Damaged hair due to cutting with home scissors!

[Anshul585]

Hello everyone

I chopped 4-5 inches of my hair in August 2016 with normal home(craft) scissors. After a week or two I felt that my hairs were having many many splits(white dots). The ends of my hair felt very dry and dull and rest of my hair felt smooth as before.

Now my hairs are grown back those 4-5 inches. But I feel very bad about my ends. They are very dry. All my hairs on top are low porosity hairs as before and my ends are very extremely porous. They were not porous before I had that chop. All my hairs used to be low porosity hairs but now i just hate my ends.

Has anyone experienced this?

What should i do with my ends?

[Cannelle]

I'd buy professional haircutting shears and dust off the tiniest bit, just to get rid of the very ends where the hair was cut using dull scissors.

[TatsuOni]

I agree with Canelle. Good scissors might be a but expencieve, but you can use them for years.

[Nique1202]

Were they splits or white dots? Were they at the tips of the hair, or did you start getting damage higher up? Cutting with poor scissors can ONLY affect the very tips of the hair that they touched.

Also, some of us get reflective spots at the tips of our hair no matter how it was cut, even with professional shears. That doesn't mean that the reflective "white dot" at the tip of the hair is damage, it's just part of the structure of the hair. Have you ever seen a fiber-optic lamp or Christmas tree? The way fiber-optics work is that there's a part of the cord in the middle that transmits light, and you can't see it from the side looking at the length of it, but you can see the light at the tip. That's basically how hair works sometimes, before the tips get worn down. My hair gets protected almost all the time so I tend to keep my "white dot" ends for up to 6 months after a trim.

If you're experiencing a change in texture or porosity, it's absolutely not possible for it to be just from cutting with dull scissors. There's something else in your routine that's caused it, or the texture may have changed on its own in that part of the hair, as many of us have seen texture changes over the years for no apparent reason except genetics. Maybe that section of hair grew out when you were taking in less vitamins or protein, or you were going through a lot of stress. Maybe you've brushed or been rough with that section of hair more than the rest somehow, whether by sleeping on it or brushing more without realizing. There are lots of reasons for hair texture to change at the bottom few inches, but none of them are scissors.

[kattmara]

Were they splits or white dots? Were they at the tips of the hair, or did you start getting damage higher up? Cutting with poor scissors can ONLY affect the very tips of the hair that they touched.

Also, some of us get reflective spots at the tips of our hair no matter how it was cut, even with professional shears. That doesn't mean that the reflective "white dot" at the tip of the hair is damage, it's just part of the structure of the hair. Have you ever seen a fiber-optic lamp or Christmas tree? The way fiber-optics work is that there's a part of the cord in the middle that transmits light, and you can't see it from the side looking at the length of it, but you can see the light at the tip. That's basically how hair works sometimes, before the tips get worn down. My hair gets protected almost all the time so I tend to keep my "white dot" ends for up to 6 months after a trim.

If you're experiencing a change in texture or porosity, it's absolutely not possible for it to be just from cutting with dull scissors. There's something else in your routine that's caused it, or the texture may have changed on its own in that part of the hair, as many of us have seen texture changes over the years for no apparent reason except genetics. Maybe that section of hair grew out when you were taking in less vitamins or protein, or you were going through a lot of stress. Maybe you've brushed or been rough with that section of hair more than the rest somehow, wheather by sleeping on it or brushing more without realizing. There are lots of reasons for hair texture to change at the bottom few inches, but none of them are scissors.

Oh so if I suddenly get weird splits and dryness but very very few, if any, of those white spots it's not from the scissors? I guess it could be from the last centimetres of bleach that is left plus winter weather and some neglect, I was so afraid I had done too much S&D which I use to cope with trichotillomania and that it had made my scissors dull and therefore damaging my hair more instead. I also take off about 1 cm each month or every other month but I haven't done that for a while now because I thought the scissors where damaging it more, I realised just now that skipping that step probably make the ends look even worse, how ironic. :doh:

[lapushka]

Also, some of us get reflective spots at the tips of our hair no matter how it was cut, even with professional shears. That doesn't mean that the reflective "white dot" at the tip of the hair is damage, it's just part of the structure of the hair. Have you ever seen a fiber-optic lamp or Christmas tree? The way fiber-optics work is that there's a part of the cord in the middle that transmits light, and you can't see it from the side looking at the length of it, but you can see the light at the tip. That's basically how hair works sometimes, before the tips get worn down. My hair gets protected almost all the time so I tend to keep my "white dot" ends for up to 6 months after a trim.

Very well explained, Nique! I was getting tired of making a distinction between "true" white dots and this. Calling them reflective dots is a great solution!!! :)


If you're experiencing a change in texture or porosity, it's absolutely not possible for it to be just from cutting with dull scissors. There's something else in your routine that's caused it, or the texture may have changed on its own in that part of the hair, as many of us have seen texture changes over the years for no apparent reason except genetics. Maybe that section of hair grew out when you were taking in less vitamins or protein, or you were going through a lot of stress. Maybe you've brushed or been rough with that section of hair more than the rest somehow, whether by sleeping on it or brushing more without realizing. There are lots of reasons for hair texture to change at the bottom few inches, but none of them are scissors.

Yes, I agree, that can't come from cutting with duller shears. At all!

How do you know that bit has a change in porosity? How did you come to that conclusion, OP?

[Anshul585]

I agree with Canelle. Good scissors might be a but expencieve, but you can use them for years.

I would be buying a hair shear for the next trim. Thanks!

[Anshul585]

Were they splits or white dots? Were they at the tips of the hair, or did you start getting damage higher up? Cutting with poor scissors can ONLY affect the very tips of the hair that they touched.

Also, some of us get reflective spots at the tips of our hair no matter how it was cut, even with professional shears. That doesn't mean that the reflective "white dot" at the tip of the hair is damage, it's just part of the structure of the hair. Have you ever seen a fiber-optic lamp or Christmas tree? The way fiber-optics work is that there's a part of the cord in the middle that transmits light, and you can't see it from the side looking at the length of it, but you can see the light at the tip. That's basically how hair works sometimes, before the tips get worn down. My hair gets protected almost all the time so I tend to keep my "white dot" ends for up to 6 months after a trim.

If you're experiencing a change in texture or porosity, it's absolutely not possible for it to be just from cutting with dull scissors. There's something else in your routine that's caused it, or the texture may have changed on its own in that part of the hair, as many of us have seen texture changes over the years for no apparent reason except genetics. Maybe that section of hair grew out when you were taking in less vitamins or protein, or you were going through a lot of stress. Maybe you've brushed or been rough with that section of hair more than the rest somehow, whether by sleeping on it or brushing more without realizing. There are lots of reasons for hair texture to change at the bottom few inches, but none of them are scissors.

Umm, I agree that it can be caused by some other factors also. I've been stressed out through the whole 2016 because of my exams. I ignored the need for vitamins. I took care of my ends but my hair got tangled because I slept on it. They may be dried out because of too frequent washes. I remember after that trim I washed my hair too frequently.

One more thing, I've experienced change in texture over the years. When I was a pre teen my hair was of high porosity but they were stick straight and now my hairs are low porosity and wavy-curly. All of my hair ends are not split but I'm worried. I rarely get any split ends. Even after 8-10 I barely gets split in only 1/4 of my hairs.

Thanks for your advice. I never thought it that way. :o

[Anshul585]

Very well explained, Nique! I was getting tired of making a distinction between "true" white dots and this. Calling them reflective dots is a great solution!!! :)



Yes, I agree, that can't come from cutting with duller shears. At all!

How do you know that bit has a change in porosity? How did you come to that conclusion, OP?

Oh, my hair usually took 4-5 hours to dry completely and even after that they felt damp. After a few weeks of that cut the upper part of my hair took the same time as before for drying and the lower 2-3 inches get dried in an hour.

[lapushka]

Oh, my hair usually took 4-5 hours to dry completely and even after that they felt damp. After a few weeks of that cut the upper part of my hair took the same time as before for drying and the lower 2-3 inches get dried in an hour.

Did you change any of your products around? Any other changes in your routine? Could be because it's much shorter (that it dries faster). Easy enough to explain. Doesn't mean porosity levels have suddenly changed; that can't just happen like that.

[Anshul585]

Did you change any of your products around? Any other changes in your routine? Could be because it's much shorter (that it dries faster). Easy enough to explain. Doesn't mean porosity levels have suddenly changed; that can't just happen like that.

I think you're right. I know very little about porosity. I never thought that products can change the texture. Thanks :)

[lapushka]

I think you're right. I know very little about porosity. I never thought that products can change the texture. Thanks :)

No. You misunderstood me. Products can't change the texture/porosity. It can explain why it dried faster, also it is significantly shorter, of *course* that is going to dry faster.

This has *nothing* whatsoever to do with porosity.

[thunderseed]

That happened to me when I used hair trimming scissors from Sally's. It's not that they became dull, but I was starting to see splits right after I trimmed with them so I suspected them to be the culprit.
There's a professional grooming place next to my house that sells professional hair cutting scizzors so I just went down there, showed the guy my scizzors and told him my dillema. He said the Sally's scizzors were still sharp and looked brand new but they have one sharp edge and one serrated edge, and he said that "may or may not cause split ends". The way he described it sounded like the seratted edged ones help hold the hair in place and for some people that works, but for others it causes splits. Basically he told me, the scizzors may or may not be responsible for my split ends, but I didn't want to risk it.
So I got him to recommend a better pair, and so I ended up buying a much better kind that has two extremely sharp edges, no serrated edge, and I re-trimmed my splits as soon as I got home with them, and wow are those scizzors ever sharp, they work way better than the previous pair I got at sally's.

And I can't remember how much the Sally's ones were but they weren't cheap.
The new ones I have were 70 bucks, so probably more than I spent on the pair I got at Sally's. But they work so much better, and aren't causing split ends for me at all.

[sylvia30198399]

Which scissors did you use for your hair?

[sylvia30198399]

Sorry first time using this forum.I was referring to Canelle.

[Cannelle]

Hello Sylvia, welcome to the forum! I'm quite new myself :) The scissors I use are called 'jaguar pre style relax'. I got them off of Amazon one or two years ago. Before that I had ones from a drugstore, those didn't cause any major damage, but switching to the jaguar pre style made me realize how dull the ones from the drugstore were. The drugstore scissors bent my hair before cutting as I have thick hair, the jaguar pre style cuts it off right away. In addition to that, I can go a lot longer in between trims now and they aren't too expensive either. I'm not sure if you can get them anywhere other than Germany though, you'll have to find out using google.

[Anshul585]

That happened to me when I used hair trimming scissors from Sally's. It's not that they became dull, but I was starting to see splits right after I trimmed with them so I suspected them to be the culprit.
There's a professional grooming place next to my house that sells professional hair cutting scizzors so I just went down there, showed the guy my scizzors and told him my dillema. He said the Sally's scizzors were still sharp and looked brand new but they have one sharp edge and one serrated edge, and he said that "may or may not cause split ends". The way he described it sounded like the seratted edged ones help hold the hair in place and for some people that works, but for others it causes splits. Basically he told me, the scizzors may or may not be responsible for my split ends, but I didn't want to risk it.
So I got him to recommend a better pair, and so I ended up buying a much better kind that has two extremely sharp edges, no serrated edge, and I re-trimmed my splits as soon as I got home with them, and wow are those scizzors ever sharp, they work way better than the previous pair I got at sally's.

And I can't remember how much the Sally's ones were but they weren't cheap.
The new ones I have were 70 bucks, so probably more than I spent on the pair I got at Sally's. But they work so much better, and aren't causing split ends for me at all.

Thanks for the info. I never thought it could be because of the serrated edge. I'll check mine. :). :)

[Anshul585]

Hello Sylvia, welcome to the forum! I'm quite new myself :) The scissors I use are called 'jaguar pre style relax'. I got them off of Amazon one or two years ago. Before that I had ones from a drugstore, those didn't cause any major damage, but switching to the jaguar pre style made me realize how dull the ones from the drugstore were. The drugstore scissors bent my hair before cutting as I have thick hair, the jaguar pre style cuts it off right away. In addition to that, I can go a lot longer in between trims now and they aren't too expensive either. I'm not sure if you can get them anywhere other than Germany though, you'll have to find out using google.

I've heard of jaguar before and yeah it has many good reviews.

[lapushka]

Hello Sylvia, welcome to the forum! I'm quite new myself :) The scissors I use are called 'jaguar pre style relax'. I got them off of Amazon one or two years ago. Before that I had ones from a drugstore, those didn't cause any major damage, but switching to the jaguar pre style made me realize how dull the ones from the drugstore were. The drugstore scissors bent my hair before cutting as I have thick hair, the jaguar pre style cuts it off right away. In addition to that, I can go a lot longer in between trims now and they aren't too expensive either. I'm not sure if you can get them anywhere other than Germany though, you'll have to find out using google.

Those are like Mercedes-style scissors, IYKWIM. That's like, a big brand. Can't go wrong with those!