HAIR DENSITY: Natural vs. Relaxed.

[miss_a]

LADIES, you would think that I would know the answer to this question, but I need your help!

I am on the quest for obtaining thick hair.

Right now, I am seventh months, post-relaxer.

Is natural, healthy hair by default THICKER than relaxed, healthy hair?

For those whom have gone natural, have you found a difference in the overall density and thickness of your hair?

Talk to me!

 

[sunnieb]

Every. single. post will say the following:

"My natural hair is sooooo much thicker than my thin, lifeless relaxed hair was. That's why I'm NEVER relaxing again!"

But, good luck on your natural hair journey OP.

 

[Prettymetty]

My relaxed hair was actually thicker. I have beem natural for 3 years and for the first time in my life my hair seems thin and fine. I don't know if it's my age (31) or genetics or the fact that I had 4 kids within 5 years or what, but my hair is definitely thinner now

 

[atlien11]

My natural hair is thicker

It is tho ...even when straightened its still thicker than my relaxed hair.

Pretty sure it has something to do with the chemicals breaking bonds and layers in order for the product to work.

 

[NappyNelle]

My natural hair is thicker, as in the individual strands are larger. My density is the same as when relaxed, but my hair looks fuller.

Natural hair is not healthier than relaxed hair by default; it all depends on how you take care of your hair.

 

[pearlific1]

I was BSL/MBL-ish relaxed for 15 years and loved it right until I went natural. I always assumed that my hair was thin by nature--until I became natural. While my natural hair is still fine, its overall fullness is unmatched.

 

[ms-gg]

My natural hair is waaay fuller than my relaxed hair was. My relaxed hair was always breaking off, it was just not healthy at all. I didn't even know how thick my hair really was until I stopped perming it.

 

[LivingInPeace]

I had thick relaxed hair but my natural hair is much thicker. I think of pony tail holders and clips that I used when relaxed that can only hold half of my hair now.

 

[Joigirl]

My relaxed hair was thick, but my natural hair is much, much thicker. It is a true lion's mane and I love it!

 

[HappyAtLast]

My density is the same, but my strand thickness is like 4-5x greater natural than relaxed. This is a pic of my transitioning hair. You can see from the piece I pulled down in that one section how much thinner my relaxed hair strands are. The chemicals did that. I can achieve that same thinness if I cause heat damage.

 

[Napp]

My hair is about the same

 

[Prettymetty]

I will say that my hair is much stronger and breaks less. Being relaxer free doesn't guarantee thick/thicker hair.

 

[faithVA]

My density of my natural hair is the same as what my relaxed hair was when my scalp was healthy. When I do my curlformers set it looks the same as when I roller set my relaxed hair.

I eventually had scalp issues when I was relaxed so my hair thinned out. And it remained that thin even after going natural until I found out how to turn it around.

 

[deborah11]

My relaxed hair was thick but my natural hair was definitely thicker or at least appeared much fuller ten years ago when I started on my natural hair journey. My hair now is much thinner than it used to be even when it was relaxed. I am menopausal now and my hair has sustained immense shedding and breakage that has caused major thinning. I will try and turn it around if possible but hormones are no joke. So much has changed now but life continues to move on and we have to do the best we can under the circumstances.

 

[CodeRed]

LADIES, you would think that I would know the answer to this question, but I need your help!

I am on the quest for obtaining thick hair.

Right now, I am seventh months, post-relaxer.

Is natural, healthy hair by default THICKER than relaxed, healthy hair?

For those whom have gone natural, have you found a difference in the overall density and thickness of your hair?

Talk to me!

Nope. That's why I went back to being relaxed. I grew my hair completely natural to above shoulder length, got it flat ironed and it looked the exact same as when I got it relaxed. I was disappointed because I thought the reason my hair looked so fine was because it was being damaged by the relaxer.... Nope. When I was completely natural I only had heat applied to my hair when it was to get flat ironed and that was only once so it wasn't like the fine-ness was due to heat damage either. I said ok... I can have my hair look the exact same without any kind of fuss... going back

Edit: I'd like to add also that even when I was a kid I had "fine" hair... I just have enough of it not to make it look so when it gets longer.

 

[miss_a]

LADIES: I appreciate your responses (please keep them coming!).

HappyAtLast , when I was in the stylist chair, my hair looked a lot like yours in terms of transitioning. I was shocked at the density difference between my 7 months of new growth and my 2 1/2 years of relaxed hair. Blew my mind.

BUT it is interesting to know that thickness may be the same, in terms of natural vs. relaxed, I would have never suspected that at all. My assumption was that natural hair was nearly 2x - 3x thicker than relaxed....

 

[Blairx0]

I wonder if you are talking about density. My hair is equally dense relaxed and natural. My natural hair is more full because of the curl, however both were big was non-heat tamed

 

[yaya24]

Mine is the same.
When I straighten my natural hair it looks like my healthy relaxed hair looked.

 

[Evolving78]

My hair density is the same! I'm relaxed as of now. I have fine hair, but it gives the appearance of thick and fullness. I would say I have medium to high density. This is a pic of my relaxed hair a few years ago and it appears to be very thick. I wasn't texlaxed either.

 

[ravenhairedcharm]

So when I first went natural and subsequently texlaxed, my texlaxed hair had more volume. I could get big hair easier. I still had the same density though. Can anyone tell me why that is?? How can I get more volume out of my natural hair? I'm a 4a/4b.

But as everyone has said natural hair will be thicker. When I used to be relaxed completely straight, my hair was much thinner than my natural hair.

 

[Britt]

LADIES, you would think that I would know the answer to this question, but I need your help!

I am on the quest for obtaining thick hair.

Right now, I am seventh months, post-relaxer.

Is natural, healthy hair by default THICKER than relaxed, healthy hair?

For those whom have gone natural, have you found a difference in the overall density and thickness of your hair?

Talk to me!

Talking to you long post ahead lol.
This right here was def driving impetus in my decision to go natural. It wasn't a lifestyle change, or anything deep/spiritual - it was for healthier, and thicker hair, and also a different look.

I haven't been natural long, but when I got my hair straightened I can't say that it felt and looks much thicker than my relaxed hair. It looks shinier and has a different finish when it's straightened but the volume and density don't seem to be that much different as yet. I will have a better assessment as my hair gets longer and it's more even. My straightened hair is in layers and has different lengths so that makes it a little tricky to really compare it how my relaxed hair looks.

I've seen sooo many naturalistas that when they go natural and straighten their hair it pales in comparison to their relaxed hair. But at the same time, I notice that not all of us have thick, high density hair where when it's straightened it's thick and heavy. Just as there are naturals who have thick, high density hair, there are naturals who have low density or thinner hair. Kikicouture10 on YT comes to mind when I think of her relaxed hair compared to her natural hair. There's also a member here whose name Idk, but I've seen her hair journey on natural blogs and on youtube and she came across my IG feed the other day and I was like DAMNNNN, she really has a HUGE beautiful head of hair now.

Like, I know my hair will never look like those naturals with a heavy head of hair where they have hair for days. I just don't have that amount of volume and density. My twist outs will not look like everyone else's. I do think b/c your hair is natural, by default it will look fuller and fluffier and give the illusion of more hair and it feels like more hair. My natural hair feels soo fluffy, soft, full and thick in my hands I it.

On a more hopeful note, I will have a better answer for this when I'm like 2 years natural b/c so many naturals I see literally have a MUCH thicker head of hair after they've been natural for a while. I'm not saying in 2 years I'm gonna wake up and have hair like Nap85, but I'm quite sure my hair will be more than it is now. When I was transitioning, this is the one thing that I'd watch and study in blogs/youtube/forums --- the before and after when ppl go natural. I also think hair changes overtime too when you've been chemical free for a while. I know that early on in my transitioning, specifically around the 6 month part, the back of my hair was straight disrespectful! I know I have different textures all over, but back there was DIFFICULT. It wasn't until my transition continued that the hair became more tame and easier to manage lol. Now when I do my hair and I feel and look back there I'm like wowww, this was the area that I dreaded and now it's not difficult at all. It's not as dry and wiry. And honestly, I wear textured styles alllll the time so everything pretty much plays together well b/c it's in a twist out.

I hope this gives you some insight

 

[miss_a]

Britt , this is why I love this board. AND Britt, we have both been on LCHF for over a decade and some change, now!

I truly appreciate your analysis, Britt. I believe my largest concern is why go through the stress of tangles and knots when the density is the same for relaxed hair? How can that even potentially be?!?! As in, do some individuals' hair thrive more when relaxed than when natural? Questions, questions, questions

 

[DoDo]

I don't think the density changes unless the hair was actively thinning while relaxed. However the volume tends to change because of the presence of curl and for some the strand thickness can increase.

 

[Britt]

@Britt , this is why I love this board. AND Britt, we have both been on LCHF for over a decade and some change, now!

I truly appreciate your analysis, Britt. I believe my largest concern is why go through the stress of tangles and knots when the density is the same for relaxed hair? How can that even potentially be?!?! As in, do some individuals' hair thrive more when relaxed than when natural? Questions, questions, questions

miss_a You're welcome !!

Yessss! I've been on here for a minute and have seen various changes in my hair. Honestly, the best way to find out is to do it! You honestly won't know until you're natural. I had really no idea what my hair was going to look like, behave, etc before I went natural. I just saw that mostly everyone's hair thrived whether they are a heat trained natural or a regular natural. I also don't get a lot of knots/tangles/etc. I use the same exact comb and brush I used when I was relaxed lol.

 

[kandake]

I went natural thinking I would have thicker hair. But that wasn't the case. I have low density hair. When relaxed it was thin. As a natural when I straighten it, it's still thin. It appears only slightly thicker due to strand size and I'm guessing humidity in the air.

 

[Amarilles]

Density (how many strands per inch on the scalp) doesn't change based on the state of our hair, unless our hair is thinning due to a health issue. The strand thickness does change when relaxed though, it'll become thinner which can seem/appear as less dense even if it isn't actually the case.

Below is a pic of my strands while transitioning, from my Komaza analysis. The blueish-looking strand in the middle is a natural strand next to a ton of relaxed ones... and one can see the difference in diameter of the one natural strand vs the relaxed strands. The Komaza rep had said that even though my relaxed hair was highly heat damaged they still measured as coarse strands, which kinda shows that even if relaxers affect our thickness some, coarse hair could/would still remain so, and relaxing doesn't automatically mean thin strands. However it does lessen the diameter of the strands.

 

[RoundEyedGirl504]

Natural hair will appear more dense IMO because it's curly, so mine by default looks full. Now comparing my relaxed hair to my straightened natural hair there is no difference in density. My hair tends to be very light/cottony when straight and didn't change for me without a relaxer.

 

[Victorian]

Going natural will not spontaneously cause your scalp to develop new follicles.

Any damage you may have had that was directly caused by relaxing (such as shedding or breakage, which would affect density), would go away once you stop relaxing and grow your hair out. So you might see your hair become denser (which really just means a return to "normal") once those problems are solved.

It's also the case that as a natural there are plenty of other reasons you hair might break or shed as well, like product reactions, heat damage, rough handling, breakage from knots, etc., so it's not a given that your hair will automatically be at its best because it is natural.

My hair is both fine (strand) and thin (density). It has been my whole life, both relaxed and natural. I wear it straight as a natural now and I prefer the look to my relaxed hair because I find it easier to make it look more voluminous and it holds a curl better. YMMV

 

[sharifeh]

Density doesn't change from relaxed to natural. My hair is extremely dense when relaxed and now that I am mostly natural. When I'm fully natural- it's just gonna take longer to actually do my hair Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[havilland]

Every. single. post will say the following: "My natural hair is sooooo much thicker than my thin, lifeless relaxed hair was. That's why I'm NEVER relaxing again!" But, good luck on your natural hair journey OP.

Ok....ummmm.....Why? I'm curious as to why you responded this way.