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View Full Version : Canopy crisis - split ends and taper while working toward a blunt cut



x_x
October 28th, 2016, 04:15 PM
Hi everyone, I'm having some hair problems and I'd be so grateful for a little input!

So, I've been growing my hair out from a pixie cut for about three years, and my issue from the very beginning has been that when I reached chin length, a hairdresser convinced me to cut a layer into my hair. It was a pretty big length difference between canopy and under-layer - about three or four inches. The hairdresser also heavily thinned out my canopy creating a lot of hairs with different lengths. At some point I discovered self-trimming and decided that I'd trim my bottom layer every month, keeping half my new growth, until the top and bottom layers converged. This worked, but because I was desperate to keep some of my growth at the same time, it took about a year and a half. Sometime this winter the two layers finally converged and I was so excited: Yay, I can finally braid my hair! My hair is now between APL and BSL, and I've probably taken off at least half of my overall growth just to get to this point of having a basically blunt cut.

But of course there were underlying issues with my canopy, chiefly that it had grown without trims or intensive S&D for a really long time as I didn't want to prolong this layered hair phase, so that a lot of the hairs up there had never gotten a trim. This summer I also spent a lot of time outdoors. So my hair spent a lot of time wet and acquired a lot of sun damage, and this winter, bam, I suddenly have protein issues with my hair and a ton of split ends in my canopy. Like, if I just grab a lock of hair from the very crown of my head, at least half of the hairs look like split ends to me (the "candle" type where you can see that it's thin and a lighter color at the end and a hair that should be gently wavy has a weird little curly piece at the end).

I guess I could conclude I should trim out all these split ends, but I'm not sure it's a great idea for two reasons. First, it is a lot of splits and I am still waiting for a good fraction of my canopy to reach my hemline. Imagine decently healthy hair with a very tapered canopy on top. Couldn't S&D make the process even slower? And is it worth it to do that if I'm just leaving myself with a bunch of random length hairs? And secondly, I'm not quite sure all of these are actually split ends. I have a small amount of very wiry "horse hairs" that are dark copper in contrast to my auburn-ish in the winter, strawberry blond-ish in the summer hair. They're coarse and hard to manage, and almost all of them come from the crown of my head. Also, most of them have tight little waves in their texture. I say "waves" instead of curls because these don't make a spiral around their own axis, they just kind of almost zigzag back and forth. I tried to photograph a few of them, but it didn't quite work. Anyway, I keep catching myself trimming these, but of course they are just a lot wilder if I trim them up to chin length or so.

Not sure what my options are here, just keep microtrimming the bottom of my hemline and doing S&D at the top? S&D only? Cut a layer back into my hair? Chop my hair back to where my very top canopy is thicker - this would probably be somewhere around shoulder length, though? And what is up with these weird thick hairs, should I just leave them be? It seems that I've identified just about every single one of these as a split and trimmed them, and now they just stick out in the same way but farther up.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has gotten through a phase like this without having to lose a lot of length to fix it. I'm willing to play the long game but it's just soooo disheartening sometimes to have to resolve yourself to prioritizing quality over length year after year!

mish9101
October 28th, 2016, 05:07 PM
I thought i also had split ends but it turns out its just regrowth you should put a picture of your hair on here there is plenty of people who are happy to help and give there opinions on what they think is split ends and what isn't and give you advice in general on your hair : )

missrandie
October 28th, 2016, 05:38 PM
I would do S&D on the ones you are SURE are split ends, and continue the microtrimming. Yes, it might slow down your overall goal a bit, but trimming off a split end +1/4 inch isn't going to ruin anything.

As for your coarse hairs, a lot of people have random hairs that are different in types and textures from their norm. For instance, I have a few hairs that are nearly black, coarse, and wildly curly; I also have some that are bright copper, and yet others that are fine and blonde.

Chances are, those coarse hairs of yours are potentially more durable than your other hairs, so they may not need trimmed at all. That will let them get more length in order to weigh them down.

x_x
November 3rd, 2016, 05:49 AM
Hey, thanks for your replies! I haven't written back because it's tough to photograph my hairs. Are there any threads floating around where photographic examples of natural ends vs split ends can be found? :)

Anje
November 3rd, 2016, 08:20 AM
With that description, was your hair thinned with a razor or otherwise razor cut? That tends to create the weird lopsided hairs. For the future, you'll want to insist on scissor cuts, done at a right angle to the hair. (Though once you get to apl or bsl, it's often simplest to just get some decent hair shears and do your trims yourself.)

If I were you, I'd s&d and maybe trim the ends to maintain the length. You'll always have newly growing hairs that won't have made it down to the hemline, so don't stress overly about that, but you can give the layers a chance to catch up if you trim the ends. Don't stress about the "horse hairs" either (good name, btw). Everyone has some of them, often with a different texture than the bulk of the hair. They're just one of those odd things, and it's totally normal to have some.

whimsicalfaerie
November 3rd, 2016, 01:33 PM
I would definitely not cut a new layer, or you'll essentially end up with the same problem again. I tend to agree with the others...do some search and destroy, but only with actual splits. I'd leave those tapered hairs just in case. And in the meantime, keep frequently microtrimming.

lapushka
November 5th, 2016, 05:00 PM
My hair is now between APL and BSL, and I've probably taken off at least half of my overall growth just to get to this point of having a basically blunt cut.

But of course there were underlying issues with my canopy, chiefly that it had grown without trims or intensive S&D for a really long time as I didn't want to prolong this layered hair phase, so that a lot of the hairs up there had never gotten a trim. This summer I also spent a lot of time outdoors. So my hair spent a lot of time wet and acquired a lot of sun damage, and this winter, bam, I suddenly have protein issues with my hair and a ton of split ends in my canopy. Like, if I just grab a lock of hair from the very crown of my head, at least half of the hairs look like split ends to me (the "candle" type where you can see that it's thin and a lighter color at the end and a hair that should be gently wavy has a weird little curly piece at the end).

I don't get it. First you say that all your layers have caught up; so then your canopy has to be in with the blunt cut, right? Or do you have layers still? Sorry, I'm confused. :confused: