White Dots!

[Madeleine13]

I tried to trim my hair myself about a couple of months ago and I thought it looked alright but lately I had started to see white dots and split ends appear so I went to the hairdressers a few days ago. It was my first time going for about a year and two/three month as I am trying to grow my hair to my waist. I got the hairdresser to cut half an inch of and although now I can't see any split ends I can still see white dots on my hair. I take very good care of my hair. I have never died it, I don't own straighteners, I hardly ever use a hairdryer on it (unless I have to) and I only wash it about once a week, occasionally twice! I don't think my hair feels that dry either (I do use conditioner when I wash it) so I don't know why I still have white dots. :confused:

I tired to take a picture of the ends of my hair for you to see what I mean:

http://i68.tinypic.com/jh645g.jpg

[gthlvrmx]

What setting do you use on the hair dryer?

ETA: I don't see many white dots from this photo. Maybe only on the right side, about 5 of them. If you're seeing white dots it may be from dull scissors. Make sure your scissors are sharp before cutting. The same goes for the hair dressers scissors, they should be sharp before cutting your hair. Also, sometimes in certain lighting, your ends can look like they have white dots but it's only the reflection or something from the light. Once you position your hair back into the better lighting, the "white dots" disappear.

[furnival]

Are the white dots right on the ends of hairs, or a little way from the end? If they're right on the end, they may just be the newly-cut surfaces of the hairs reflecting the light, as the above poster suggested. If they're not at the ends and the hair bends easily at the dot, like a hinge, then you might want to do a bit of S&D :)

[Madeleine13]

Are the white dots right on the ends of hairs, or a little way from the end? If they're right on the end, they may just be the newly-cut surfaces of the hairs reflecting the light, as the above poster suggested. If they're not at the ends and the hair bends easily at the dot, like a hinge, then you might want to do a bit of S&D :)

On the ends!

[Madeleine13]

Thank you for your help everyone!

[Arctic]

Dull scissors or broken off hairs. My bet is on dull scissors.

[lapushka]

Those aren't what is meant by white dots. White dots are thicker than a strand and occur up a strand, not at the end. That is normal what you see there. That's really just normal hair.

[Nique1202]

Dull scissors or broken off hairs. My bet is on dull scissors.

Or just the funny way a blunt hair end can reflect light. That happens a lot, and they tend to disappear over time as the end gets worn down. I've seen hundreds of them in my hair and they can't all have been damaged ends as they disappeared without turning into splits because I hardly get any of those.

[Arctic]

I get those when my end has broken, so on my hair those are definitely damage. My healthy ends don't reflect light like that. They naturally are not then at the helmine level but a bit higher up. Those are on hemline level so I'd say the scissors caused them.

[Nique1202]

I get those when my end has broken, so on my hair those are definitely damage. My healthy ends don't reflect light like that. They naturally are not then at the helmine level but a bit higher up. Those are on hemline level so I's say the scissors caused them.

Sometimes if the end of a hair reflects light weirdly and looks white it can be damage, but sometimes it's not. Healthy ends CAN look like a broken-off white dot, maybe your ends don't because of your particular hair structure but mine certainly do, often, as I said above.

There's very little that's strictly black-and-white in haircare because of the wide variety in hair types, and "the tips of my hairs look kind of whitish" is definitely one that could be damage or could be totally benign, especially right after a trim.

[furnival]

If you've just had a trim, my money's on the newly-cut ends reflecting light. Mine do exactly that when I've just had a trim. If they slowly disappear, that's what they are. :)

Can you examine them with a magnifying glass or even a microscope?

[Isilme]

How do you wear your hair on a day to day basis? If you wear it down a lot on it gets rubbed between the chair and your back, or some other mechanical damage that might be it.

[Arctic]

Sometimes if the end of a hair reflects light weirdly and looks white it can be damage, but sometimes it's not. Healthy ends CAN look like a broken-off white dot, maybe your ends don't because of your particular hair structure but mine certainly do, often, as I said above.

There's very little that's strictly black-and-white in haircare because of the wide variety in hair types, and "the tips of my hairs look kind of whitish" is definitely one that could be damage or could be totally benign, especially right after a trim.

I have to say, oldie that I am, I can't remember ever hearing about the "newly cut ends reflect light and look white" theory. It must have started circulating during my past prolonged hiatus. Well cool that some people's hairs do that, mine do not, if I have a white dot at the tip, it is a broken hair*).

ETA: Interesting to observe LHC consensus and norms and fads and theories that come and go changing over the years. (Said with an old, creaky voice) When I was young ... ! :laugh:

Nique you don't have to preach me about being black and white about hair care, I most certainly am not. I am usually the one saying to others that each head of hair is different, you would see that if you'd read back my posts. I was just tossing ideas based on my experience and knowledge. I'm happy to learn new theories, and am cool with "it can be this or that or maybe something else". :) I didn't mean my original post as "it has to be like this and nothing else can do", I was just writing a very quick response with only few words. In any case, I think it is natural we often reflect other people's issue to our own selves and our own hair, because that's what we know the best usually. I highlighted on my second post just that, how my own hair does or doesn't look. By doing so I never meant that any other way wouldn't be possible.


*) and by white dot I mean just that white sparkle at the tip, not the damaged spot higher up on hair shaft ready to be broken off. I never have those. I also hardly ever have splits. Since growing out my latest pixie, I have not seen one single split end. But I remember I had lot of broken hairs and few small splits when I first came to LHC and started to S&D, and a second time I had broken ends and white dots/ white tips when I grew out henna and my hair broke off at the demarcation line. Usually the broken hairs have been my coarser, wiry hairs.

[furnival]

Double post, sorry! :)

[furnival]

I have to say, oldie that I am, I can't remember ever hearing about the "newly cut ends reflect light and look white" theory. It must have started circulating during my past prolonged hiatus. Well cool that some people's hairs do that, mine do not, if I have a white dot at the tip, it is a broken hair*).

ETA: Interesting to observe LHC consensus and norms and fads and theories that come and go changing over the years. (Said with an old, creaky voice) When I was young ... ! :laugh:

I'm really not sure if the 'theory' of newly cut hair/ white dots is something that's been circulating on LHC, or is a 'fad' or a 'norm'. I just wondered if the OP's hair might be similar to mine in that when freshly cut, the ends can look like white dots. Nothing to do with fads or LHC norms. :shrug:

(Just spent ten minutes with scissors and phone trying to capture proof of this phenomenon but I can't get it to focus on the bloody hairs! :steam)

[Arctic]

I'm really not sure if the 'theory' of newly cut hair/ white dots is something that's been circulating on LHC, or is a 'fad' or a 'norm'. I just wondered if the OP's hair might be similar to mine in that when freshly cut, the ends can look like white dots. Nothing to do with fads or LHC norms. :shrug:

(Just spent ten minutes with scissors and phone trying to capture proof of this phenomenon but I can't get it to focus on the bloody hairs! :steam)

Oh seems like my posts don't come through tonight at all like I meant.I am extremely tired right now and I feel like I can even find words for what I'd want to say.

The eta was just general blatherings, I didn't mean by fads this phenomena - I meant, you know, fads. Because of my field of study I find such things like forum culture very interesting, the way subjects and general opinions and so on and so forth ebb and flow and develop and morph over time. There are also member generations.

By the norm I was implying (though I didn't really write open my thought well), that previously the theory of blunt scissors damaging ends was sort of the norm, and I see I am a dinosaur (:face:) now and there are new theories out there, that have become the new commonly shared knowledge ("commonly shared" because there happened to be several people here stating that theory/phenomena and because my suggestion for possible causes were "shot down"), that appears to be consensus (although I wouldn't be worth my educational salt if I would realize there never really is only one shared view of things, even if it would appear so on the surface).

Anyway, the important point is, that I have learned something tonight I had never heard before and that didn't even cross my mind. I find it fascinating if some people's hair does the white tip trick after a trim with sharp scissors. How long does the white tip effect last in general, before it wears off (?) or dulls (?) or weathers (?) - not sure what word I should use.

(I'm off to sleep now. G'Night! PS. I really have hard time right now to find English words so I used some expressions that might come off wrongly - again - but it's not my intention.)

[furnival]

No worries, your expressions came across fine :) I think the theory of blunt scissors damaging ends is still very much out there though! When cut with sharp scissors my hairs exhibit a white tip for a few days, maybe only a couple of days, getting less noticeable all the time. Sometimes you have to spin the hairs round to get the tips to catch the light in order to see the white dot thing. I'm going to try photographing mine again tomorrow in the daylight and see if my phone can pick it up!

[lapis_lazuli]

ETA: I don't see many white dots from this photo. Maybe only on the right side, about 5 of them. If you're seeing white dots it may be from dull scissors. Make sure your scissors are sharp before cutting. The same goes for the hair dressers scissors, they should be sharp before cutting your hair. Also, sometimes in certain lighting, your ends can look like they have white dots but it's only the reflection or something from the light. Once you position your hair back into the better lighting, the "white dots" disappear.

This! I get confused all the time regarding if what I'm seeing is a white dot or just a reflection/dust (usually dust! :lol:)

[cosmic crusader]

I'm so glad you posted this thread, as the replies are really helping me.

My freshly-cut hairs almost always look as though they have a white dot on the end. I worry it could be because they're dull, but they're new...so I also think (hope) theyre a result of the fresh cut!

[Arctic]

I just had a trim yesterday, conveniently, and really looked at my ends in many different lights today, and nope, no white tips.

About my scissors. They are 10 Euro pair of hair shears, well know beauty product brand here, but they are not professional or high end, like that price also tells. They have been fine hair shears for me though, used only on hair and stored where the blades won't dull. Most likely they are not the sharpest pair in the world, but they don't cause damage and seems sharp enough and work for my hair, that is on the thinner side of things. Now it would be interesting to use, say, a well sharpened professional shears on my ends, and to see whether there is any difference. (I have been considering sending them out to be professionally sharpened, thought that would cost double and more what the shears themselves cost, so I have been hesitating.)

But I believe you guys, from now on I will be sure to add that possibility to my answers when someone asks about tips that glow white.

I wonder if this phenomena is hair type, hair colour, hair scissors, or ??? related?

[Madeleine13]

Thank you again, everyone! :)

ETA:


How do you wear your hair on a day to day basis? If you wear it down a lot on it gets rubbed between the chair and your back, or some other mechanical damage that might be it.

It varies from day to day.

[lapushka]

Guys, *these* are white dots:
https://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/228/flashcards/1134228/jpg/delete_later1334699073531.jpg

[Arctic]

I know the difference but even those, after they break off, leave a white tip. I have always found white dot a descriptive name for tips that glow white (and which, in my case, are always damaged, broken ends, and until yesterday I thought it was the case with everybody [but I don't have those ^ white dots, and my broken hairs have been from mechanical damage or from issues like growing out henna or protein overload]).

I agree that for the healthy end that temporarily glows white the name doesn't sound descriptive, since it wouldn't be damage.

What would be suitable, descriptive names for:

a) broken ends that have a white tip (say, from mechanical damage like brushing)
b) healthy, freshly trimmed (with sharp shears) ends that have a temporary white tip
c) freshly trimmed ends (with dull shears) that are left a bit damaged and have white tip
d) an actual white dot that has broken off leaving a white tipped end behind (but is different from option a, which wasn't originally a white dot but was broken off because of other factors)

?

[lapushka]

My hair also looks, has always looked, like the OP's picture. :shrug: There is absolutely nothing wrong with it!

[Madeleine13]

My hair also looks, has always looked, like the OP's picture. :shrug: There is absolutely nothing wrong with it!

OP's? :confused:

[ravenheather]

OP equals original poster.��

[cosmic crusader]

I wonder if this phenomena is hair type, hair colour, hair scissors, or ??? related?

I have dark hair, and I definitely see the white tips when I S&D on dry hair. I've gotten frustrated with them before and continued cutting up the strand, and every time...white edge! Weirdly, I don't remember seeing them when I trimmed my damp hair. Argh!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v15/maggiecuda/Mobile%20Uploads/C03952A9-EB15-4C61-A775-8AEA35C658A3.gif (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/maggiecuda/media/Mobile%20Uploads/C03952A9-EB15-4C61-A775-8AEA35C658A3.gif.html)