I'm 15 and i don't know how to manage my hair.

hkayy

Hi everyone, my question is how do I maintain and stimulate hair growth? I recently took a test on this website which said I had 3b high porosity thin coarse hair. I have no idea what those words mean but i've recently learnt it could affect what I do to my hair. I wasted all my money on shea moisture which leaves my hair greasy and weighed down. I recently cut my hair much much shorter than this picture and I'm trying to grow it out. Tips from you guys would be useful and much appreciated.

Guide 65

Welcome to CurlTalk!  You have beautiful hair!  I'd love to have some of that fullness and thickness!  I don't know much about hair growth, but it does look dry.  Concentrate on conditioning, deep conditioning, a really good rinse out conditioner, and leave in conditioner. 

AlexaWaves

Hi! I think I can give you a few tips that can help increase hair growth and make it healthier.

Actually, I have the opposite hair characteristics from yours. My hair is fine, low porosity and 2b-2c. But these tips are universal anyways, so I'm sure they'll help.

Since you have high-porosity hair, it means it absorbs moisture easily and is very prone to damage (or already damaged). I highly recommend doing:

- a deep conditioning treatment, and
- a hot oil treatment,

both of them at least once a week. 

You can make your own DIY conditioner or buy one from a store. Use a deep conditioner after shampooing. Personally, I just mix a silicone-free conditioner and olive oil, apply it to my hair, wear a plastic cap and leave it for 2-4 hours.

For hot oil treatments, I usually do this 2-4 hours before I shower. Massage the oil onto your scalp. Give it a good massage for about 5 minutes. Then apply to rest of the hair, and pay attention to the tips. Then just use a heated cap on your hair and leave it for 2-4 hours or as long as you'd like.

Also, for me, it seems the 'inversion' hair growth method works like magic.
It doesn't seem to work on everyone though. For only 1 week each month, massage your scalp everyday (you can also use oil while you're at it) while tilting your head down for 5 mins. It improves blood circulation thus leading to faster hair growth, they say. Well, it works for me.
The above 3 tips are the ones that give me much healthier and more manageable hair. And because it's healthy, it grows faster.

If your hair is very dry, I also recommend pre-pooing every time before you shampoo. Massage oil to your hair so when you shampoo it doesn't strip away too much moisture. I personally don't do this because my hair is fine and low-porosity.

Try searching curly hair tips for high porosity hair as well. There are some articles about it here and on other sites.

Hope these helps! Cheers. Make sure to experiment because everyone's hair is different.

hkayy

Hi AlexaWaves, thank you for these tips, I'm definitely going to try them out.

WavyKfromNJ

You can see if your local library has the Curly Girl book.  Mine has the e-book that I can check out from home.

https://www.amazon.com/Curly-Girl-Handbook-Michele-Bender/dp/076115678X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527453064&sr=1-1&keywords=curly+girl+lorraine+massey

Stillunsureonmycurltype

Porosity refers to how porous your hair is. Since you have high porosity it means that your hair can allow moisture to enter very easily, but also leave just as easy.

3B refers to the size of the curl (the barrel I believe?), typically the size of a sharpie marker.

Thin refers to the amount you have on your head, If you let it drop naturally, and you can see your scalp easily with no additional effort it is thin. If you need to move a hair or 2, or change angle to see your scalp your hair falls with medium, but if you can't see it without moving your hair as in parting it, 'tis thick hair


Coarse refers to those that strands that are strong, withstand heat styling and can be felt very easily, hard to forget when you roll it between your fingers. It is also the driest of the hair textures, as it needs more than the other 2.

Fun Fact: If you compare a strand of hair to a flat piece of printer paper you would see 3 things. If thinner then it is fine hair, if it covers the paper just about right it is medium if it is thicker than the piece of paper it is coarse.