How long does a good S & D take you?

[Jorja]

Do you literally check every individual hair? Do you do it all in one go, or is it more a regular quick peruse of your hair?

If a hair is a bit kinky and you can feel 'knobbles' on it, is it beyond saving? I've got some right angles and I cut those off.

Is oiling the ends after washing the best protection? Will cones protect the ends more, or is it disguising the damage?

I want to be no trims in 2013 and start off with my ends in the best possible condition I can, any advice is really appreciated thank you :)

[kaydana]

I find it quickest and easiest to have my hair in a braid and check the tassel first, then any hairs poking out of the braid. That gets rid of the bulk of the splits. Then I just do a quick check when it's down to get any obvious ones that were hiding in the braid. I do it regularly (maybe twice a week) so it only takes a minute or so every time.

[kitekats]

I don't know how everyone else is doing their S&D, but since I don't have enough patience:o, I simply do it in many goes and when I have spare time. Anyway, I like microtrimming better than s&d, because it leaves hemline smoother. I don't know anything about cones and stuff like that, but I prefer staying away from chemicals (or anything with them) and do regular oiling instead, my hair were damaged badly when I joined this site, but in about 1/2 of year of micro trims every month and oiling it has improved, so I think I'm doing at least something correct:p I hope this helps:)

[jacqueline101]

I put my hair in sections using clips. I try to check every hair and it takes 3 to 4 hours.

[neko_kawaii]

Do you literally check every individual hair? Do you do it all in one go, or is it more a regular quick peruse of your hair?

I like to sit out in the backyard when the weather is nice. I section it four ways, band or clip three of them and start in on the fourth. I dislike the twisting method because within the twist I can always see many white dots on strands that haven't broken at the damaged point yet and therefor aren't sticking out and the twist has to be undone to dig it out and then redone, etc. I do a small flat section held tightly over one finger on my left hand, scissors in my right and slide my hand down the section half and inch at a time looking for any damage that pops out and pulling out any damage I can see still in the section. When the section is done I pin it out of the way and start on another until all the loose hair has been examined then put a band on it and loosen another section. It takes many hours and sometimes I run out of daylight and have to continue another day.


If a hair is a bit kinky and you can feel 'knobbles' on it, is it beyond saving? I've got some right angles and I cut those off.

I cut those too. My hair is not kinky and those are places where splits or white dots will form in the future.


Is oiling the ends after washing the best protection? Will cones protect the ends more, or is it disguising the damage?

I don't know anything about cones but I can say two things: I grew my hair for three years with no trims and at the end of that I needed to remove 2-3 inches for each year of growth. I washed 1-2 a week, combed with a wide tooth comb and mostly kept it braided. This past year I started oiling, both pre-wash heavy oiling and post-wash light oiling and after a year I only needed to remove 1 inch of dry ends. For me, oiling clearly protects my hair from damage. Also, I have noticed that I see a lot more split ends sticking out of braids when I have been too lazy to oil, so oiling also disguises damage.


I want to be no trims in 2013 and start off with my ends in the best possible condition I can, any advice is really appreciated thank you :)

Best of luck to you!

[spidermom]

I find it easiest to check my braids for splits sticking out. My hair is way too thick to even think of going through it hair by hair.

[Jorja]

find it quickest and easiest to have my hair in a braid and check the tassel first, then any hairs poking out of the braid.
That is a good idea kaydana , I could do this regularly :)

1/2 of year of micro trims every month and oiling it has improved
kitekats I can't for the life of me micro trim straight, I tend to go to the hairdressers once a year and have them straighten up what I've messed up lol. I'm glad the oiling works, I will definitely persevere with this :)

I put my hair in sections using clips. I try to check every hair and it takes 3 to 4 hours
I actually did a thorough S & D today that took an hour, jacqueline101 you have lots of patience I'm impressed! :O

This past year I started oiling, both pre-wash heavy oiling and post-wash light oiling and after a year I only needed to remove 1 inch of dry ends. For me, oiling clearly protects my hair from damage. Also, I have noticed that I see a lot more split ends sticking out of braids when I have been too lazy to oil, so oiling also disguises damage.


So oiling definitely works, that confirms it neko_kawaii, and you also mention the braiding for S & D. I always see bits that need snipping when I'm on the phone playing with my hair, if I sit down to seriously search I can't find them :shrug:

I find it easiest to check my braids for splits sticking out. My hair is way too thick to even think of going through it hair by hair.
Spidermom I have thick hair too, that's why reading your suggestions for making braids a lightbulb moment, I did get bored sitting for an hour staring at my hair. Full respect to Jacqueline101:thumbsup:

[anitacs9101]

I put my hair in sections using clips. I try to check every hair and it takes 3 to 4 hours.

3 to 4 hours?! No way I could do that...haha! Props!!

I twist too but I usually only get to some pieces in the front before I get bored and stop, haha. As others have said, sometimes I'll just be playing with my hair and it seems like there are just loads of splits, but when I sit down to do it I find 3 tops :P

[ravenreed]

I have been having to do fewer and fewer S&D's. I usually go out in the garden, section my hair and spend a half hour or so. I also find a lot of split ends while in front of my computer screen because they show up so well by being backlit. I get the worst ones right there.

[Tota]

I sometimes S&D when I notice split ends but I prefer microtrimming. Every three months or so I microtrim by myself and when I can see that my hair is still not quite right after a selftrim, I go to get my ends cut in a salon. But that happens once in every two years maybe.

[NoRush]

I always seem to find my split ends when I'm in class.... and then they hide at home when I'm out for them :P So basically I do a little bit every week or so starting 5/6 months after a trim and it takes me about 15 to 20 minutes each session, I get fed up quite quickly :)

[IndigoOptimist]

I let my hair down, brush through it, then starting at the front I twist my hair into little sections and check the ends of each section. After I've done that I start checking up the 'shaft' of the twist because there will be little bits poking out. This also makes it easier for me because I have layers. I do section the twists into top and bottom layers and this helps me to see what's going on in the top layer.
After I've done that on all my hair I untwist it all and double check the ends again quickly. I find this is the quickest way for me to do it and I try to do it once a week, but mainly it's every two weeks when I get time.
I have tried checking every individual hair with my hair loose and although I found quite a few split ends, it took me about 4 hours to do my while head and it was very hard to see the strands because my hair is so fine.

[ArienEllariel]

half an hour to an hour. and by the end of it, my eyes are sore from staring close up for so long

[Seeshami]

Years. The Naughty Mess will behave when scissors are present.

[lunalocks]

My very first s and d session took 3 hours. Since then I probably do a quickie session (5 min) every few days and a longer one, maybe 1/2 hour, where I do look at every hair, every month or two. It really has improved the overall quality and length (35.5 in) of my hair. And yes, I look at every hair. That is the only way I can notice if a split has traveled far up the shaft. As for cones, some people have no problem with them. I do notice more splits after I use them. I just had a 1/2 inch trim last week and had cones and also some heat, just a little, to dry. I found LOTS of tiny splits afterwards, so I did a long session to get them all. I snip the knots, the white dots, the dark tips, the kinks, and anything that looks suspicious. I gifted myself with a pair of hairdresser scissors last year just for this purpose. I aim to get some small sewing scissors to have in the car since I find some when I am in my car and the sun streams in. Right now, I just have to restrain my self from looking.

[lunalocks]

And I oil with baby oil after washing when hair is still damp. And I oil every night before bunning, the ends and half way up to my ears, lightly. One or two drops. These 4 things - oiling, frequent s and d, wearing hair up to protect it especially at night ( I do wear it down some days) and CWC have done wonders for my hair. I also stopped doing ponys and braids since the scrunchies were causing breakage. I use spin pins to hold my hair up. Before discovering spin pins I could never get it to stay up unless I used a claw. All of this has helped me to get to waist and beyond, a feat I never before thought possible.