breakage frustration!

[bryana]

I feel like all of my posting here are about breakage, why o why! My hair is pretty thin and fine to begin with so the breakage is just heartbreaking to me on my hair growing journey. I am currently right above tailbone length but very thin scraggly ends. I've tried a couple aphogee protein treatments thus far but was wondering if there are any other tips for people experiencing breakage. Once I noticed it, it was about one year ago and the first thing I did was drive to my stylist and have her cut off 5 inches. I've done 2 protein treatments since then. I don't see as many little pieces as I used to so maybe the damage is already done. My braid just gets smaller and smaller. I am more wondering if there are any vitamins I could take that would help strengthen up my hair. Maybe any essential oil scalp treatments I can do or anything like that. My routine is pretty simple, I wash every 3 days with Aveda shampoo and conditioner. I use Aveda Damage Remedy leave in after my wash and condition. I don't blow dry, I don't straight iron ... I squeeze out the excess with a cotton tee or pillowcase and then just let nature do it's thing. I attached a pic of my hair .. thats ALL my hair on one side

http://i62.tinypic.com/10ga7mt.jpg

[lapushka]

I don't see anything but healthy lookin' hair. :) If that's at all comforting to you. You could try moisture treatments such as the rinse-out oil method, the LOC method (they're all linked in my signature).

[Cattiva]

Your hair looks good to me as well. Also having thin, fine hair, I notice a huge difference when I do a moisture treatment every so often.

[-Fern]

I don't see a lot of breakage, but I do see the taper... You know your hair best. :) It sounds like you take really good care of your hair, so this is just a suggestion... a huge amount of my breakage was coming from combing and elastics. Do you frequently wear your hair in the same hairstyle/same spot? Do you use elastics? I wound up eliminating combing from my normal routine entirely. I just do-not-touch-it when wet. Not even finger combing. (I just ruffle gently near the roots to make sure air is reaching it.) I shower in the evening, then let it dry loose, draped over my pillow, overnight. Then gently detangle with a brush when it is dry in the morning. I thought it would be catastrophic to skip detangling with a comb, but there are actually hardly ever any tangles in my hair in the morning. This may not work for all hair types, but it worked for me!

ETA: Keep in mind that we also have opposite hair types... so :shrug:

[Ambrielle]

I think your hair is very pretty and soft looking by the way but i understand perspective is relative. :flower:


Just to be clear and in case i misunderstood, could the breakage be old damage? I don't know how you treated your hair in the past but just wanted to add sometimes old damage takes a while to show, as in many months and even several years depending on your length. I am still finding small pieces of broken hair from time to time although rarely these days but i know these to be from old damage (almost 15 years of chemical dying and abuse).

What i would do is incorporate a mild to medium protein treatment into my routine (every 4-6 weeks or as your hair can tolerate it) and follow up with a moisturizing treatment. Aphogee is a strong one, i wouldn't use that one unless my hair had suffered a chemical cut but if your hair likes it that's okay. Please bear in mind breakage can also happen when hair is overloaded with protein (story of my life), the culprit was my leave in that had some protein in it so just to be on the safe side try to keep things balanced between moisture and protein.

We have different hair types so i am not sure what else to suggest. As far as vitamins are concerned i am not the best adviser either, sorry. I am taking a multi vitamin by centrum which i like, i am not taking it for my hair although it may help. :) I'd keep an eye on protein intake and iron levels, make sure you're getting enough of those in your diet.

Best of luck on your journey! :blossom:

[gwenalyn]

I don't know how you feel about cones, but it has a protective effect for a lot of people. (I couldn't find ingredients for the products you mentioned online.) I like it a lot for my fine hair, since it reduces tangles = less damage detangling. It also seems to reduce static and flyaway hair, which is a particular problem with fine hair that wants to float.

Other than that ... patience. There are a lot of pictures around of people who just patiently let their thickness grow down. Remember that at tailbone some of that hair could be 6 years old! So you just have to wait for newer hairs to grow down. If you are seeing reduced breakage than in the past, it sounds like you are on the right track! Check out the microtrimming thread for some progress pictures.

[bryana]

all of you are awesome, thank you!

lapushka, you are too nice that made me smile! thank you. i've been really hating my super thinness recently. I've got a question about the rinse out oil method - would it be overkill to do a pre-poo with CO, then do the rinse out oil using MO or grapeseed?

thanks cattiva, ya'll are really boosting my hair confidence!

-Fern I do! Either lose bun with twistband (elasticless), spin pin buns, or a braid with twistband. I finger comb out of the shower but I'll try no manipulation until dry. thanks for the suggestions!

Ambrielle, thank you that's such a compliment! The damage is definitely > 4 years old because that's how long I have been trying to meticulously take care of my hair. 4 years ago I was blowing drying, flat ironing, the whole 9. My leave in has hydrolyzed wheat protein...could that be contributing?

gwenalyn, that's very encouraging to know about all those other pictures. I'm definitely going to check out that thread! my leave in (aveda damage remedy daily hair repair) has dimethicone, so does the aveda damage remedy conditioner. Thank you!

[Scarlet_Celt]

I'd recommend some moisture treatments, because your hair might not necessarily benefit from protein treatments much. My hair hates too much protein, but loves moisture, so I'm all about oils. How long does it take your hair to dry naturally? If hair is wet for too long it can actually experience damage from it. I can't remember what the technical term is, but it's something I'm especially wary of in Winter, so I don't let my hair take too long to dry. I will use my hair dryer on the cool setting to finish drying my hair.

[lapushka]

lapushka, you are too nice that made me smile! thank you. i've been really hating my super thinness recently. I've got a question about the rinse out oil method - would it be overkill to do a pre-poo with CO, then do the rinse out oil using MO or grapeseed?

I don't think so. It could only make your hair softer. Don't use too much oil though. 3/4 textures can get away with more. 1/2 need to really use a dropper. :lol: