Dry ends help?

[patienceneeded]

Hello all you wonderful hair experts! I have been battling dry ends for a while now, and have trimmed twice. I have also clarified (actually, I chelated). I am wondering what your favorite remedy is for dry ends? Is it a certain conditioner? A specific oil? What do you do to keep your ends from drying out?

Maybe this could be a list of methods that others have used and found helpful that could serve as a reference for others who are having the same or similar issues?

Thanks in advance for the advice and tips!

[jacqueline101]

I had an issue with my ends drying out breaking off last winter I done the things you did clarify s&d then I started using baby oil. Baby oil your hair wear into a braid.

[TheHowlingWolf]

My two favorite conditioners (fyi I'm cone free atm) are Giovanni 2Chic Avocado and Olive Oil Ultra Moist conditioner (I get it at Wal Mart) & Acure moroccan argan oil + argan stem cell conditioner triple moisture repairing conditioner (I get it on vitacost). They're both really moisturizing. I haven't gotten a trim since June and my ends are still soft. I don't use a leave in because I found that a lot of leave ins actually make my hair more dry(they probably have drying oils or silicones that coat the hair, etc) than when I don't use a leave in. I've tried using straight oils as leave ins, but even with a teeny tiny amount, they make my hair looks stringy. I co wash with As I Am Coconut Co Wash from Sally's and when I do shampoo (twice a month with Giovanni 2chic ultra sleek shampoo), I only put the shampoo on my scalp. But I also heavy oil with coconut oil once a week and I use a BBB whenever I brush my hair. I found that helps a lot.

[Shebelina]

I had an issue with my ends drying out breaking off last winter I done the things you did clarify s&d then I started using baby oil. Baby oil your hair wear into a braid.

I second this, mineral oil saved me from a 2 inch trim last winter. It's a fantastic detangler too :D

[TheHowlingWolf]

I second this, mineral oil saved me from a 2 inch trim last winter. It's a fantastic detangler too :D

Oh wow, hmmm I think I'm going to look into mineral oil now!

[Shebelina]

Definitely give it a go TheHowlingWolf, it's certainly my hair savior. You only need a couple of drops, I'm still on my first bottle and I've barely used any of it.

[Nebulae]

My dry damaged ends love coconut oil! It helped my ends survive longer between trims. I only use a tiny tiny amount when I put it on my ends, I use the top of my nail and scratch up some oil (it's cold enough where I store it that it stays solid), only a couple of millimeters max. Then spread it between my palms and fingercomb or scrunch into my ends. Just a few rounds, sometimes there is even oil left on my palms. Doesn't leave it stringy looking for me, and I have f/m layered hair so where the oil goes there's not a lot of hair. I use mostly on damp hair but it works on dry hair too.
I also tried olive oil cause I had it at home, it worked well but coconut works better for me. My current shampoo and conditioner has olive oil in it so my hair gets a little of it.
I'm curious about the mineral oil, might give that a go in the future since it seems good for tangles. There's also a bunch of other oils I'm curious about that I might try sometimes. :)

[Sillage]

I have dry ends and my magic solution has been shea butter. Right now I'm blending a very small amount in with L'oreal EverStyle Smooth and Shine Creme and using it like a leave in conditioner. I put it in wet hair and distribute it evenly before blow drying on low. I've also been using Ojon Damage Reverse Serum which is working really well on my ends, but I'm still figuring out how to add it to my routine.

[Vanilla]

I love mineral oil too for dry ends. I use it on damp hair to seal in moisture.

[patienceneeded]

Thanks for the replies! Keep 'em coming!

I had forgotten about mineral oil - I will be trying that! Also, I need to remember to oil my ends before washing my hair...I think it helps.

[Wildcat Diva]

I have used mineral oil with success.
Also Shea butter, but I upgraded to Nightblooming's panacea hair salve, and it's a staple for me. I'm glad I splurged on it this summer.

[TheHowlingWolf]

I have used mineral oil with success.
Also Shea butter, but I upgraded to Nightblooming's panacea hair salve, and it's a staple for me. I'm glad I splurged on it this summer.


I'm thinking about getting some panacea hair salve! I might use my Christmas money to get some! Does it help with detangling ends?

[CousinItt]

Shea butter is awesome, but for my dry ends damp oiling with castor oil has been the best thing.

[Sillage]

I have used mineral oil with success.
Also Shea butter, but I upgraded to Nightblooming's panacea hair salve, and it's a staple for me.


Haha, I've always wanted to try that but I'm afraid it's got too much coconut oil in there for me (coconut oil = breakouts for my skin)

[Wildcat Diva]

I'm thinking about getting some panacea hair salve! I might use my Christmas money to get some! Does it help with detangling ends?


Haha, I've always wanted to try that but I'm afraid it's got too much coconut oil in there for me (coconut oil = breakouts for my skin)
I DO feel like it helps with dry flyaway ends, especially if I apply to damp/ almost dry ends. This aids in detangling in my case. I am not sure how much coconut oil is in there, but I think the main thing is the Shea butter. It's not hard at all, kind of frothy/ creamy. I watched a you tube video review on it and learned you just use a tiny smidge on palms at a time, then wipe on your hair. I do like three smidges from the ears down. Since I am stretching washes sometimes on the second or third day I will mist with rose water then apply the salve.

[jeanniet]

SheaMoisture Curl and Style Milk as a leave-in saved my ends, but a mix of argan (or camellia) and castor oil has also really helped. Mineral oil has given me poor results in comparison to other oils, so be aware that it doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

[Happytresses]

I'm going through the same thing and this weather is not helping at all. I came home tonight and put a few drops of almond oil on my ends. I do a weekly deep conditioning but I need more.

[thirstylocks]

This is me right now. I've tried everything but mineral oil, indian oils and acv washes, which are next on the list. Going cone free and sulfate free made no difference in the dryness of my hair. I've tried panacea's salve, and didn't see a difference, as well as a variety of other oils.
My hair is so dry and stubborn!

[spirals]

Coconut oil works pretty well, but even better is Nivea cream in the jar.

[Majala]

I've always had dry ends and when I oiled them they either looked oily or still dry, never in between. My hair usually looked good only on a day I washed it and sometimes the next day, but then I would just get oily scalp and really dry and brittle ends, so I had to wash my hair pretty often. A few years ago I switched my shampoo for a cone free one and a year or so ago I finally found a conditioner that didn't make my hair look limp or sticky, but moisturized and sleek, yet full of volume (also cone free) and it helped with my ends tremendously. It took me years to find the right one, so maybe trying out different shampoos and conditioners could help you too. I found out I absolutely shouldn't be using protein based conditioners, but moisturizing ones. But the biggest difference for me was when I started using henna - now I never get dry ends, even if I don't wash for a week (I do get oily scalp and loss of volume though).
Hope you find something that works for you too!

[catasa]

I agree with what others have said about mineral oil as a hair saviour :) But, it didn´t work for me at all until I actually dared to try it without using conditioner first - on top of conditioner, regardless of whether the conditioner was left in or rinsed out, it always felt coarse, coated and waxy. But when I tried to just shampoo (with a water diluted non-SLS shampoo-and-vinegar mix, to make it milder and also keep the acidity of the shampoo), and then just put pure mineral oil as a leave in on dripping wet hair, it worked wonders. I use about six drops on my rather coarse, BSL ii hair. Also, I find that only the pure stuff works well, not some variants of baby oil that has other things mixed in. I buy mine at the pharmacy, where they sell it for use against indigestion ("liquid paraffin") :)

Also a note on moisture - I always thought that my hair was very dry, and that I just couldn´t seem to get moisture into it, but I think now that I actually may have had too much moisture (even though my hair never was stretchy), or else never found the right products/balance. I had good results with the mineral oil, but it was first when I also started to blow-dry on the cool setting that I actually got really satisfying results (soft hair, good waves, and, for my hair, very little frizz and good shine). The probable reason for this was explained to me in this thread/post: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=109230&p=2349192&viewfull=1#post2349192. In the same thread verylittlecarro also linked to an article stating that a prolonged state of dampness caused damage to the hair cell membrane (i e it would be worse for hair to air dry than to blow dry on cool): http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=109230&p=2349039&viewfull=1#post2349039.

[WaitingSoLong]

I will mention a few things I have learned by trial and error.

1. My hair hates oils. I have given oils enough chances to know this for sure. It does awful things to my hair including "ruin" my ends. I know everyone goes on and on about how it saved their hair but not so for me.

2. Clarifying/chelating is good. However, when my ends are dry and crunchy, I have to super-clarify them. I will do just the ends about 3 times (I do all my hair the first time) and let the poo sit for 5 minutes each time. I follow with a DCT of some type, usually just a coney conditioner I leave on for a couple hours then rinse out, immediately after the intense clarify/chelate.

3. CWC is a horrid thing for my hair. Luxepiggy finally explained on a more chemical level WHY this is so horrid and I finally knew I was not going crazy. Shampoos that have cones in them qualify as CWC. Conditioning THEN shampooing does something awful and I have to do an intense clarify to get rid of the effect. I have yet to have HAD to cut my ends due to any of this, I can always rescue my ends.

4. I use glycerin (spray) or AVG (diluted for a spray as well). I cannot tell you enough how this has rescued my hair, especially in winter when dryness is horrible. I know humectants are supposed to be bad in winter but my hair does well with them. I spritz my sleep braid at night and I have the softest, shiniest braid waves you have ever seen. Sometimes when I take my braid out the next morning I will pet my hair it is so nice ;)

5. I use Pantene Ice Shine S&C and I use the AVG or glycerin spray on top of this. My hair has to have cones. I DO have to change my hair routine from summer to winter. This is my winter routine I have described to you.

[AnqeIicDemise]

I spray my ends with a bit of water then slap some oil or conditioner of whatever choice I want tht given day. I have so many oils and leave in conditioners I don't have a particular one. (I think my giftee's going to be receiving some of those, maybe. I have to double check against her list.) I've had to stop getting samples from work. :P

[ChloeDharma]

One i've not seen mentioned in this thread....or in many threads generally these days is camelia oil. I've not brought it much but the times i tried it i was amazed at how nice it was.
Cones i've found very good for dry and damaged hair. Mineral oil i've not tried but can see how it would form a protective layer on the length. You can buy some oils that combine mineral oil with another like coconut, sesame etc and even cones. Some Indian ones do this. Personally coconut is my favourite all rounder but i do find almond very good for softening dry crispy hair.

Not a leave in or oil treatment but natural yogurt i found excellent mixed up as a deep conditioning treatment. I've used it mixed with conditioner, indian herbs (conditioning, not skikakai or reetha) or just with some honey in the past.

[Indigostreams]

For those of you who use mineral oil, do you use it on damp or dry hair?

[jeanniet]

The use of mineral oil depends on how moisturized your hair already is. If it's dry, you'd apply mineral oil to damp (but not typically soaking wet) hair to help reduce moisture loss; if already well moisturized, you can apply it on dry hair. Whether you use it on top of conditioner, or without conditioner, etc., is a matter of personal preference, so you might have to experiment a bit. I couldn't get good results no matter how I tried it, unfortunately. I can never get cones to work for me either.

[lapushka]

A very thick, silicone-laden conditioner, conditioning with it twice instead of just once after shampooing, and using a serum or an oil on the ends on top of a leave-in after washing. Those are my tips & tricks.

[patienceneeded]

Awesome advice! I think I need a more moisturizing conditioner...

I used mineral oil today and it worked well. I also used my blow-drier on the cool setting. My hair turned out really well today!

[catasa]

Awesome advice! I think I need a more moisturizing conditioner...

I used mineral oil today and it worked well. I also used my blow-drier on the cool setting. My hair turned out really well today!

That´s really good to hear! :)

As I said, I have found that mineral oil works best for me on dripping wet hair, where I first "rake" it through the lengths to spread it well and also smooth a little on the canopy, and then I take another drop and scrunch my lengths with it, pressing water out and encouraging waves. And for me it works best without any other product on the hair. But I have understood that most other people use it on damp and not wet hair, and I also think that many use it on top of conditioner or together with styling products, so as jeanniet said, it all depends on your hair, your water etc. I am so happy that I finally found a routine that works for my apparently very finicky hair (and one that is also very simple, inexpensive and not so time-consuming!), but it took me several years of experimenting, and I can only hope that it will keep on working. I wish everyone well in finding their own answers! :)

[wendylai]

WaitingSoLong:

Thanks for your post! I have encountered similar problems to you, and have fine hair as well. I can "live" with cwc, only makes my hair kind of lumpy, but I have shrugged this off as I've been hoping at least my ends are safe. However, I will try that super-clarifying next time I wash, as well as the glycering spritz. I've been trying on oils on the ends (as the weather has been getting more and more severe) but even jojoba seems to make my ends sort of.. hard, dry and pointy. Great advice everyone else too! Let's keep this thread going - I for one am eagerly awaiting results by spring time :)

[goldloli]

I will mention a few things I have learned by trial and error.

1. My hair hates oils. I have given oils enough chances to know this for sure. It does awful things to my hair including "ruin" my ends. I know everyone goes on and on about how it saved their hair but not so for me.

2. Clarifying/chelating is good. However, when my ends are dry and crunchy, I have to super-clarify them. I will do just the ends about 3 times (I do all my hair the first time) and let the poo sit for 5 minutes each time. I follow with a DCT of some type, usually just a coney conditioner I leave on for a couple hours then rinse out, immediately after the intense clarify/chelate.

4. I use glycerin (spray) or AVG (diluted for a spray as well). I cannot tell you enough how this has rescued my hair, especially in winter when dryness is horrible. I know humectants are supposed to be bad in winter but my hair does well with them. I spritz my sleep braid at night and I have the softest, shiniest braid waves you have ever seen. Sometimes when I take my braid out the next morning I will pet my hair it is so nice ;)

all of these!
as i got longer, i could rarely use oils on fresh ends without them becoming gross and tangly and dry. Mineral oil was a disaster too, which resulted in me needing a microtrim, but it's always worth trying. I do love a humectant in winter :) i use care free curl collagen and glycerine mix on freshly washed hair, dirt cheap and always works.

sealing with castor/coconut mix makes my ends very nice, shiny and healthy... the coconut can be crunchy sometimes. i swear by adding castor oil to conditioner for bouncy shiny thicker strands.

gvp/biolage conditioning balm, pureology hydrate, loreal everpure pink one- are all great conditioners that i can also use as a leave in.

[Vanilla]

Great to hear that the mineral oil worked well for you.

[WaitingSoLong]

I always find it intriguing that different things work so differently on people. I was so dogged determined to find an oil for my hair and my hair just doesn't "do" oils. But it "saves" other people's hair. Just so weird!

[kallarina]

I didn't read through all the replies, so I don't know what's been mentioned yet, but I had go figure out an interesting solution to mine. If I clarified, it left my ends dry. If I conditioned, it left my ends dry. If I oiled, it left my ends dry. If I trimmed, it left my ends dry. I was losing hope until I did a water only rinse on the bottom half of my hair. Turns out, it was build up, but the clarifying was too much for my fragile ends and destroyed them. So now, I just do a water only rinse every other wash day instead of using any conditioner or anything. It does very gentle clarifying, so when I follow up with baby oil, it's just the right amount to make my ends feel awesome.

[silkreel]

Morrocan oil. Amazing stuff.

[silkreel]

AFTER you towel dry, so that it's still damp. It helps to lock in the moisture.

[OrchidRain]

I just use extra virgin coconut oil on the ends when my hair is half dry. Weekly hot oil treatments seem to be helping to soften my dry ends too.

[RileyJane]

i noticed what really works for me is using argon oil on my ends, and since my hair is cut into 2 layers ( such a pain growing out!) i start right where my short layers end and smooth down to the longest ends ( about 2 inch difference) and i see a big difference from days that i do and days that i dont. problem is, if i put my hair on my head right after, it makes my hair super oily , so plan hair accordingly!