Thick / thin hair

[wannabebetter]

I always assumed thick hair meant, basically lots of hair, and thin hair was, well, a bit patchy, fine, flyaway. But... last time I had hair cut (looong time ago) she said, "you've got quite fine hair, but lots of it". At the time I nodded sagely & hmmmed but what does that mean?? Aibu to think it's actually bollocks & just something to say??

I have really thick hair, it's also coarse and wiry. My partner has really fine hair like you described but it's also patchy and not much of it. You can see his scalp through it. That wouldn't happen on mine.

That's how I've always described my hair and also how it's been described by hair dressers.

Thick hair means literally that, the strands of hair are thick. Thin hair is thinner strands. A little bit of it is probably texture too, and also whether it's straight or curly etc

Fine/coarse and thick/thin are different things. You can have huge amounts of very fine hair that needs far different treatment to coarse hair. Fine is about the actual thickness of the strand, while thin is about the density!

Just to be clear I mean my hair is often described as "you've got quite fine hair, but lots of it". Definitely no bald bits, there's literally tonnes of it. It's all just thin, lies perfectly straight/flat with no products or styling.

I have very fine hair but lots of it and have had similar comments from hairdressers.

I get these comments too! I'm 9 months post partum and still shedding, but thankfully no bald spots, unlike some of my friends who all have thicker hair than I do.

Thanks all - but what does it actually mean? I'm not sure I believe every hairdresser can look at a single strand & determine if it's thick or thin (is there really that much difference)?

My hair is thick and coarse textured so it doesn't lie flat and always looks a bit bushy.

One of my DC has quite thick hair, while the other has very fine. It's quite a noticeable difference, especially when you touch it, the thicker hair has more bounce to it while the fine hair seems softer.

Mine is also fine, there's just a lot of it.

There's two types of thick/ thin hair. One is the diameter of the hair follicle, which can be thick or thin and the other is the number of hair follicles per square inch of scalp.

If you have a all follicle diameter combined with a low number of follicles per square inch then you'll have thin, sparse looking hair and will likely be to see the scalp.

If you have a small follicle diameter your hair is fine, but if you have a high follicle count per inch it'll look thick.

I’ve got fine hair but tonnes of it. You can have fine hair but it can be thin, ie fewer number of hairs per square inch. So fine is all about the diameter of the hair and thick is about the density of hair per square inch.

I think. Maybe a hairdresser could explain better.

X-post

I also have lots of fine hair.

It doesn't really hold a curl and can look a bit flat on my head. It's prone to breakage so I get split ends easily. Until recently my hair was down to the middle of my back but if I would have to backcomb mess about with it to make it look full in a bun or a ponytail.

She's talking about the shaft...... hair shaft that is. Some people have bigger shafts then others 🤷‍♂️

Ah

Different hair comes in different thicknesses. The actual stands of hair. I'm blonde and the hairs are fine but more of them grow out.

It's got nothing to do with the sort of bulk or body of the overall head of hair.

I agree when most people say thin hair they mean the actual head of hair has not so much bulk or body.

Blondes are also often v hairy but you can't really see it if you've got pale skin as it's very fine. EG I have hairy fingers, toes down arms in inside nearly to hands etc. But it's very fair and very fine like baby hair iyswim.

Anyway I think she meant the hairs were fine.

Also she's one person and you have never thought that or anyone you know so don't worry

The actual hair being thick or thin. My hair is thick and firm, I also have lots of it. My husband has thin, soft hair, and not a lot of it.

I'm hoping our kid will actually have hair that is stylable

My friend has lots of thin hair and my hair is thick and coarse - and I also have lots of I. There is a big difference between our hair.

I am so jealous of her!

It means the individual strands of hair are thin, but you have lots of them

So I'm in the fine hair/lots of it camp. When I leave the salon, my hair is so silky smooth that I can't even get it to stay into a ponytail without it falling out. This is because my strands are so fine... if I had thicker/coarser strands, I wouldn't have this problem. I end up having to use texturising products to fake thickness and achieve volume. Someone with thicker strands don't really need to do this.

Fine hair is also more susceptible to heat products and harsh chemicals.