Very long thick hair

[RedRobyn2021]

My hair is long (down to my boobs) mid-dark brown and very thick. I usually wash is every 5-6 days and then straighten it (this helps calm it down).

I'm in my early 30s, is this at all fashionable? I don't know what to do with it at all, I just wear it down all the time, I feel like it's taking over a bit

I've had a really short Bob in the past but it's so thick this can make it stick out if it's humid or my hair gets wet. Think, Lego hair.

What is actually fashionable/nice nowadays for a woman in her 30s?

Looking at other mums most don't seem to have such long hair and it feels like nobodies is as thick as mine 🙄

It’s difficult isn’t it? I’m 35 and my hairdresser tells me out of all her clients my hair is the thickest. It sounds like a blessing, but actually, it’s just really hard to manage and it takes too long to actually do anything with it. I straighten it (to calm it down) and I also wash it every 5 days or so. Any more and it’s too much work and it doesn’t really get greasy. I’ve had the Lego Bob and that’s not a good look either.

I think keeping it mid length and straightened is the way forward for people with really, really thick hair. I just have a blunt trim and that’s it, although I can go months even years without cutting it and it will not look scraggy.

@MrsOracle yes! All of this I could have written it myself. In a lot of ways it's almost easier longer, but I worry that it's almost ostentatious now it's dominating my appearance. I can do like 2 French plaits but it's too heavy and long to do a messy bun or really to even have it in a high pony, yet it's always kind of in the way.

Yes maybe I need to try some kind of mid length

I always wanted a bob like Kristen Bell in Veronica Mars, it wasn't meant to be I suppose

I've got that hair, sort of hair that made hairdressers huff and puff, and I never ended up with a hair style that wasn't insanely difficult to look after. Layers often look really bad if you've got very thick hair, and blunt cuts like you say just look like a brick! So I stopped bothering and just let it grow and I dry it naturally to encourage natural wave. Straightening can be very damaging to very long hair, and for me the thickness meant I never managed to get it all.
Gorgeous, long, thick hair is always in style and much admired if it's looked after. Just my opinion, of course, but for me I couldn't stand all that faffing around for hours and it still looking shit.

@SillyAutomatic

This is an excellent attitude

You're right about straightening of course but I only straighten it about once a week so it's not excessive

I've had a few positive comments but I have a sneaky feeling it's just people trying to be kind

I love that you have taken this approach, good for you. That's really what we should all be doing tbh

This is my hair! I have it layered a bit and in a shoulder length long choppy bob now (nearly 60) but had it down to my waist until I was early 40s. It went very crimped looking from when I got pregnant with my DD, bizarrely!

As @SillyAutomaticsays, it was often admired (particularly by the DCs little girl friends at the time!) but I had it cut as I felt I might be starting to look a bit witchy 😃

It is heavy and hot in the summer anx a really short style (not since I was a kid) made me look like I had a nest on my head!

@bigTillyMint

I worry about looking witchy too!

Does really long hair just not look right when you get to a certain age?

I am hopeless at this stuff

Have you tried using hair masks? They might soften your hair and help it appear less thick, perhaps!

Go to an amazing hairdresser... have a good chop of the length, thinning and an undercut!

@Passthebrownsauce, I have tried them. My hair still needs a bit of serum and straightening to get less volume. But like the others I only wash and blow dry and straighten every 4-5 days usually.

Mine is also incredibly thick. I’ve actually just had it cut to a bob as I was bored with it.

When it was long I had an undercut at the back that was an absolute game changer. It reduced the volume by almost half and meant I could actually wear it up and in lots of styles that previously didn’t work due to the weight and volume

I used to have thick hair. I'm now feeling terribly sad that it's just normal thickness now, heading towards thin 😭 Anyway ...

I used to wash mine every morning, using tons of conditioner. This was mainly because I went swimming most days, though. I'd leave it wet while I did my morning things, then put it in a plait before leaving. By the time I got to work it was dry-ish and I'd undo the plait. This made it wavy all through the lengths, and I never had to use heat.

There's a thing called "French layering" which I still do with my hair, though it's now chin-length and less thick, because it adds shape. It involves cutting fairly chunky layers with thinning shears - the ones with a saw-toothed blade - in the 'inside' hair, leaving the top layer all one length. It's a great way of controlling the volume of long hair, and also resolves the wedge-shaped problem in a thick bob. Hairdressers know how to do this, whether they call it "French" or not.

I also have very thick hair and now wear it roughly between chin and just touching shoulder length as anything longer was too much weight and too difficult to handle.

Agree undercuts can be fabulous if your hairdresser knows what they are doing.

Finding a good SLS-free leave in conditioner was the miracle for me. Less frizz, smoother, better condition, sits better.

Get an undercut OP!

I did this a few years ago as my thick hair will not stay in any kind of up do for long and the hot summer/peri menopause was not fun.

My hairdresser will trim my undercut every few weeks and charges me a fiver (if her boss is in that day!) and I have now trained DD2 how to use clippers.

Seriously though the undercut has taken about 3 layers of hair away and it sits much better and I can have it longer which I prefer. Ant shorted than shoulder length and I look like a playmobil figure.

Haha img yes I've had the "Lego/playmobil head" look once too often in my life. Finding a great hairdresser makes such a difference.

I'm currently sporting a lego hairstyle. Very tick hair and now growing out the choppy chin length Bob. Why not plait it? A French or fish plait always looks lovely

Thick fringe is my answer. It feels like you've got a hairstyle even when you've not done anything much to it. And does a similar job to an undercut in reducing the sheer amount of hair. Especially great to have hair out of my eyes and face.

Is it curly/wavey?

My hair is also v v thick and I normally end up with 3 hairdressers trying to dry it 🙈😂

Agree with pp who said layers don't look right but neither does a blunt cut.

I have discovered my hair is actually naturally curly not just a massive, frizzy mess so am loosely doing the curly girl method. On a good day it actually looks alright, will try and find a pic...

Same here, @GarlicGrace.

Ignore any calls for thinning and chopping, OP! Enjoy what you have while you have it!

I have a really good hairdresser tbh I wouldn't change her

Not feeling the idea of an undercut tbh

My hair is wavy naturally, I was thinking about trying that heartless curler thing you put in before bed, but I don't really want more volume

Just looking up the curly girl method, it sounds interesting. I would like to stop using the straighteners if possible, it doesn't look bad when not straightened, just a bit scruffy

That's funny, I've had 2 hairdressers drying mine at the same time before. I get so fed up of the comments "it's just so thick and you have sooo much"

I was having to cut my hair out of the hoover today. That's one thing I miss about it being short, much less hair dropped everywhere

Wave from the woman who was 35 minutes late to her own wedding as the hairdresser underestimated the time it would take to dry.

OP why not try the rabbit hole of insta there are some great long hair styles on there.

I’ve found my people! My hair is the same - thick, long and if I’m not careful I end up looking like Hagrid!

I’ve found brushing when wet and letting dry naturally stops some of the thickness. The heartless curls works for me but I can’t always be bothered. I put in a fishtail plait and that often looks good (I used to get called Elsa when I did this with white blonde hair 🤣). I straighten my hair a lot but I am very lucky that it has always been in very good condition.

theres a wavy girl method on TikTok I want to try but the products look very expensive so I’m a bit hesitant.

im currently 4 months postpartum and it is malting like mad, it’s not an exaggeration to say I am brushing out a good few handfuls every day (scared the crap out of husband when I forgot to Chuck it- he thought there was a small furry animal in our bathroom!)

Boob length on me is a horrible length, anything between shoulders and boobs makes it sit wrongly. My hair is thick and wavy and it needs to be short (above the shoulder) or long (below my bra strap, ideally a few inches longer) but mid length just goes triangular and deeply unflattering on me.

Boob length isn't that long. I thought when you wrote that it was very long that it was waist length.

As I am now post menopausal my hair is considerably more sparse..

Be careful what you wish for.

Mn won't let me add photos for some reason, I like the cantu hair products, current regime is wash with faith in nature shampoo and conditioner, then put in the cantu leave in conditioner, brush through, then put in the cantu hair custard (bit like a gel) comb through and finger curl. Allow to air dry.

Generally this looks okay, unfortunately I haven't quite perfected the look for more than one day and I only wash my hair twice a week!!