Those pesky white dots. HELP

[Aingeal]

I'm getting so frustrated! I try to s&d about once a month, towards the end of the month. I tend to get a lot of white dots and splits because I have old damage from years worth of dying and flat ironing constantly. :( Anyway, I woke up one morning about two weeks ago and found a horrid amount of dots and splits. It was so bad I almost ran out and cut about two inches off. I'm trying so hard not to cut as I'm wanting to reach my goal. I decided to s&d early and really worked at it. I was so glad when it seemed to work. But this morning I noticed that I'm getting the dots again already. :brickwall I don't want to keep s&ding...I might as well get a cut. I'm just trying to figure out a way to stall. I was hoping to go six months with no trims. My last trim I took off about an inch in August. I already wear my hair up at least five days a week. I also do prewash oiling with coconut and olive oil. I try to seal my ends after showering with my leave in and argan oil or coconut oil. I'm trying to avoid cones, but maybe I need to bring some in for the mean time to help my ends out?

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

[Madora]

When you snip off those white dots, be sure your scissors are SHARP. Dull scissors will only bring on another crop of white dots.

If you have quite a few, it might help matters to trim the ends about half an inch.

[Aingeal]

I have hair scissors that i bought at walgreens about two months ago. They are only used on my hair. Should I invest in something a little better/more expensive?

[Madora]

As long as the scissors are only used on your hair, they should be fine.

However, perhaps a better grade of scissors might yield a better cut. If you have a Sally's beauty supply story nearby, perhaps you could find a good pair of scissors there. If you don't have a Sally's, perhaps you could check out if you have any other general retail beauty supplies/hairdressing equipment establishment that could supply the scissors you want.

[Aingeal]

I actually have a sallys right across the street from my house. :) I only got walgreens ones because sallys was closed the night I decided to s&d for the first time and just couldn't wait....Im a bit impatient. ;) I may also get something coney to put on my ends in the meantime as well. Maybe use it as my leave in for a while.

[biogirl87]

Aingeal, a lot of people here on the forums have said that cones would be better to use when you have damaged hair until you grow out the damage.

[Firefox7275]

If you are only using penetrating oils your routine is potentially not balanced and you are missing out on the benefits of ingredients which can patch repair (temporary/ short term). Also consider hydrolysed protein, ceramides, 18-MEA, panthenol, but do be aware some hair may simply be too fried to be salvageable. Silicones are particularly useful if detangling is at all difficult - if you are following the Curly Girl method or are worried about build up stick to water soluble (PEG-) or amino ones (eg. amodimethicone).

Also it simply isn't always possible to have it all at the pace we want, if you want to wear your hair loose two days a week you may be best to maintain length until the worst of the damage is gone. If you still want to gain length then you may need to baby your damaged ends even more than you already are. Damage can take as long to grow out as if took to accumulate, patience is necessary.

[Aingeal]

Ok, I just went to the store and luckily got two conditioners that have panthenol in it. My usual co wash/leave in doesn't have it. It's also been recommended that I use macadamia oil. I may add that to my oil routine. I have been semi curly girl for the past six months, but am not too strict about it. I do have some cones in my routine. Maybe it's just time for a change in routine. More macadamia, more cones (temporarily) and less leaving it down. I may also change my cowash/leave in.

[lapushka]

I don't want to keep s&ding...I might as well get a cut. I'm just trying to figure out a way to stall. I was hoping to go six months with no trims. My last trim I took off about an inch in August. I already wear my hair up at least five days a week. I also do prewash oiling with coconut and olive oil. I try to seal my ends after showering with my leave in and argan oil or coconut oil. I'm trying to avoid cones, but maybe I need to bring some in for the mean time to help my ends out?

If your hair is riddled with white dots, S&D will thin it out considerably, so it's better in that case to just bite the bullet and trim. But there's no hurry, trust me. I grew from shoulder all the way to hip while my hair was riddled with white dots. They're there, yes, but they are not going to tear themselves off from your hair. So you can, in fact, if you wanted to, just leave them until you're ready to cut them off. And S&D mildly in the mean time.

[Aingeal]

If your hair is riddled with white dots, S&D will thin it out considerably, so it's better in that case to just bite the bullet and trim. But there's no hurry, trust me. I grew from shoulder all the way to hip while my hair was riddled with white dots. They're there, yes, but they are not going to tear themselves off from your hair. So you can, in fact, if you wanted to, just leave them until you're ready to cut them off. And S&D mildly in the mean time.

Thanks! Maybe I'm just being picky and wanting to have it all right now. :) My hair was a bit expensive today. I hope it appreciates it! At any rate, I have two new hair toys coming in this week to help me keep my hair up and cute and some new products to help keep it strong.

[moniquerenaud]

Also it simply isn't always possible to have it all at the pace we want, if you want to wear your hair loose two days a week you may be best to maintain length until the worst of the damage is gone. If you still want to gain length then you may need to baby your damaged ends even more than you already are. Damage can take as long to grow out as if took to accumulate, patience is necessary.[/QUOTE]

Firefox, are you saying that if you don't wear your hair up constantly that you are lowering your chances of growing healthy long hair? I hate wearing my hair up and I'm growing long hair to wear it down and show off not hide away up:( also, do you classify a ponytail as up or is that still damaging since the hair can still get matted

[Naiadryade]

Some hair just splits/forms white dots, especially if it has old damage. Heck, I S&D every day and my damage is only mechanical and hydral, not chemical and heat! If I did a thorough S&D session, and it was a whole two weeks before I was seeing white dots again, I would be ecstatic. I would be completely dumbfounded to be finding none day after day for 14 days! Of course, I very much hope that that will become the case after I've trimmed all the pre-LHC hair off.

I think the real question here is whether your hair tends to let those dots travel up the hair shaft. It could be, like lapushka was saying, that you can just ignore them and keep happily growing. Personally, when I've gone a couple months only S&Ding once every week or two, my length-gain has been half what it normally is. I get splits that turn into 2-inch long monster splits, tangle with other hairs and causing them to split too, and then break off--leaving a white dot that then starts to split again. If I don't allow them to do that, I lose less length. But since you can go two weeks without seeing new white dots, your hair is probably a little more resilient than mine.

(I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining--really, I'm comfortable with my S&D routine and I'm happy to be microtrimming now. It works fine for me. I just wanted to put your problem in a little perspective. It could be worse. Hope it helps you feel better about your hair. :flower:)

ETA a little more actual advice:

I noticed that both times you noticed the new white dots in the morning, after waking up. Are you using a silk/satin sleep cap or pillowcase? That can make a big difference!

Also you say "I don't want to keep s&ding"... but S&D isn't usually a one-time thing. It's a routine, done regularly as part of necessary hair maintenance for most who do it. Not everyone does--certainly it works for many people to just trim a little off the ends occasionally, and of course there are some who are able to grow very long hair without scissors ever touching it. But if S&D is something you want to be part of your routine, well, the response to seeing splits and white dots should become grabbing your scissors, destroying those suckers, and moving on with your day. That way you don't have to freak out and want to cut 2 inches. Approached with the right mentality, S&D is empowering (you have the ability to remove damaged ends without losing length) and not a big deal (just carry scissors with you and snip a few at a time, it doesn't have to be a long session every time).

I really hope that helps!

[Naiadryade]

(Sorry for the two posts in a row... but my 3am groggy brain has already edited the above post a few times, and that feels silly, and this is a new response. :shrug:)


Firefox, are you saying that if you don't wear your hair up constantly that you are lowering your chances of growing healthy long hair? I hate wearing my hair up and I'm growing long hair to wear it down and show off not hide away up:( also, do you classify a ponytail as up or is that still damaging since the hair can still get matted

"Lowering chances" isn't the phrasing I would use... I would say "slowing down the process." By how much really depends on your hair type. I also prefer wearing my hair down, and I suffer some amount of mechanical damage because of it. The S&D routine I described above is my peace offering/compromise that, along with the rest of my routine, allows me to suffer that damage, remove the worst ends as they appear, and still gain a respectable amount of length every month. (Well, I just started microtrimming and maintaining, but that's beside the point.) That, and I wear my hair up sometimes--and I always bun or braid my hair for activities that are prone to cause tangles or damage, such as playing with kids or working outside. Would I lose less hair to splits if I wore it up 24/7? Definitely. Can I still grow healthy long hair even though I don't? Definitely, it might just take a little longer to get to my goal length.

And no, ponytails are not considered protective updos. If you do them tightly and/or in the same place every day, they can actually cause extra damage from friction at the ponytail holder.

[ErinLeigh]

Ok, I just went to the store and luckily got two conditioners that have panthenol in it. My usual co wash/leave in doesn't have it. It's also been recommended that I use macadamia oil. I may add that to my oil routine. I have been semi curly girl for the past six months, but am not too strict about it. I do have some cones in my routine. Maybe it's just time for a change in routine. More macadamia, more cones (temporarily) and less leaving it down. I may also change my cowash/leave in.

Try some grapeseed or hemp once in a while for ceramides

[Aingeal]

Some hair just splits/forms white dots, especially if it has old damage. Heck, I S&D every day and my damage is only mechanical and hydral, not chemical and heat! If I did a thorough S&D session, and it was a whole two weeks before I was seeing white dots again, I would be ecstatic. I would be completely dumbfounded to be finding none day after day for 14 days! Of course, I very much hope that that will become the case after I've trimmed all the pre-LHC hair off.

I think the real question here is whether your hair tends to let those dots travel up the hair shaft. It could be, like lapushka was saying, that you can just ignore them and keep happily growing. Personally, when I've gone a couple months only S&Ding once every week or two, my length-gain has been half what it normally is. I get splits that turn into 2-inch long monster splits, tangle with other hairs and causing them to split too, and then break off--leaving a white dot that then starts to split again. If I don't allow them to do that, I lose less length. But since you can go two weeks without seeing new white dots, your hair is probably a little more resilient than mine.

(I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining--really, I'm comfortable with my S&D routine and I'm happy to be microtrimming now. It works fine for me. I just wanted to put your problem in a little perspective. It could be worse. Hope it helps you feel better about your hair. :flower:)

ETA a little more actual advice:

I noticed that both times you noticed the new white dots in the morning, after waking up. Are you using a silk/satin sleep cap or pillowcase? That can make a big difference!

Also you say "I don't want to keep s&ding"... but S&D isn't usually a one-time thing. It's a routine, done regularly as part of necessary hair maintenance for most who do it. Not everyone does--certainly it works for many people to just trim a little off the ends occasionally, and of course there are some who are able to grow very long hair without scissors ever touching it. But if S&D is something you want to be part of your routine, well, the response to seeing splits and white dots should become grabbing your scissors, destroying those suckers, and moving on with your day. That way you don't have to freak out and want to cut 2 inches. Approached with the right mentality, S&D is empowering (you have the ability to remove damaged ends without losing length) and not a big deal (just carry scissors with you and snip a few at a time, it doesn't have to be a long session every time).

I really hope that helps!

Thanks! I'll take that into consideration.


Try some grapeseed or hemp once in a while for ceramides

Awesome. Would you recommend I put these in my hair when damp or dry?