Dry ends getting dryer with oil treatments

[Rose Angel]

So I have a conundrum!

The top 2/3rds of my hair is perfection. Straight, very shiny and easily conditioned (never dried or tangly). Then comes the ends - tangly, curly (I don't know why its curly when for last 20 years of my last I never had curly hair) and super dry and porous.

I tried protein treatment - great effect for 24 hours. And then lost. Same dry frizzy tangly curl mess.

I tried oils - Olive, mustard, sesame seed, almond, coconut - nothing seems to help, rather it makes my ends drier, crunchy and oily.

I use amla and reetha (no SLS/ all natural) to wash my hair twice a week and condition with cones because cone-less makes my tangly ends a serious pain.

I tried clarifying /chelating with baking soda - still no difference (though my top hair and scalp loved it).

I usually would cut off my ends (about 4 inches) but this time I have reached tailbone length and I can't seem to part with it! No split ends either so I have hope that someone from here would SAVE my dry ends from the inevitable chop!!

Please save my locks, darlings! Give me a way out :)

Love,

Rose

[Firefox7275]

Alkaline baking soda is neither a clarifier nor a chelating agent, chelants are all acids. See the experiments on the Natural Haven blog for how poorly it cleans hair compared with shampoo. Once you have properly clarified and chelated (use a commercial product for silicones) try simply intensive conditioning your ends and/ or using a leave in conditioner.

A 'true' conditioner is rich in the major emollients (fatty alcohols/ cationic surfactants). Hydrolysed protein treatments are not necessarily a one off they do often need to be repeated on damaged hair. Personally I like to use a rinse out conditioner that is rich in emollients and protein as a leave in to save time/ kill two birds with one stone.

[curlylocks85]

Please don't take this the wrong way but saying that your hair is bipolar is insulting to people who actually suffer from bipolar.

[Bohemian_Scara]

Please don't take this the wrong way but saying that your hair is bipolar is insulting to people who actually suffer from bipolar.

I would second this. I know you didn't mean it that way, but it is worth being more careful how you use that term.

[Firefox7275]

I am on the bipolar spectrum and I didn't find it offensive, tho I can see others might.

[tetisheri72]

Please don't take this the wrong way but saying that your hair is bipolar is insulting to people who actually suffer from bipolar.

I was going to say that too.

[Anje]

Back to the subject at hand......

OP, what sort of protein treatment did you use? I think you're probably on the right track with doing those as patch-repair for your ends until you can grow them out and trim them slowly out. But there are different types and different ingredients with varying staying power.

[Beborani]

I never thought I would say this--do henna (if dark, black hair) or cassia if lighter on the ends. Seriously, a few repeated treatments with henna and some cassia tea soaks, my curly end have become silky or as silky as such hair can possibly get. And everyone here says henna is permanent so that is another bonus. I have nearly given up proteining my ends these days as it stays nice between wash days.

[OleanderTime]

Lol I am bipolar and clicked on this thread juuuuuust in case it was about my many, many questions about how meds and diet and all the other bipolar-related things are related to hair. It's not, so I have nothing to add. But the other day, I did find one random super thick dark hair strand in my hair while doing a S&D and that was super weird. I'll have to think of what to label that situation. I am a sociology PhD student so I take these things Very Seriously, but I'm in too good a mood about the board today to mind the thread title. Cheers!

[Rose Angel]

Hey guys, im sorry if you feel that way, but just to be clear I'm bipolar too. Also on medication. I didn't think it would offend anyone. I am on my phone and not sure how to change the title from this tiny screen so I'll skip that part for now. But seriously, just take the title in literal terms.

Abot henna and cassia - I shall try that! Its been 2 years since my last treatment!

About chelating - you guys are right. I've been doing this wrong. Baking soda is not a good chelating agent. But i was scared of lemon/lime juice, even though our water is hard (a lot of calcium and some other stuff I dont really know about) so that could be the cause.

About the protein treatment - i'm a fan of eggs and gelatin - tried both. Now you see my hair feels awesomw for a day or maximum two and it all wears out. I dont get how and why.

[Rose Angel]

I just fixed the title. I am here to ask for solutions and not to offend anyone.

[Rose Angel]

Thank you! I'll try chelating with an actual chelating agent this time and report back!

[Firefox7275]

Hey guys, im sorry if you feel that way, but just to be clear I'm bipolar too. Also on medication. I didn't think it would offend anyone. I am on my phone and not sure how to change the title from this tiny screen so I'll skip that part for now. But seriously, just take the title in literal terms.

Abot henna and cassia - I shall try that! Its been 2 years since my last treatment!

About chelating - you guys are right. I've been doing this wrong. Baking soda is not a good chelating agent. But i was scared of lemon/lime juice, even though our water is hard (a lot of calcium and some other stuff I dont really know about) so that could be the cause.

About the protein treatment - i'm a fan of eggs and gelatin - tried both. Now you see my hair feels awesomw for a day or maximum two and it all wears out. I dont get how and why.

Eggs are not a protein treatment because the molecules are far too large to penetrate, they are more of a lipid (oil/ fat) treatment or emulsifying (cleansing). Gelatin is a hydrolysed protein treatment, like I said you may well need to repeat or modify the treatment to get the best results: see Sciencey Hairblog for a logic/ evidence based recipe.

Don't be scared of acids, as long as you don't go too strong so use pH test paper or use a recipe from someone who has. Hair and skin are naturally acidic (pH ~4.5-5.5) so this should be better for most heads that harsh alkaline baking soda. If you bear in mind that the pH scale is logarithmic the difference between 5 and 7 (neutral) is one hundred times, the difference between 5 and 9 is (one hundred multiplied by one hundred) ten thousand times more alkaline!!

[molljo]

If your water is hard, you absolutely should get a chelating shampoo, especially if you're nervous about mixing acids yourself. What your describing (tangly dry ends no matter what you do) sounds exactly like mineral buildup. I've lived in very hard water areas all my life and the first time I chelated was like a dream come true. When washing with a chelating shampoo, it's important to wash from root to tip, leave the suds on for about 5 minutes, rinse and follow with a conditioning treatment like an SMT for about 30 minutes.

[lunalocks]

If you haven't already, try a drop or 2 of baby oil in the ends at night. I tried every other kind of oil i could get my hands on and nothing has worked so well as baby oil, generic. Pure mineral oil is too thick. baby oil is perfect.

[spidermom]

Do your ends feel significantly different from the rest when you pinch hair strands between your fingers at scalp and slide fingers down toward ends?

[jt623]

Have you tried 100% argon oil? This oil will make your hair very soft,shiny, tangle free, and help control frizz without weighing your hair down. Some of the other oils that I have tried did not impress me, but this one did.

[jacqueline101]

I'm having the same issue. I'm thinking about doing my oil blend after I condition with my baume hair plus. Another words try a leave in. I'm using the conditioner every other day.