Anyone with fine hair knows how difficult it is to grow it to long lengths. I decided to put together an article to share what I have learned along the way. First, it’s important to define what fine hair is exactly. When I say fine, I’m not referring to the amount of hair on your head…it is the size (diameter) of an individual strand of hair that determines whether or not it is fine. The opposite of fine is coarse. Think of your hair as a piece of thread. The string on a 1-ply spool of thread will be finer than a 3-ply spool of thread. The thicker the thread (or strand of hair) the more resilient it will be against breakage. With that in mind, someone can have a lot of fine hair (thick) or very little fine hair (thin)…coarse strands can also appear thick or thin depending on the density of strands. I use thick and thin in reference to density only…how many hairs you have on your head. My hair has fine strands and is very dense or thick overall. Alright, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the tips. As always feel free to incorporate all or some of these suggestions as you see fit.

• Finger detangle as much as possible. Put away the tools like combs and brushes. Change your hair regimen so your fingers are the main tool used for detangling. Take out the combs and brushes only before rollersetting, straightening, or at an interval like once a month. For weekly styling and washing, rely on only your hands to do the detangling. Hands are much gentler on fine hair that is subject to shredding and breaking from manipulation. If you can’t commit to finger detangling only, try to substitute your brush for your hands during every other session. I guarantee you will see less broken pieces of hair.
• Use protein treatments regularly. I have found that weekly light protein treatments are best for my hair. Fine hair needs the added strength from protein to help it survive everyday styling and manipulation. Once you find the right regular protein treatment for you, you may or may not need heavy protein treatments like Aphogee 2 Step. It takes some trial and error to figure out when best to use each product. This bit may not apply to every natural with fine hair… but I find that my hair is very prone to moisture overload. Doing things like DCing overnight, baggying, or generally leaving the hair wet for long stretches of time can be detrimental to my hair’s health. Pay close attention to your hair’s moisture/protein balance. If your hair does not feel good, make some changes and just be aware that while many naturals experience very dry hair, your fine hair may not and it might not benefit from moisture intensive treatments.
• Know your porosity. Porosity tells us how open or closed the cuticles of our hair strands are. This is extremely important for fine hair because a change in porosity can make a huge difference in the fragility of our already fragile hair. Use acidic or alkaline products to correct porosity and keep your fine hair in tip-top shape.

• Use lightweight products. Finely textured hair is easily weighed down. Even products like all natural shea butter may sit on top of the hair and create a film almost. When selecting products go for something light and fluffy (i.e. whipped) or light and creamy. The less dense the product, the more likely it will agree with your hair. The same thing applies when wearing hair straight. Something like a pressing creme may be weight too heavy for fine hair. Choose a lightweight oil instead. Grape seed oil for instance is better option than castor oil for straightened or kinky/curly fine natural hair.

This article ended up being much longer than I intended so I’m splitting it into 2 parts. Stay tuned for Part II– tips 5-8.