Hello all, I'm new here and I've been reading some of the threads and I'm liking what I see so far!  So the story on me is, up until I was 16 and first dyed my hair (never should have done that!)  I had black, fine, pretty much straight hair that wasn't very thick but it definitely was not thin, it was just normal.  Now I'm almost 22 and have dyed my hair many times, bleached it 3 times and stripped it (because I had dyed it black) once.  16 is also when I started either straightening my hair w/an iron every day or scrunching it with TONS of hairspray, gel AND mousse.  Needless to say, all that had a really bad effect on my hair.  I started noticing that it was thin, breaking off, falling out and splitting.  It got pretty bad, my buns and ponytails are still pretty pathetic and embarassing.  It's been about 2 months that I stopped straightening, blowdrying and scrunching my hair w/lots of product.  During these past 2 months, I've straightened only twice for special occassions.  I am also taking a biotin supplement daily, eating healthier and exercising.  I also stopped washing it every day w/shampoo, although I do wet it almost every day because it can get really flat and oily.  I use either Folicure shampoo or Loreal Nutri-gloss shampoo for normal/fine hair about every other day, I know that's too much but my hair feels so gross if I don't wash it.  I condition it about twice a week with charles worthington moisture lock.  I also use Aussie Hair Insurance leave-in conditioner every time I wet it.  To style, I just let it air dry, then put it in a ponytail or else I scrunch it a little with sun-silk anti-flat leave-in conditioner/gel and it gets pretty wavy.  I haven't dyed my hair in 6 months so only the ends are dyed, because I want my natural, normal, black hair back! To think when I was 16 I thought it was horrible and now I'd do anything to get it back! It is bra strap length, and After looking at the hair typing page, my hair is currently 1B-F-i, so it's straight/slightly wavy, very fine and pretty thin,  it's about 2.2 inches around When I pull my hair back, my scalp shows sometimes.  Is there anything else I should be doing?  I know I should switch to natural, organic products for my hair but I am a college student on a budget.  Is there anything I can make at home to condition it?  Also, I am going to start trimming my own hair from now on.  Every hairdresser tells me to keep my layers because it is the only way for thin hair to look thicker but I disagree, I think it makes my hair look even thinner and scraggly.  What else should I be doing? I am seeing some results because my hair feels and looks a lot healthier...ok sorry so long, but I could really use your tips and input!

I don't recommend using conditioner on the hair that is on your head.  I only use conditioner on the hair below the nape of my neck.  This keeps the conditioner off the scalp.  Conditioner on the scalp can cause the folicles to get clogged which can cause your hair to fall out.

Most people use the ACV rinse after shampooing and before conditioning, but others use the ACV rinse as the last step.

Oiling can be done while the hair is wet right after shampooing, or when the hair is dry.  When first starting with the oils, I suggest doing it the night before you plan to shampoo.  This allows the oil to be absorbed overnight and if you overdo the oil, shampooing the next day will take care of the excess.    Once you know how much oil to use so that you don't look like a grease-head in the morning, you can oil your hair every night.  During the dry winter months, I also add a tiny bit of oil to the ends of my hair in the morning.  This helps control the static and compensate for the very dry air.

Your shampooing frequency if probably tied to your regular use of a leave-in conditioner and deep conditioning.  If you eliminated or reduced the frequency of these, you might find you can extend the time between shampoos.  Again- remember to NOT condition the hair on your head - just the ends or length. 

Hope this helps!