invasion of split ends overnight

[sibi]

Hello everybody.

My hair tends to me very dry and breaks and splits verrry easily so I've always had huge amounts of split ends. To manage these I have been doing the Search & Destroy method for a few a month now, almost everyday. They are getting less and less and since last week or so it's been hard to find hardly any. So, mission accomplished.

But today when I woke up and did my quick Search & destroy check, I noticed a HUGE amount of new split ends! How can this be possible in just one night? Yesterday everything was still fine. Now I can start the S&Ding all over again :')
Also my hair was really tangly and brittle and dry when I woke up, whereas it usually is not.

The question is: how can this be? Things I can come up with: I went out with friends and drank some alcohol, things I both do quite rarely. After going out I went straight to bed without brushing my hair (something I usually always do when possible). At night, I cuddled & slept with my boyfriend which always makes my hair a bit more tangly in the morning, especially when I do not comb my hair, but never as extreme as it was this morning.

What do you guys think? May this really be because of not combing my hair only ONE evening? Or.. maybe this sounds strange but may drinking alcohol have been a contributer? As in, drinking alcohol dehydrates the body and thus perhaps also the hair? Is it the combination? The overnight difference is so huge because I did my last split end check just before going out yesterday and I could not find anything! And now it's like I can start all over again for a month or so.

P.S. i don't wear my hair up/braided overnight (i keep forgetting), but i think i will do from now on

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Maybe they are split ends you just didn't see previously? Also, wearing a sleeping cap or using a satin pillowcase should prevent most of your tangles.

[sibi]

Nah, they are too many to be remain unnoticed before...

[joflakes]

I don't have any answers but I do know that alcohol can't affect the ends of your hair. I'd trim them off and move on! =)

[sibi]

Yeah it's just.. it's so weird to have i think thousands of new split ends in one night :/ so i'd really like to prevent this in the future :P

[ejking2]

Maybe you were clumsier while inebriated (if that was the case, I mean) and so your hair rubbed against and got stuck in more stuff? Yeah...that's all I've got.

[BlazingHeart]

Maybe it's your scissors. Are you using very sharp scissors, and only using those scissors in your hair? If you aren't, the hair will just re-split.

[dreamingstar]

Maybe it's your scissors. Are you using very sharp scissors, and only using those scissors in your hair? If you aren't, the hair will just re-split.

Great point BlazingHeart! I second this! I bought cheap scissors and used them only on my hair, and it turns out they weren't sharp enough so my hair kept re-splitting. I have to get new scissors now. From my own experience, sibi, quality scissors are very important.

[Kaelee]

Definitely agreed on the scissors. I let someone trim my hair with dull scissors one time and every single strand was split within a couple of weeks!

[ravenreed]

That happens to me if I use aloe vera gel. It is really annoying. Every single hair will have a brand new split end!

[lunalocks]

I visited the east coast recently and the cold, dry air did a number on may hair and and I came home with hundreds of splits. Since May I had been doing catnip soaks and rinse and leave in with mineral oil on the ends, and no splits! None all summer and fall. In October I thought I needed a bit more moisture and used conditioner instead of catnip for about a month, and then this trip. I am back to catnip soaks.

So, has it turned nasty cold with dry air outside and inside dry and hot as well? I highly recommend catnip soaks to prevent splits.

[ErinLeigh]

Are you using professional scissors?
EDIT: saw it was mentioned. I didn't get to see the responses first.

Satin pillowcases helped me a lot to prevent splits but that is off topic.

Was the bar dry and smoky by chance? Maybe that couple with wrong scissors and a romp with bf was your perfect storm?

[Madora]

Former LHC member Ktani's article on catnip for split ends:


http://ktanihairsense.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-3-of-4-on-innovative-approaches-to.html

[chen bao jun]

I would suspect the weather, also.
My hair suddenly started breaking off at the ends last week, I had to change my routine and leave humectants out. Its fine now.
the dew point has been really low recently. If you are prone to splits, it can split just because of that.
also, I never skip a night of hair braiding. Braiding= no tangles, not braiding= tangle hell.