“Hello CFYH,
I love your website, thank you for providing your followers with such a great resource.
Like many others in the UK, I have switched to more natural hair products over the past few years and have noticed many positive changes with my hair growth, texture and thickness. I mix many of my own conditioners and scalp reliefs at home. But (big ‘but’), my hairline is still a bit weedy. I can’t help but notice that in some of yours and Angel Smith’s (Natural Lounge) pictures, your hairline is a thinner than the rest of your head too. In my case my hairline has never fully recovered from a bad weave. But I can see that the hair there is growing – just not very thickly or very quickly. Do you have any views as to the reason for this? Are those nightly head wraps (too tight perhaps) or lack of moisture in this area to blame? Or other practices?
I would love to hear your views on this touchy subject.
All the best and keep up the great blog”
Hiya,
Thanks for the email! Very happy to hear you like the blog. I’m very glad you asked this question as it was something I was planning on covering very soon.
Many women suffer from thinning edges/hairline because of excessive pulling from styles such as weaves, braids, tight ponytails and like you mentioned even tight scarves too can cause tension on the hairline. Also chemical burns from relaxers have resulted in some losing their hairline. So the first thing I usually tell ladies when they ask about how to combat this issue is to stop the excessive pulling. Pulling and pulling on the hair overtime can result in permanent damage of the hair follicles and subsequently the hair cannot grow back.
One big misconception people have is weaves/braids ‘grow’ your hair. They don’t at all they do is help retain length which many other styles can do as well. Read more about this here
Secondly, natural oils such as castor oil has given some women amazing results in aiding the re-growth of their hairline (providing it isn’t already permanently damaged).
Celebrity stylist Felicia Leatherwood has also seen good results with the Organic Root Stimulator’s ‘Fertilising Temple Balm’. However, results aren’t overnight and once again your hair will only grow back if the damage isn’t permanent.
I get many emails asking how to tell if there’s still hope for the hairline and I always say, yes try the castor oil/supplements – avoid styles that pull on your hairline, give it some months and see if there’s any improvement.
However if you find your hair isn’t growing back or is of great concern to you I always always recommend going to see a Trichologist, such as Philip Kingsley. They are hair doctors and can examine the damage to your hairline and recommend the best form of treatment for you.
Now in terms of my hair. I have naturally fine hair and it’s been this way all my life. As well as my hair being fine, my edges are very fine too…so I take extra care. Since I was a lil one the first inch of hair that surrounded the perimeter of my hair has been shorter, finer, and very wavy in texture. I wish I had a better picture to show (and a scanner) but here you can see what I mean. It wasn’t like this due to tight braiding or pulling – as the first year of my life my mum mostly left my hair out in a curly fro.
My hair as a baby
My hair now…see what I mean?
As a result my hair has always been this way. There have been times (years back) I’ve had a braid or two pull my hair out right from the roots but it grew back eventually. Now because my hair is fine and my egdes are fine and super sensitive I stick to the easier styles. Even with braids, I get them done 2 times a year. I currently have Kinky twists in now and did braids back in October. When doing braids/weave I never ever get my edges done, I always leave those bits out.
It’s taken me a few years to accept that my hair has and will pretty much always be this way and although there are some styles I can’t do…I now truly do love it.
Some have been blessed with fuller hair lines, others have been blessed with thinner ones…as long as the thinning isn’t self inflicted love your hair the way it is and work with what you’ve got girl! Just like I did, compare your hairline to older pictures to see if there’s a difference if so examine your hair practises that may be contributing to the thinning.
On one final, important note. I urge the mother’s out there to take very good care of their daughter’s hair. In my opinion there is absolutely no excuse for using extensions on little girls. Try out styles on their own hair. Having little girls constantly wearing extensions is first off bad for their fragile hairline and secondly bad mentally. You have them thinking from such a young age that they need ‘added’ hair to look pretty.
