Should I cut my hair?

[Lejli]

I have long, hip length hair. I recently colored it from platinum blonde to dark red. My hair texture is a mix between normal straight, and thin hair. Basically if I don't style or blow dry it, my ends always look and also feel really dry. The thing about my hair ends is that they don't necessarily have split ends, they are just really dry and just look dead. If I don't put product in it feels almost scrunchy. My hair is shiny naturally from the scalp to around shoulder length but from there on it just starts getting more dull. Does it make sense for me to just keep it long and just try to put a ton of oil on my ends everyday, or should I just cut them. And if I cut them, how much?

[pailin]

I think the first question is, what is your haircare routine? What do you use on your hair, and are you doing much heat-styling? Have you tried things that worked or didn't work, and if so, which ones?
Unless you really want to cut your hair, I think it's worth investigating whether there are other things you can do to make your ends happier.
It may well be helpful to trim a little, but if you do, I wouldn't trim more than a tiny bit unless you really want a big chop.

[Lejli]

My hair hcare routine basically has no heat, however I do use SPF spray and coconut oil on it since where I live it's pretty hot and sunny all the time. I guess the oil temporarily makes it better, but I mean I see people with hair that really shines naturally and mine doesn't have that...only to a certain point. But anyways thanks for the reply!

[Ingrid]

I've got similar dodgy dry/dead-looking ends from when I used to dye my hair. I've been growing my natural hair colour out for 3 years 5 months and gradually micro-trimming the damaged monstrosities away. I trim about 0,5-1cm per month. It's a good compromise between keeping the length and the ends relatively fresh. Micro-trimming means that you can still grow your hair even though you trim. I also find that coconut oil really helps with those dry ends and makes them more manageable and slightly more shiny.

[AmyBeth]

Welcome to the forum, Lejli! I'm not really sure how to answer your question, because it's your hair and not mine. I have had my own goals concerning my hair, but I don't know what your goals are. Assuming that you want healthier looking hair while retaining as much length as you can, I would suggest that you try to minimize any damaging practices asap. At the top of the list would be blow drying, flat ironing or any other heated styling. Very gentle handling when you brush or comb, wearing it up to protect the dry ends will help so much, also. I think you might want to try coconut oiling several times a week, if not every day. Then do tiny, regular micro trims to slowly lose the damaged ends as your hair grows out. If you want to acheive even more length, you are probably going to have more difficulties if you continue with chemical coloring. It is almost always more than fine hair can take, especially as long as your hair is. If you were willing to cut back several inches and really work with the suggestions I've made to protect your hair, you might, with time, really be able to keep some good length, health and stir continue to color.

[AmyBeth]

I forgot to add that if you want red and you want shine, you can't do better than henna! It gives an almost unearthly shine,and it really helps to protect from damage, rather than causing damage. It is permanent, though, so if you enjoy playing with color it isn't a good choice for you.

[pailin]

Ok, I have two thought. First, you didn't say what you are doing for shampoo or conditioner, but if you are not using conditioner, I would suggest adding that. If you are using conditioner, you might consider conditioning twice, to give your ends more moisture. It's not necessary to use it near your scalp, but from around your ears down. Also, do you shampoo only around your scalp, or do you shampoo all of it every time? If you shampoo the whole length, try using shampoo only around your scalp.

My second thought is that you mentioned your ends feeling kind of crunchy, and you said you're using coconut oil. Coconut oil is widely recommended for hair, but some people (including me) find that their ends get crunchy-feeling, hard. So, you might try switching to a different oil (ie olive oil, sunflower oil) and see if that fixes your problem.

[AJNinami]

It sounds like you have a case of chemical, UV, and possibly physical damage.

We'll start with the UV damage: When the sun hits your hair, the UV rays "bleach" the pigment in the hair, but at the same time weaken the overall structure of the hair. This causes the hair to be able to break, shred, and split more easily. What kind of protection spray are you using? Someone did an experiment comparing hair sunblock, skin sunblock, and natural hair to see the effects. The hair sunblock ended up the lightest, then the natural hair, and then the skin sunblock. All were significantly lightened though. One of the best methods of protecting the hair from UV is to simply wear a hat more often. Of course, you don't have to and many don't.

As for the chemical damage, what happens when you bleach hair is that it raises the cuticle of the hair (the little scales on each hair) to shrink the pigment molecules and then pull them out of the hair. Bleach will then leave the cuticle open, causing extremely high porosity and easy breakage. The lack of shine you experience is where the cuticle has been roughed up so there is no longer a smooth surface for the sun to reflect off of. When you dyed it, depending on which type of dye you used it did the same thing. Many permanent dyes actually lighten the hair before putting the color in (so a micro-bleach before depositing new pigment). Using shampoos with sulfates in them raises the cuticle more, which is why they aren't marketed for colored hair. The raised cuticle allows the dye molecules to slip out and fade the color faster. In order to "fix" the cuticle, you will have to get it to lay somewhat flat again. This requires changing the pH of the hair (vinegar rinses are good for this!). It is possible to gain some shine and health back for bleached/peroxide dyed hair, but not all of it will return. Sometimes hair is simply beyond repair and needs to be cut. There are a few alternatives to dyes that bleach first, so if you would like to keep coloring your hair I would encourage you to check out the Hair Coloring thread for ideas: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=125938 You also may want to consider growing your hair out completely naturally, which the thread for that is here: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=51155 Or, if you want to look into henna, there is a whole section of the forum dedicated to it and other herbal/natural hair care routines: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21

There is also a very good article that member Nightshade wrote on damaged hair care, and I would highly recommend reading it. It helped me a lot to understand what I was really doing to my hair. (found here: http://web.archive.org/web/20120125071723/http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79 )

A few have also recommended micro-trimming, which can be a great option for removing damage without taking off lots of length (thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=75468)

All in all, there are lots of things you can do to help improve your hair and prevent any more damage from happening. It's all up to you and whether you are committed to changing the way you look at and treat your hair. Best of wishes on your journey to healthier hair! :flower:

ETA: Also, oil itself will not moisturize your hair. It simply locks in whatever moisture is already in their hair. You may want to try wetting your ends before you oil so that there is moisture to lock in. This will really help what the oil does for your hair! Also, experimenting with different oils is good since maybe coconut oil isn't right for your hair. Different hair likes different things! I find that my hair likes olive oil and grape seed oil, which you may want to try. (Those are slightly lighter oils) :)

[Anje]

Obviously, it's hard to give an opinion on if it looks like the hair could do with a trim, without seeing the hair. ;) (Not that you need to show us pics if you're not comfortable. Just that appearance is often part of the decision and impossible to weigh in on.)

What do you mean by the length and ends feeling "scrunchy"? I can't help but wonder if they're in need of some additional form of conditioning (maybe additional hydrolyzed protein, followed with a moisture treatment probably featuring humectants). Is that part of the hair stretchy when wet? Mushy? Wirey? Rough?

[Amenahh]

Have you tried CWC (condition-wash-condition)?
I just tried this yesterday for the first time, and my ends are now out-of-this-world soft and shiny. It could really help you!

[mermaid lullaby]

I agree with Anje it does sound like it needs s&d and a trim like 1inch will do until the damage is gone