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View Full Version : ways to avoid damage?



Katem
July 31st, 2016, 11:51 PM
I'm not sure if there is already a thread here for this, but in case there isn't I'd like to have this one to gather tons of information

about a year ago, I bleached my hair a couple times (mostly at the ends) then I dyed it darker to have it match hair extensions I had. my hair stylist thinned out 1/2 my hair until it was super wispy and I had weird strands sticking out everywhere that looked like splits (she twisted my hair and then took scissors and cut up and down, all the way up to my scalp). then, a few months later I wanted to be blonder again, so I put my trust in one lady who did an awful job. I tried to get it to the shade I wanted by going to another hair stylist, but she saw my brassy, damaged hair as an opportunity for her to experiment. so she made it brown and threw on some chemicals to mask the damage. after that, I went to a different lady who gave me the color I wanted. but within a few months I got tired of using purple shampoos loaded with chemicals to hide the brass. so I went to another stylist and asked for a nice, light brown shade. she made my roots red and bleached the ends even more. so now I have 3 completely different colors in my hair (including my natural brown) and my hair has lots of splits and is very dry.

what at are ways I can prevent any more damage while I grow this mess out? are there any hair styles I could do? I use a silk pillowcase, pat my hair dry after I get out of the shower, braid my hair at night, etc. but my hair is still growing slow and every day I notice new splits.

sorry about the length of this post but I'm new here and I thought having a bit of a background story would help determine how to fix this craziness lol.

Decoy24601
July 31st, 2016, 11:56 PM
Well, your bleached hair is already damaged. It's going to split and fray.

You can try wearing your hair up during the day in buns to prevent it from rubbing on anything or excess tangling. You can try doing protein treatments (gelatin is a good DIY one, but with very damaged hair you should probably look into something more heavy-duty) and moisturize too.

You can also make sure you use a seamless comb (wide-tooth is good for detangling), not a regular brush with the little plastic balls on the end.

ETA: This is more of a personal opinion, but don't let stylists thin out your hair, ever. My hair is super thick and I regret getting it thinned out. It makes it much much harder to take care of slips with regular trimming, so I have to do S&D (you hold your hair up to the light and only cut splits on individual strands, and just above the split, with hair scissors only) sometimes to maintain it. Doing S&D too much can thin out your hair, just a warning.

Katem
August 1st, 2016, 12:00 AM
I have a bamboo bristle brush without the littles balls one the end, it has helped my hair a lot. I do protein treatments sometimes but it makes my hair feel kind of brittle, I think it needs moisture but I'm not sure which oils or teas to use

Decoy24601
August 1st, 2016, 12:05 AM
Oils don't provide moisture (because they're oils, not water or water-based), but they can help seal in moisture. Teas won't help a whole lot.

Flaxseed gel (boiling flax seeds in water to make a gel) is suuuuper hydrating on hair, it's my favorite humectant. You can also use aloe gel (pure aloe gel, not the kind with added stuff for sunburns) and honey mixed with a moisturizing conditioner and let it sit on your hair for a couple hours (... called an SMT). I really can't sing enough praises for flaxseed gel though.

Using a moisturizing leave-in conditioner can help too. If you apply oil to your hair, use either a penetrating oil before washing (like coconut oil). This helps prevent damage that's caused by the hair shaft swelling in water. If you oil after, use more of a sealing oil (mineral oil is popular for a pre-conditioner rinseout) on wet hair to seal in the moisture.

Products with butters (avocado, shea, etc) are also good for sealing in moisture on wet hair.

These are just some ideas to start with, YMMV.

ETA: Article on film-forming humectants http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2014/07/film-forming-humectants-what-they-are.html.

Katem
August 1st, 2016, 12:11 AM
the flaxseed gel sounds amazing! and luckily I'm all about organic, natural stuff so I've got plain aloe Vera and organic honey. how much water and flax seeds should I boil together? and for how long?
also what are some hairstyles to try out? I'd love some damage free updos so I can keep the hair out of my face when long boarding, and so I can take my hair out and feel like it's long haha

Decoy24601
August 1st, 2016, 12:20 AM
http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2011/07/what-cookin-this-week-for-hair.html
"Boil in 1 1/4 cups water (almost 300 ml) for about 5 minutes (if it is thick now, it won't strain, boil only until thin threads* hang from the fork you're stirring with:
2-3 tablespoons whole flax seeds"

You can add about 1/8-1/4 tsp xanthan gum (also a film-forming humectant) to even out the consistency. I find that if you constantly whisk the seeds while simmering that it makes the gel more even too. Xanthan gum should be added after straining the seeds. I usually put the gel in a metal mixing bowl over a pot of water as a double-boiler and mix until the xanthan gum melts into the flaxseed gel, then I'll add just a little bit of conditioner and about 1/4 tsp of coconut oil. Warning: Xanthan Gum adds slight crunch, but this can be combed/brushed out.

Flaxseed gel only lasts about a week refrigerated, so I make half what the recipe calls for. Luckily, as long as you don't put too much conditioner in it or anything you can slather on a very large amount before your hair looks coated or feels bad, although it does feel a little different.

The bun/braid reference thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=112682

There are lots of threads for etsy shops that have all kinds of hair sticks and other items to use to keep your hair up in the conventional products subforum too. A lot of these can't be done until longer lengths, but you might be able to do a french twist or peacock twist. Depending on your hair thickness, you might be able to make a cinnamon bun.

Nothing can mend damage or split ends, but there's a lot you can do to help prevent damaged hair from getting shredded.

Katem
August 1st, 2016, 12:27 AM
I am so excited to try out that gel! my hair is APL and its thicker than it was before I used organic stuff but definitely thinner than when it was brown.. maybe thin-medium thickness? I'll try to get some pictures up today or tomorrow, depending if you can do it from your phone or not

Decoy24601
August 1st, 2016, 12:29 AM
On here, pictures are posted by uploading them onto an image hosting site first, then you press the "insert image" button and paste in the image location link.

You might be able to do a french/peacock twist and maybe a cinnabun. It doesn't hurt to try :).

Katem
August 1st, 2016, 12:37 AM
thank you so much for all your help!:) tomorrow I'll get pictures of length & damage. I feel like the damage isn't as bad as it could be, but all the random short hairs that appeared after my hair was thinned is throwing me off haha

Decoy24601
August 1st, 2016, 12:44 AM
No problem :). I'm sure others will chime in with some more helpful hints.

Yeah, I'm still growing out my layers and thinned-out hair. It takes too darn long, haha.

Arctic
August 1st, 2016, 04:19 AM
What kind of protein treatments you do? Do you follow them with moisturizing treatment (that's the way to go)?

For updos, when you have 25+ posts, check out my blog. I have quite a few hair style ideas for shorter hair, and mine is on the thinner side too, so they should work for you brilliantly!

lapushka
August 1st, 2016, 05:01 AM
what at are ways I can prevent any more damage while I grow this mess out? are there any hair styles I could do? I use a silk pillowcase, pat my hair dry after I get out of the shower, braid my hair at night, etc. but my hair is still growing slow and every day I notice new splits.

It sounds to me as if you keep putting your hair through the wringer! Sorry. :o

Join the growing out dye thread, you'll have lots of support there. If you want to grow out your dye! :)

What's done can't be undone. You'll have to baby that hair. There's tons of different ways to do that. So I suggest reading a bit on here, to try and find things that you are comfortable with and that you can do, such as maybe oiling the hair (don't oil your scalp if you're sensitive and shed more). Oiling can be done different ways. As a pre-poo, after shampoo (rinse-out oil or ROO), or for styling (just a couple drops, spread through palms and smoothed in).

Maybe try S&D (search & destroy) for individual split ends and snip them off. But if you have *tons* microtrimming might be better (there's a thread on that too). :)

ChloeDharma
August 1st, 2016, 06:29 AM
I'm going to echo the oil suggestion mainly because that is what worked for me. I was growing out fine fragile curly hair that was fried from hair dyes that contained peroxide. It was so bad that I couldn't wear it loose and if I did it was just a matter frizzy mess.
I oiled the length after washing it and just kept it in a bun all the time. I also switched to henna which helped a lot and did a deep conditioning treatment every wash.
I also misted it daily with some alie Vera, conditioner, glycerin and essential oils in water before oiling and running.
I would S&D often and just got a quarter of an inch trim every 3 or 4 months.
I found honey in my DT's very helpful as well as yogurt.
It took a while to improve but over time it started to look better but unfortunately it's just a case of waiting it out but at least it does grow :-)

Anje
August 1st, 2016, 11:03 AM
Preventing additional damage is relatively easy, thankfully, because hair is mostly damaged by things that are done to it, not by what you don't do. So you want to avoid heat, harsh chemicals (coloring and perms, for the most part), friction and tangling. Skipping the first two is pretty much just a matter of willpower.

Gentle detangling (eg. don't force the comb through tangles but work them out with your fingers instead, don't rush combing, use an implement without sharp seams) really helped me. Updos are also really useful because hair doesn't tangle much when it's up, and it doesn't get caught under straps of bags, behind you in chairs, etc. I personally don't like updos with elastics, because I think they pull a lot and because I've historically gotten a lot of breakage from ponytails. Use just about anything else: claw clips are popular (even if I personally think they're uncomfortable) and work for most folks, hair sticks and forks and rigid U-shaped pins are also really good but have a small learning curve, and jaw clips like Ficcares are often super-stable.

Now, as far as keeping your hair in the best condition possible as it grows, the others are giving great advice. Lots of people find oils really help. Coconut oil in particular has a good reputation for helping damaged hair, but either your hair loves it or it hates it. There's no shame in your hair not liking something, and trying to force the issue generally is a bad idea. I like things like olive oil and avocado oil as alternatives. Try lots of it on the length before washing, and also try a teeny drop on your damp hair after washing as a leave-in -- usually people prefer one or the other of those options.

Protein treatments are good for strengthening hair, especially if it's damaged and has a tendency toward being limp, mushy, or stretchy. They tend to leave hair feeling a bit wiry and hard and maybe rough and dry, but following up with a moisture treatment helps with that a lot. Chances are good that a round of protein + moisture, every few weeks, will go a LONG way to helping keep your existing hair in good shape.

Katem
August 5th, 2016, 09:50 AM
http://i64.tinypic.com/2yywgwm.jpg

this is my hair july 20th, 2016. the lighting makes it looks half brown and half blonde but it was all blonde haha

i actually used black walnut powder on my hair last night to get a lovely shade of brown. so happy with the results, i feel like my eyes stand out more and the brassy blonde is out!