The Split End Support thread

[spirals]

OK, so I am doing everything I can to prevent them. I thought I had them just because the ends are color-damaged. But now I'm finding them at the ends of my freshly-cut layers in front. I think tangly, split velcro-ends are my destiny. Maybe it's because I'm a curly. Maybe it's my dry hair. Maybe gremlins are tying them together at night. I don't know. Commiserate with me. Or offer advice. Or join with me in a war against the gremlins and their fairy friends who like to make knots. Or whatever.

[jacqueline101]

I feel your pain.

[juliaxena]

I am sorry about that. I would have gone crazy if my ends kept splitting after cutting so much dye damage off. Hang in there. I have no adivce though.

On a funny note, I am a bit tired and after seeing thread title I thought: no, I don't support split ends :p. English is not my first language.

[sparrowswing]

I too get split ends constantly. I spend hours on S&D with good hair shears at least once a month, and it really only keeps the splits from travelling up the hair shaft and causing more damage. Mostly these days I get very small splits at the ends or white dots, rather than the huge splits I used to get. So far nothing I've tried has managed to prevent them. And my hair is all virgin, no-heat, sulfate-free, cone-free (they were actually worse with cones), moisturized, and overall very healthy. It just splits very easily. *shrugs* Some hair is just like that apparently.

[spirals]

On a funny note, I am a bit tired and after seeing thread title I thought: no, I don't support split ends :p. English is not my first language.First, I am a word nerd, so this amuses me greatly. My mind often works the way yours did when you read that. :lol:

Second, there are people who are native English speakers who have less writing skill than you do.

[lazuliblue]

I have been wondering, I get a few hairs which have an almost 90° kink right at the very tip, is that basically a damaged hair which needs to have the end trimmed off?

[lunalocks]

I snip off those 90 degree kinks before they snap off, as they will. I, too, am a vigilant S and D er. The last 4 to 6 inches of my hair right now are pretty fragile due to pony tail while dancing damage of a few years ago. I have trimmed off more in the past year than ever before due to splits. Actually, all my growth. Just had another inch off yesterday and am back (for the 3rd time) to 36 inches. I still discover the occasional feather, but mostly the white dot at the very end of the hair, or a tiny beginning split. My hairs are med thickness and I have 2a to 2b hair. The splits became a problem when I reached waist.

[Bagginslover]

Urgh, I'm in.
Went through my ends last night as I had it down to dry, and thought I was doing well as I couldn't find many splits to cut off. Today, in front of my computer I can see all the ones I missed-so many! Turns out the light isn't as good for spotting them in my living room as it is where I work :(

[spidermom]

Split end queen here. No matter what I do or don't do, I get hundreds if not thousands of them. Lately I don't bother with S&D as a regular practice. It never made a difference as far as I could tell. Of course if I see splits, I get the scissors and snip them. I also sometimes snip the splits that pop out of my braids.

I've decided against layers for the time being; it gives me less ends to worry about. Of course I've still got hairs at every length (as we all do), and it's not unusual to see a split poking out at about APL length. Sigh ................

I wish I had a solution.

[melusine963]

I think I'll join here. I get far, far fewer splits than I did pre-LHC, especially now that a lot of my old damage has grown out. That said, I became a bit complacent and the splits are back with a vengeance. I s&ded about a quarter of my head last week which took two hours. Today I finally have the courage to do another quarter. My hair isn't even that thick, but I'd go insane and cross-eyed if I tried to do too much at once.

[Angelica]

I've got lots of split ends too, and it doesn't seem to matter what I do in order to prevent them. So I just tend to try and ignore them now. S & D has proved pretty useless and because my hair is so fine and thin anyway it doesn't seem to make much sense snipping off ends here and there because that would only make the lengths thinner anyway. I also haven't got the time, energy or patience to spend hours trimming off individual hairs. If anything particular end bugs me though I do cut it then, or give myself a necessary trim when my hair looks really ragged. Otherwise my hair is up all the time and it is in rather good condition.

[anitacs9101]

Me :( My hair doesn't have that many splits, as in actual hair splitting, but it has tons of those white dots on the tips. I can only see them in sunlight against a dark background which is why I had no idea they were there because in any other lighting/background they just look like blunt ends. I don't know where it's coming from. I don't use any heat ever. I'm not so good with wearing my hair up, though, lol. :) I love ponytails :) I wear my hair down Friday and Saturday if I'm going somewhere, and Sunday if it's clean by then. Tuesdays and Thursdays I always wear it up but on Mondays and Wednesdays I work, and I've grown to hate how I look in a bun, so I will usually wear ponytails these days. I am actually very tenderheaded but if I do the ponytail right it doesn't pull on any hairs. The only damage I get from it seems to be just from having to detangle later, because any hairs that wrap around the ponytail holder are always sheds. (I hold the ponytailer over a dark towel and there is always little white bulbs on the tips of every hair.)

The only other thing I can think of is my scissors. I use Tweezerman 2000 which a lot of people on here use. I once read on here someone saying that cutting all of your hair at once as opposed to the way hairdressers do it with sectioning and cutting could be damaging because the scissors have to saw through your hair...could that be it? o.O I'm afraid to trim my hair again to get rid of these because I feel like it might just get rid of length while not fixing the problem.

[ravenreed]

Catnip rinses have greatly reduced my split ends.

[spirals]

Spidermom, I was thinking of you when I posted this because I know you're exasperated sometimes. At least I know my splits are not nearly as bad as they were in high school. I used to hot roller a lot. I had to cut off 1 1/2" of a strand last week, though.

[Vrindi]

I have my S&D shears on my desk. Whenever I see one while I'm working, off it goes. I also make it a point to just glance at the ends when I'm getting ready for bed, and cut off any that I see. I don't have hours to devote to a serious S&D session, so I break it up into lots of little ones.

[meteor]

I have this problem, too, but really SOAKING my ends in oil helps tremendously. I focus on oiling the very ends and on oiling my highlighted areas more.

[Shoga]

Another split end sufferer....lol. It's especially bad at my nape hairs where it is coarse and curly. I don't really know what to do about it anymore. All of my worst damage is gone, but that doesn't seem to matter. I'll be stalking this thread for ideas!

[savannahlove]

I feel your pain! Mine have gotten a little better just from switching to CO, but they're still there; I can never manage to get rid of them. :shrug: I'm currently in the process of growing out all of my layers to make my splits a little easier to manage. I should really invest in some good quality hair shears to try and do a little S&Ding every now and again.
It's so frustrating because I see girls that use heat on their hair constantly and seem to not take care of it at all, but they don't have a split in sight!

[patienceneeded]

Yep, my hair splits pretty easily too. I'm hoping that (in another year or two) when the damage from years of coloring and heat styling are gone that it will split less. I'll have to wait and see until then. For now, I S&D pretty sporadically and ignore them otherwise. I use to trim every 3-4 months, but am transitioning to every 6 months. My last trim was late November 2012 and I have a trim scheduled for May 24. I'm only getting .5"-1" removed, nothing major, but I am looking forward to more old damage being removed!

[Impulsive]

My hair is full of split ends. I slather my hair in conditioner and oil the ends... I can't tell if it has helped or not. Of course, there are so many split ends, would I even be able to tell if I was getting 10 fewer splits consistently? I don't think so.
We planted cat nip recently and I'm seriously considering giving the cat nip treatment a try... I am a little worried about my cats eating my hair, though.

[ravenreed]

Once you make it into a tea, it becomes uninteresting to the cats. I have two cats of my own and they never go after my hair.


My hair is full of split ends. I slather my hair in conditioner and oil the ends... I can't tell if it has helped or not. Of course, there are so many split ends, would I even be able to tell if I was getting 10 fewer splits consistently? I don't think so.
We planted cat nip recently and I'm seriously considering giving the cat nip treatment a try... I am a little worried about my cats eating my hair, though.

[brave]

I am in this boat recently. My hair got past APL and bam, splits. I like wearing it down and just went through an epic winter, so I guess I should have figured. Just got Shea Moisture's oil mix (reconstructive elixir) to try and be more consistent with oiling my ends.

[TheLuckyLurker]

I've found my home. I started s&d'ing every week, which seems to help, but still. Two years growing put a pixie cut with no trims -and no splits. I get to APL and my hair goes nuts. I'm starting to feel like I'll never get to BSL, which didn't seem like an impossible goal at the time, but now...

[gossamer]

Once you make it into a tea, it becomes uninteresting to the cats. I have two cats of my own and they never go after my hair.

I must have made it wrong when I tried it, I ended up with my cat rubbing his face on my towel turban after I'd rinsed with it... or was it that I didn't rinse it out after using it?

http://x7e.xanga.com/a40113e678d30285032148/m216675240.jpg

Back on topic: I comiserate, after a month or so of being too busy to even notice the condition of my hair, I have a ton of splits I never had before. Working on trimming them out with S & D sessions and just cutting out the really bad tangles when they do occur. Hopefully I'll at least slow the development of new splits?

[teal]

Ugh, yes. Land of never ending splits right here. I'm sure that the worst of it is due to prior damage, but I'm not willing to chop them off only to discover that it just splits again.

I also thought "no support for split ends!", hee hee! ;)

Edit: Woo lookie here, 1000 posts! Took almost two years, lol!

[honeybunnie8]

Ohh this is my thread. My fine hair loves to split and the nape of my neck is so bad it drives me crazy. I always see them in the car when I'm away from my scissors. I can never see them inside as the light is bad.
I think to many pony tails are part of my problem so I finally got some flexi 8's to help keep my hair up and out of the way. I wish I had more time to do braids and stuff but my 18mo DS yells at me if I'm taking to long.

[Bagginslover]

My splits have definitely improved from my pre-LHC days though. My bed used to be littered with snapped off ends every borning after I brushed, even when I did it carefully, now I don't have a single one. I'm putting most of the change down to my sleep caps. They make my hair so soft (I think its the additional body heat), and I have zero tangles in the morning, I really recommend them if you you don't use them already.

[RavennaNight]

*sips coffee*

Hi! :waving: Me too. There is just no winning. I thought I was winning, and let it be after S&D'ing profusely on and off for a week, and now, two weeks later...

Splitsville again.

I think I am just going to go back to ignoring them and babying the ends with oil. I wear it up 6 out of 7 days a week or more. I'm also eating better, cutting out a lot of sugar and salt (my body told me to. It's weird, I can't explain it.) I do use cones, because my ends are old and there is still about 4-5 inches that are old dye damage.

[GrowingGlory]

First.World.Problem!
I'm glad that this thread exists, though. Is there a 12 Step group?

[nakima]

Hi all, Im in as well, like others have said Im an avid s&der since I reached waist it seems the splits are worse. I think maybe I brush to much so going to put it up and leave it alone awhile and see what happens. good luck to you all!

[spirals]

Third.World.Problem!
I'm glad that this thread exists, though. Is there a 12 Step group?:lol: Did you mean first world problem? :flowers: It's true, it is. I don't worry too much about them, but I figured this would be a fun/funny thread. :D

[WilfredAllen]

*pitches a tent*

[CaranDulin]

I take care of my hair, but they don't go away... :rolleyes: Rawr.

[sisi33]

I must have made it wrong when I tried it, I ended up with my cat rubbing his face on my towel turban after I'd rinsed with it... or was it that I didn't rinse it out after using it?

http://x7e.xanga.com/a40113e678d30285032148/m216675240.jpg

Back on topic: I comiserate, after a month or so of being too busy to even notice the condition of my hair, I have a ton of splits I never had before. Working on trimming them out with S & D sessions and just cutting out the really bad tangles when they do occur. Hopefully I'll at least slow the development of new splits?

This is way too cute. Just... Too cute :o


On to splits. So, so much. They're the main reason I just went from hip back to waist, and I can't seem to do anything about them. It's not even like they're many pronged, I'm just not used to having any, so they bother me! :justy: And I cannot stand S & D'ing as it just makes me feel that much worse about how many there are. Thankfully, I'm still trimming off pre-LHC hair, so I think that that's the main problem.

[knhess]

I hate splits. :( I never used to have them until the great dye mistake of 2012. I just need to grow the dye out and hopefully then the splits will stop. I've been growing out layers for the past year too. Do you think getting layers back in my hair would help with the splits? I don't really want them but if the top layers reaches all natural hair then at least I won't have splits there. What do you think? My hair is at apl, by the way.

[meteor]

Do you think getting layers back in my hair would help with the splits? I don't really want them but if the top layers reaches all natural hair then at least I won't have splits there. What do you think? My hair is at apl, by the way.
If you don't like the style, I don't recommend it, because it takes a while to grow out.
Instead, have you tried babying your ends with oils & conditioners? I find it's much easier to take care of your ends when they are at one length, rather than layered. All I do is oil the tassel of my braid religiously, and splits don't happen often anymore.

[Vrindi]

*sips coffee*
(my body told me to. It's weird, I can't explain it.)

Not weird. Or, not that weird. I get it. Changing my diet has definitely improved the condition of new hair growing in. And the rate it grows too! I'm pretty sure my splits are due to old bleach/dye/sun damage on fine hair. I just have to be vigilant and hope that when I get all the damaged ends cut off, which will be in a couple of years, I won't split so much.

[lunalocks]

Ravenreed, do you use conditioner at all? How do you apply the catnip tea and what do you do before and after?

I am experimenting...

[beryl]

I'm joining this thread! I can't imagine why my ends are split so badly--I've never used heat or dye or any of the obvious hair-damaging stuff on them, and I wear my hair up & protected 90% of the time. :( So I guess I'm wondering like everyone else: what can I do about it?

By the way, would nail scissors be okay for S&Ding? I have tried some S&D, but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

[Bagginslover]

You need proper hair scissors, not fabric scissors, nail scissors, or even hair scissors that have cut something other than hair. You need to keep them *just* for hair (something I'm very bad at!), or they will dull, and dull scissors cause more splits!

[WilfredAllen]

You need proper hair scissors, not fabric scissors, nail scissors, or even hair scissors that have cut something other than hair. You need to keep them *just* for hair (something I'm very bad at!), or they will dull, and dull scissors cause more splits!

I second this motion. I'm pretty sure that's why I'm here in this thread. I also think stopping using silicones caused my hair to all of a sudden show a massive amount of damage.


So far the catnip tea has been amazing - my hair is softer and silkier. I use a mister bottle and spray it on. I've used shampoo (sls) once in the past two weeks. I'm using apple cider vinegar to wash my scalp, and it makes my hair feel lovely and soft in addition to washing my scalp and being slightly drying. Hopefully it helps with the splits. I'm still off of 'cones, and I've switched to *real* *new* hair scissors, and have been cutting off as much damage as possible. My hair seems to be growing back at a good rate, so hopefully I'll recover back to my old length soon!

[RavennaNight]

You need proper hair scissors, not fabric scissors, nail scissors, or even hair scissors that have cut something other than hair. You need to keep them *just* for hair (something I'm very bad at!), or they will dull, and dull scissors cause more splits!

Oh yes this. I ended up purchasing 3 pairs of hair scissors within 3 months last year because DH got his paws on them and used them to snip other things. Clothing, chicken ( yes, he couldn't find the chicken shears), paper, tags on clothing... I ended up HIDING the third and final pair.

[ravenreed]

My sons know that using mom's special scissors, whether sewing or hair, will end up with dire things happening to them.


Oh yes this. I ended up purchasing 3 pairs of hair scissors within 3 months last year because DH got his paws on them and used them to snip other things. Clothing, chicken ( yes, he couldn't find the chicken shears), paper, tags on clothing... I ended up HIDING the third and final pair.

[Achlys]

My ends are otherwise healthy, shiny and moisturised, but they still do split. A lot. And some break off, too. My hair is just fine and fragile, I guess. I have some splits as high as collarbone. At least I'm not covered in short broken hairs after brushing like I used to be last year.

I think my ends look and feel okay if not examined closely, so I've decided not to trim and just keep them well moisturised. I hope I can keep doing this until I reach my goal, but knowing my hair, I might need to maintain sometime along the way.

I don't have proper scissors for S&Ding, but I'd probably be too lazy anyway. :lol: I still prefer to have my hair down, but that might change as it grows.

[GrowingGlory]

@spirals Yeah, that's what I meant. I fixed it. Thanks!

[spirals]

My sons know that using mom's special scissors, whether sewing or hair, will end up with dire things happening to them.
You just described my childhood. :lol:

[trolleypup]

I can tell from how tangly my ends are that I am back in camp here!

NO surprise...given that I don't have time OR good light. And with my longest tips being something like 8 years long and visibly thinner at the tip than the root, no way I can escape their being damaged.

Back to thinking about getting a bright enough lamp to be able to S&D.

[Indigo Girl]

I definitely belong here. If you look at my hair wrong, it will split. I'll never get rid of them completely.


I think I am just going to go back to ignoring them and babying the ends with oil. I wear it up 6 out of 7 days a week or more.

This is pretty much my coping strategy as well. I wear my hair up 100% of the time though. I have a trim this upcoming week to help too.

gossamer that pic is adorable, haha! I wonder if my cat would have a similar reaction...:hmm:

[spirals]

I not only have splits, but breakage. I feel like it's in a stall, but it's probably a false terminal length at waist. I don't know if it's the combing/brushing or the fact that my ends are damaged. But I get splits in the newer hair, too. I do have the feeling that once my bad ends are gone there will be less breakage. I also need to employ my detangler more consistently. Combing without it is a bad idea. And I need to be more consistent with oiling the ends. Almond, jojoba, and coconut aren't doing it. I'm going to try olive oil at night. Any other curlies having these particular issues?

[alexis917]

I'm not full of splits right now, but my ends are pretty fragile.
I've grown out dye quite a bit. About the bottom three inches aren't virgin- they're drier and much more prone to tangling than the virgin hair elsewhere!
I'm tempted to chop it all off so there's no dye, but I think I'll just keep microtrimming until it's all gone.
It seems to keep the splits at bay, anyway!

[lunalocks]

I want to let you all know that I am on a new hair routine to try to decrease the splits. I have hip length hair that I have had trimmed 3 times, one inch each time, since December, successfully cutting off all my growth :( due to breakage, dryness and splits and ragged hemline due to S and D. One week ago I began catnip soaking after washing. I had done this in the past after conditioning and saw no difference. However, I am putting the conditioner on hold (scary to think about, right?) to see if the catnip can make a difference.

So, as of one week ago, this is my routine. Wash length with Vo5 tea therapy conditioner to get rid of oil residue, Wash with Desert Essence Organics Red Raspberry shampoo and rinse, then soak length in catnip tea (have done 20 to 45 min), squeeze gently and drip dry. When 1/3 dry I comb with wide tooth comb (just a few more tangles than with conditioner), apply 1 to 2 drops baby oil on ends and length and gently finger comb occasionally until dry.

Results: More wave! Hair looks and feels thicker overall. Daily S and D ritual reveals stronger looking hairs and less splits. (went from over 100 per day to 10. Now, I may still be cutting off those splits I hadn't found before I began the catnip. Some hairs are feathered as much as 2 inches up - the last, I think of my pony tail damage of some years ago) Some of the hairs are very kinky, almost spirally. Even DH noted the difference in thickness and wave. So far, no suffering from no post shampoo conditioner. I also apply one drop baby oil to ends and length at bedtime before it goes up and I wear hair up every day during the day. It came down from this morning's bun looking pretty darn good. Usually it is a mess.

Since I am on a leave from work, I have the time to inspect the ends daily, and to do the soaks. I will keep you posted with progress.

[spirals]

I wonder if using it as a leave-in would work? I don't always have time for a soak (I wash 2 to 3 times a week), but I have a spray bottle. There is catnip in my flax gel spray, but flax makes detangling difficult. I think I'll try catnip/oil spray as my styler. *goes to kitchen to grab a pan*

[lunalocks]

2 week update. after 2 weeks of catnip tea as conditioner and leave in, I am pretty satisfied. I was worried that ends would get really dry and that hasn't happened, probably because I use the baby oil as a sealer and then nightly on ends. Hemline looks thicker. Less splits. Sill a few every day, but no where near the dozens I have been finding for the past 3 months. I am snipping a lot of white dots. Maybe I am just finding the splits earlier? I also think I had a growth spurt. I like the texture the catnip gives and I like the increased wavies. SO, so far, so good.

[spirals]

OK, I am using my marshmallow acid rinse as a conditioner and leave-in, and catnip as a detangler. The catnip works so much better as a detangler and makes my hair sooooo silky. I used 2 teaspoons of it to make a tea with 1 cup of water. I added about 1/4 ml of oil, just a few drops. I would usually add alcohol as a preservative, but I use it up so quickly that it's not a problem to leave it out.

[lunalocks]

The catnip is making my hairs feel smooth and strong. It's 2 days past wash day, still have the wave that adds to thickness but the individual hairs are smooth. I am so impressed. Wearing it down again today, just because it looks so great. Usually I only do that on wash day right after it has drip dried and I have finger combed, or in the morning with bun waves. My hair is looking great today.

[Bagginslover]

My sons know that using mom's special scissors, whether sewing or hair, will end up with dire things happening to them.


You just described my childhood. :lol:

Mine too! Mums fabric scissors were not to be touched!!

[goldloli]

in on this thread.

There isnt much heat damage, layers or sun lightened hair left so im hoping that will change things. Catnip stopped working for me, i made it just the same as always yet the residue caused tangles the past few times even with clarifying. Hair seems to like just being clean and wetted frequently with no products/oils/leave ins, which is a shame since i have a rather large collection of high end products and cult faves going to waste. Also ive fully sworn off firm bristled combs and brushes, this halved the amount of new splits i was seeing.

[ravenreed]

The theory that split ends travel up the hair really is true. I don't S&D all the time like I used to because I don't have to. I have noticed lately that the split ends I do find aren't little short ones like they used to be, some of them are an inch or two long! :eek:

[Sharysa]

Count me in. Several months of semi-natural shampoo, post-shower oiling, and keeping my hair braided, and I still find a crapload of splits and breakage during my monthly S&D session. Somewhat less than when I started S&Ding, but an S&D session still lasts about two hours.

My hair is somewhat above average thickness but coarse.

[pogo0685]

I am in this camp also. I have been lurking here for something like 5 years trying to grow my hair out and have never made it past waist. I might have made it to hip once but I have no good pictures to prove it. Everytime I get to waist I have to cut it back because of damage. First I thought it was chemical dye, switched to henna grew out all chemical dye, then I thought it was henna, grew out all henna except maybe 2 inches and my hair was worse than before, so now I am back to henna. I tried doing monthly microtrims, that did not help at all, tried s & d and no matter if I do it daily or monthy I still never stop finding splits. So now I am doing CO washing, have been doing that for 5 or so months now, with a t-shirt to dry hair instead of a towel like the curly girl method says (or I think that's where I got the idea) and just last week I started using catnip soaks to see if that helps. I have also oiled my hair every few days, done oil soaks before washing, never ever use heat on hair, I wear it up 99% of the time and my ends are still damaged. So I don't know where to go from here. But my thoughts are I could have probably been to at least tailbone by now had I just left it to grow and not kept cutting it all off in hopes of some new hair that I am obviously never going to get. I do have high hopes for catnip though!

[lunalocks]

I am finding that catnip is enhancing the red tones in my hair. Any one else?

[vindo]

Maybe because of its yellowish color = warmer tones? I think it would be temporary though...

Just wanted to throw something out there in case it hasn't been said:

Hair that seems to split or break for no reason can be more porous due to hormonal imbalances, in which case addressing these imbalances helps :)
Against popular believe, the pill (birth control), does not balance hormones. It just masks the problem and on the long run contributes to it. So if one has problems herbal supplements are the better strategy.

[goldloli]

yes i also got slight yellow golden tones from it, which made my red hair look a bit redder. it's not really surprising since this stuff is used to stain white/grey hair to a blonder shade, the effect is temporary.

[alexis917]

Maybe because of its yellowish color = warmer tones? I think it would be temporary though...

Just wanted to throw something out there in case it hasn't been said:

Hair that seems to split or break for no reason can be more porous due to hormonal imbalances, in which case addressing these imbalances helps :)
Against popular believe, the pill (birth control), does not balance hormones. It just masks the problem and on the long run contributes to it. So if one has problems herbal supplements are the better strategy.

I might try catnip.
But on another note, herbal supplements are not an option for me...off birth control I would miss my period about seven months in a row, then get a consistent, heavy flow for an entire month.
I lost lots of blood and had to take iron supplements because my doctors were worried I'd become anemic.
It was also really embarrassing when I ruined all the chairs/jeans at school....

[vindo]

I might try catnip.
But on another note, herbal supplements are not an option for me...off birth control I would miss my period about seven months in a row, then get a consistent, heavy flow for an entire month.
I lost lots of blood and had to take iron supplements because my doctors were worried I'd become anemic.
It was also really embarrassing when I ruined all the chairs/jeans at school....

I had the same thing. Heavy flow, severe form of PMS (including muscle aches, back aches, cramps, nausea, acne breakouts, 40 day plus cycle UNTIL I regulated my hormones with the herbal supplements. That is what supplements like DIM or calcium D glucarate do. They balance out your hormones, instead of adding additional hormones or phytoestrogens.
I have documented all my progress on my blog, including some pictures of the acne for evidence, and I am about to update again since things have gotten even better. This month I had a 28 day cycle for the first time since I was a teenager! :)

Anyhow, feel free to check it out. I'm not dictating anyone to get off the pill, just saying the pill can eventually bite you in the arse, because if you have hormonal imbalances (so that means PMS too), adding artificial hormones can inhibit the bodies ability to regulate its hormones naturally and also cause hormones to be too strongly elevated (like estrogen, it can wreck havoc if too much). Too much estrogen is called "estrogen dominance", and does not sort itself out without intervention.
I quit the pill in 2009 btw., it had been working well for seven years and then I started experiencing problems.

Emi

[TheLuckyLurker]

So I did an s&d yesterday, and I found almost nothing to cut off. I do this weekly, and every other time I've done one I found tons of splits, see-through ends, single strand knots, etc. Yesterday, almost nothing. When I was brushing it (with a Tangle Teaser) later on to put it in a sleep braid I did find one split that I'd missed, but no more. I don't know if my hair is actually improving, or if I just did a really crappy s&d. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

[spirals]

It seems that using catnip as a detangler is helping. I see less broken hairs on the sink when I comb and I don't catch as many splits in the corner of my eye when I look down. But I seem to be in some kind of growth stall anyway.

[lunalocks]

Week 3 of catnip tea soaks and leave in. I am finding less splits. Still getting very good results with thickness and waves from the tea. Once I simply rinsed instead of soaking, and the results were not quite so good.

[spirals]

Using it as a leave-in (in a spray bottle) is easier than doing a rinse.

[WilfredAllen]

my hair is doing well so far. Catnip seems to be helping, as well as washing with diluted white vineger. I'm off SLS, so I think my natural oils are helping. I accidentally put the teeniest bit of silicone in it a few days ago and my hair got sticky and crunchy. No more silicones for me and no more SLS!!

[TheLuckyLurker]

Did another s&d today; still not much to cut except a couple fairy knots and a couple 'questionables' and one actual split. I'm tempted to believe doing these every week has allowed me to get ahead of the damage.

[Bagginslover]

I found a HUGE split yesterday!! the hair was split right up the middle, for at least an inch and a half from the end!! I'm still slightly horrified thinking about it now!! I've had a quick search through, and it seems to be a lone one, but still, scary!

[lunalocks]

week 6 of catnip soaks. I am finding less and less splits. seriously. and I am only checking weekly instead of daily. I am even wearing my hair down frequently because it looks so good and this has not caused increased splits. I look in the mirror and see that I have gained length and my hemline looks great. I tried rinsing out the catnip once and my hair was softer, but not quite as wavy so it is still soak and then leave in. I sure like the extra wave that after day 1 turns into more volume. But I still have some hairs that remain kinky the whole length. That has never happened before. Still putting some baby oil on ends and length before it dries all the way. Still put on some baby oil at night before bunning and get great waves the day after. When they fall out my hair still looks good. I am loving this routine. 6 weeks and I don't miss conditioner. Never, ever thought I would say that.

[ravenreed]

I have had so few splits lately that I don't S & D's nearly as often as I used to. When I do find one it has had time to grow fairly up the shaft of the hair. I just see it as a sign that over all my hair is doing so much better.


I found a HUGE split yesterday!! the hair was split right up the middle, for at least an inch and a half from the end!! I'm still slightly horrified thinking about it now!! I've had a quick search through, and it seems to be a lone one, but still, scary!

[TheLuckyLurker]

Same story as last post; maybe I'm finally getting the hang of this long hair thing. ;)

[spirals]

I've given up S&D for now because I'm not seeing a lot of splits. Honestly, I think they're breaking off, so they're less visible. But catnip seems to help, as the ends are still dry, but looking less raggedy. I don't do soaks, as my scalp reacted badly to a rinse (though it could've been something else; I don't know...). I have a mixture of my marshmallow rinse and catnip tea and oil in a spray bottle I sometimes use for detangling. I usually leave my rinse in and don't use anything else, but today I used the catnip spray on it after washing and left it down for the day, and ended up with nice, shiny spirals. I had a perfect hair day, actually, much to my surprise.

[labailaora]

I S&D all the time (sometimes just idly when watching a game or something!) and recently I've started getting a lot of 2-inch broken bits whenever I brush, along with the usual dose of split ends. I trimmed about six inches off this winter to try and tackle the splitting problem, but it seems to be back in full force. I CWC, I oil, I always wear it up - maybe it's time to try this catnip thing!

[lunalocks]

For the catnip soaks, I actually soak the ends in the catnip, rather that drenching my hair and putting it up for a while. (I did that once, under a shower cap and it left elastic marks on my face, and a headache too. I DO pour the rest of the cat nip over all of my hair at the end, but you don't need to do that to benefit the ends. I find about 40 minutes to soak ends and about 10 inches of length is perfect. When I just rinsed, I didn't get the wave results I like.

[alexis917]

I saw some "baby" splits forming, along with my usual awkward change in hair texture-kinks, that signify I need a trim.
So now, I am about a half inch shorter, but my hair looks and feels healthier!
I'm really debating catnip....the main thing holding me back is, obviously, my cats....

[spirals]

A couple of people have posted that once the catnip is in tea form, cats are uninterested.

[ravenreed]

Yep, I have two catnip fiends and neither are interested in my hair with the catnip rinse. Well, any more interested than normal... I have one that does love to eat my hair when given half a chance.


A couple of people have posted that once the catnip is in tea form, cats are uninterested.

[labailaora]

Oho, that sounds quite manageable. (I hate shower caps, so was slightly concerned about that!) I could very easily just sit around with my hair in a mug or something... though maybe I should wait until the housemate's not around :p

[kpzra]

I think I'm going to find an empty clean spray bottle and try that. I don't have time to sit and let it soak for an hour but a quick spray is doable.

[leoninnu]

I have splits throughout the whole lenght. I do S&D occacionally but mostly it feels a bit pointless. There's just so much of it and doesn't feel like it gets any better. And it's not very easy to cut the splits that are not near the hemline while avoiding the healthy hair either. If I were to describe how it feels like, I would say it's maybe like trying to trim a dogs undercoat without touching any of the topcoat hair? -ish? :D

[mashy]

Hey, still a bit of a newbie here. What does S & D mean? Also I'm interested in the catnip tea idea. Any good recipes anyone can reccommend? Also I have a bag of dried catnip that I usually give to my cats - could that work?

[lunalocks]

Hi, Mashy, S and D stands for Search and Destroy - meaning, searching for split ends and using very sharp hair scissors to snip them off. We also snip the dreaded White Dots that may appear at the ends or close to the ends of the hair strand (as they will eventually split) and tiny knots. This is an activity that can be looked at as impossibly tedious or sweetly meditative. My first S and D mission took me 4 hours. Now I spend 5 minutes every few days.

Kitani is a former member who researched catnip tea and you may find in some older threads her very precise recipes and timings. She makes her tea in a china cup.

I make mine in a steel pot and am not so precise. I boil about 5 cups of water and then take it off the heat and let steep, covered, about 3 tablespoons of catnip for 1 to 2 hours or overnight. I strain it through a coffee filter (put the filter in a steel strainer with a filter paper and let it cool to warm before using. I usually warm it just a bit before I use it, but didn't have time last night and soaked in it coolish and it doesn't seem to have made a negative difference.

I buy my catnip at the food cop op but others get theirs at the pet store.

I wash with conditioner, to get the oil out of my hair, then use shampoo. I wring out gently and then soak the ends (really about 10 inches) in the tea 20 min to 40. Then I pour the rest over my head and gently squeeze out the excess. I do not rinse it out. I comb once with a wide tooth comb to get out tangles, then let it air dry. I rub a drop or 2 of baby oil on my hands and run that on the ends and along the length. (I do the same thing before bunning for bed.)Last night it was not all dry so I put it up in a top knot and took it down this morning to let dry the rest of the way.

I have been getting less splits, more wave and a bit of a deeper reddish glow with the red tones already in my hair. I have read that catnip covers gray and makes those hairs a golden blond. I have not really noticed that as my silvers are still at temples and I just do a rinse through those. The coloring is supposed to not be permanent.

Once, in a rush, I just rinsed my hair with tea instead of soaking, but I did not get the wavy, wonderful texture result that I really like for my hair, so it was back to the soaks.

I was getting desperate about my splits, getting them even when I wore my hair up in a 3 month challenge and got splits. I was trimming more than half my growth and felt that a 2 inch gain per year was not enough. I love the texture catnip gives my hair - it seems to make each strand a little bit thicker and with the extra wavy, my hair appears fuller and thicker in general. My hair is at hip and it's been here a while due to the need to trim away the splits. I also am just about through with growing out the damage I had from wearing a pony tail while aerobic dancing, and retightening the pony as it became loose. Even in a soft scrunchie there was damage. I rarely wear a pony now.

I have been off work 2 months so have had time to try the catnip thing but I am so convinced, I have to find time in my new schedule to continue this. I will give monthly updates.

[ravenreed]

Have you tried twisting a small section of hair all the way to the end and just trimming the sticky-out ends? That was what I used to do when my hair had splits in the length.


I have splits throughout the whole lenght. I do S&D occacionally but mostly it feels a bit pointless. There's just so much of it and doesn't feel like it gets any better. And it's not very easy to cut the splits that are not near the hemline while avoiding the healthy hair either. If I were to describe how it feels like, I would say it's maybe like trying to trim a dogs undercoat without touching any of the topcoat hair? -ish? :D

[leoninnu]

Have you tried twisting a small section of hair all the way to the end and just trimming the sticky-out ends? That was what I used to do when my hair had splits in the length.

Yeah, I do that, but only couple of splits end up on the outside. All the really fine hairs with most damage just end up inside the twist, unless I do them super thin. And that just takes ages then :D I can't really rinse and repeat that too many times with one strand since my hair really doesn't like being handled at all. Feels like it might just cause more damage than I end up cutting away. But thanks for the suggestion :)

[leoninnu]

Double post!

[mashy]

Hi, Mashy, S and D stands for Search and Destroy - meaning, searching for split ends and using very sharp hair scissors to snip them off. We also snip the dreaded White Dots that may appear at the ends or close to the ends of the hair strand (as they will eventually split) and tiny knots. This is an activity that can be looked at as impossibly tedious or sweetly meditative. My first S and D mission took me 4 hours. Now I spend 5 minutes every few days.

Kitani is a former member who researched catnip tea and you may find in some older threads her very precise recipes and timings. She makes her tea in a china cup.

I make mine in a steel pot and am not so precise. I boil about 5 cups of water and then take it off the heat and let steep, covered, about 3 tablespoons of catnip for 1 to 2 hours or overnight. I strain it through a coffee filter (put the filter in a steel strainer with a filter paper and let it cool to warm before using. I usually warm it just a bit before I use it, but didn't have time last night and soaked in it coolish and it doesn't seem to have made a negative difference.

I buy my catnip at the food cop op but others get theirs at the pet store.

I wash with conditioner, to get the oil out of my hair, then use shampoo. I wring out gently and then soak the ends (really about 10 inches) in the tea 20 min to 40. Then I pour the rest over my head and gently squeeze out the excess. I do not rinse it out. I comb once with a wide tooth comb to get out tangles, then let it air dry. I rub a drop or 2 of baby oil on my hands and run that on the ends and along the length. (I do the same thing before bunning for bed.)Last night it was not all dry so I put it up in a top knot and took it down this morning to let dry the rest of the way.

I have been getting less splits, more wave and a bit of a deeper reddish glow with the red tones already in my hair. I have read that catnip covers gray and makes those hairs a golden blond. I have not really noticed that as my silvers are still at temples and I just do a rinse through those. The coloring is supposed to not be permanent.

Once, in a rush, I just rinsed my hair with tea instead of soaking, but I did not get the wavy, wonderful texture result that I really like for my hair, so it was back to the soaks.

I was getting desperate about my splits, getting them even when I wore my hair up in a 3 month challenge and got splits. I was trimming more than half my growth and felt that a 2 inch gain per year was not enough. I love the texture catnip gives my hair - it seems to make each strand a little bit thicker and with the extra wavy, my hair appears fuller and thicker in general. My hair is at hip and it's been here a while due to the need to trim away the splits. I also am just about through with growing out the damage I had from wearing a pony tail while aerobic dancing, and retightening the pony as it became loose. Even in a soft scrunchie there was damage. I rarely wear a pony now.

I have been off work 2 months so have had time to try the catnip thing but I am so convinced, I have to find time in my new schedule to continue this. I will give monthly updates.

Thanks lunalocks, might try this this weekend :)

[alexis917]

Have you tried twisting a small section of hair all the way to the end and just trimming the sticky-out ends? That was what I used to do when my hair had splits in the length.

This helped me a lot when I had splits on my layers.

[lunalocks]

Catnip update. 2 months with catnip soaks. Hadn't S and D ed for at least a week, maybe 2. I have also worn my hair down a good bit this past month. (Also have caught it in the car door, the seat belt retractor and the zipper on my purse. I am not used to have to be so careful and it's longer too) I spent 5 minutes this morning searching for a split. I finally found one. One! I did snip off 3 questionable looking ends and one tiny knot, but only one real split. And I struggled to find it.

I measured last week and I am almost at 37 inches - the longest I have ever been. Can't tell you how happy this makes me.

[Kyoshi]

Really great to hear that lunalocks! I have just started catnip soaks and thrilled to find that I can go without conditioner now. I've never had much of a problem with splits, if I do have them they tend to be the right angle ones. I'm looking forward to seeing if my hair gets stronger with catnip- I have fine hair that tangles and can break easily if I'm not careful.

[kpzra]

So, I need to get more catnip because apparently my cat has a drug problem. She climbed into the cupboard to shelf and dragged it out from behind boxes. Then she ran into the closed bedroom door a few times in her hyperness. :rolleyes:

[spirals]

Oh, that's not funny, but it is! Silly kitty. I wonder if keeping it in a ziploc container would help. I know sometimes they can smell stuff even through a cellophane bag.

[Vrindi]

I'm so upset that both my husband and I had pretty bad allergic reactions to the catnip I used in my hair! It seems like it gives such great results to everyone, but we were a sneezing, not-sleeping, irritated mess. Had to wash everything I touched when I had catnip in my hair.

My whole childhood I thought I was allergic to my cats (didn't stop me from having them as pets though!) when it was probably just their toys!

Oh well, back to my normal routine, and being diligent with the S&D.

[spirals]

Oh, sorry to hear that! It can be irritating. I'm not allergic per se, but my scalp seems to be.

[Leeloo]

I haven’t heard about a catnip rinse before (I’m new here). I’ll have to try it. I’ve been S&Ding using one of those magnifying glass with a light table top things (which makes it so much easier).

[honeybunnie8]

I have tried the catnip rinse but letting it sit an hour is a pain. Anyone have success with just a rinse or maybe misting it in the hair and leaving it?

[Kyoshi]

I think a few people on the main catnip thread said that a rinse helped a bit. Maybe if you put it in a shower cap or something for 5-10 minutes you could still get some of the benefit? I think leaving it in can lead to stickiness but haven't tried it personally. :) When I did mine last time I couldn't seem to get it to rinse out properly so it felt weird wet but dried nicely.

[kpzra]

Oh, that's not funny, but it is! Silly kitty. I wonder if keeping it in a ziploc container would help. I know sometimes they can smell stuff even through a cellophane bag.

Once I figured out what the noise was I was laughing at her (until she ran at me). I put the new stuff I bought today in a hard container with a lid and in the closet. The funny part is Zonk normally doesn't like catnip.:lol:

[sunflowersmiles]

I fit in here very well. My waist length hair love to split. Right now I just S&D, oil the ends and hope for the best. I may have to try a few catnip rinses though. It has my interest peeked.

[spirals]

I have tried the catnip rinse but letting it sit an hour is a pain. Anyone have success with just a rinse or maybe misting it in the hair and leaving it?

*raises hand* I do! I do!

[honeybunnie8]

Oh which one? just a rinse or misting?

[spirals]

I use it in a spray bottle and leave it in. The only reason I don't use it as a rinse is that my scalp hates it.

[honeybunnie8]

oh cool. I'll have to try just misting it and see if it makes my hair gross or not.

[lulana]

I stopped S&D because it thinned my ends out so i just wait 2 Month and cut about an inch, it helps me a lot more with the split ends, this and of course wear a lot of gentle buns

[FuzzyBlackWaves]

I have a lot of issues with split ends. That's what happens when you used to dye your whole head of hair twice a month then blow fry and straighten the heck out of it.

[jessicac1]

Joining in, my hair is BSL (see pic) and has been for ages. My changes:
- use a pre-poo oil (coconut or olive) treatment more
- hide tangle teezer from myself to see if this is the culprit
- try COing again
- only use my new hairdressing scissors for s&d
- maybe try a catnip treatment, I have medium brown hair, this wont stain it right?

[Wasy]

i always wait until it's dark outside, turn out the lights and close the door, and then hold the ends of my hair up to my laptop and i can see them really well, so i chop them off! XD

[Killahkurlz]

the catnip thing really works? I mean really really?

[PJolie]

I got them (or got more) once I reached hip length. I changed out my routine, and went back to home made treatments, and of course S&D ( I didn't want to trim cause i just reached HL). I already noticed the difference. I am doing a avocado and olive oil mask before washing my hair (once a week), and shampooing once and just the scalp. I don't know if that is what's helping my hair, but that's what I'm doing and it seems to work for me. Ah and I don't brush or comb my hair during the week

[sisi33]

The white dots are back for me. I had S&D'd out all the actual splits, but the last ~6" of my hair are in pre-LHC-bad condition. :justy: I have absolute faith that I'll make it to BCL by the end of the year, and then I'm maintaining 'til it's all gone! In the meantime I've mixed up a spritzy bottle with 50/50 catnip/marshmallow root, (which I spray on my length after I wash, and every night thereafter.) and it does seem to help with keeping the little turds from climbing up the hair shaft. Also, it makes my ends less grabby, which is always nice!

[spirals]

The catnip/marshmallow isn't foolproof, but it helps. I found some bad splits the other day, but only a couple. Those must've been the hairs that snapped when I didn't use enough detangler. But overall it's not bad at all. I've added nettles to my herbal rinse for the natural silica. My hair is more slippery, which is good. I have velcro hair naturally.

[spirals]

By the way, I got a box of catnip for about a dollar in the pet aisle and it works just fine.

[sunflowersmiles]

My evil little splits seem to be in remission for now. I have really been layering on the oils and just leaving my hair up in a bun. My last S&D I found about half the amount of splits than I usually find, so it seems to be working. I also have not blow dried my hair in about 2 months I believe.

[LAG93]

Every time I go to the salon I come home with white dots. I don't have those usually until the lady cuts my hair... I don't know what causes that, I've stopped going to her but other stylists it can happen a little too... Thinking about s&ding my own hair now

[norths]

I used to have endless amounts of split ends. I guess not really looking after my hair made it even worse - tangles, not really brushing hair, over washing and dry hair. But after chopping it all off and looking after my hair I still get split ends, but not as much as before. But I guess split ends are inevitable.

[FuzzyBlackWaves]

For some reason, warming up my deep conditioner between my palms before putting it on my hair seems to be lessening my split ends by quite a lot.

[pinchbeck]

Here is a blog I came across regarding split ends. There is some interesting information! The woman says that catnip rinses should be done after shampooing, not after conditioning since conditioner coats the hair which means the catnip cannot be penetrated. http://www.paleobeautiful.com/my-hair-breakage-story/

I find my hair not only has split ends, but is difficult to detangle. I am beginning to think that my hair cuticles don't lie flat which means they catch on to each other. Even with the aid of jojoba oil and a wide toothed seamless comb, there are still issues.

Finding a solution to my hair woes would be great. I am going to try a light coating of mineral oil on towel dried hair which never crossed my mind...ever!

[Leeloo]

As far as I understand from the catnip thread here on LHC, you have to wash your hair with silicone free shampoo including the length, then use catnip for an hour, then wash out and use conditioner (if needed) that is also silicone free.

[spirals]

I had my contacts out this morning, which made it easier to see my ends close-up. It seems every single end is split, but the splits are only a fraction of a millimeter. So basically, they are white dots, though they don't look white. No wonder my ends feel rough! I think I'll do a dusting by twisting the hair and snipping off all ends that stick out.

[sunflowersmiles]

I am going to do a dusting when I get my new scissors. The split ends are driving me crazy, but I don't want to make it worse using dull scissors.

[spirals]

I did a dusting and a microtrim, then oiled it.

[erinlesley09]

I usually don't get a lot of split ends, but I did have a mess of tangly ends a few months ago--after I'd gone 5+ months without the slightest trim. This was when I decided to start trimming my own hair, and it took a couple of times to get rid of all the tangly ends. Since then, they haven't been so bad. I S&D as much as I can, but I can't see all the ends of my shoulder-length layered hair.

[WilfredAllen]

I found a whole bundle of splits right where I pin my bangs back!:rant:
What's the worst thing about this? I can't do anything, short of re-cutting my bangs, which is NOT happening.

I heard bobby pin crosses are the worst, so I'll try two pins side-by-side just to see if it helps.


I also have some more pony tail damage, even though I've switched to scrunchies for a couple months now. I'll put the scrunchies away, and use my new claw clip for the day, and wear my hair down or in twin french braids overnight.

In brighter news, the protein overload (circa April 2013) seems to be in remission!

[lacefrost]

I just feel frustrated and over it. When my hair is straight I see so many splits but when it's curly, not that many. I don't know if my curls are hiding them, if when I blow dry I'm creating loads or what. And I keep trying to figure out if the amount of splits I have is normal for my length.

And on top of that, I know a few reasons why I have splits but I don't know how to fix them. I keep my hair unwrapped at night if my hair is loose because now that my layers are growing out (yay!) I have too much hair to fit under a scarf. I don't know what to do. Secondly, because my ends are so tightly curled, they're liable to tangle themselves up a second after detangling and I get single strand knots. Which, of course, result in more tangling. And we all know tangles = splits. I just don't know what to do.

I was blow drying my hair lightly once a month, which remarkably cut down on the single strand knots and made my dandruff problem disappear.But since I was only washing once a month, I'm worried that it could've added to dryness and roughness in my hair. So now I really don't know what to do.

Any suggestions?

[spirals]

I don't think you necessarily have to scarf it. I do 1 or 2 braids every night and it's fine. It's only my very ends that split, because they are damaged. But I have medium to coarse hairs. If yours is fine, it might get damaged that way.

[ravenreed]

Catnip is much more forgiving than that, in my experience. I CO with a silicone free conditioner, and then I follow that with an ACV rinse, which I rinse out very well. I use the catnip rinse as a leave in. However, I have used it just as a rinse, which I rinsed out after a few minutes and had a good benefit as well.


As far as I understand from the catnip thread here on LHC, you have to wash your hair with silicone free shampoo including the length, then use catnip for an hour, then wash out and use conditioner (if needed) that is also silicone free.

[BlondeWavyGal]

I've accepted split ends since im doing no trim till my goal. They dont really bother me, but ill be glad to hack them off when ive grown out enough.

[Shizuku]

My hair splits so easily. I just think curlies are doomed to a life of single strand knots. :(

[lunalocks]

3 months now of catnip soak after washing (without conditioner) and still happy about decreased splits. I have had my hair down a good deal this summer and can tell where the old damage was (outside of pony tail from scrunchie - I thought I had grown it all out, but there is still more to come). That is where I still see white dots and occasional splits. overall, however, I am very impressed.

Wash length with vo5 tea conditioner, wash scalp and length with dessert Essence Organics red raspberry, 20 to 40 minute soak in catnip tea, scrunch in a tea towel, apply baby oil to ends, comb once with wide tooth comb (from Madora), finger comb occasionally while air drying.

[lilliemer]

@ lacefrost: I'm doing rag curls at night (one on either side of the head). They are pretty comfortable to sleep in and are really effective at taming and evening out my curl pattern. I still have a ton of splits, but I think they're all old damage. My hair is definitely much smoother feeling in the AM and less tangled, so it seems to be protective. Not sure how well it would work on tighter curls (I am in the 2c/3a range) but maybe worth a try?

[WilfredAllen]

I just feel frustrated and over it. When my hair is straight I see so many splits but when it's curly, not that many. I don't know if my curls are hiding them, if when I blow dry I'm creating loads or what. And I keep trying to figure out if the amount of splits I have is normal for my length.

And on top of that, I know a few reasons why I have splits but I don't know how to fix them. I keep my hair unwrapped at night if my hair is loose because now that my layers are growing out (yay!) I have too much hair to fit under a scarf. I don't know what to do. Secondly, because my ends are so tightly curled, they're liable to tangle themselves up a second after detangling and I get single strand knots. Which, of course, result in more tangling. And we all know tangles = splits. I just don't know what to do.

I was blow drying my hair lightly once a month, which remarkably cut down on the single strand knots and made my dandruff problem disappear.But since I was only washing once a month, I'm worried that it could've added to dryness and roughness in my hair. So now I really don't know what to do.

Any suggestions?


No idea... :(
But your hair is sooo pretty in both your avatar and signature :O

[juliaxena]

Since this is a split end support topic, it is about time split ends get a pet name. Fairytale ends (up to individual's taste how they view them though), fairy knots and other things I can't think of at the moment sound so nice, but split ends just sound like dead end.

[Stray_mind]

I used to have split ends untill i cut off my hair. I don't do anything in particular to get rid of them other than regular trimming. Of course i don't suggest anyone here to cut off their hair.. There are at least two reasons i know for splitting ends. Try to change your haircare routine to more gentle one. If you think you're doing everything right, then it must be something inside your organism that you need. Maybe some vitamins, microelements etc. Drink a lot of water,condition your hair well. Dry hair tend to have more split ends and they break easier.

[0xalis]

I never had split ends until I bleached my hair in April last year. And then I had a crapton of them and I had to cut all of my hair into a horrid pixie cut! My hair is now collarbone length but the ends are very fragile because they were my roots at the time when I bleached my hair. My virgin hair is very soft and healthy but the ends feel fried even when there are no splits :(