I'm confused about my hair.

[darkrose]

My hair is basically ringlets, ( like the Victorian ones) however I brush them out due to the knotting at night. When my hair has too many splitt ends I always go to the hairdresser and have about 2 inches off. And I love it, I love how thick and bouncy it looks at that lenght.
Then I look at people with long hair, pre raphealites, game of thrones etc, and I envy them. But Im not sure that my hair will become long. Everytime it gets just below BSL I have to cut it due to the damage. If having lenght means sacrificing healthy hair, I won't do that. Also I just don't know what else I can do to prevent the split ends. My hair is just extremely fragile, I oil it twice a day, I sleep in a sleeping cap, I never use bleach.
Does anyone else have this? Splits at a certain lenght? Maybe my hair is trying to tell me it wants to be short. :/

[Golden]

It seems like you're doing everything 'right'..
Do you wear your hair up? Maybe you can just 'ignore' the splits untill you're at a length you like (in your case, past bsl) and then you can do microtrims? Or is there just too much damage?

[darkrose]

@golden I wear my hair up often but not always ( if I'm just going out to the store I won't bother) a problem with the splits is the tangle issue, i can tell if there is splits by the way it continually knotes at the end. Also I do micro trim but I can never get them all, and because my hair is so light I can't always see them. :/

[FrozenBritannia]

Doing regular microtrims will get the splits before they get so bad you have to have two inches off. Maybe buy yourself a good pair of hair scissors and take off 1/2 or 1/4 cm every month or six weeks? Also, the brushing may be causing damage, especially if it is knots, do you try to seperate the knots with your fingers first etc?

[darkrose]

@frozenbritannia I don't separate with my fingers, but I thought that boar brushes didn't damage hair?

[Madora]

@frozenbritannia I don't separate with my fingers, but I thought that boar brushes didn't damage hair?

Boar brushes do not damage hair. It is HOW you use the brush that determines how well it works.

You should always detangle before using the brush. Fingercomb out gently, then use a wide tooth comb to detangle. Go slowly and work in small sections, starting at the bottom and working up to the roots.

If you find a snarl, don't pull your comb through it. Use your fingers to pull it apart, then comb. After all your hair is detangled, then you can use your brush.

Your ends might be suffering from product overload. The more stuff you put on your hair, the more chance for buildup.

You might try clarifying your hair with a clarifying shampoo, then condition afterwards.

Wearing your hair up more often is an excellent way to keep those tangles at bay. Less tangles equals less damage.

[Iolanthe13]

It is certainly possible to damage hair with a boar bristle brush! You should always detangle before brushing. If you rip apart the tangles with the brush rather than picking them apart gently by hand, you are probably ripping the hair itself apart too.

Also, you should be very careful when your hair is at all damp. Some people here carefully comb their hair wet, but brushing wet hair is a big no-no.

ETA: Oops, Madora beat me to it!

[darkrose]

Thank you for correcting me about boar brushes Madora!:) I didn't realise that, hopefully there will be no more split ends in the future.
And no, I've never brushed my hair damp. I learnt that the hard way a few years ago.

[morrigan*]

Maybe you could try catnip? I using it for more than about two months and my hair stop splitting so much, now it barley get split ends at all.

[FrozenBritannia]

@frozenbritannia I don't separate with my fingers, but I thought that boar brushes didn't damage hair?

I can see Madora already answered this, I just wanted to add that in pulling apart knots with your fingers, it seems to work best if you hold the knot in one hand and use the other to gentle pull strands UP out of the knot. :)

[Madora]

I can see Madora already answered this, I just wanted to add that in pulling apart knots with your fingers, it seems to work best if you hold the knot in one hand and use the other to gentle pull strands UP out of the knot. :)

Excellent advice, FrozenBritannia.

Might add that you hold the knot in a horizontal, rather than vertical position, and work at the knot from both the top and the bottom..i.e. trying to gently separate the hair from both sides instead of concentrating on just one side.

Holding the knot horizontally helps to keep less pressure on the knot, than if it was hanging vertically while you were trying to undo the tangle.

[DinaAG]

scalp massage and make sure you drink enough water and eat healthy food, also 2 inches is a lot..

[melusine963]

Also I do micro trim but I can never get them all, and because my hair is so light I can't always see them. :/

My hair is a lot darker than yours, but I find it much easier to spot split ends when I'm examining my hair against a dark surface. Hold the strands up with something dark in the background (even just against the jeans you're wearing) and the splits should stand out better.

[FireFromWithin]

I also find it hard to spot split ends, I find that braiding my hair helped them to stand out as does bright light, preferably natural.
No idea if this will work for you but I switched to a cone free shampoo and conditioner and my hair doesn't split nearly as much as before even though I'm not as gentle with it.

[spidermom]

I wouldn't advise brushing curly hair except for just before you're going to wash it. Otherwise use a wide-tooth comb.

Like FrozenBrittania, I untangle knots by pulling gently on hairs from above the knot. If there's resistance, I stop pulling and try another hair. It works very well.

[OhioLisa]

I am going to disagree with a couple of people here and say that yes, BBBs CAN damage hair. They are simply not meant for all hair types. So, I would ditch the brush altogether, personally. Wide tooth combs (I recommend Mason Pearson) are definitely a much gentler alternative.

Also, rather than just putting your hair under a cap at night, have you tried a high bun or braiding it first? Just stuffing it into a cap would definitely ensure tangles for me, so I imagine it would for you as well. Just a thought. :twocents:

[gthlvrmx]

I am going to disagree with a couple of people here and say that yes, BBBs CAN damage hair. They are simply not meant for all hair types. So, I would ditch the brush altogether, personally. Wide tooth combs (I recommend Mason Pearson) are definitely a much gentler alternative.

Also, rather than just putting your hair under a cap at night, have you tried a high bun or braiding it first? Just stuffing it into a cap would definitely ensure tangles for me, so I imagine it would for you as well. Just a thought. :twocents:

i agree with her and you're not supposed to brush curly hair. you can try after much detanling and finger combing, then try a brush BUT your hair still will have those curls trying to form in there so i dont know how well it will work with a brush. i tried it and never detangled with my fingers and i awlays got splits from it. even after i detangled, i felt my hair getting drier for some reason. then my friend told me you're not supposed to brush curly hair :P a wide tooth comb works!
i dont comb my hair dry, usually wet with conditioner in it.
when i do comb my my dry hair, i go: fingercominb-->widetooth comb-->horn comb
i scritch with the horn comb and then glide it through my detangled hair. and i dont do this all the time with all the detangling and combing, maybe once in a rare while ill do this before i wash my hair, but its rare because of how many tangles i get from combing dry. my hair just tangles up too much to comb dry, it tries waving and curling up and they start snagging on each other and the comb.