Tiny bits of breakage

[AveSantaMaria]

My hair seems to do beautifully if I leave it in a protected style 24/7, growth everything. :) However, today I was moisturizing it, and I noticed that almost every time that I touched my hair I would have tiny bits of breakage. :poot: I read an article that said that if your hair crumbles/breaks easily, you need more moisture. But I don't feel that moisturizing my hair is getting rid of he tiny bits of breakage problem. A protective style may grow my hair because of the no-manipulation but it seems that this may just be hiding the problem - hair shouldn't break every time you run your hands through it or comb it. :( I have used these different moisturizers: B&B Oil Moisturizer Hair Lotion with Castor Oil and Aloe - great for detangling and the first five ingredients are: purified water, canola oil, sorbitan sesquioleate, castor oil, and Polyquaternium 32. I have used Matrix Biolage Hydra Seal Leave-In Creme - great for making hair soft - first five: aqua/water, propylene gycol, dimethicone, pvy, glycerin. I have used Keracare Humecto - great for softening hair as well - Water, Glycerin, Dimethicone Copolyol Isotearate, Polyquaternium -32 and Mineral Oil, Cantu Shea Butter - softens hair as well - Water, Shea Butter, Gylcine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Prophylene Gycol, Polyquarternium-37 and Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula - great for weighing hair down - Mineral Oil, Microcrystalline Wax, Petrolatum, Coconut Oil, Lanolin and Castor Oil - great for weighing hair down and The Roots: Braid Sheen & Conditioner - Glycerin, Shea Butter, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Tea Tree Oil, Rosemary Oil - in different degrees and combinations :cheese:

Could my problem be caused by the fact that I went a long time without regularly moisturizing my hair and so I more time for my hair to accept the to daily moisture, or do I need more protein in my hair - something like Nexxus Emergencee, or do too many products cause lack of elasticity? I don't remember having this problem before! I am also worried about my longer hair because I feel that if I keep it out of protective styling and just wear it down all the time it will all break off if tiny bits of breakage happen like the way that they are happening now. :(

Thank you so so very much for your advice and consideration in this thread as well as others. :p

[AveSantaMaria]

Note: I also read about the SMT on this board and haven't tried it yet. But I wonder, what is so special about the aloe vera that differentiates this treatment from regular moisturiziation? And wouldn't a treatment that you wash out provide less moisture than a leave-in? :poot:

[rhubarbarin]

I'm not sure. All I know is, I have the same problem. My hair is pretty moisturized - in fact it's hard to keep it from looking greasy and stringy, especially the ends. But my ends still break off in tiny pieces, almost constantly. I do have very very damaged hair. If you don't have a history of dying, relaxing, perming, or heat-treating you hair - you should not be having this problem since you are treating it very gently.

I have come to the conclusion that cones are very bad for my hair - I'm pretty convinced that years of build-up are a large part of what causes so much breakage for me. I also only use all-natural products.
I see you are using some products with dimethicone, and also hydrogenated oils like canola and soybean, and mineral oils/petroleum. These ingredients coat the hair shaft and make it appear moisturized and shiny, and will weigh it down for a time, but they actually have a drying effect.

Things like coconut oil and shea butter actually penetrate the hair shaft and moisturize more effectively.

I see you are new to LHC. Welcome! I would do a lot of reading over the next few days, there's a wealth of information here about the causes of damage, and lots of different products to try.

[Linda K]

Advance apologies for the length of this post -

I agree with Rhubarbarin regarding the oils - especially anything petroleum based. I understand Mineral Oil to be a pore clogging oil so it can't be doing anything good for your hair.

Organic Coconut Oil & Ojon did wonders when mine was straw like from all the damaging stuff I did the past 4 yrs. I would think you could take your choice of: Sweet Almond, Avocado, Jojoba.

B/4 this list of products, I never got past shoulder length (in 40 years): Ojon Rejuvenating Condish; Ojon Ultra Hydrating 'poo and condish (yes spendy but little travel bottles diluted well and last a long time), Nexxus Humectress - safe to leave some in, Nexxus Therapy 'poo, Nexxus Keraphix Protein Reconstructor; Joico's K??Pac (rass-a-frass where's that tube?); Infusium 23 leave in - dilute in spray bottle 50-75% water. I did pick up a bottle of Africa's Best Herbal Penetrating Oil (for head to Toe) in the ethnic section of WalMart (not all stores have it). It's loaded with lots of good oils. I just didn't like the smell and it was harder to do a light touch since it's a 'thin' oil. The coconut I use on my body so there's a light 'film' left on my hands to swipe down my hair. Oh, I just picked up Avalon Organics Biotin B-Complex Thickening Condish - it also has protein for strength. I haven't used it yet to comment, but it is all natural.

I just think staying planets away from mineral oil / petroleum products will make a HUGE difference. Yes, some products are spendy up front - but I've found them to last a LONG time - I dilute many of them with distilled water and feel they still work just as well. Check Ebay - HTH!

[Rohele]

I've used protein treatments when my hair has done this with some success. My hair is coloured and damaged from heat styling though - I'm not sure yours is?

I noticed your hairtype (4b), however, and its worlds away from my own, and from I understand, can have its own unique set of issues.

If you search, there is a thread here for members that have type 4 hair, and also a curly and wurly thread that might give you some ideas. I've looked at the naturally curly website too, and i noticed there are a lot of members who are 4s - it might be another place to get some good info, although the focus there is on curly hair not necessarily long hair.

Anyway welcome to LHC.:) I'm new too, and as rhubarbarin pointed out there is tons of information on this site. I've been lurking a little over two months now (just started posting recently), and I'm still finding stuff to read through!

[Linda K]

HEY! I just stumbled on this link from the archives -
It's a GREAT explanation of the difference between Protein & Moisture needs. I think it might just give you the info you need!

It's geared toward African American hair -
http://blackbeautyblackhair86911.yuku.com/forum/viewtopic/id/511

There are also product listings too! :cheese:

[carloota]

:waving: Hello. Welcome to the forums. You'll find a wealth of information here. I just noticed your hair type. I found a thread that may assist you. Happy growing. :)

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=1881&highlight=kinky

[AveSantaMaria]

I'm not sure. All I know is, I have the same problem. My hair is pretty moisturized - in fact it's hard to keep it from looking greasy and stringy, especially the ends. But my ends still break off in tiny pieces, almost constantly. I do have very very damaged hair. If you don't have a history of dying, relaxing, perming, or heat-treating you hair - you should not be having this problem since you are treating it very gently.

I have come to the conclusion that cones are very bad for my hair - I'm pretty convinced that years of build-up are a large part of what causes so much breakage for me. I also only use all-natural products.
I see you are using some products with dimethicone, and also hydrogenated oils like canola and soybean, and mineral oils/petroleum. These ingredients coat the hair shaft and make it appear moisturized and shiny, and will weigh it down for a time, but they actually have a drying effect.

Things like coconut oil and shea butter actually penetrate the hair shaft and moisturize more effectively.

I see you are new to LHC. Welcome! I would do a lot of reading over the next few days, there's a wealth of information here about the causes of damage, and lots of different products to try.

Thank you for the welcome and the suggestions. :) I shouldn't have damaged hair. I used a chemical treatment a few years ago and had such surpisingly bad experiences with my hair that I cut it all off and started afresh. Here is an update: My hair seemed dry with breakage so I did a hardcore protein treatment - Aphogee Two Step - and loaded it up with conditioners, the ones above mentioned, and yet it didn't seem to help. It seemed to become more moisturized but also weaker, and break more - the tiny bits of breakage started happening and I'm not sure if they happened before. I didn't notice it. Also, the heavy application of conditioners started to make my hair look dirty and feel like it has curds in it that stuck to my hair. :( Finally, yesterday I washed it all out and wrapped my hair with a scarf to dry. I didn't add anything to it - no protein, no shampoo, no conditioner, no oil. Amazingly, it is now clean looking and feeling, very well moisturized, and the tiny bits of breakage problem may have been lessened. :p

It seems that I may have learned something - moisture has to be trapped in the hair I think. So it is not enough for the hair to be loaded with conditioners. I don't know why - but somehow loading my hair with conditioners did not trap moisture in the hair well enough or the conditioners simply needed to interact with intense water to do their job right. ??? Anyways, I still think my hair feels kind of mushy now even if it is not immediately breaking so I just bought another protein treatment Nexxus Emergencee (basically reading and learning from the Linda K link) and will use that today.

I also read ahhh! the evil SMT curds because I am a little afraid of using honey on my hair due to the fact that I think it would be sticky and that a wash-out conditioner can't be as deeply moisturizing as a leave-in. It seems that protein may in fact cause curds so it may be that my protein experiments are both the problem and solution here. :poot:

[AveSantaMaria]

[quote=rhubarbarin;425575]
I have come to the conclusion that cones are very bad for my hair - I'm pretty convinced that years of build-up are a large part of what causes so much breakage for me. I also only use all-natural products.
I see you are using some products with dimethicone, and also hydrogenated oils like canola and soybean, and mineral oils/petroleum. These ingredients coat the hair shaft and make it appear moisturized and shiny, and will weigh it down for a time, but they actually have a drying effect.

Things like coconut oil and shea butter actually penetrate the hair shaft and moisturize more effectively.
[quote] Thank you for the opinion. I have really liked cones in the past because I haven't liked poofiness very much in the past and products with cones often seem to better weigh my hair down. But I didn't know that perhaps they actually have a drying effect while making it appear moisturized and shiny. :poot: Do you have any idea why that might be?

Thank you for your time and thought in reading my post and advising me! :)

[AveSantaMaria]

I've used protein treatments when my hair has done this with some success. My hair is coloured and damaged from heat styling though - I'm not sure yours is?
Thanks! I will try Nexxus Emergencee. I don't think my hair is damaged but this sort of stuff worked when I used to use chemical treatments so maybe I need to go back to it even now that I don't. :poot:


I noticed your hairtype (4b), however, and its worlds away from my own, and from I understand, can have its own unique set of issues.

If you search, there is a thread here for members that have type 4 hair, and also a curly and wurly thread that might give you some ideas. I've looked at the naturally curly website too, and i noticed there are a lot of members who are 4s - it might be another place to get some good info, although the focus there is on curly hair not necessarily long hair.

Anyway welcome to LHC.:) I'm new too, and as rhubarbarin pointed out there is tons of information on this site. I've been lurking a little over two months now (just started posting recently), and I'm still finding stuff to read through!

Thanks for the welcome! :) I should certainly search and read up on it and will do so as soon as possible.

[AveSantaMaria]

Advance apologies for the length of this post -
No apologies necessary. I appreciate the thought that goes into a longer post. :D


I agree with Rhubarbarin regarding the oils - especially anything petroleum based. I understand Mineral Oil to be a pore clogging oil so it can't be doing anything good for your hair. Thank you for the advice. Maybe you might be able to help me understand what it means to be pore clogging.


Organic Coconut Oil & Ojon did wonders when mine was straw like from all the damaging stuff I did the past 4 yrs. I would think you could take your choice of: Sweet Almond, Avocado, Jojoba.

B/4 this list of products, I never got past shoulder length (in 40 years): Ojon Rejuvenating Condish; Ojon Ultra Hydrating 'poo and condish (yes spendy but little travel bottles diluted well and last a long time), Nexxus Humectress - safe to leave some in, Nexxus Therapy 'poo, Nexxus Keraphix Protein Reconstructor; Joico's K??Pac (rass-a-frass where's that tube?); Infusium 23 leave in - dilute in spray bottle 50-75% water. I did pick up a bottle of Africa's Best Herbal Penetrating Oil (for head to Toe) in the ethnic section of WalMart (not all stores have it). It's loaded with lots of good oils. I just didn't like the smell and it was harder to do a light touch since it's a 'thin' oil. The coconut I use on my body so there's a light 'film' left on my hands to swipe down my hair. Oh, I just picked up Avalon Organics Biotin B-Complex Thickening Condish - it also has protein for strength. I haven't used it yet to comment, but it is all natural.

I just think staying planets away from mineral oil / petroleum products will make a HUGE difference. Yes, some products are spendy up front - but I've found them to last a LONG time - I dilute many of them with distilled water and feel they still work just as well. Check Ebay - HTH!

I would LOVE to try Ojon but it seems so expensive. I heard that it is the same thing as red palm oil, which might be much cheaper. Do you know if that is true? :rolleyes: Maybe someone here knows what a thin oil is that could help me to understand. :poot:

Thanks again for the kindness and consideration in reading and replying. :)

[AveSantaMaria]

:waving: Hello. Welcome to the forums. You'll find a wealth of information here. I just noticed your hair type. I found a thread that may assist you. Happy growing. :)

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=1881&highlight=kinky

Thank you for the welcome and thank you for the thread. I will read it as soon as I have the time, patience, and ability. :)

[lora410]

My hair is soft as silk and it STILL BREAKS and SPLITS. I don't know if there is a cure for this. I honestly think some peopleshair is just more fragile then others.

[lora410]

Advance apologies for the length of this post -

I agree with Rhubarbarin regarding the oils - especially anything petroleum based. I understand Mineral Oil to be a pore clogging oil so it can't be doing anything good for your hair.

Organic Coconut Oil & Ojon did wonders when mine was straw like from all the damaging stuff I did the past 4 yrs. I would think you could take your choice of: Sweet Almond, Avocado, Jojoba.

B/4 this list of products, I never got past shoulder length (in 40 years): Ojon Rejuvenating Condish; Ojon Ultra Hydrating 'poo and condish (yes spendy but little travel bottles diluted well and last a long time), Nexxus Humectress - safe to leave some in, Nexxus Therapy 'poo, Nexxus Keraphix Protein Reconstructor; Joico's K??Pac (rass-a-frass where's that tube?); Infusium 23 leave in - dilute in spray bottle 50-75% water. I did pick up a bottle of Africa's Best Herbal Penetrating Oil (for head to Toe) in the ethnic section of WalMart (not all stores have it). It's loaded with lots of good oils. I just didn't like the smell and it was harder to do a light touch since it's a 'thin' oil. The coconut I use on my body so there's a light 'film' left on my hands to swipe down my hair. Oh, I just picked up Avalon Organics Biotin B-Complex Thickening Condish - it also has protein for strength. I haven't used it yet to comment, but it is all natural.

I just think staying planets away from mineral oil / petroleum products will make a HUGE difference. Yes, some products are spendy up front - but I've found them to last a LONG time - I dilute many of them with distilled water and feel they still work just as well. Check Ebay - HTH!


I love Avalon biotin b-complex thickening shampoo and condish. I hope you enjoy them as well :)

[Isilme]

just be aware that too much protein can cause breakage. I had dry straw like hair before I discovered that my hair hated protein.