs excess oil without stripping it from the hair, and its ph balanced. After rinsing the flour paste from her hair it should be soft and hydrated but not greasy. If you don’t like the results or it doesn’t work then nothing is lost, just have her wash her hair again and make bread with it or whatever, but I’m serious it saved my hair.
Interesting! Your hair does sound like hers a bit. I’ll see if I can find some rye flour. Not sure if I’ll be able to convince her, but it’s good to have the resource!
It is a bit weird to use, I bring a little plastic bowl of it into the shower, then wet it until it’s like wet hummus or a yogurt consistency, and smear it all over my scalp and hair. Rinsing it all out is the most annoying part but it’s so worth it for how healthy my hair is now!
