Nonstop split ends...Help please?

[lilliemer]

Every time I S&D I find a few dozen split ends. It is like my hair is a conveyor belt for splits. I have been heat free (including no blow drying) for two years and never have dyed my hair. It is about 22" and is wavy/curly, medium to coarse and thick. I wash every other or every third day with sulfate free shampoo. I gave up ponytails and just started sleeping on a silk pillow case. I know that I only have about 12" of heat free growth, so the last 10" of my hair are going to be damaged and vulnerable, but I was just hoping that things would be better by now! I wonder if I am missing other hidden ways my ends are being sabotaged? Any hints for getting through this stage? I am really frustrated and S&D obsessively with no appreciable difference in the way my ends look -- fried, dry, and sticking out all over the place. It is to the point where I can't wear my hair down. I should add that it was just trimmed -- aggressively -- about 3 weeks ago and i'm not really of a mind to go back to the scissors just yet. Help please!

[ouseljay]

Have you ever tried using mineral oil? I find a couple of drops spread through damp ends helps quite a bit with dry ends and might help to prevent splits. A number of people here have said that it helped them not have to trim as much. (I'm not consistent enough with it to be able to say for sure.) Another thing you could look into is catnip, which seems to help prevent splits for a lot of people. I've liked it the few times I've tried it, but I've never managed to make it a habit.

Here's some mineral oil information http://ktanihairsense.blogspot.ca/2011/12/mineral-oil-and-hair-care-and-skin.html and catnip http://ktanihairsense.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-3-of-4-on-innovative-approaches-to.html and there are quite a few threads on both.

[goldloli]

is your hair hydrated enough? my heat damaged ends tend to split when they are dry, but i only find a couple of new splits when its hydrated.

have you tried cones? water soluble cones? they are good for this sort of thing.

are you gentle when brushing and other hair care methods?

I hate my heat damage. I wasnt even a bad offender compared to friends who ghd every day, sometimes twice, on top of bleach! I only straightened 3-5 times per week, always airdrying overnight beforehand. Using the best heat protectants and conditioning masks in existence.... Yet still, splits everywhere! I can feel a difference between the heat killed hair and the virgin. They dont curl like the rest of my hair. They dehydrate and tangle 24 hours after heavy conditioning. There really is no undoing with heat damage, you just gotta baby it and grow out. Hopefully you feel comfort that you're not alone by any means in this frustration.

ive found coconut pre shampoo oilings helped. i was never a coconut oil fan because of protein sensitivity and dryness, but ive found i can use this if i dont use any protein products around the same period. castor oil added to conditioner is my personal super fave for porosity and healthy looking hair. catnip rinses did cut down split ends for me, i learned about them here, google ktani catnip rinse. lol nm she included links to ktani, i only leave it on for 5-10 mins between poo and dish. i attribute my reverse v growing out to this stuff! (reverse v is when it breaks at the nape/back so you have a chunk that isnt as long as the rest)

[melusine963]

I second ouseljay's oiling suggestion (I use coconut oil myself). This acts as both a leave-in conditioner and detangler, and has done more to help reduce my splits than pretty much anything else.

I feel your pain with the seemingly never ending splits. After I stopped heat-styling and other bad habits it still took almost a year of constant s&ding before I started noticing any kind of reduction in the numbers I was finding. This was in addition to oiling, gentle treatment, protective updos, no heat, and trimming off most of my new growth every year.

I also recommend braiding your hair at night to reduce tangles (and breakage) even more.

[jacqueline101]

Are your scissors sharp? If your scissors are dull it will create new splits.

[melusine963]

Are your scissors sharp? If your scissors are dull it will create new splits.

Very good point. Many people keep a dedicated pair of scissors around that they use for their hair and nothing else.

[RubyTuesday]

I also think you need to be really careful when de-tangling. I used to be very slap-dash when it came to brushing and combing my hair and would rip through tangles and knots. My hair would break and I would get split ends. Now I am very very careful and work them through with my fingers or a tangle teezer or a wooden comb and I have no splits at all (this will also be because of no heat).

You may have to gradually cut out the heat damage and start from scratch with your virgin hair.

Oh, and mineral oil DOES work, I tried it after it being recommended by Madora and I love it!

[rock007junkie]

I'm with those that suggested keeping your ends oiled. Every day or every other day I apply a butter or an oil to my hair. Also, keeping your ends tucked in with buns or braids helps tons.

[torrilin]

On my hair, 2 years of heat free wouldn't be enough to stop the splits. My hair just doesn't handle heat damage well, and there's no fixing it. Using a good conditioner makes it suck a bit less, but there isn't a product in the world moisturizing enough.

[spidermom]

My hair is a split end factory. It doesn't seem to matter what I do or don't do - I can ALWAYS find plenty of split ends. Always.
And all my hair is post-LHC hair. I cut away the pre-LHC ends more than 2 years ago.

[Yozhik]

Cutting out most of my pre-LHC damage, gentle detangling, stretching my washes, and having a satin pillowcase/silk sleep bonnet immensely improved the condition of my hair, and I went from invariably having splits from SL downward to having 3-5 split ends at waist.

Of course everyone is different, and perhaps your routine, products, handling, or hairtype are also contributing factors. :shrug:

[DinaAG]

may be your hair needs some protein?

[lilliemer]

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions and moral support! It is reassuring to hear that many others are dealing with the same problems. It is easy to look at everyone's gorgeous long hair pics and feel like you are the only one with hair problems. I have lots of homework to do...

My ends are very dry and I am sure that's part of the problem. I have really been struggling to find the right routine for me. I have been experimenting a lot with oiling and have so far tried sunflower, coconut, olive, jojoba, and mineral (all for a week or two at least). The mineral and sunflower oils did not agree with my hair (I tried both damp and dry oiling), the others were okay, but I am still searching for an 'ideal' oil, if there is such a thing. @ goldloli - i am definitely also going to start back to a silicone containing conditioner at least every other wash or so. i have an amodimethicone containing deep conditioner mask that I used this morning - it seems to have softened and silkened up the ends a bit but I am not sure how longlasting the effects are going to be. I will start there then slowly work my way through the other suggestions - maybe even giving mineral oil another shot - and report back as I change things one by one.

[Chromis]

My hair is a split end factory. It doesn't seem to matter what I do or don't do - I can ALWAYS find plenty of split ends. Always.
And all my hair is post-LHC hair. I cut away the pre-LHC ends more than 2 years ago.

Spidermom, some days I feel like you should add "Chromis says 'Ditto!' " to all your posts :lol:

I've got the same thing happening. I've never used any heat treatment on my hair, use satin and silk pillowcases, wear it up, wash it gently, comb carefully, s&d with sharp hair-only scissors...the whole nine yards. Splitsville. I have used different oils and tried henna and different teas, never noticed any difference. I get splits all through my length, not just the ends. Treating it gently has reduced the splits with splits a bit at least.

I do find I get velcro end relief from dry oiling. I have been having the best luck with Nightblooming Panacea but it is not a cure all, just tames and smooths things back down again. For me, velcro ends are a sign of dry angry hair, not necessarily a larger than normal number of splits. If I fall asleep on our leather couch I invariably land up with a horrible looking braid tassle when I wake up. We have an upholstered couch in the basement that does it too, but not nearly as bad as the comfy leather couch. Fuzzy flannel sheets don't agree with my ends either plus they linted like mad.