Help! My ends are rebelling!

[HeartofHaleth]

So I've noticed that while most of my length loves everything I've put on it so far (SMT, coconut oil, aloe vera), the last five inches or so of my hair always goes right back to being dry, scrubby, and tangly. I do have a lot of splits, and I'm doing S&D just about all the time (even though it sometimes feels like I'm just cutting the heads off the hydra). Honestly, if any part of my hair has less splits it'd probably be the ends, since that's the part that's easiest to reach ;). Is there something I can do to help
my ends? Do I just need to cut them off?? :bigeyes: Can I please just do it gradually???? :cry:

[missrandie]

Try the Rinse Out Oil method. My ends were starting to feel junky, and ROO pretty much cured it.

Also, have you clarified lately?

With mine, they lost moisture easily,but gained it easily as well. The oil while my hair was wet helped to seal the moisture in. It was almost like magic for me!

Have you tried oil other than coconut? Some people don't have good experience with coconut oil and prefer to use others. Heck, some, like Lapushka, just use straight up mineral oil on their ends, and it works well.

[Wildcat Diva]

Can you try keeping your ends moist? Doing LOC method on the ends? A product I like is Nightblooming's panacea cream.

I'm going to be soaking my ends in a bit of distilled water every couple of days as I wash weekly.

Maybe you can trim gradually. I know I don't want to trim mine yet.

[HeartofHaleth]

Try the Rinse Out Oil method. My ends were starting to feel junky, and ROO pretty much cured it.

Also, have you clarified lately?

With mine, they lost moisture easily,but gained it easily as well. The oil while my hair was wet helped to seal the moisture in. It was almost like magic for me!

Have you tried oil other than coconut? Some people don't have good experience with coconut oil and prefer to use others. Heck, some, like Lapushka, just use straight up mineral oil on their ends, and it works well.

I actually just clarified/chelated yesterday! I've been using coconut just because it's what I have, but it did seem to get rather crunchy.

ETA: I was looking at the ROO thread, since I wasn't very familiar with the method, and I would worry about getting the oil out of my hair. For some reason it's really hard to rinse things out of my hair; there are some days when I can be rinsing out conditioner for 5-10 minutes and there's still a little bit in there that I just can't get out. I'm concerned about that happening with the oil, unless I'm missing the point and a little bit is supposed to stay in your hair...?

[HeartofHaleth]

Can you try keeping your ends moist? Doing LOC method on the ends? A product I like is Nightblooming's panacea cream.

I'm going to be soaking my ends in a bit of distilled water every couple of days as I wash weekly.

Maybe you can trim gradually. I know I don't want to trim mine yet.

I'm thinking of maybe taking a little break once I reach hip, just trimming away a little bit at a time and maintaining that length until the damage is gone.

[pailin]

If you've been using coconut oil, I would switch that up with another oil before doing anything drastic. Try whatever you have in the kitchen. I was experimenting with coconut oil and using it almost every day (because it's usually in a braid or a bun, and I wash it every day). But my ends were feeling yucky so I switched to sunflower oil, and my ends are sooooo much nicer.

[lippleyluv]

I would suggest clarifying and then trying different oils. Coconut oil seems to not do well with my hair, it makes it rough, dry & crunchy. These things are so individual, everyone's hair responds so differently. Jojoba oil is what works best with my hair, so I would suggest trying different oils one at a time, until you find the one your hair loves.

[parkmikii]

If you didn't clarify in a while I second that it might be the coconut oil. Oils can build up on hair as well and need to be clarified once in a while.
Try clarifying and then getting back to your usual routine :)

[bunneh.]

I do the ROO method with olive oil and apply two different conditioners afterwards which help clean excess oil off the ends (i still only use a few drops though). I don't rinse for too long maybe 30 seconds each product and that works for me. I'm thinking that maybe you rinse out conditioner too much and are left with nothing to moisturize your ends. I even apply small amounts of oil on dry hair when it needs it and then it looks much better so try not rinsing your conditioner so much, hair should still feel nice and slippery after you are done rinsing.

[-Fern]

Another vote for the Rinse-Out Oil method! As for your concerns, you will only be using five or six drops of oil spread through your hair (I actually like to mix mine in with my conditioner in the palm of my hand before conditioning), and then rinse out as much as you can--but a dilute layer should remain on the hair. For me, it seals in moisture but is easier to apply evenly than when I try to oil my damp hair.

Coconut oil makes my ends crunchy and tangly when I use it more than about once a month. If you just clarified, try a moisture treatment (like SMT) and just avoid coconut oil for a few weeks. My ends sorted themselves out doing this, no trim or drastic steps needed.

My current favorite oils:
Khadi brahmi + amla oil (for ROOM)
Nightblooming Samhain spell oil (for oiling the ends)

Lighter oils (like mineral oil) seem to work best with ROOM, and I like oils that are a little more viscous for applying to my ends.

[Wildcat Diva]

You don't have to worry so much about rinsing conditioner out, many of us put a half palmful right back in and scrunch it in to leave it!

[spidermom]

I like for a little oil or conditioner to remain my hair, too, especially the ends. I also have a spray-in product to use.

I maintained my hair at tailbone most of last year because of thousands of splits. Now I have to work at it to find 2-3 so my hair is ready to grow again.

[lapushka]

Another vote for keeping the ends well moisturized, however you choose, and whatever method you decide to go with (ROO is nice, though). You could change up your washing method to CWC for instance, but I would clarify first.

[HeartofHaleth]

Another vote for keeping the ends well moisturized, however you choose, and whatever method you decide to go with (ROO is nice, though). You could change up your washing method to CWC for instance, but I would clarify first.

I just clarified last wash, and immediately did an SMT.

Which oils qualify as "light"? I'd rather try what I have on hand before going out and buying new products (though I would love to try Nightblooming oils!).

ETA: as per the recommendation, CWC was the first thing I tried when I came to LHC! I've been doing it since! (By which I mean about four or five times ;))