Best Way to Make Your HT Glisten w/ Extra Density&Naturalness?

[thanatopsis_awry]

I can't prove with exactitude that this is The Best, but after years of extremely thorough if not outright insane testing and comparing, I feel confident in the following system of hair care for the HT, ultimately perfected when I was trying to combat a brutal shed I was experiencing.

 

The three tenants throughout research: density (the illusion and actual increase), naturalness (both undetectability of product *and* boosting the naturalness of the HT itself), health (is the stuff actually good for your hair and scalp, hair-geekdom aside).

 

Without further ado, and with much labor behind it:

 

a) Aveda Pure Abundance Clay Shampoo and Conditioner. The key ingrediant is 'acacia gum', which is the *only* ingrediant in a shampoo that I have *ever* felt actually improves the density and fullness of your hair. That aside, it makes hair more manageable, has a nice, fairly masculine scent, and is very good for sensitive scalps, as well.

 

*a lot goes a long way.

 

b)Samy Fat Hair Thickening Cream. This is a cream that essentially mimics what a volumizing mousse might try to do. Except it works better than any other product on the market in its class. Interestingly, while it does add extra fullness to your hair, the most remarkable thing is the following: it tames HT hair like nothing else, while not sacrificing density, but actually increasing it alongside this amazing benefit. This product facilitates naturalness and the ability to easily style your hair as you choose.

 

c) Blow Dry. Use a blow dryer following this, tilting your head downward, and when head upright blowdrying the hairs in an inward and upward way. The heat activates the thickening agents, and fully and seamlessly meshes the aforesaid product(s) with your hair.

 

d) Aveda Pure Abundance Hair Potion. Many people are reticent to use a "concealer". Aveda Hair Potion is the perfect middleman. It's an incredibly unique rooted in "acacia gum" being dispensed in the most effective, and result-producing manner. It is little white specs, not unlike small pieces of salt, except when lightly sprinkled onto your hands and rubbed together....disappears in a bizarre emulsification process. When you scrunch and do a mock-run of styling your hair with your fingers it transfers the product in a 100% seamless, undetectable way. The result: density and fullness is added to your hair -- particularly effective and special in that it can be used directly on the hairline in utterly seamless fashion -- and, it gives lots of texture to your hair which can allow more effective (and easy) styling options.

 

*a problem with having "actual" texture added to your hair by way of a stylist going to work is that density can be sacrificed, so in addition to the thickening effect, this a nice ancillary benefit.

 

e) Blow Dry. One more time, quickly.

 

*this step is a personal choice of sorts, and I wouldn't consider it essential.

 

f) Dirt. Described as "designed to easily give you the amazing way your hair looks and behaves the day after washing". In a word, this product is: perfection. It feels like space-age material, and is a totally uniqur hybrid of a wax and paste. It is the best styling product I have ever used, hands down -- both in controlling your hair, increasing perceived density, and, uniquely, it gives a "movie star" look in that while it's potency is incredible and incredibly varied, it doesn't look like you even have all this product in your hair.

 

*Jonathan's Dirt is the original product, and what I prefer. It's expensive, though, and there is a generic version by FX called Texture Dirt, which is a knockoff. It's dirt cheap (badoomching), but works pretty similiarly.

 

**I'll often mix in some Cristoff Texturizing Paste with Dirt, as the Cristoff product is slightly better at adding density to hair. I don't consider this essential, but I'm OCD about my hair and will often do this to just max out every possible angle of working the HT to its best.

 

That's it. One time affair and my hair will hold and stay cool till I shower next. IMHO, this is the Holy Grail of hair care, particularly if you've had a HT.

[thanatopsis_awry]

In retrospect, I possibly should have posted this in the Shampoo/Concealer section. Though, I truly feel *incredibly* strongly in how effective this regiment is, and think it could be a huge boon for a lot of people who have had HTs.

[aaron1234]

Thana,

 

Great post. You've already stated before that you had used concealers. Did you find these Shampoos, etc. more effective than dermmatch?

[thanatopsis_awry]

Thx Aaron. I would say....if you are "very" bald, concealer is still your best bet. I think this regiment is *perfect* for someone who has had a HT, though.

 

The issues we deal with: the illusion of density and naturalness are met reallyreallyreally well by this regiment, and in a way that concealers couldn't even touch.

 

Personally, nanogen and dermmatch can't even do *that* much for me right now -- with how my hair is, my goals, how I want to style it, concealers simply aren't geared at this, and they aren't that effective. On top of their detectability, which becomes more difficult to contain when you *have* a good deal of hair that you want to style, but you don't have *that* much true density.

[Ronald]

Wow, an absolutely phenomenal post.....

 

Thanks, cant thank you enough for taking the time to write that.

[Julius]

Great post! The Aveda shampoo and conditioner prices are quite reasonable; I will definitely give it a go.

[ScottishGuy]

Really great info!

 

Looking at your blog your HT looks excellent. Do you feel that you need these products to make the HT look natural? Do you use them everyday?

 

If you had to use just one of those products, which would you say is the most useful? This could be handy for lazy people like me that don't spend much time on styling etc (although maybe that will change if my HT comes in as well as yours!).

[thanatopsis_awry]

Thx. Scottish, I wasn't using any of these products in the pics in my weblog, actually, nor the more recent pics in my HT thread. So while I feel that these products dramatically accentuate my HT in a positive way, they are *not* necessary to achieve a nice, natural look.

 

I don't use them all everyday (probably 3-4 days a week I do); I do use the Aveda Pure Abunance shampoo/conditioner daily, along with Dirt pretty much everday.

 

If I had to pick *one* product....it would probably be Dirt. The Samy Fat Hair is pretty remarkable, but you should really blow dry your hair afterwards to reap the rewards, so....If you don't mind blowdrying your hair real quick, I would actually recco Samy Fat Hair as the #1 product....

[spin266]

thanks for info thana,ienjoy reading your posts very informative.you are wiser than your years.where can i find the shampoo and conditioner.i think i can get by with a good volumiser(spell?).i currently use aproduct called follipro which supposedly contains copper peptides.expensive though

[thanatopsis_awry]

No prob, Spin, just paying it forward.

 

You can get the shampoo/conditioner off of the main Aveda website online, though I think you can get better deals by getting it through Amazon.com, actually.

 

Each of the products/tecniques mentioned has a unique effect on our HT hair. Each product I found to be almost tailor-made for the man who has had a HT, and deals with the "issues" we have, including sheds, the nature of the "illusion of density", and how even fully matured HTs can be tough to totally "tame".

 

Particularly, if you are going through a bad shed -- like I have been -- it is great to have a go-to regiment to help get you through it.

 

Also, if you have very thick/course/wavy HT hair -- which is a blessing and curse -- I've found these products to do an amazing job on restoring your...pre-op naturalness and way your hair behaved.

[Take a chance]

Hi Thana,

 

I was just wondering if you would post a couple of before and after pics. What your hair looks like before and after using these products.

 

Having had a HT 7 months ago I will definitely give this system a go. Thanks.

[Guest wanthairs]

Thana--

 

Please tell us where to buy all this stuff..

 

Thanks !

[thanatopsis_awry]

That's a good idea -- have to work around Yankee playoff games, but I'll do something like that this week. I'm working through a shed so this is a perfect time to highlight how the regiment influences density and naturalness.

 

WH, the Aveda stuff can be had off their main online site (Aveda.com or something like that), or off of Amazon.com; the Samy Fat Hair and generic Dirt I got at Wallgreens; the original Dirt is sold at select salons and random online salon boutiques.

[hairfreak]

Thanatopsis_awry - Im going give your guide a go.

I have looked on the net for some place that supplies Samy Fat Hair Thickening Cream in the UK but cant find it.

 

Do you think the spray http://www.superdrug.com/Hair-.../invt/523534&bklist= would work just as good or would you recommend buying the cream from the States?

 

Thanks

[imissthebarber]

It looks like you can get the creme at the uk version of amazon.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samy-Fat-Hair-Creme-Thickening/dp/B001GRTHK0

 

Thana - thanks for the informative post, I'm sure plenty of guys will be giving these products a try!

[hairfreak]

Hi - Yeah I actually seen the exact same page even went through and was about to buy it... but it takes 5 days and the postage is almost 7 pounds at that price and time scale I might as well get it from the States hehe

[Leeson]

Thanks Thana! Picked up some Texture Dirt yesterday. It was buy one get one free at Walgreens, so I am well stocked up. Love the stuff so far.

[M&M]

Great information Thana and thanks for sharing your regimen, as it's amazing what good shampoo and styling products can do to enhance the appearance of density!

 

I'll definitely give this go. (Copy, paste into email and go shopping!)

 

M&M

[Lastchance]

Great research Thana, thanks for posting it. I'll certainly be trying out the first one on your list, aveda clay for starters anyway.

[hairfreak]

For the UK guys, Samy fat hair cream can actually be bought in store at Superdrug just not online, it is 5.79 and at the moment the bottles contain 50% extra free

[youngsuccess]

Great post. I probably would have never heard of any of these products.

 

Let's get some pics of that styled hair, son!

[Maxxy]

Thanks for the guide Thana, ordered all the products today minus the Dirt - the Aveda products don't come cheap lol.

[thanatopsis_awry]

Haha, I just hope the products will work as well for you as they have for me. Individually, they all work quite well -- but they have a synergistic effect, too. Again, I think the Samy Fat Hair creme is the most amazing in how how well it tames HT hairs and facilitates such easy styling opportunities.

 

The Aveda products are indeed pricy, but a little goes a *long* way with them. Out of the Aveda line I would rate the Hair Potion as the most vital -- the clay conditioner I do believe to be really good, but you can find a similiar volumizing shampoo/conditioner on the super cheap that could be more cost-value.

 

After blowdrying my HT hairs become almost totally seamless with my non-HT hairs and how they behaved pre-MPB.

 

I took some pics of my mop with these products and also after I just got my hair bleached. I'll be posting them this evening.

[Forrest Gump]

Thana, very informational post. Thanks for the info!

 

I look forward to seeing your before/after pics without/with these products.

[aaron1234]

Just had to bump this amazing post.

 

I bought the Samy Fattening Cream and the FX Dirt tonight and cannot believe the difference they make. I'm only 4 months post op and feel I can pretty much style my hair the way I want to now. Unfortunately, I still need to use dermmatch on the crown so I'm putting a plethora of products on my head. But it looks like I'll be able to weed off from the concealer (toppik/dermmatch) for the front now with these products. And the great thing is is that I just started to grow from HT #2.

 

On another note, I searched like 4 stores tonight looking for the aveda shampoo. Good grief, I should have just given up. I guess the internet is the way to go for their products.

 

But three cheers to Thana for the research, the experimentation, and the great write up!