s&d methods?

[angy0987]

Im new here and am having a hard time with the searching thing. Im sure this is here somewhere but I cant find it. I havent had a trim in a couple years and since ive started actually paying attention to my hair I see a lot of split ends and white dots. I tried to search and destroy this morning but I have more hair than I thought and it is very tedious. Is there an easier way than searching all of my strands? I have a good amout of layering or I would just trim it all. Does anyone have any suggestions? And by the way I understand none of the terminology used here, amazed that I got s&d.

[donnalouise]

S&D is time consuming, especially when you first start. I don't have any real tips to help you, perhaps others do, but for me i just do a little bit and often and it's become almost therapeutic for me now to sit down on my sofa and chill out in front of the TV for a good S&D session. If you keep doing it every few weeks / monthly it gets easier, nowadays it only takes me a few minutes and each time i S&D i only find 10 or 20 hairs to cut. I also keep my scissors handy because i have a habit of going through my ends and playing with my hair and i CANNOT stand to see those white dots, whenever i see them they must go. Don't worry about doing everything all at once, just have a go and then come back another day, you'll notice a difference over time.

[Naiadryade]

For me, there are pretty much two categories of S&D: casual every day S&D, and an intensive S&D session. If I keep on top of doing the first type, I don't have to do the second type nearly as often.

I cut some split ends almost every day. There are two ways this happens: first, when my hair is braided, before I take the braid out I scan all the hairs that are sticking out (I'm dealing with old layers too) as well as the tassel and trim any splits and white dots I see. I also do this under where the scrunchie was before unbraiding. If I don't have my hair braided on a particular day, I'll do some casual S&D with it loose, generally while on the computer, in the passenger seat of the car while my partner is driving, or in the woods smoking--if you watch TV, that would be another good time. This is as simple as keeping my scissors near me, and if I see a split or a white dot, I cut it out and spend a few minutes scanning for more and cutting them off too. It's not a systematic thing really.

The more intensive form of S&D is what I resort to if I have recently been not so nice to my hair or if I've been neglecting my regular routine. This is systematically going through my hair, chunk by chunk--I do my hair, which has a 4" ponytail circumference, in at least 8 sections or more, and it takes my obsessive perfectionist self at least 2 hours to do. (It once took 12 hours (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=110709) when I had let it go neglected for months.) I generally take a section of hair and weave it through my fingers: under pointer, over middle and ring, under pinkie. This creates a loose "loop" that sticks out from the back of my hand. I do this as high up on the hair as I can focus on without hurting my eyes, then I very gently fluff the loop to get any hairs that end at that length to stick out. I look for any damaged ends and trim them off. then I slide my hand down the section of hair an inch or so, and repeat, until I've done the entire length of that section. If I'm feeling especially patient, I'll flip the section over and repeat the whole process, with the hairs that were on the inside of the loop facing my hand now on the outside. I then contain that section with a scrunchie or clip to signal to myself that that section is done, and repeat on all sections until all my hair is done. So yes, it is indeed very tedious. It's a good thing for my hair I'm OCD, because it really makes a difference in the way my hair looks and feels, and in how fast I gain length. I assume it's not as important for people who have less fragile hair than myself, though.

Something I've read about others doing is twisting sections of hair so that the ends stick out from the sides of the twist, and trimming damaged ends seen from there. It's not as thorough as the method I just described because many of the hairs are just trapped inside the twist, as opposed to being fanned out, but it might be faster. :shrug:

Good luck, and may patience be with you. :meditate:

[Panth]

Personally, I have little patience for S&D. When I do S&D I usually do it on a day-old, somewhat fuzzy-looking plait. I focus on the tassel - fluffing it out / splaying it out with one hand and then holding it up to the light or against my clothing if it's dark coloured (as I'm blonde - thus maximum contrast). I also trim anything horrific-looking from the fuzzy bits sticking out from the length of the plait.

I figure that, yes, most of the hair is trapped in the plait with this method. However, if you do it regularly then the fuzzy sticking-out hairs are generally different ones each time, so you get at least a few of the hairs. Also, it focuses on the ends (tassel) where there is most damage.

[angy0987]

Now should I do this on freshly washed hair or at least hair that hasnt been up all day. When I did it this morning my hair had been up in a braid for a couple days and all the ends looked a little bent or kinky so I just snipped off obvious split ends and dots because I really dont know what damage looks like.

[donnalouise]

I find it easier on 'fresh' hair as it's easier to spot the damage alongside the rest of my smooth fresh hair. I get kinky bits on my ends sometimes and i normally chop them too in my S&D, especially when they are bent at a big angle, it makes my hair lie nice and smooth. You can start by targeting all the white dots and obvious splits, that'll make a huge difference and will take less time than analysing all the kinky bits too, then maybe look at anything bent at un-natural angles next time, would be a good way to break up your S&D sessions. I noticed not all kinky hair is alike, some kinky bits can be fixed with water and putting back into place, they can happen when i go to sleep on wet hair for instance. Other kinks can be obvious damage at big angles - i try to target these. I try not to go over the top with it otherwise i might as well just do a full trim.

[jacqueline101]

It's a lengthy process.
1 get 4 crock clips hair dresser clips used to pin up hair
2 make four parts 2 top 2 bottom
3 make sure to have good light sharp shears
4 undo one clip of hair I do top right then top left bottom right bottom left as my pattern.
5 after you undo your section look for white dots splits and bent damaged hairs
6 after your done with the section you s&d repin back up then move to your next section.

Layers I don't have anymore. I personally didn't do my back layer. If your hair is riddled with white dots I'd get a trim. Time frame it takes to s&d for me is an hour.