QuoteReplyTopic: Split ends? Posted: March 03 2007 at 10:16pm
Hi,
I have always wanted really long hair. I use to post on another long hair forum several years back. I did get my hair to midback but it was fried from highlights and a perm. I cut my hair of when I was pregnant and have been getting it cut ever since. It has been over two years since I cut my long hair off and I now have totally unprocessed hair because of frequent trims. I decided recently to try and grow it out healthy this time. My hair is two or three inches below shoulder length and I dont blow dry or curl my hair. I wash it about two times a week. My probem is I keep getting split ends underneath my hair. All of my hair on top is in great condition with no split ends. About 80 percent of my hair has no split ends but then you lift it up and it is just solid splits under my hair. They are really bad. You would think the top hair would be in the worst condition because of the sun.
Why do you think I get split ends there?
All I can figure is maybe from rubbing on my clothes and pillow. I always lift my hair up over my pillow at night so the bottom hairs would rub on my pillow.
How can I prevent them?
Please help I am tempted to go chop about two inches of my hair off and start over again. I will never grow my hair at this rate. I have been working on dusting the ends so that I do not have to lose my length.
Thanks,
Julia
Alisa06
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I am not totally sure why this is happening, but I think you might be right. I have been having the same problem, and have come to the conclusion that it is from rubbing on my back.Try doing a search and destry method of giving yourself a trim. I am going to do this myself.
Alisa06
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DaveDecker
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My guess is the same as yours -- friction from clothing, since it's only on the underside. Do you get lots of tangles underneath, and if so, how do you remove the tangles (brush, comb, pick apart with fingers)? How well conditioned and moisturized is your hair (has the dry winter weather been a factor)?
The quality of strands produced at the roots is a factor of your health and lifestyle, I assume you're living healthily, massaging your scalp, getting regular cardiovascular exercise, eating a balanced diet including enough protein?
juliap
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Well My hair does not tangle that much but when it does it is underneath. I usually brush out the tangles and if they are bad I stop brushing and gently take apart with my fingers. I never comb my hair and I only brush it when its dry. I just wash, let air dry, and then brush and it usually brushes out easily after a shower. As far as conditioner and moisturizer I just use various shampoos sometimes with sulfates and sometimes without. The conditioner I use is called loreal natures therapy I love this stuff. I am sure its full of silocones but it makes my hair feel like silk. I try to clarify my hair every once in awhile to prevent buildup.
My lifestyle is pretty healthy but it was not always this way. Probably the ends of my hair are not as healthy s the rest because of this. In the past six months I have quit eating junk food, quit drinking cokes and I have been excersizing on the treadmill. I managed to lose 18 pounds by doing this. Oh I also have been taking vitamins and fish oil on a regular basis.
So thats it that is how I take care of myself and hair. Any suggestions on preventing the split ends?
I would say do the search and destroy method to keep them in control, and condition, condition,condition! I have decided to up my deep conditioning to twice a week instead up once. Where I live, it gets very cold, and dry in the winter, and very hot, desert like in the summer. So either way, my hair is being exposed to the extreme all year. I have also decided to do any washin / conditioning at night, to help prevent going out with wet hair into the cold.
Alisa06
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DaveDecker
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I usually brush out the tangles and if they are bad I stop brushing and gently take apart with my fingers. I never comb my hair...
Interesting that you never use a comb. Why not?
If the tangles are so bad that the brush stops on a knot, the strands might already be getting damaged (when the knots are formed). I used to do the same, and I did get more breakage and splits than I do now.
Whenever my braid gets really fuzzed up (on infrequent occasion), I unbraid it and then finger pick out the tangles, then detangle with a wide-tooth comb. Optionally, use a regular comb, and then a brush. Each successive tool results in a smoother result. For me, I would never start with a brush, but YMMV.
juliap
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I just can't seem to get a comb through my hair but it always brushes real easy. When I use a comb it feels like its really pulling on my hair. I guess maybe I am causing some splits by brushing out the tangles. I guess I could try a comb.
I have the problem with splits underneath too. The only thing you can really do is S&D. I got fed up one day and cut a very thin section of the underneath layer up to my shoulders because everything was so damaged. You can't even tell I cut the stuff underneath and it helped a little bit... made it more bearable. When I get my hair trimmed, I just tell the hairdressers to ignore the short parts underneath.
I would maybe recommend wearing it up as much as you can. It seems to help a lot with the friction and splits from rubbing on clothes.
Edited by letmecount123 - March 05 2007 at 11:02pm
I did almost the same thing. I was doing the search and destroy thing but it was taking me hours. I got impatient and just started picking up little sections underneath and just trimming them real heavily. I did not cut them straight across but kind of tapered them on the ends. I figured my hairstyle would be ruined when I was finished but it looks the same. I can't even tell that its different. My hair is almost split free now:)
I wouldn't recommend cutting off the bottom layer. I did that
once when my hair tangled the same way. It looked really bad
because that's where the thickness of your hair is, so your hair looks
a lot thinner afterwards and you can see the short part easily,
(especially if you wear it in a cloth headband, as it will poke
out).
I think it happened because not only did I dry my hair out then dying
it, I also only ever wore it down. Now I don't dye that part of
my hair and I wear it up more than down. I will get tangles in
the bottom 1/4 inch, but not the bottom 3 inches like I used to.
I put a silicone conditioner in my bottom 1/4 now, which helps too.
Edited to say: When I cut mine off, I cut off the bottom 3 inches
at the nape of my neck, and I cut it to about 4 inches long while the
rest of my hair was bsl (bra strap length), so maybe that's why mine
showed so bad.
Edited by Susan W - March 06 2007 at 8:45am
Making metal barettes/concord clips hair safe, long hair style how to: http://alonghair.wordpress.com
It seems that if you cut off the bottom layer, it would then make the hair above that exposed to splits and tangles. Therefore a never-ending process.....
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Juliap wrote:
