The Ends: Dry but not Split

[Inkspot]

Hello,

I wanted to know if there was something I can do about my ends which, as of late, have been throwing a bit of a tantrum :rolleyes: . They are not split, do not break, and are not noticeably thinner or duller than the length of my hair, yet they are extremely dry to the touch. I have 3 inches of year old henna left on them and have not changed anything that would have caused their currently unpleasant state, thus, I am at a loss on what I should do to make them somewhat pleasant again.

I have tried coconut oil (which I apply to my hair periodically anyway) with little success, as in small amounts it does nothing, and in large amounts it makes my ends greasy. I am contemplating a trim, but given the fact there are no splits and even the smallest trim would result in significant shrinkage, I would like to try and avoid this potion.

If anyone has been more successful than myself at navigating the search tool for further answers, please feel free to post the links… I have yet to use the search option with any form of efficiency.

[Ambrielle]

Have you tried to clarify them and condition them afterwards? Could be build up. I'd try this first and see what happens.

[wilderwein]

What helped me with my dry ends was 1. I applied olive oil as a hair mask overnight, then the next day I mixed my regular conditioner with honey and a tablespoon of vinegar and applied it on the already oiled hair, leaved it in for about 2 hours and then followed my usual hair wash routine. I'm not sure it will work for you but it worked wonders for my hair!

[MaryO]

My ends are also very dry (or used to be?) and I put a couple of drops of argan oil on and they have really started to improve by leaps and bounds. I don't use conditioner anymore as it didn't seem to help.

[Sparklylady82]

I was using coconut oil as a pre-wash overnight treatment 2-3 times a week and I noticed my ends feeling "crunchy". I guess you can over do it with coconut oil because of the protein. As soon as I stopped using it my ends have felt less crunchy. I agree on claifying or just stopping use of oil and protein based products to see if it get better.

[missblueeyes]

From what I've learned on TLHC, oil seals moisture into the hair follicle. If you apply it onto your already dry ends, it might have the negative effect of sealing out moisture. I would try clarifying followed by a SMT and maybe a drop of oil on the ends after everything has dried. As far as I know, you have to moisturize your ends before you oil them or else they'll stay dry.

(I'm retelling this from memory, it could as well be all wrong, though.)

[Johannah]

Oils as a post-wash do nothing for my hair, but it works wonders as a pre-wash. You could leave it overnight.

[catasa]

I would also suggest clarifying first to see if it is buildup, and maybe chelating as well.

I don´t know if you have been using the oil on dry or wet hair but as missblueeyes said, for a moisturizing effect oil should be applied on wet or damp hair, to seal in the moisture. I personally use mineral oil with really good results.

I have also had good results with bagging my damp hair overnight to give moisture time to penetrate. I have done this without even adding conditioner, just wetting my hair, putting a plastic bag over it (and a small towel over that both for extra warmth and to stop the plastic rustling :) ), and sleeping on it. I usually do a ponytail on the top of my head with a rather loose scrunchie, and wet and bag just the ponytail, because I can´t stand sleeping with a wet scalp...

I hope you find a solution! :flower

[Inkspot]

Thank you everyone for your responses! I will try some of these suggestions to see if they help. :D

[Wildcat Diva]

I'd suggest adding a shea butter based leave in like ETSY shop Nightblooming sells. Read about her Panacea product in the corresponding thread on here.

[kidari]

I'm going to echo the advice on a good clarifying shampoo followed up with a moisture treatment. I know everyone is usually advocating any cheap yet effective product, but for a really good cleanse I would really strongly suggest investing in a salon quality chelating shampoo. I feel like these do the best job while still being gentle. You don't need to use it often so if you buy one on sale, it will last you a very long time. Personally, I find that oiling before washing works best. After washing I've been doing the LOC method before I even heard about it (I use a spray detangler, a coney oil serum, then a leave-in cream- some shea butter and oil based with no cones, some with cassia, oils, and cones). A small trim will help, but for me no matter how often or how drastic the trim the last couple inches of my hair are always in a dry state if it is past BSL. In between washings I like to spray some leave-in conditioner (I think this is called misting) and put it in a bun or if I can be bothered, a heat-free curling method (this is called damp bunning, sometimes that has helped people with fragile and/or dry ends). Hope this helps!

[Eastbound&Down]

Clarify and DT. Olive oil always does very well on my hair, and a little goes a long way,no more than 3 drops should be plenty. I've read about mineral oil but I personally don't have any experience with it. Coconut oil works well for me as a overnight pre-poo treatment. Hopefully you find a solution without having to cut! Best of luck!

[venus_in_pisces]

I'm going to second the advice for argan oil. It's been helpful for the dry ends on my hair in the last. Unfortunately, my ends are extremely split-prone as well, so I think I have no choice but to cut them off at this point!

[venus_in_pisces]

I forgot to add: another thing that helps (depending on your length) - is to not wash for a few days and use a bristle brush to get the oils to your ends. That works pretty well for me sometimes too!

[jupiterinleo]

I too was struggling with dry, yet undamaged ends. I got them back to normal by clarifying (a few times, actually), and putting conditioner + oil or serum on the ends post-shower. No amount of oils alone did it for me. It was the conditioner that helped.