The Genius Thin Natural Hair Guide for Longer & Thicker Hair!

Last Updated on September 11, 2022 by The Blessed Queens

My thin natural hair Queens, today’s all about you! So what do you do to better care for your thin natural hair when you don’t even know how to start and how to end?

With this guide, you will learn to evaluate the thickness and the density of your hair and even how to create more volume when styling your hair.  Cool, right?!

The Genius Thin Natural Hair Guide for Longer & Thicker Hair!

As you continue reading you will also find recommended products for fine hair that will help you pick better hair products in the future!

Feel free to pin this post for later (You can always follow me on Pinterest here!). Let’s start with the very basics…

What on earth is hair thickness?

Let’s make things simple here, your hair thickness is the diameter of a strand of hair. That means that the larger the diameter, the thicker your hair will be. The smaller the diameter, the finer the hair.

Natural hair can either be thick, fine or medium thickness.

Normally, thicker hair is stronger and less likely to break and this is why thick hair tends to retain length easier than fine hair.

How do you evaluate the thickness of your hair?

Most people can tell that their hair thickness varies according to the different area of their head.

To start, pick some hair from the front, the back and the sides of the head in order to evaluate the thickness of your natural hair.

Place the hair strand under the light and examine these traits:

Fine hair Ladies!

That means when placed under the light they quickly lose their volume and are easily weighed down by water, oils, and conditioner.

Fine hair is often compared to baby hair or “angel hair” because you can barely feel a strand of fine hair between your fingers.

Medium Hair Ladies!

If you have medium strands it is easier to see your hair under the light and to feel it between the fingers. From what it has been said. this is the most common hair thickness among women. Which is normally stronger than fine hair.

Thick hair ladies!

Most of the time thick hair is pretty easily visible under light and even on a surface of the same color of the hair.

Let’s get into some key points and characteristics of fine natural hair and next we will talk about ways to take care of it and help it get or appear thicker!

What are the Characteristics of fine afro hair?

When it comes to fine natural hair there is less cuticle to go through, you will notice water easily penetrates fine hair but evaporates just as quickly because fine hair has fewer cuticle layers and a smaller cortex.

Kown that fine hair is delicate, breaks easily and indeed it has more difficulties to retain its length compared to medium or even thicker hair.

Plus this type of hair is easily weighed down by butters and creams.

What about Density and thickness of the hair?

The density is the number of hair per cm2 of your scalp. If you notice that you have fine hair but a lot of it that means you have fine high-density hair.

On the other hand, you may have thick hair but a few of it then you should categorize it into the low-density hair.

Let’s talk about the relationship between the thickness and porosity of your hair!

When it comes to the factor that has the most impact on hair porosity you could say the diameter of a strand is that physical factor. The finer your hair is, the more easily water or liquid will penetrates and evaporates into your strands.

It could be the reason why they often say fine hair could be in high porous hair.

How to make Thin Natural Hair look Thicker?

When it comes to fine natural hair, less is more when it comes to product. You should opt for curl creams over gels.

What has been discovered is that hard hold products can make fine hair look stringy and overly clumped or defined.

They also make your hair too stiff to fluff which often result in frizz.

Hairstyles for fine thin natural hair

What are some hairstyles for fine thin natural hair that can make it look great? let’s talk about stretching it firstof all!

If you don’t have time to do a wet set to stretch your hair you can blow dry your hair on warm, concentrating on the roots, and skipping the ends.

A twist or braid-out (love them!) on blown out hair may not last very long but it would give you that stretch look. Don’t overuse heat tho!

Pineappling Fine natural hair

Pineappling your fine curly hair can help because it stretches the hair. You will notice that days after a good pineapple, your hair looks fuller!

When it comes to picking hairstyles for thin natural hair protective style 80-90% of the time but you should limit protect styling duration to no more than two weeks.

Remember, the result of long protective styles is webbing and tangling and trust me, no one likes those stuff.

You should also utilize low manipulation hair styling as known as easy styles like the wash and go or chunky twist out although wash and go is kind of tricky!

Gurlll…Do not use brushes on your fine natural hair. Unless u know what you’re doing!! It will fray the cuticle and lead to breakage… be careful on that area!

How to style low density hair? I’ve got you!

Twists and bantu knots as curly afro style

This is a pretty cute style and my amazing sis Adede will show you in the video below how to achieve this on thin natural hair.

Here is how you get this style done:

Start by twisting your hair then wear your twists into bantu knots. Once you notice your hair is dry, gently remove your bantu knots and twists and proceed into shaping your hairstyle. Yass!

Okay, let’s try the Loose twists hairstyle for Fine natural hair!

When it comes to this style, you will see that these twists give you more volume than traditional twists.

Few more tips about styling fine thin natural hair:

Embrace the shrinkage girl because stretched hair will show more scalp than hair worn in their natural shrunken state.

Braid-out will give you more volume…a twist-out. If you love definition then this might not be for you.

Compared to those twist outs with braid-out, you will get more frizz and less definition when removing the braids.

For thin natural hair… Less definition is equal to more volume because the more you separate the strands, the more volume you will get but also the less definition you will end up with.

5 Amazing thin natural hair YouTubers to check out

• Adedè
• lizlizlive
• Jumoke
• BorderHammer
• Monique Mendes

Each of these methods of caring for fine natural hair is an important part of the step by step process to growing fine natural hair long.

Trimming Fine Natural Hair

When it comes to trimming fine natural hair you can trim individual hairs by feel.

Most of the time you can feel splits easier than you can see them. You can also get a professional trim at least once a year.

What i’ve noticed is that you will require less trimming if you protect your hair from damage.

How to grow thin natural black hair

When it comes to having fine hair, handling is critical and let’s not forget this includes length retention. Here are some tips that can help you make the process easier.

Washing Fine Natural Hair

• Pre-poo your hair before washing using coconut oil or combined with a moisturizing conditioner.
• Wash your hair in sections (4-6 twists or loose braids). It’s depending on the length and density of hair.
• Try to use a sulfate free shampoo or co-wash product (which is not a conditioner)
• Use the pads of your fingers to stimulate the scalp when washing.
• Finger comb your hair when damp but not wet.

Conditioning Fine Natural Hair

• You should deep condition EVERY SINGLE Wash day. No excuses… it’s hard I knowwww…!!!
• A good tip is to use heat with your deep conditioner.
• You should focus on your ends but don’t forget your crown! (it gets all the exposure from the elements)
• If your deep conditioner needs some slip apply a little oil or honey to it.
• Then you should allow your deep conditioner to cool before rinsing it out
• A good practice is to rinse your deep conditioner out with cool water
• You can also use diluted aloe vera juice or apple cider vinegar to seal your hair’s cuticles after the wash/condition. (Alert: Limit apple cider vinegar use to no more than twice a month)

Strengthening Fine Hair

• Protein treatments are essential for fine hair to remain strong.
• Apply protein every other wash day but no less than monthly. It can be applied as part of your pre-poo or after washing/before deep conditioning.
• Always balance out a protein application with a moisturizing deep conditioner (unless you are using a product like Aubrey Organics GPB (see above)
• Henna is a great alternative to protein treatments. In addition to full strength henna treatments every other month, I have also used a henna strengthening spray recipe consisting of Henna, Shikakai and Amla powders, paired with tea tree oil, rosemary and/or peppermint essential oil.

Moisturizing Fine Hair

• As important as protein, moisture should be applied before your hair dries out. If you have normal porosity hair, you can get away with moisturizing less often as long as you have adequately imparted moisture to your hair on wash day but as a rule of thumb, moisturize proactively. Daily is best.
• Moisture should be layered on wash day using a combination of the LOC, LCO, LCOC or other layering method. L = Liquid. O = Oil. C = Cream and or Conditioner.
• Never skip the leave in conditioner after washing your hair. It imparts add’l moisture.
• If your hair dries out sooner than you would like, seal your moisture in with a light weight oil like Jojoba oil, Almond oil or Argan oil. Heavier oils will weigh fine hair down. For a heavier sealant, use a mango or shea butter that’s been whipped

Protecting Fine Hair

• Sleep on a satin pillow case and/or in a satin bonnet/scarf at night
• Put a satin case over your car’s head rest
• Wear your thin natural hair up when commuting
• Watch out for big earrings and necklaces which can snag the hair. It’s nearly impossible to untangle fine hair from it without resulting in breakage.
• Get rid of your flat iron. Direct heat placement to fine hair can be detrimental as it’s highly susceptible to breakage naturally. If you must, limit heat styling to no more than twice a year. But again, preferably not at all.
• Always use a heat protectant product when straightening hair with heat. Grapeseed oil is NOT a heat protectant.
• Opt to always Air dry vs. blow dry
• If heat styling, blow thin natural hair with warm heat before flat ironing. It will make the one pass method for straightening with a flat iron (direct heat contact) more effective.
• When blow drying, stretch your hair with your hands and protect the ends.
• Prevent breakage by oiling your hair every other night with a lightweight and easily absorbed oil like Argan oil. This will greatly reduce tangling and SSKs (single strand knots).
• Seal the ends of your hair with a heavier oil like Jamaican Black Castor oil or. This will reduce the likelihood of split ends.

Products for fine afro hair

Picking the right products can help make your fine natural hair journey easier, here are few products that have been working well with many fine natural hair Queens!

Shampoos for fine natural hair

Pick preferably a translucent shampoo. Opaque shampoos are cream based shampoos and they tend to weigh down your thin natural hair more easily.

• Jessicurl – Gentle Lather Shampoo

• Mielle Organics – Babassu Conditioning Shampoo (p)

• Camille Rose Naturals – Clean Rinse

Conditioner for fine natural hair

• Shea Moisture – Yucca and Plantain Anti-Breakage Strengthening Conditioner (p)
• Shea Moisture – Fruit Fusion Coconut Water – Weightless Crème Rinse (p)

Treatments for fine natural hair

• Shea Moisture – Fruit Fusion Coconut Water – Weightless Crème Masque (p)
• Shea Moisture – Yucca and Plantain Anti-breakage Strengthening Masque (p)

Sprays for  fine natural hair

• As I Am – CocoShea Spray Moisturizer
• Jane Carter Solution – Quench (p)
• Jane Carter Solution – Slumber Party
• Mielle Organics – White Peony Leave-In Conditioner (p)

Milks for  fine natural hair

• Shea Moisture – Yucca and Plantain Anti-Breakage Strengthening Styling Milk (p)
• Camille Rose Naturals – Curls Love Moisture Milk
• Mielle Organics – Moisturising Avocado Hair Milk (p)
• As I Am – Moisture Milk
• Curls – Blueberry Bliss Reparative Leave-in (p)

Foams for  fine natural hair

• Shea Moisture – Coconut and Hibiscus Frizz Free Curl Mousse
• Cantu – Wave Whip Curling Mousse
• Jane Carter Solution – Natural Twist Out Foam

Products to avoid on fine hair.

Avoid using butters, castor oil or silicone-based hair products, which can weigh down fine hair.

Fine hair should also avoid using the no-poo method which is using only hair conditioner to wash the hair.

This technique does not effectively eliminate product build-ups, that may accumulate and weigh down your fine hair.

There you have it, The Genius Thin Natural Hair Guide for Longer & Thicker Hair!

What is something you’re struggling with right now when it comes to your  fine natural hair? Leave a comment below!

What to read next? I’ve got you, girl!

• The Ultimate High Porosity Fine Hair Guide
• 21 Classy Protective Hairstyles For Natural Hair Growth
• The Ultimate Rice Water Hair Growth Strategy For Longer Hair!
• Easy Diy Deep Conditioner For Low Porosity Hair

Xo, Queen