(pics) Does my hair look bad? Should I cut it?

[Claireabelle123]

How bad does my hair look? Everytime I look at it all I see is flyaways..

I have had a huge problem with breakage over the last year, indeed then it got so bad I cut my hair back. I really want to grow it now but I’m not sure if it looks like it should be cut again, like if you look at the side picture you can see breakage hair flying around.

In case anyone was wondering, I don't not use heat, I don't dye my hair. I don’t brush it when wet. It is just weak so snaps easily.
In fact I have tried to stop brushing it so much now to see if that helps stop more breaking off, I try to finger comb the ends and only comb the crown. The two pictures show it as it naturally is and it when brushed.

I wonder if anyone has any advice or offer an opinion for how it looks. Should I cut it again? 😔


Here are the pictures, (I hope this works, I've never uploaded a hair picture on here before). The flash just makes all the breakage stand out.


http://tinypic.com/r/2qu7jpc/9
http://tinypic.com/r/2zitycp/9
http://tinypic.com/r/64h6h2/9

Also, I know I have very fine hair but in terms of hair typing would you agree it's 2a?

[Claireabelle123]

Wait I'm not sure if the links are working

[Stray_mind]

It looks good to me. I like your color mix and texture.

[Claireabelle123]

https://ibb.co/dbzaHy

https://ibb.co/kUuaHy

https://ibb.co/djYzAJ

I think this works

[Claireabelle123]

You don't think the breakage looks really obvious? I think it's very noticeable by my ears

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Are you sure it's breakage? It could just be new growth, maybe? I think your hair looks perfectly fine :)

[Obsidian]

Doesn't look bad to me either, I wouldn't cut it. I was also thinking it could just be new growth, your hair will never all be the same length.

[Dendra]

I think your hair looks absolutely fine Claireabelle, no need to cut in my opinion :)

I have a tonne of those flyaway new growth hairs too, in the same place. Do you actually hear/feel the strands break as you brush them? Because if not I would assume they're new growth rather than breakage.

From your pictures I'm not sure if you're 2a, maybe 1c/2a? I'm not quite sure.

[lapushka]

I think it might be 1c/2a, if that is a hairtyping picture.

I went straight to the pictures. Your hair looks like it is freshly cut, to me. I would maybe let it grow a while without a trim. You can always join the no trimming thread for the remainder of the year. Challenge starts July 1st, and can be found here:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=143313

[earth]

Your hair looks great, don't cut it.

[ravenskey]

I'd say your hair looks good - maybe join the no trim challenge lapushka posted above.

You look like a 1c/2a to me.

[Claireabelle123]

Are you sure it's breakage? It could just be new growth, maybe? I think your hair looks perfectly fine :)

Yeah, in addition to new hair coming out (pieces with the bulb on the end) I have be known to have up to 30 pieces of breakage hair. It's always short pieces ranging from an inch to up to 4 inches long. I think some could be from hair bobbles? So I've been ponytail free for a month or so now :p
I'm hoping its improving.

[Claireabelle123]

Awesome thank you, you've all made me feel a lot better about it!! Maybe it's seeing all the breakage on my pillow, in the shower etc which made me feel worse about it

[CopperButterfly]

I think your hair looks very nice. Those types of fly always are so normal, everyone had them, sometimes outs new growth, sometimes it's breakage, not I don't see anything that looks bad about your hair. The important thing is that you are changing up your habits, do you'll soon have less breakage and more length.

Happy growing. I love your texture!

[lucid]

You have beautiful hair!

[lithostoic]

I don't see what you're talking about at all. It seems to me that you don't know what breakage is.

[Katsura]

Your hair looks good to me. :)

[MusicalSpoons]

Shorter pieces of hair might be breakage, but I also have shed hairs that are just a few inches long so they might not necessarily be! It could just be shedding - which is normal and part of the growth cycle of hair. The flyaways look like new growth, which are also totally normal and especially so with fine hair.

If you've changed your routine to minimise damage then at this point I don't think you have anything to worry about. Your hair looks beautiful to me!

[lapushka]

Yes, I'm also thinking more along the lines of shed hairs. We normally shed up to 100-150 hairs a day, and that is normal.

I would try keeping it in an updo, like a peacock twist, or Gibson tuck. Those are damage-free if you do them right. A peacock twist can be easily secured by a barrette, a flexi8 or Ficcare or even a claw clip.

[ravenskey]

It sounds like you just have regular shedding and some new growth to me - and shedding quite a bit is normal, I'm sitting here with a ball of sheds big enough to make a new toy for my dogs :lol:

[AshtangiPNW]

I think it might be 1c/2a, if that is a hairtyping picture.

I went straight to the pictures. Your hair looks like it is freshly cut, to me. I would maybe let it grow a while without a trim. You can always join the no trimming thread for the remainder of the year. Challenge starts July 1st, and can be found here:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=143313

I second Lapushka’s comment. I wouldn’t even think about cutting it, if it were me. The hemline actually looks pretty even! If you’re anxious to trim, maybe just try snipping off a few individual split ends?

[Claireabelle123]

Awe thank you *blushes*

[Claireabelle123]

I was just worried if I needed to cut to match up with some flyaways/ breakages. I've never had long hair so want to start growing it the right way 😊

[Claireabelle123]

Yes, I'm also thinking more along the lines of shed hairs. We normally shed up to 100-150 hairs a day, and that is normal.

I would try keeping it in an updo, like a peacock twist, or Gibson tuck. Those are damage-free if you do them right. A peacock twist can be easily secured by a barrette, a flexi8 or Ficcare or even a claw clip.

I looked into those types, my only issue is I think the hairs at the nape of my neck are quite fragile. I'm not sure if it would pull on them too much

[akurah]

I was just worried if I needed to cut to match up with some flyaways/ breakages. I've never had long hair so want to start growing it the right way ��

if you want to have your length matching with the flyaways/breakage, there's really only one length for that, and that's bald.

You're going to have mismatched strands from both breakage and from new growth, that's simply how our hair growth phases work. Not all our follicles are growing at the same time, some are resting (and thank god for that, or we'd go through periods where all our hair would fall out and we would be bald, before it grew back). There's really nothing to be done about it, and it's better to make peace with it than go chasing down trying to fix it--there's really, truly, no fixing it because there's nothing wrong with it.

If the appearance of fly aways is bothering you, you can weigh them down to be less obvious. I personally go long times between shampoos and let sebum do the trick, others have fantastic results with products from gels and cremes to just heavier conditioners.

[Claireabelle123]

Yes, I'm also thinking more along the lines of shed hairs. We normally shed up to 100-150 hairs a day, and that is normal.

I would try keeping it in an updo, like a peacock twist, or Gibson tuck. Those are damage-free if you do them right. A peacock twist can be easily secured by a barrette, a flexi8 or Ficcare or even a claw clip.


Shorter pieces of hair might be breakage, but I also have shed hairs that are just a few inches long so they might not necessarily be! It could just be shedding - which is normal and part of the growth cycle of hair. The flyaways look like new growth, which are also totally normal and especially so with fine hair.

If you've changed your routine to minimise damage then at this point I don't think you have anything to worry about. Your hair looks beautiful to me!

It's so frustrating when I see hair come out whilst washing it, half the hair is about half length, and doesn't seem to have a bulb on the end, is it possible to have she'd hairs which don't have the bulb? I counted once about 40 half length or inch length hairs and it freaked me out so much. That's when I decided to be more delicate. I remember hearing one YouTuber recommending to treat hair like 'spun gold', I try to think of that and be careful with it.

[Claireabelle123]

I don't see what you're talking about at all. It seems to me that you don't know what breakage is.

My hair is prone is snapping in the middle. Like I have found strands with a weak point in the middle and if pulled it snaps there in the middle of the strand. Meaning I always find little/medium length pieces of hair everywhere. It's weird since I don't have much of a problem with split ends. It's mainly mid length 😂😂

When I brush it it's like a waterfall of little hair pieces. Feel so sorry for my bathroom floor

[akurah]

Do you use a brush explicitly, or do you use a comb? And what brand is it?

[Claireabelle123]

Do you use a brush explicitly, or do you use a comb? And what brand is it?

I used to use a brush, a plastic one, now I've switched to just using a wide toothed comb, and only really focusing on the top of my hair. It is a plastic comb, I think I should try to find a wooden one? But it sounds like it would have less give on it compared to plastic, and I need to be gentle or it will snap

[Groovy Granny]

I wouldn't cut it....personally, I think it looks very pretty and from here to be in good shape ;)

A wide tooth plastic comb is fine as long as there are no rough edges on the teeth to snag your hair; any rough seams can easily be smoothed with an emery board.

Whatever is not new growth should be remedied if you think the hair ties were the cause.

Others can advise better re: product ingredients helping or hurting (I have no clue ) lol

Welcome ....and good luck :cheer:

[AutobotsAttack]

Your hair looks perfectly fine.

As long as you’re trying to mitigate breakage as much as possible while growing your hair you’ll be fine. You can always trim along the way for whatever is comfortable for you.

Most wont admit it but there’s always going to a broken hair here or there for every last person. So long as your overall progress is looking good, everything will be okay.

[Zesty]

Your hair looks great to me. A few flyaways are normal -- as is a little breakage, tbh.

For what it's worth, I've found that using my fingers and then a brush led to FAR less snapping of hairs than an inflexible wide tooth comb. I currently use a Tek wooden brush but also had pretty good results with a Tangle Teezer. I just separate out strands with my fingers and then work through my hair using a combination of fingers and the brush, using the brush more and more as the detangling process goes forward. For me, bristles on a brush will either bend and glide over a tangle without breaking hairs (like the TT) OR will give me time to stop before hairs break (the Tek brush's bristles are closer together and flexible so I feel a snarl before accidentally tearing through it).

Ditching ponytails is a great idea. You might also want to look into protective sleep styles if you're seeing broken hairs on your pillow. If you can tolerate it, IMO the best solution is silk pillowcase + silk sleep cap. As I have mentioned ad nauseum around the forum. :p

[Aredhel]

Your hair doesn't look at all like it needs a cut IMHO. I've noticed that I see way more flaws in my hair than other people do...I think it's the same with you too. I see flyaways in your pictures but everyone has them with regrowth. Your hair actually looks pretty healthy.

[akurah]

I used to use a brush, a plastic one, now I've switched to just using a wide toothed comb, and only really focusing on the top of my hair. It is a plastic comb, I think I should try to find a wooden one? But it sounds like it would have less give on it compared to plastic, and I need to be gentle or it will snap

Plastic combs have seams. You’re going to want a carved comb, either bakelite/resin, horn, or wood. For brushes, the Denman and Wet brushes are held in high regard.

How are you brushing your hair? Are you ripping through the tangles or stopping when you find them to detangle by hand? Do you start from “top down” (bad) or “bottom up” (good)?

[Claireabelle123]

Plastic combs have seams. You’re going to want a carved comb, either bakelite/resin, horn, or wood. For brushes, the Denman and Wet brushes are held in high regard.

How are you brushing your hair? Are you ripping through the tangles or stopping when you find them to detangle by hand? Do you start from “top down” (bad) or “bottom up” (good)?

Ohhhh I never considered seams in the comb.
I'll look into them 😊

I start at the bottom of the hair usually with my fingers. Generally if my hair is going in a bun I'm trying to just use my fingers on any tangles and forgo any bursh or comb. Then I usually comb a little of the top of the head stopping by my ears.

[Claireabelle123]

Your hair looks great to me. A few flyaways are normal -- as is a little breakage, tbh.

For what it's worth, I've found that using my fingers and then a brush led to FAR less snapping of hairs than an inflexible wide tooth comb. I currently use a Tek wooden brush but also had pretty good results with a Tangle Teezer. I just separate out strands with my fingers and then work through my hair using a combination of fingers and the brush, using the brush more and more as the detangling process goes forward. For me, bristles on a brush will either bend and glide over a tangle without breaking hairs (like the TT) OR will give me time to stop before hairs break (the Tek brush's bristles are closer together and flexible so I feel a snarl before accidentally tearing through it).

Ditching ponytails is a great idea. You might also want to look into protective sleep styles if you're seeing broken hairs on your pillow. If you can tolerate it, IMO the best solution is silk pillowcase + silk sleep cap. As I have mentioned ad nauseum around the forum. :p

My bathroom has a white floor so when using a brush I can actually watch all the little hairs rain down. I know breakage seems normal for everyone but I remember reading that a lot of people on here have under 10ish a day. I have a looooottt more than that come out when I brush or wash. So that put my off brushing it, since when I use a comb I see less come out. I suppose it could just be the fault of the hair brush itself

Yeah I'm trying to sleep in braids and buns now. That's definitely helping it

[Claireabelle123]

I wouldn't cut it....personally, I think it looks very pretty and from here to be in good shape ;)

A wide tooth plastic comb is fine as long as there are no rough edges on the teeth to snag your hair; any rough seams can easily be smoothed with an emery board.

Whatever is not new growth should be remedied if you think the hair ties were the cause.

Others can advise better re: product ingredients helping or hurting (I have no clue ) lol

Welcome ....and good luck :cheer:

Aaaand, that's a great idea! I'll have a file of it later, that is for the advice. That gives me time to try to find a better hair brush 😂

[akurah]

My bathroom has a white floor so when using a brush I can actually watch all the little hairs rain down. I know breakage seems normal for everyone but I remember reading that a lot of people on here have under 10ish a day. I have a looooottt more than that come out when I brush or wash. So that put my off brushing it, since when I use a comb I see less come out. I suppose it could just be the fault of the hair brush itself

Yeah I'm trying to sleep in braids and buns now. That's definitely helping it

The average is about 75 to 150 for most human beings. I myself fall smack dab into that range, and I'd wager the vast majority of this board does too, given the sheer number of panick threads I see about shedding. It's also been my observation in almost all of those cases, they had one of two things going on: they fell in the normal range and just weren't familiar with how hair tends to be, or they needed to see a doctor. As an aside, my hairballs look terrifying (as in, "how are you not bald!" terrifying), but I'm also at classic and the length gives an illusion of it being worse than it is.

The time you should worry is if: you see noticeable thinning on the scalp, if you get bald patches, or if hair is coming out by literal handfuls; all those need to be addressed by a doctor. Going by the hairs falling out of your head is not going to be a very accurate or clear indicator, for a number of reasons. For example, myself? I sometimes go a week without properly detangling, and I might have as much as 700 hairs when I do get around to it--and the reason it's so high is because the hairs just "hung out" in the head over the seven days I didn't detangle, and remember, most humans shed about 100 hairs a day.

As for your concerns on snapping in the middle of the strands, your hair may benefit from protein. Alternately, if you had a health problem... based on your current length? maybe 1 to two years ago, that could contribute to weakness in that explicit area of the hair, as when your body is not healthy, hair is the last to get anything from the food and such we consume.

[ravenskey]

My bathroom has a white floor so when using a brush I can actually watch all the little hairs rain down. I know breakage seems normal for everyone but I remember reading that a lot of people on here have under 10ish a day. I have a looooottt more than that come out when I brush or wash. So that put my off brushing it, since when I use a comb I see less come out. I suppose it could just be the fault of the hair brush itself

Yeah I'm trying to sleep in braids and buns now. That's definitely helping it

I am not one of these people - every time I brush I see at least 30-50 hair come out and that's not even counting ones that just drop out during the day.

[leayellena]

How bad does my hair look? Everytime I look at it all I see is flyaways..

I have had a huge problem with breakage over the last year, indeed then it got so bad I cut my hair back. I really want to grow it now but I’m not sure if it looks like it should be cut again, like if you look at the side picture you can see breakage hair flying around.

In case anyone was wondering, I don't not use heat, I don't dye my hair. I don’t brush it when wet. It is just weak so snaps easily.
In fact I have tried to stop brushing it so much now to see if that helps stop more breaking off, I try to finger comb the ends and only comb the crown. The two pictures show it as it naturally is and it when brushed.

I wonder if anyone has any advice or offer an opinion for how it looks. Should I cut it again? 😔


Here are the pictures, (I hope this works, I've never uploaded a hair picture on here before). The flash just makes all the breakage stand out.


http://tinypic.com/r/2qu7jpc/9
http://tinypic.com/r/2zitycp/9
http://tinypic.com/r/64h6h2/9

Also, I know I have very fine hair but in terms of hair typing would you agree it's 2a?


hi,
first of all your hair doesn't look an i. it looks ii (medium density).
it's pretty much similar to Henrietta's. http://henri-and-her-hair.blogspot.com/. try to measure your pony circumference.
as for new growth haha I thought I was the only one around waking up this morning with my hair full of new growth :D
oh and... use a cone-free or even a coney conditioner (don't forget to shampoo once a week) on your scalp. it's called co-washing. it helps quite much. I like it. on autumn, spring and winter I co-wash for 3 weeks and then there's the shampoo day. my hair likes it, my scalp too.
use combs instead of brushes, also recommendation on lhc ;)
my hair tends to be 2a when it's very short (collarbone length), 1c-2a when it's hmm until hip length, now it tends to be more 1c and I love it. the shorter u go the wavier your hair gets.
I don't go for cuts, I go for trims and microtrims (especially). I can trim half an inch per month and still have length to work with, whereas it's even more difficult to grow out hair again (growing, trimming while growing, going to a hairstylist eventually because your hair is too short and u can't trim it yourself), etc.
keep in mind that there is no hair without breakage. I dealt with eye-level breakage for a year until it grew at ponytail/braid level.
cutting hair is not always a solution. good luck! and happy growing :)

[Margarita]

Your hair is so beautiful, and it looks so silky. Its not breakage, just new hair growth, everyone has them. Dont worry at all. =)

[elsiedeluxe]

I agree with everyone here. Your hair looks shiny, soft, healthy and very pretty. I love the color and the wave.

[Komao]

You're hair looks lovely. No need to cut. :)

[lapushka]

It's so frustrating when I see hair come out whilst washing it, half the hair is about half length, and doesn't seem to have a bulb on the end, is it possible to have she'd hairs which don't have the bulb? I counted once about 40 half length or inch length hairs and it freaked me out so much. That's when I decided to be more delicate. I remember hearing one YouTuber recommending to treat hair like 'spun gold', I try to think of that and be careful with it.

Yes some hairs are from the root, but don't have a bulb - perfectly normal. I would not worry. I shed 3 palmfuls of hair every time I wash my hair. When I dry detangle before the wash, when I wash, and after when I detangle (after it comes out the towel, and before styling). It's perfectly normal to especially lose a lot of hair in the washing process.

[enting]

Your hair looks great! The flyaways almost look like they might be a tiny bit dry rather than anything else. If you're having breakage rather than shedding, dryness could contribute to that.

[Lizabeth94]

Looks wonderful, I don't think it looks damaged or like breakage, more just flyaways, maybe due to heat or humidity in your area?

[Beckstar]

Your hair looks very healthy and in good shape. Don't cut, just grow.

[rosie112358]

I think your hair is beautiful and looks good. I like the color a lot. I wouldn't cut it if I were you.

[Vorvayne]

Your hair looks great! Soft and healthy.

Even if you've had a bit of damage from rough treatment in the past - F hair is always going to need some careful handling, but there are treatments like protein treatments and cassia that can help - I wouldn't say there's even nearly enough to justify cutting. Flyaways are normal, and everyone I think deals with them at some point; most people just put in some kind of product to keep their hair smooth.

Usually, it's a good idea to cut if there's noticeable damage in a line - like, say, you bleached your hair multiple times and the last few inches have had the most bleach and are really damaged. I don't think that's the case with your hair so I would just experiment with some leave-in conditioners to see if you can calm it down a bit :flower: