Finally BSL! And "Prone" to Split Ends??

[kittengirl]

I think I finally hit bsl! So that is good....but I seem to have lots of split ends. Now, it could be a combo of things......I had not S&D'd in a long time, due to pregnancy sickness and honestly not caring what my hair was doing lol. Also, I recently stopped wearing the plastic octopus clip I used to wear every day. I don't know if it was damaging. Sure was convenient....I miss it.
Also, the splits are higher up, as in, a general trim would do nothing. Most of my long ends are very healthy looking. Possible the splits that are higher up are from hairs that have broken from a couple summers ago when I did peroxide to lighten?
I take good care of my hair. I recently tried cones again but it made my hair too slick...my hair already escapes pins, forks, sticks, etc. My hair does tend to be dry, and we do have hard water. I chelate with Club Soda periodically and I do clarify when needed. I use no heat, I sleep in a silk bonnet (recently begun, before that it was a braid and a silk pillowcase but I felt the braid was causing damage), wear my hair up 98 % of the time, and generally treat it very well, but the little splits and breaks concern me.

Anyone prone to splits that has successfully gotten to classic? Any tips or tricks to give me hope? Sometimes I am temped to cut it short again but I always regret it and also I am currently very emotional and stressed mostly due to pregnancy and I always feel I should not make a drastic change when I am so worried about other things, in case I am just projecting.

Any input, or fellow people with easily damaged hair?

[ReadingRenee]

I don't have a lot of input, I feel my hair is fragile too. Did you notice hairs getting caught in your octopus clip? I loved mine and used it until my hair got too long to hold it, and I don't think I noticed any damage. But what I wanted to say is.... I really recommend NOT cutting your hair while pregnant. :D Sorry for the caps, I just wanted to really reiterate that. I noticed a huge chopping urge while I was pregnant but I read so many places to not do it while you are pregnant because of hormones and how much it would be regretted after the baby was born. I promised myself that if I wanted to cut my hair I could do it after the baby was born. I was really glad that I hadn't cut it when my face seemed to change shape in the last trimester also.

[turtlelover]

I think I finally hit bsl! So that is good....but I seem to have lots of split ends. Now, it could be a combo of things......I had not S&D'd in a long time, due to pregnancy sickness and honestly not caring what my hair was doing lol. Also, I recently stopped wearing the plastic octopus clip I used to wear every day. I don't know if it was damaging. Sure was convenient....I miss it.
Also, the splits are higher up, as in, a general trim would do nothing. Most of my long ends are very healthy looking. Possible the splits that are higher up are from hairs that have broken from a couple summers ago when I did peroxide to lighten?
I take good care of my hair. I recently tried cones again but it made my hair too slick...my hair already escapes pins, forks, sticks, etc. My hair does tend to be dry, and we do have hard water. I chelate with Club Soda periodically and I do clarify when needed. I use no heat, I sleep in a silk bonnet (recently begun, before that it was a braid and a silk pillowcase but I felt the braid was causing damage), wear my hair up 98 % of the time, and generally treat it very well, but the little splits and breaks concern me.

Anyone prone to splits that has successfully gotten to classic? Any tips or tricks to give me hope? Sometimes I am temped to cut it short again but I always regret it and also I am currently very emotional and stressed mostly due to pregnancy and I always feel I should not make a drastic change when I am so worried about other things, in case I am just projecting.

Any input, or fellow people with easily damaged hair?

I would suspect some hidden damage from the bleach awhile back. I would just microtrim it away slowly. It WILL get better over time! :-)

[pailin]

I agree with turtlelover, you probably have old bleach damage. Be extra gentle, s&d occasionally but don't get obsessive, and consider microtrimming. If you have ongoing breakage, which is possible since you have splits higher up, you might try an occasional protein treatment.
My hair has always split easily, but it's much, much better now. In my case, I think the difference is it's finally getting enough moisture, and I'm much more careful with it than I used to be. I'm waiting to see if I can make it to classic - only around BCL now.

[Anje]

Clipping hair up is generally a great strategy, so don't feel like you ought to stop. It protects from friction and tangles, and it often makes you less inclined to heat style for the day, all of which add up to less damage over time.

Old bleach damage might be a big part of it. For me, combing/brushing quickly was another culprit, as I ended up blowing through small knots rather than pausing to untangle them. Learning to slow down (and not comb when rushed or upset) helped me reduce damage.

[ravenreed]

I have successfully gotten to fingertip length despite hair that is ridiculously prone to split ends. I notice my hair tends to split where it tangles, so reducing tangles has been my strategy. I aggressively S&D (trimming when necessary) to keep my ends smooth, keep my hair as tangle-free as possible by brushing it several times a day as needed, and use catnip rinses with every washing. I was sticking to a CO-washing method, but recent switched to a SLS-free shampoo and conditioner routine. I use SLS shampoos several times a month when I need to clarify. Otheriwise, I wash every other day. HTH!

[sumidha]

My hair is classic length and I have tons of split ends, not just at the 'ends' of my hair but all through the length as well. I find S&D to be kind of demoralizing, I have pretty thick hair so I could cut split ends for hours and not see any noticeable reduction in the overall amount, so I stopped. I know, sacrilege! :)

I will say that I intent to maintain at around classic to FTL for the indefinite future, in the hopes of gradually growing out all the breakage and taper, so theoretically, eventually, all my hair will be the same length and I'll be able to cut half an inch off the ends and actually trim the ends of the majority of the hairs... I'll let you know in ten years or so if that plan works out, lol. Also, for what it's worth, even though I tend to have a lot of them, my splits and breaks don't 'travel up the hair shaft' in the way lots of people talk about, at most they're a couple centimeters long. Also, they're a lot more prevalent in the bottom half of my hair, which has been previously box dyed, so it is weakened by bleach damage. I wouldn't go so far as to recommend ignoring split ends, but I will say I made it to classic while doing so.

[Vanilla]

I have pretty fragile hair as well, and I'm at TBL. Keep on doing protective styles to keep your hair up. At BSL, I could manage a lazy wrap bun with a 4 tine fork and it held pretty securely. Also, a tails up with a flexi-8 might be possible, even with your slick hair.

I have found the things that make the most difference for me are finger-detangling and regular self-microtrims. I use the ponytail method, and it's really easy.

[trolleypup]

Calf length with lots of splits. I S&D from time to time to reduce tangliness, but by no means get all the splits. Don't stress too much about your hair and do some S&D when you have time and inclination.

[spidermom]

My hair splits if you look at it funny, and I made it to classic length. Now I have it at collarbone length, and it's too short to easily pull it to the front of my face to look for splits. Awww; heaven!

[hanne jensen]

My hair is like Spidermom's. I'm only at a little past waist, but if I can make it this long then I can make it to tailbone. I wear my hair in protective styles because most of my splits come from tangles. When I de-tangle my hair breaks. Dusting every 2 months has helped a lot. I also use split repair serums after every hairwash so the splits don't continue all the way up the hairshaft.