Too much Benign Neglect!

[MeowScat]

I just spent FIVE hours S&Ding (Search and Destroy for those who have never heard of this...snipping off splits and white dots). I haven't done this since this past Summer.


I had always kept up with my S&D so much that it became difficult to find damage, so I figured I could take a long break from it. I wear my hair in a Lazy Wrap Bun on top of my head all day and night held with a hairstick. I use sulfate-free shampoo and an awesome cone-free conditioner. Wide tooth comb, satin pillowcase, zero heat, etc. You know the drill.


I just snipped off THOUSANDS of ends. I started by snipping them off one by one because I didn't see too much yuckiness when I held my hair up by my face. Then I let my hair fall straight down under the light, so the light "spilled" over my length. I gasped so loud, my cat woke-up!


I decided to S&D the other way, by letting my length slip through my fingers, and snipping the ones that stuck out. Anywhere from an eighth to a quarter of an inch was snipped. I decided to use my $80 scissors instead of my $20 scissors this time.


Even though I'm a brunette, I found more damage when I held my hair up against a black background instead of a white one. It made those white dots suddenly appear.


So...for all of my fellow Benign Neglecters, here's a friendly reminder to check your ends, under different light sources at different angles and with different backgrounds, if you haven't in a while. Yikes!!

[LadyLongLocks]

I did a S&D yesterday. Standing by the window in natural light against a dark sheet and I could find them. I had not done a S&D in a year so I had some splits. I focused mainly on the ends but need to do more on the lengths.
I may spend 30 minutes at a time doing it. I like to cut the nasty splits off!

[Bombadillo]

I know what splits are and I've heard of white dots but what exactly are white dots? Isn't that just some flaky skin that can be pulled out?

[vanillabones]

This happened to me last summer. I was sitting on the porch one day and looked at my ends and they were covered in white dots D:

[woodswanderer]

@Bombadillo...white dots are another type of breakage. Instead of seeing a forked split, you might see a white dot at the end of the hair where it snapped off.

[Joyce_Alison]

@Bombadillo...white dots are another type of breakage. Instead of seeing a forked split, you might see a white dot at the end of the hair where it snapped off.

Do white dots turn into split ends? Do split ends always begin as white dots?

[askan]

Do white dots turn into split ends? Do split ends always begin as white dots?

Not necessarily, but there's a big risk! A white dot at the very end of the strand means there's no clean cut like you get with sharp scissors, but that the end might be frayed and ragged which makes it more likely to split. It may be a longer hair that broke off and left a bad new end. White dots can also appear higher up the strands, and they're signs of damage to the cuticle. The strand will break easily at that point.

http://naturalnigerian.com/wp-conten...mages-hair.jpg Here are som interesting deltailed photos of hair breakage

[askan]

Oh, sorry, this was the link I meant to post:
http://naturalnigerian.com/2012/08/h...roscopic-view/

[Joyce_Alison]

Oh, sorry, this was the link I meant to post:
http://naturalnigerian.com/2012/08/h...roscopic-view/

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing that link! I was amazed at how much a split end or "white dot" looks like splintered wood! Okay, that louse creeped me out.. it looked like a crab hanging on. O_O
I like that it mentioned "overbrushing." A co-worker of mine has the most beautiful hair I have ever seen in person. It is tailbone length, shiny & soft. She says that she only brushes her hair before washing it (though I think she washes it pretty frequently). Rest of the time she mainly wears it up in a bun or in a braid.

[anitacs9101]

I agree with the black towel thing! For a while I thought my hair was totally free of splits, but really there were very little splits, and TONS of white dots!! I try to trim them but they always come back, and never get any worse, so I just leave them be.