Why does my hair seem shorter and thinner?

Not sure if this was already mentioned but make sure to DC your hair at least every week with your favorite conditioner+oil under a plastic cap. You can then tie a towel around it so it uses your body heat for a nice steaming effect, and leave it on for 15 or more minutes. After this your hair should be super soft and very easy to detangle, and you can style it right after rinsing until your next wash. Breakage should be very minimized this way.

Thanks ^_^ My hair is prone to dryness so I DC every single week and it does help a ton. I also henna once a month and that has improved the condition of my hair by making it a bit less porous and it also adds a bit of shine. I have also recently started using Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie for my leave in right after DCing, and for me I've found that it leaves my hair super moisturized and soft all week long. During the week I don't do much. I just spritz my hair with water+tiny bit of conditioner so I can re-smooth it back with my hands into buns and that's it.

I personally wouldn't but maybe some of the more experienced ladies here could help answer that question. I don't think it will necessarily hinder you a lot (unless you do it every day or something), but it may make your progress a lot slower if you do it a lot. In general, protective styles that keep your ends hidden is the best thing you can do if you want to retain the maximum possible length you can. The more you do it the better your results will be.

Do your ends feel dry? How do they look overall? Any split ends? 

Edited by tarah86 - Jan 15 2013 at 4:15pm

KhadiNiaomi wrote: @darkvalkyrie123 Is it okay to wear braidouts cause that's what im doing now im scarred that exposing my ends will hinder me from retaining length.

For sure, it's okay, but to maximize it I would suggest the following:

Invest in a good holding gel that won't leave build up like Eco styler. I'm natural and do twist outs all the time when I wear my hair out. However, I usually only twist my hair once a week. If you have a good holding gel (be it natural like flax seed gel you can make yourself or store bought like eco styler) you should be able to make your twist out/braid out last for a few days so you're not constantly manipulating your hair every night.

To make your style last between twists/braid sets, do the pineapple method where at night you pull your hair up into a high bun, tucking in the ends to protect them. Wrap with either a silk scarf or a silk bonnet. Then in the morning, just take your bun down, do a little bit of finger styling to "freshen" the look and you're good to go.

But IMO if you're really concerned about your ends, you might want to consider bunning for a while just to give your ends time to get over the damage and grow out without being faced with factors that can increase damage.

Keep in mind that in the winter time, just the friction caused by your ends rubbing against your coat, sweaters, etc can encourage breakage.