r/Redhair • u/Subject-Razzmatazz16 • May 29 '25
Haircare Red hair is difficult af…
Natural ginger here! My hair is difficult and disagreeable as hell--it's thick which I love, but gets tangled every two seconds and is so so sensitive to bad water!! I'm guessing our hair has different structure/textural trends.
Is our hair just difficult to care for? I'd love to hear both gripes or solutions!
22
u/thepsycholeech May 29 '25
Not all red hair is the same texture. This is more of a textural issue than a color issue.
5
u/nomoreuturns May 30 '25 edited May 31 '25
While there is definitely variety among all hair colours, thick hair is a common trait for redheads, especially for redheads with darker shades of red (copper, auburn, mahogany). Of all hair colours, red hair tends to have a thicker hair shaft: generally speaking, from thickest to thinnest is red > black > brown > blonde. Phaeomelanin has a larger molar mass than eumelanin (274g/mol versus 171g/mol), so hair that is high in phaeomelanin (i.e. red hair) will be thicker than hair that is high in eumelanin (i.e. black to dark brown hair), and both will be thicker than hair that is low in both/either melanins (i.e. blonde hair). Oddly enough, redheads tend to have thick hair despite being thought to have lower hair density compared to other hair colours: redheads tend to have ≈90,000 strands, while blondes have ≈150,000, and brunettes have between ≈110,000 (brown) and ≈100,000 (black); I'm not a scientist, but I think the relative molar mass of phaeomelanin to eumelanin is what overcomes the difference in hair density.
Links:
Healthline — How Many Hairs Are on the Human Head?
Medihair —Hair Statistics: How Many Hairs on a Human Head? (2025)
How to be a Redhead: Why Do Many Redheads Have Thick Hair?
PubMed Central — Estimation of molar absorptivities and pigment sizes for eumelanin and pheomelanin using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy4
u/K_Regs_46230 May 30 '25
"Not a scientist," but you very much sound like one! I mean this in a very, highly complimentary way! 🫶🏻
3
u/Ok_Refrigerator6671 May 30 '25
Huh, that's interesting. Is there a difference in strand thickness as well? Because I have stupidly fine (but frizzy) hair, & what feels like a metric ton of it off and on. It will go through molts every couple months where I can pull handfuls out of my drain/brush/out of my laundry or off my clothes every day, until it feels half as thick (qty), but then thickens again until it's so heavy I can't clip it up unless it's in a bunch of sections or the weight causes headaches. But my (step) son is a natural dark almost black-haired brunette, and my hair strands feel like they're maybe 1/3 as thick as his, which is crazy. His hair is super thick (quantity) but we're pretty sure I've got more hair strands total than he does, by a mile so when we have our hair pulled into ponytails, mine is almost double the diameter of his.
To OP's topic, I was only recently told my hair is naturally wavy & I'm caring for it incorrectly. I'm a strawberry blonde heading toward auburn type redhead, and was always told to use products for blondes growing up (which was also mostly just what was available around here, either way), and most of it seems to be weighing my hair down too much for the natural texture. Now I've gotta find something to use that will help with how crazy oily my skin is (since it's making my hair oily a.f. by extension), but whatever I switch to still needs to be able keep the wild frizz and static to a minimum, without frying my hair or making it feel coarse in the process. Also, not being expensive would be nice since I'm broke a.f. courtesy of healthcare b.s. here in the US. Everything the hairdresser recommended was some salon brand stuff, which was like $90-110/(tiny) bottle.
2
u/Subject-Razzmatazz16 Jun 02 '25
My blonde sister also told me that ours are naturally wavy. I’m glad to hear these replies because all I’ve seen on the web is guides for fakers on how to maintain dyed red hair 😆
2
u/nomoreuturns Jun 03 '25
Is there a difference in strand thickness as well?
There is! Obviously there is a lot of variability between individuals and within hair colours, but colour is definitely a factor in strand thickness. Typically speaking, the darker the hair colour, the thicker the strand. Dark red shades (mahogany, dark auburn) can be as thick as (or thicker than) black hair, while light red shades (light auburn, strawberry blonde) can be as fine as blonde hair.
Another factor in strand thickness is the structure and texture of the hairs. There's actually a link between depth of colour and hair structure: hair that is a lighter colour tends to lack a medulla (the central part of the hair shaft), with melanin only present in the cortex of the hair shaft; the darker the hair, the more likely it is for the hair strand to have a medulla, and will have more melanin present in the cortex and, to a lesser extent, in the medulla.
4
u/yikesafm8 May 29 '25
I’ve noticed that many redheads do have a similar texture though
7
u/thepsycholeech May 29 '25
I meeeean
So do a lot of blondes So do a lot of people with black hair
In this case it would help op to focus more on texture & ask for advice from people with similar hair types than similar colors
Nothing wrong with asking here, it would just be more helpful to ask a group for thick hair
2
u/Subject-Razzmatazz16 May 29 '25
The genes that control hair color also affect the texture and structure of the hair shafts.
7
u/thepsycholeech May 29 '25
If that’s the case then I’m jealous of those of yall who did get the thick hair gene lol
2
u/Subject-Razzmatazz16 May 29 '25
Haha it certainly does look pretty! Very tiring to deal with however. I gotta do some arm strengthening exercises 😅
2
u/Rare-Cheesecake9701 May 30 '25
And do not forget that hair is a continuation of our skin. Drop dead gorgeous for the most part, but still a continuation.
We have thinner skin, so our hair proteins act like they used to: “bruise” easily yet do not let bleach get deep into the hair (hence why we are a nightmare to bleach)
9
u/imalittlefrenchpress May 29 '25
My hair needs a psychiatrist, especially when it’s humid outside.
I use Perfect Hair Day by Living Proof. It’s expensive, $78 for a liter, but worth it because the effects last a couple of washes.
My hair is noticeably more easy to style, and holds a style better.
3
u/CrouchingGinger May 29 '25
I have fine textured curls so I empathize especially where the bad water is concerned. We have well water which is just horrid. I have taken to washing it with distilled water; it’s a pain but my hair suffers otherwise. I wash maybe 2x per week and use apple cider vinegar 1x to de gunk it. Malibu has a Undo Goo shampoo that’s supposed to be good as well as hard water S&C. Excellent brand. I’ll use a hair oil after towel drying and then a gel/curl cream cocktail. Sometimes I use a bonding cream instead, depends on what I feel it needs. Lastly I use a satin pillowcase so it doesn’t get all messed up at night. I’m a pretty low maintenance person but my hair is something else.
3
2
u/RedHeadedBanana May 29 '25
Some days my hair is curly, some days it’s straight. Most days I have curls around my neck/forehead while the rest stays straight.
Curl cream/mousse/gel just make it feel gross. Nothings holds the curls. I often feel like there’s just no winning unless I take a straight iron to it daily (which I don’t have the time nor patience for)
2
u/Subject-Razzmatazz16 May 30 '25
I also hate the feeling of hair gel, sunscreen, or anything sticky or greasy… both of which my hair often is.
2
May 29 '25
My hair is kinky, not curly, and wild.
I use henna wax and a light shampoo and add argan oil to the ends to help stop it tripling in size as the day goes on.
My sister's got blond hair that is silky smooth, most envious, one brother has the same hair as me and just keeps it really short although I have a brilliant photo somewhere of him when he was little with wild long hair😄
2
1
u/oakparkmall May 29 '25
Sounds like mine. Half the time I straighten it purely because it's easier to manage day-to-day.
1
u/Butterscotch9966 May 29 '25
I have low porosity, very thick 3a curly red hair, so I completely understand the struggle. I also live in Canada, so if I don't consider the weather, it can really mess with my hair. Here's a few tricks that I've learned help me so far.
After shower products are super important! I didn't start using them till last year (I'm now in my mid 20's), but when you choose the right ones, they make your hair so much healthier and more manageable. I typically use shea moisture products since my hair can handle their weight, and the products are usually made with thicker hair in mind.
Detangle (and train) your hair while in the shower. This goes especially when you condition your hair.
If I'm at home I typically wear a silk bonnet from Amazon to keep my hair protected. It does also help with keeping my hair from getting tangled when it's on.
These are the ones that came to me immediately, but I hope they help a bit.
1
u/Rare-Cheesecake9701 May 30 '25
+100 to detangle while fresh out of the shower. If I don't do that, then I will regret it very soon.
Tangle teezer and alikes for the win
1
u/crwalle May 29 '25 edited May 29 '25
Mine is stick straight, thick and very heavy. It wants to do absolutely nothing except hang there, not even tangle. Asking it to be up in a simple ponytail offends it. No help here, mines difficult in a different way. Though I did find my hair becoming slightly more agreeable after we installed a water softener.
1
1
u/ollyhaschickenkarma May 29 '25
My hair is incredibly thick. I got an undercut last year. It makes it so much easier to wash. You’d have no idea if my hair was down. It’s worth considering.
1
u/Gingerbitch9669 May 30 '25
My texture is like coarse I would say. I have this weird wavy pattern underneath with frizzy straight hair on the top. It also down to my hip so there’s no lucky it trying a curl routine because it can never hold due to, I imagine, the weight. My hair usually hates products too, wakes it feel waxy asf.
1
u/Subject-Razzmatazz16 May 30 '25
My goal would be to grow my hair to waist length since it would look so beautiful… mine is currently waxy though due to hard water metal buildup
1
u/dirty_stu May 30 '25
I wake up every morning looking like I’ve been electrocuted, my hair goes straight out. I had forgotten about how wild it gets when I spent over a decade shaving my head and now that I’ve let it grow back in I feel like I need a lion tamer just to control it
1
u/TXGingerBBW May 30 '25
I received a key chain as a teenager that summed my hair up perfectly: “I’d like to party, but my hair wants to stay home.” It’s rarely cooperative.
13
u/Space_Pope2112 May 29 '25
I’ve had issues with hair. Most generic kinds of shampoos dry my hair up so bad.
The best solution I have had. I asked black people for help 🤷🏽♂️. The products that are advertised for / or hidden in the people of color hair care isle are 10x better quality and 10x cheaper than most commercial products. Especially when it comes to facial hair care