help with breakage and grabby hairs?

[Stub]

I suddenly noticed that I've got some definite breakage at about where a ponytail elastic would go .... if I wore ponytails. I don't though, because they give me headaches. So it must be breaking because I do my pigtail braids too tight? That's the only thing I can think of, aside from that I also wore a 1/2 buff (cut and tied tighter, like a bandana) every single day all summer to keep whispies out of my face while I drive with all the windows down in my truck. I work outside walking dogs and drive a lot and can't stand hairs tickling my face so there is always a buff. I suppose that contributed to the breakage as well?

Another thing I wonder is: why is my hair so grabby to itself? I keep thinking my ends must be splitting, but no matter how hard I look I never find any splits. Yet it is very hard to get any slip, even with my favorite coney serum after a wash, or even inbetween washes when its been oiled. I posted some pics in the BSL to waist thread, one of which was from last feb and my hair looked way sleek in that one, but now it's all fluffy and grabby. Even if I don't touch it after detangling, until it's dry, it fluffs out as if I have brushed out my wurls! Whhhyyyy???! I don't know what to do! I keep trying different conditioners, different oils, etc, and nothing seems to help with slip. I've even tried the curly girl method of conditioning to try and get separated wurls, but they never hold together.

Any ideas?? Maybe I need a deep treatment of some sort but I don't even know where to start. This is probably as long as my hair has ever been and I have never done more than wash and condition it before. Only discovered oiling earlier this year, even!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Have you tried a SMT?

[animetor7]

Have you tried clarifying? Grabby hairs that don't respond to previously successful treatments is a definite sign of build up. Clarifying is also the first step I usually take when my hair is dry, limp, or otherwise acting "funny". Good luck!! :)

[Rowdy]

I would clarify, condition and then let the hair dry with no other products. My hair stops clumping if I have to much product built up on it. My curls actually form best with just a sulfate wash + coney conditioner and then some mineral oil with finger twisting after it's completely dry for definition.

[lapushka]

Are you sure it's breakage. A lot of us get these wispy hairs, see some pics at this thread:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=131555

[Stub]

Have you tried a SMT?
Sorry, I do not know what a SMT is, so, no.


Have you tried clarifying? Grabby hairs that don't respond to previously successful treatments is a definite sign of build up. Clarifying is also the first step I usually take when my hair is dry, limp, or otherwise acting "funny". Good luck!! :)
I use a clarifying shampoo at every wash (a Suave one) but perhaps I have been applying TOO MUCH extra conditioner and oils and whatnot inbetween. I did start stretching my washes to only 2x/week, previously I washed every other day. And then I have been doing a lot of heavy coconut oiling this summer, my hair seemed to be really liking it, until it started getting cold at night and the coconut oil got hard in my hair. Maybe I need to just clarify and lightly condition a few times?


I would clarify, condition and then let the hair dry with no other products. My hair stops clumping if I have to much product built up on it. My curls actually form best with just a sulfate wash + coney conditioner and then some mineral oil with finger twisting after it's completely dry for definition.
Thanks I'll try that!


Are you sure it's breakage. A lot of us get these wispy hairs, see some pics at this thread:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=131555
Yes, I do have plenty of standard wispies but there is a big chunk of edge hair that is suddenly only about 6 inches long right where the pigtail braids start and the buff edge rides. Very sad! :(

[lapushka]

Yes, I do have plenty of standard wispies but there is a big chunk of edge hair that is suddenly only about 6 inches long right where the pigtail braids start and the buff edge rides. Very sad! :(

Oh... that's odd, indeed! Have you done anything different than usual.

BTW, here's the SMT thread, happy reading! :)
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128

[Stub]

Well, the only thing I've done was come back to LHC and start trying all these different conditioners that other people were using! lol. Maybe I just need to go back to my Suave/Tresemme (sp?) shampoo/conditioner rotation and stop adding things to my hair it doesn't want or need! Although I LOVE the coney argan oil serum I started using last winter when the air was so dry. Perhaps I really don't need it in the humid summertime though.

Thanks I'll read that thread!

[animetor7]

Given what you said about wearing a buff daily and the 6" edge or chunk of hair, that does sound like breakage or at the very least damage. Any style will eventually give you damage if worn everyday. I would suggest babying that area and wearing your hair in styles that put as little stress as possible on it. Good luck! :)

[Stub]

Thank you! Is bunning stressful at all? I suppose it could be twisted too tight but I can't/won't do a tight twist anyway due to the aforesaid headaches I get with tight hairstyles. I got some Amish hair pins the other day and tried them today in a small cinnabun for the first time. I like them!

[animetor7]

I think a cinnabun should be fine, it's generally considered to be a very protective style. But I'd pay attention to whatever bun you're doing and twist as little as possible near the breakage and place as few pins, sticks, clips, etc. there as well. That way it's under the least stress possible. I also wouldn't wear the same style in the exact same way every day as this can cause breakage. So for example, you could do a cinnabun every day, but one day wear it low held with pins and the next wear it high held with a stick or something like that. Good luck!!! :)

[Stub]

I maybe had an epiphany yesterday: I wonder if it's not actually breakage on that one chunk of hair, but a previous fringe trim that just finally got long enough to look like hair instead of wispies? I seem to recall trying some very light bangs a year ago or so.. .could be that experiment growing out. In which case I am very glad to not have breakage after all! I mean, I still might, but maybe not! :D

[Anje]

Hey, glad it's not breakage!

With my hair, a grippy grabby texture to the hairs has indicated too much protein in the past. (Specifically, I got it when using Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner, which happens to be the perfect CO-washing product for a ton of people who are not me.) After clarifying and trimming didn't fix it, I eventually did an SMT every night for several successive nights, using a different conditioner (Suave Aloe and Waterlily, I think, which doesn't seem to cause me any issues). My hair got better and less horrifically tangly each time, til it got back to normal. I've also had lousy luck with silicone serums -- they tend to make my hair slick the first day, less slick the second, and by the third it's forming little hooks at the ends and tangling everything.

[lapushka]

I maybe had an epiphany yesterday: I wonder if it's not actually breakage on that one chunk of hair, but a previous fringe trim that just finally got long enough to look like hair instead of wispies? I seem to recall trying some very light bangs a year ago or so.. .could be that experiment growing out. In which case I am very glad to not have breakage after all! I mean, I still might, but maybe not! :D

Sheesh, how could you forget that. And here we were so worried about the breakage, wondering what it was from and such. ;)

No, all kidding aside, it's great that it might actually be that fringe!!! :D

[animetor7]

I maybe had an epiphany yesterday: I wonder if it's not actually breakage on that one chunk of hair, but a previous fringe trim that just finally got long enough to look like hair instead of wispies? I seem to recall trying some very light bangs a year ago or so.. .could be that experiment growing out. In which case I am very glad to not have breakage after all! I mean, I still might, but maybe not! :D

I'm glad to hear it's not breakage!!! That said, just a heads up, changing your hairstyle even slightly from day to day is still a good habit to get into to avoid future breakage. Good luck!!! :) :flower:

[Stub]

Thanks everyone!! :D