Need advice on potential damaged hair ends

[elfynity]

Hi everyone, so my hair care has been going so well, and my hair was looking incredible and thickening and growing so long, I had reached waist length and then cut back and my hemline, for me, was thick. My daughter used this product: https://haskbeauty.com/products/hair/monoi/monoi-coconut-oil-nourishing-shine-oil and so I thought I'd try it on my hair ends since it works for her and we have very similar hair. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. I used it twice on the last few inches of my hair and within a few days my hair ends wend from silky, shiny curls to fuzz. I washed it out with sulphate shampoo twice and honestly not sure how much I managed to get out, because now, when I do an avocado hair oiling, which I was doing often before and it would absorb right in over night, now the oil doens't completely absorb - something is blocking it.

I also landed up losing about a 3rd of my hair, after using the sulphate shampoo, my hair started to brush out in heaps. I am feeling so upset because I have worked so hard for years to get to the point I was at and now I feel that I have caused irreparable damage, but I don't know what happened, or what went wrong. My hair is a mystery to me now and I don't know what that product did. I am also not sure if I now need to cut my hair short and start again - I am so confused about what is going on. Can anyone help with this and perhaps have a solution and an explanation?

My apologies, my title was wrong! There is no silicone in this product.

[Lady Stardust]

I’m sorry that you’re having a tough time. This will pass, and in the meantime, hugs :grouphug:

It sounds like your hair really didn’t like that product, but I doubt it would have damaged it. If you can, try not to worry about removing it further, and carry on with your normal hair routine.

Regarding the shedding, it might not be related to the sulphate shampoo. Have you had a reaction to a sulphate shampoo before? If you have, it’s probably best to just stay away from them. I’ve had a burning scalp from using certain sulphate shampoo before, but not hair loss, but I’m sure others will chip in if they’ve had a similar experience.

The shedding could be seasonal (although it sounds like more than that from what you’ve said), or a reaction to having been ill or stressed in the last few months. Covid, for example, can cause hair loss (both during and later). It would be worth going to your doctor for a blood test to see whether vitamin or other deficiencies or imbalances can be ruled out, or rectified.

A shed like that is very distressing :grouphug: I hope things settle quickly. I think that going back to what you know, and what usually works, is best, and in time your hair will feel back to normal again.

ETA: This post on Science-y Hair Blog might reassure you. It lists many ingredients, lots of which are sulphate free, that remove silicones. Your usual shampoo could well be enough.
http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2016/05/detergents-which-remove-silicones.html

[spidermom]

I agree with everything Lady Stardust said. I was going to say much the same, but she covered it.

[lapushka]

I’m sorry that you’re having a tough time. This will pass, and in the meantime, hugs :grouphug:

It sounds like your hair really didn’t like that product, but I doubt it would have damaged it. If you can, try not to worry about removing it further, and carry on with your normal hair routine.

Regarding the shedding, it might not be related to the sulphate shampoo. Have you had a reaction to a sulphate shampoo before? If you have, it’s probably best to just stay away from them. I’ve had a burning scalp from using certain sulphate shampoo before, but not hair loss, but I’m sure others will chip in if they’ve had a similar experience.

The shedding could be seasonal (although it sounds like more than that from what you’ve said), or a reaction to having been ill or stressed in the last few months. Covid, for example, can cause hair loss (both during and later). It would be worth going to your doctor for a blood test to see whether vitamin or other deficiencies or imbalances can be ruled out, or rectified.

A shed like that is very distressing :grouphug: I hope things settle quickly. I think that going back to what you know, and what usually works, is best, and in time your hair will feel back to normal again.

ETA: This post on Science-y Hair Blog might reassure you. It lists many ingredients, lots of which are sulphate free, that remove silicones. Your usual shampoo could well be enough.
http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2016/05/detergents-which-remove-silicones.html

^^This. So much. If you have clarified (including sudsing your ends up) well, there should be no issue.

It may be starting from zero. But an oil cannot damage your hair; something else is up, and it might just be a number of coinciding factors, such as seasonal sheds, all of that.

[SandyBottom]

Oh I'm so sorry you're having a hard time with this! Lady Stardust really did say it well. If it were me, I wouldn't resort to cutting and starting over. Continue with what you know your hair likes and give it time to settle. Best of luck

[Obsidian]

Coconut oil can cause dry frizzy hair for some people. Now that you've washed it out, try a deep conditioning treatment on the ends.

[elfynity]

Hi everyone, thank you kindly for your advice. I stuck to my regular routine, oiled my hair, CO wash as usual and my hair stabilized. The ends still seem frizzier and drier than they were before but they are much better. I don't know what happened, but it must be just change of season because there is nothing else that changed in my hair routine besides the oiling of the ends with that oil.

I'm just going to keep going with my regular routine and see how it goes.

[elfynity]

Hi everyone, I am so disappointed in the state of my hair right now, it was so full and it had really grown in and was thickening all the way down. I shed so much hair a few weeks ago that what I have left actually looks a bit ridiculous at MBL. I am feeling very depressed about the whole situation. I wish I could go back in time and not use the sulphate shampoo because it was directly after that that my hair fell out. I am not sure what I am going to do now, whether I will cut it maybe up to APL, or maintain at this length for another 3 or 4 years until it goes back to how it was. It is so depressing because it took so much effort to get to where I am. Maybe I should give up and long hair is only for people who don't have fine thin hair.

[rosenester]

Awww :grouphug: it might not be as bad you think, I bet your hair is beautiful :flower:

[elfynity]

You are probably right. i am feeling alot more positive today after a good oiling and a very nice result today, so what is left after the shed is looking lovely at least. I am just going to learn to love and appreciate what has been given me and work with that, thank you rosenester.

[rosenester]

So glad your feeling better about it today :flowers: I always pamper myself when I feel down about my hair, like a heavy oil or prewash treatment, or a deep conditioning treatment. Stay away from the scissors for a bit, but maybe look into microtrimming if you still feel your are unhappy down the road. Looking forward to seeing your hair when you feel like sharing!

[Lady Stardust]

I’m glad you’re feeling better today elfynity. My hair isn’t very thick and I often worry, particularly during/after a shed, about whether I can keep the length or grow it longer. However I’m also aware that we are own worst critics and our hair has its own ethereal beauty, which may be more apparent to others than to ourselves.

It sounds like you and your hair are doing well and it’s good to hear :blossom:

[spidermom]

It is common for hair to shed when the season changes, so that could be what happened. My hair usually sheds heavily as summer becomes fall, but it hasn't this year. Yet. Knock on wood.

[elfynity]

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your kind comments. I feel that I did overact and after oiling and just leaving be, I have realised that there is no damaged done to my hair from the oiling, and it is basically all washed out now or whatever because my ends are lovely again - but I did shed, and as you say spidermom this is just not something that can be avoided and I have been lucky not to have shed at all for 2 years. Gosh, hair can be so unpredictable! Why are we so attached to it! LOL!

[SandyBottom]

Oh, good to hear your hair is back to being happy again!

[elfynity]

I am replying to my own thread to hopefully shed light on my experience with my problem and hopefully someone can be saved the trauma in the future!

I hadn't used Sulphates in around 3 years, and then when I shampoo'd with it, my hair was definitely super clean, but even just a little bit of the shampoo perhaps not rinsed out well enough that could have been left on my scalp, would have caused undue hair loss. My hair loss on average is normal, but the sulphate definitely caused a serious amount of hair loss. It is difficult to explain perhaps to those who have fine hair, and some medium strands, I have very fine hair and then SUPER fine hair - like baby hair, or finer, and it was all those very fine hairs that fell out, my brush was full of them. So for anyone wondering in future, a sulphate wash on very fine hair if not rinsed out VERY well, is probably gonna cause those finest hairs to fall out.