Tightly curled end of hair = damage?

[spidermom]

Sometimes I find that the ends of some of my hairs are tightly curled, like somebody ran the edges of scissor blades down the hair shaft at the bottom 2-6 inches - like curling ribbon. Lately I'm seeing more of that than I ever remember seeing before.

What the heck is that!?

[jacqueline101]

I don't know but my hair would curl at the ends and then split. The curl was a regular perm curl from an
old perm. I found that clipping the splits and moisture helped mine. Yours maybe different. I noticed that after I got rid of the splits the perm curl I had and the damage my hair went straight. I found washing my hair in the tub keeping it straight helped straighten it.

[Mya]

I think that tight curling may happen if a hair gets stuck somewhere, then gets pulled and snaps. Did it happen to you lately? It may be the result of a harsh detangling.

[jasper]

Paper and ribbon curls like that because of one side surface getting stretched against the scissors. Just to test the idea, I tried stretching a shed hair against my fingernail just now and it curled right up like paper would. Do you think anything about the way you are handling your ends could be stretching them?

[Icialine]

When I go too long between trims instead of doing it every 2 months I do notice the ends start to thin and it makes it easier for them to form a curl and tangle up. This is even more likely when my hair is layered instead of blunt cut. When this happens I just trim my hair or even get rid of the bottom layer (to make my style more blunt cut) and this problem is under control.

[spidermom]

Thanks jacqueline101, no old perm here.

Mya, I think you may be onto something. I notice that often when I'm pulling sections apart for combing out or braiding, hairs will kind of stick together like Velcro at the bottom and then make a noise when I pull them apart. I have a lot of split ends for no particular reason I can figure out except that my hair is just cranky like that, plus the ends are probably about 6 years old and have been in the sun and the sea and chlorinated pools (although I do my best to protect).

[spidermom]

Thanks jasper and Icialine.

[Lindseyh]

I think this is what my ends have/do!!!! I tried to take a pic but you can't see it. They seem super coarse and will be curled up like they got crumpled. They make my ends frizzy. I snipped a couple out, but can't do that forever. I braid at night and wondered if that was contributing.

[Lindseyh]

Hope this works! Here's a pic of my ends in the affected area and a close up of two hairs that do this. Its hard to see
http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/o669/lindseyh10/2013-01-24183033_zps9a22d82a.jpg

http://i1337.photobucket.com/albums/o669/lindseyh10/2013-01-24183133_zpse279e63f.jpg

[lapushka]

I have no clue what this might be due to, spidermom, none. Maybe like some have said, from combing or brushing the hair? In any case, I'd not panic and see what a nice clarifying wash can do first.

[Seeshami]

In the Naughty Mess it's a sign on friction. I get them when shed hair that is wrapped around non shed hair when I pull them out to quickly.

[spidermom]

Lindseyh, I have ends like that, too, but what I'm talking about looks like a very tight corkscrew right at the end of a hair that is otherwise not curly.

[goldloli]

i get them from snags. i guess maybe the process of detangling ripped of some cuticles on one side of the shaft causing it to corkscrew, that or it was stretched at uneven tension?

i wouldnt say damage for sure, although you may have noticed those hairs seem more fragile than before, at least they are with ine.


i really hate layers and lint!

[Iolanthe13]

I get those sometimes after putting hair up or trying to detangle it when it's damp. I'm pretty sure those corkscrews are damage, so I snip them when I S&D. Even if they aren't, they would cause tangles and splits if I didn't cut them.

[ravenreed]

I get those when a hair or two gets wrapped around a hair band and I don't notice and pull the band off. I try to carefully pull the band away, but every so often, the band rolls trapping a hair or two. If I catch it in time and and unroll them before they snapped, they are usually sproingy on the end.

[spidermom]

I got a picture:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/2013-2-9031_zps1e58038a.jpg

[Coolcombination]

Mine did this after I gunned and bent the ends, by the next wash they had straightened out again.