How to prevent dry ends?

[Periwinkle]

I have a dry end problem.

I've taken up oiling my ends with coconut oil on a more or less daily basis but they're still dry. They feel fine with the oil on, but by the end of the day, they're dry again, and once I wash my hair, they're like straw.

I trimmed my hair in August because the ends were unbearable. Yesterday, I took off another centimetre (just the bottom, not the layers), which made it feel a bit better (they were incredibly dry again), but still not perfect. Because I have twenty million layers from shoulder length down, that's a lot of ends and a lot of dryness.

I've never been a heat styler. My hair is upstyled every day. I SC once a week and yes, I do use cones. The rest of my hair feels fine; it's just the ends that are dreadful.

What can I do to prevent this dryness?

[eyesofsummer]

Try leaving in a bit of conditioner? Or smooth some onto the dry parts whenever they're particularly bothersome? I find that even if I oil my hair with coconut oil, it tends to make my hair 'crunchy'...I need to have some moisture there already for the coconut oil to seal it in.

[aisling]

Use a better conditioner (not necessarily expensive, but better for your hair), use the C-W-C washing method, do deep treatments, use an additional leave in to the oil and remember to clarify those cones away once in a while.

[Shanarana]

I find that I get better results with jojoba oil on my ends and I scrunch it in. I use coconut oil on the rest.

[longinthehair]

I have read and re-read very carefully heidi's long hair oiling tutorial.. Some great advice. And I have been putting coconut oil (the slightest of amounts) on my length morning and evenings betw. washes and heavier oilings. It's helping tremendously with the condition of my length. The trick is very miniscule amounts!

[burns_erin]

Besides clarifying, try changing oils, i have better long term results with grapeseed oil than with coconut oil. I have also been using straight vegetable glycerin on the ends of my hair for a few weeks now and my hair quite likes it.

[Anje]

Do you oil wet or dry? Sometimes oiling wet hair can make the difference.

What I would recommend: clarify if you haven't recently. Then do an SMT or other heavy moisture treatment, concentrating on the ends.

Check your conditioner for protein. Silk amino acids in VO5 did awful things to my ends after a few weeks.

When you do your updos, consider wetting the ends with water (distilled is better, but tap water works), perhaps oiling them, then tucking them in, so that they stay damp for much of the day.

Finally, I think you might like Fox's shea butter conditioning cream, which is basically a blend of conditioner (I like cone-free on principle), oil (my recipe has coconut), and shea butter. It seems to do a better job of moisturizing and protecting ends than oil/shea butter alone, and is in the recipes section.

[willowcandra]

I was also going to suggest oiling over damp ends.
Damp bunning/misting. I would mist with water mixed with a spoon of conditioner or aloe vera. Or rosewater (alcohol free.)

Sometimes though it can be splits and damage that just can't be helped. In this case a teeny micro trim could make a world of difference.

Also I find that my ends turn to straw if I leave it too long between washes.

[Melisande]

Fox' sheabutter balsam. For me, there is nothing better in the world to make my ends soft and juicy. I can apply it generously and the ends just suck it up.

And misting with distilled water and oil (I use camellia oil). This is for my lengths, gives moisture and nice looks. And for the roots, too - gives a bit of volume....

But try the sheabutter balsam. It's one of the Two Huge LHC Discoveries That Rocked My World. (The other one is Jessie's essential oil ;-) )

[ljkforu]

I have a dry end problem.

I've taken up oiling my ends with coconut oil on a more or less daily basis but they're still dry. They feel fine with the oil on, but by the end of the day, they're dry again, and once I wash my hair, they're like straw.

I trimmed my hair in August because the ends were unbearable. Yesterday, I took off another centimetre (just the bottom, not the layers), which made it feel a bit better (they were incredibly dry again), but still not perfect. Because I have twenty million layers from shoulder length down, that's a lot of ends and a lot of dryness.

I've never been a heat styler. My hair is upstyled every day. I SC once a week and yes, I do use cones. The rest of my hair feels fine; it's just the ends that are dreadful.

What can I do to prevent this dryness?
Your hair is nice and long :), I think I would condition with something like Aussie Deep conditioner (which is loaded with silicone). Just use it on the last 6 inches of your hair then rinse with an acid rinse. I like 1/4 of Vit C crystals to 16 oz of cool water then I rinse.

What this would do is fill in the roughened cuticle of damaged hair and then tighten it closed with the acid.

I am doing the no silicone like most of us but there is a time when it can prevent having to trim too much. Also, coconut oil is fantastic since it is a dry oil. I find that I get good penetration.

[laurachiplock]

I second the Fox's shea butter recipe & I had used a product that restored my bleach-fried hair at one time I will definately recommend called

-Terax Crema (conditioner) and
-Terax Life drops (leave in for ends). This duo transformed my hair. Unlike anything else. I had read that it was highly recommended by celebrities like Madonna a while back & I can see why.

Good luck

[DecafJane]

I don't mind cones, but they make my ends seem a little dry and crunchy. As soon as I go back to no-cones, they go nice and soft.

I am sure the others here have better advice, but this is just my observation. ;)

[Aisha25]

I have naturally dry hair so hair just needs extra moisture eveytime you wash probably. I do honey and conditioner and it makes it the dryness go away for me.

[Honey39]

I have problem with dry ends too. The things that are SORT of working for me:

Honey in my conditioner (once or twice a week) - that seems to really moisturise my hair
CO-ing my hair every day
Oiling my hair when it's damp/wet, rather than dry; that is SO much more effective for me than heavy deep oiling overnight of dry hair.
No heat
No brushing

[Jamie Lynn 40]

melisande-
Where do you get the fox's shea butter creme/balsam? Thanks for your time.
JamieLynn40

[nisolu]

Could someone please post a link to Heidi's oiling tutorial? Thanks!

[Auntbeast]

Have you considered heavily oiling it before you go to bed? I find that I can put a lot more oil in at night (and not worry about looking like I'm homeless) than I can during the day. If your hair is dry by the end of the day, I suppose that means that your hair could use more. Maybe a longer, heavier night time treatment would allow it to survive the day. Oh, and a leave in during the day.


I'm very, very new at this and rushed out and bought what I thought was the right thing and it wasn't. I am basically putting vaseline w/coconut oil in my hair and am shocked that I don't turn into a greaseball. My hair looks and feels tons better already, even using the wrong thing is helping. I have had a problem my entire life with split ends, but with conditioners way to heavy and leaving my hair looking greasy.

[goodenough]

I'm in the same boat as you (many layers that aren't caught in a trim), and I'm way past due for a micro trim--so I'm just living with it and reminding myself that that's why:)

I sc with cones maybe once a week, and co in between. I put my hair up damp to seal in moisture. When my ends are bad, time for an updo. I put it up damp, then I can wear it down or half-down later that evening and it looks a little better. I know when my hair's all one lengthish, it will be better. I just do better with a trim every 12 weeks or so, but I'm just being a brat and not cutting it because I just want it to be about three inches longer!

[serious]

I had the same problem with dry ends of my shortest layers.Putting oils helped,but not much.
What made the significant difference is SMT. I believe it is aloe vera gel that keeps my ends nice and well moisturized.

[Melisande]

melisande-
Where do you get the fox's shea butter creme/balsam? Thanks for your time.
JamieLynn40

I make it myself. It's one of the most successful recipes (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=4586)on this forum.

I use refined 2 parts sheabutter, 1 part jojoba oil and 1.5 parts conditioner, and I don't melt them. I whip them when they are cold, put them to the freezer, whip again etc. This makes the mixture fluffy because it retains air bubbles. I love this stuff and it works miracles.

Definitely worth trying. Read the thread. Btw, non-coney conditioners are usually thought best for this. (I use Sante Brilliant Care, it's a German product).

[mew]

So glad to hear that a lot of you have similar dry ends issues... I thought i was doing something wrong but it seems a common problem. Well, not a problem but a nuisance more like ;)
The shea butter treatment sounds promising, will try that. Otherwise I find that CWC works better than just WC, and i sometimes just quickly condition and rinse the ends if they get too dry and brittle during the day.

[rubyredslippers]

I have this same problem. I've switched to no 'cones, and this has helped a bit but the moisture is not yet where I'd like it. Occasional EVOO helps too. But I'm kind of restricted as to what I can try--living carless, with limited funds, and with my parents I don't have a lot of mobility to buy the more exotic hair concoction ingredients. Someday I will get the SMT ingredients, and try that, but for now I need to be content tinkering in the kitchen for remedies, I think.

[Ice~Cold~Wind]

Well, what I do is always rinse my hair with cool to cold water. It helped me big time. You may also want to use a leave in conditioner in the ends of your hair. My ends are always really dry too. Keeping your hair trimmed will also help. :)

[Tartlette]

I recommend using Fox shea butter recipe too. I took a break from doing anything but putting up my hair for a long time (wasn't growing and I was beginning to obsess) and my ends became so dry I finally trimmed. I'm getting ready to mix up a brand new batch tonight (and leaving out the obsession factor this time!)

[Curlsgirl]

Things that have helped me:

1. regular trims (1/2 inch or so every 3 months)
2. oil almost exclusively on damp hair
3. very limited cones
4. generous amount of leave-in no-cone conditioner from the ears down
5. use less oil in between washes

[MsBubbles]

Could someone please post a link to Heidi's oiling tutorial? Thanks!

I think this (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=71) is the one that was mentioned.