Damage Assessment Help!

[MsBubbles]

I thought I was being ultra-careful with my hair but the ends are looking horribly tattered. I have looked all over this site for the old faithfuls (SMT recipe, damage Self-diagnosis, Nightshade's awesome Damage article), but I'm not able to put it all together with my own hair. Here are some details to eliminate guesses and give you some reasons:

My suspicions for my damage, or the appearance thereof:


10 years of shoulder-length highlights and blowdrying which stopped in Sept '07.
I comb my hair when wet after washing (to avoid rat's nest)
I wear it down 1 day, up the next, and so on.
I wrap it in a heavy towel to dry
Last hairdresser visit got me razor cuts and layers:disgust:
Twisting hair and anchoring with Ficcare Maxima
Skating 3-4 x week - hair flapping in breeze (but braided)
Loosely braiding every night?
Things I am doing that I thought would prevent damage:


Loosely braiding every night :D
Using loose, floppy hair ties
Satin Pillowcases
Wearing hair up every other day
Catnip rinses/soaks twice a week
CWC
Oil spritzing (mostly for looks) after each wash
Heavier oiling once a week
No brushing
Less combing than before
Monthly dusting
Maintaining at 25" until all layers are down (got 2" or 4 months to go)
Excellent scissors.
No jewellery, no rubber ear-bits on sunglassesPlease bear in mind I can't stretch my washes any further than every other day due to nasty scalp.

Any suggestions? Help! Yesterday I almost gave up my quest for long hair because of my ugly ends. Oh and my current avatar pic is a LIE!! The flash makes my hair look smooth, thick, shiny and light blonde. It's actually dishwater color with a demarcation line and moth-eaten ends. I'm going to change it to harsh-reality outside pics (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=2225).

[lora410]

Honestly what you are doing doesn't sound damaging. My guess is it is doing this because of your exsisting damage from "07" when you highlighted. My ends still have damage from years ago. I do wear a satin sleep cap and have noticed tons difference. You can always try CWC for an extra condish boost on your ends.

[Katze]

MsBubbles, your problems remind me of mine, and I went off the dye in 2006.

First of all, have you considered the fact that your hair is fine, and fine hair gets damaged more easily as well as shows damage more? That's been a major hurdle for me in "why doesn't my hair look like other peoples' hair?" Even though my last dye was a corrective one, I am still paying the price, almost three years later. The joys of fine hair!

Secondly, do you notice the damage increasing, decreasing, or staying the same? Reading between the lines in your post (and in your blog) I have the feeling that you are just not seeing fast enough progress for your liking. As someone who's had similar issues, I know the feeling all too well.

If the damage is slowly going away (better overall condition, less of your overall hair is "ugly"), then keep doing what you are doing. If the damage isn't changing, you might need to cut more (but it sounds like you are cutting all new growth already). Finally, if the damage is indeed getting worse, you need to do something different, though it seems to me that you are doing everything good you can do (and still avoiding heat and dyes or bleaches, right?)

My hair was porous, poofy, strawlike, and nasty when I first came here. I had never had healthy hair, so I didn't know what was wrong. And I tried literally everything.

The best things, though, have been LOTS of moisture on the ends/length (leave-ins, very light oilings, stretching washes) and, for several months after coming here, I did SMTs with every wash. This helped change the overall condition of my hair dramatically, so that it went from poofy and crispy to softer and sleeker. All this while still wearing my hair down, since its severe taper and layering (STILL!) prevent me from getting smooth professional looking updos.

Ultimately you need to judge your hair's condition against itself. Is it better off than it was? Then you are doing everything you can. It doesn't make sense to compare your hair to that of other people here; it's unfair to you and to your hair. If I start comparing myself to all the other people here, blessed with better hair genes, who were also smart enough not to bleach their hair for over 15 years, I make myself go away from LHC for a while.

When I look at your pics I really don't see all the terrible damage you're talking about. Compared to my pics, they show hair that is at least smooth and healthy LOOKING. Remember you are your own worst judge, so try to look at the thing as objectively as possible.

It sounds as if your hair is damaged and you are doing everything right and are simply frustrated with it and thus being unrealistic about how quickly it "should" become perfect. Take a step back and try to be nice to yourself as well as to your hair. :flower:

[MsBubbles]

Secondly, do you notice the damage increasing, decreasing, or staying the same?. :flower:

To me yesterday it looked like my hemline just upped and died on me :p. Maybe I should try more moisture and SMTs or something. It actually looked like it got worse.

I considered doing the 'forget about it' thing but was so defeatist about it I decided I'd let it all down in 5 months' time and it'd still look like hell.

I think you are right about the highlights (both of you). It's like the highlighted parts can only make it to BSL before they totally crap out on me.

No I am not doing any more highlighting, and yesterday I thought I might as well go back to shoulder-length highlighted hair - at least I'd look a bit younger and brighter.

[Katze]

To me yesterday it looked like my hemline just upped and died on me :p. Maybe I should try more moisture and SMTs or something. It actually looked like it got worse.

I considered doing the 'forget about it' thing but was so defeatist about it I decided I'd let it all down in 5 months' time and it'd still look like hell.

I think you are right about the highlights (both of you). It's like the highlighted parts can only make it to BSL before they totally crap out on me.

No I am not doing any more highlighting, and yesterday I thought I might as well go back to shoulder-length highlighted hair - at least I'd look a bit younger and brighter.

My hair only made it to APL when bleached, but I was also going to salons for help and having them "cut off all these old ends" everytime.

I really think that most fine hair can't take bleach or dye. Henna and other natural dyes are different, of course.

Just keep doing what you are doing and it WILL get better. You should see how many similar posts I made at the beginning...having always been told my hair "would never get long", I believed it!

Your hair really does not look bad. At all. :flower:

[MsBubbles]

Thanks so much for the encouragement and help, Katze and Lora410.

[spidermom]

It looks like you are doing the right things. If you need to comb while wet to avoid tangles drying into knots (I do), try doing it while your hair is full of conditioner, before you rinse. You could also massage a bean-size amount of conditioner into your hair (from about ear-level down) as a leave-in. Then be very careful not to get it tangled up again. I use a soft flannel pillowcase instead of a comparatively rough towel - drop my length into the pillowcase behind my neck, twist the excess material up at the top of my head, and beak-clip it to stay.

Growing out your hair requires the development of patience, especially when you start with a lot of damage. It's totally worth it, though. Patience will serve you well in many areas of life, not just this one.

[jivete]

Although our hair types are slightly different, I am at the same exact place as you, length, layers and all. I sympathize because I know there are times my layers and bad ends drive me nuts. I'm sure it's all dye damage (and the razor cut probably doesn't help either). I quit dying exactly one year ago and I'm amazed by how much healthier the new growth is.

Your hair doesn't look as bad at all. I know I hate my layers because I think they make my hair look more damaged, but honestly yours doesn't look bad, even in the "harsh outside pictures."

[MsBubbles]

It looks like you are doing the right things. If you need to comb while wet to avoid tangles drying into knots (I do), try doing it while your hair is full of conditioner, before you rinse. You could also massage a bean-size amount of conditioner into your hair (from about ear-level down) as a leave-in. Then be very careful not to get it tangled up again. I use a soft flannel pillowcase instead of a comparatively rough towel - drop my length into the pillowcase behind my neck, twist the excess material up at the top of my head, and beak-clip it to stay.

Growing out your hair requires the development of patience, especially when you start with a lot of damage. It's totally worth it, though. Patience will serve you well in many areas of life, not just this one.

Thank you so much for the ideas. I will try combing with conditioner first. I was wondering about my towel. Good idea about the pillow case! Patience: well yesterday I thought I was kidding myself about ever having decent-looking hair at waist length even. If I can believe that's possible I'll find the patience :).



Your hair doesn't look as bad at all. I know I hate my layers because I think they make my hair look more damaged, but honestly yours doesn't look bad, even in the "harsh outside pictures."

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jivete!