Do you have damaged hair

[plainjanegirl]

and if so do you use cones or no cones? have you gone back and forth between the two? Did you notice your hair was worse with one than the other? I know that it is said that cones will mask damaged hair and make it appear healthier....have you found this to be true?

I do have old damaged hair and do not want it to look trashed and not healthy. But at the same time I've heard that cones can lock moisture out and would like to have my hair be truly moisturized. Any feedback?

[Eryka]

It took time for my hair to adjust going back and forth between cones, several washes. Personally, I prefer no cones and a cold water wash. Heat is murder for my hair.

[SheWolf]

I have used cones unknowingly (I just didn't know any better) for 4 years. And I have religiously blowdried my wavy hair straight.
And... I have split ends, and my hair is now parched.
Not to mention I was washing every single day.

I am currently on a no cones, very little protein (if any), I shampoo every other day, alternating with CO washing.
So far, so good, I still must get the split ends snipped (Wednesday is the day) I then I'll keep my current regimen.

I plan to keep up with permanent hair color touchups, and I won't freak if my hair stylist uses cones on me, I'll just make sure I won't.

[spidermom]

I don't have a lot of damage left, but some. This is what I do - shampoo, give my hair a moisture treatment or coconut oil, then use cones to lock that moisture in. Works great!

[eadwine]

For those who used cones for a long time: trust me, you are not going to die. I am still alive after some 35 years with cones ;)


It takes a little while to adjust.. but one bit of advice: don't think of no cones as law. It isn't. You don't have to go no-cones just because it is popular here. Use what works best for your hair.

[Copasetic]

I have some damage, but not much. Just a few split ends. I have been cone free for a few months, and have noticed a huge improvment in how my hair looks and feels, but I know its not entirely becuase I went cone free. I also stopped heat styling and started washing less often.

[CrystalStar]

Oooo...I have about 22 inches of bleached hair to grow out, I foresee alot of damage :p

[Margeaux]

Dyeing and straightening up until last summer have made my ends brittle and damaged - I'm lucky to have thick hair so it doesn't really show unless you look closely. That's where the split-split-splits start showing.

Ever since I've been more careful with my hair I've been trying to minimise the use of cones, though I haven't cut them out. Shampoo is non-cones, conditioner is non-cones, deep conditioner is homemade and no cones...but the anti-frizz serum I put into my hair after that has cones, and I don't feel it has been detrimental at all; if anything, it makes my hair silkier and shinier. My hair already looks healthier and better than it did this time last year. I'm keeping this up!

[enfys]

I have a chunk each side of damage where I put purple stripes in two years ago, and kept touching up for another year or so. Now I have all my split ends in a very localised place. Stupid girl.

The conditioner I have has cones in, but I don't use it often since I started using catnip. When I run out of this I will look again for a cone-free one as back-up.

[Rohele]

I've got fairly damaged hair I'm dealing with right now (most of it is dyed and had been subject to daily heat styling). The top 3" or so are virgin regrowth.

Anyway, I've been cone free for about 3 months now. The decision had more to do with wanting to try out the "curly girl" method than anithing else.

Overall, my hair likes the no cone routine. Its softer and more manageable than its ever been (but then again, I've changed other things - as in no more heat and chemicals).

I have noticed however, while my hair feels fabulous, if I look at the ends I notice more breakage/splits than before going no-cone. The last two inches are very very badly damaged, and I know they will have to come off at some time.

Anyway, at the moment, I appreciate how my hair feels with the non-cone/CG routine and I am sticking to if for now, despite the apparent increase in damage to the ends. I do think the cones were masking it - everything I had been using had cones in it (shampoo, condish, styling products, serum - you get the picture).

[Michele]

I'm this close to going back to cones.. My hair is fairly damaged due to heat and brushing and what not. I've been trying no cones for about a month now and it seems like my split ends are worse than ever.. Cones are known for hiding damage, I know, but I think these splits are new and not old.. I do S&D religiously :D, but it's rather frustrating to see how much i've got to snip off every time.

[manderly]

I have damage, and I've jumped between cone & no-cone while here at LHC.

I've discovered that cones give me instant gratification of silky, smooth, shiny hair, but they never look or feel as good the second and third day, and my ends even dry out. The honeymoon also doesn't last, my enjoyment of cones seems to end after about a week or two, no matter how I clarify and moisturize. :shrug:

My hair isn't quite as shiny and silky when no-cone, but it's still soft and pretty. My hair lasts longer without feeling dry and tangly, and the good hair continues indefinitely.

So basically I'm a no-coner, but I do treat myself to cones every once and a while for a short time :)

P.S. My waves loosen far more than my liking on cones! Bah!

[vindo]

and if so do you use cones or no cones? have you gone back and forth between the two? Did you notice your hair was worse with one than the other? I know that it is said that cones will mask damaged hair and make it appear healthier....have you found this to be true?

I do have old damaged hair and do not want it to look trashed and not healthy. But at the same time I've heard that cones can lock moisture out and would like to have my hair be truly moisturized. Any feedback?

My hair is not damaged and I never really got into using cones long enough :shrug:
Here is why - I used to wash SO until hiplength and only for a brief year I used cones until I switched to natural products.
My hair did look shinier with them at first and when I laid them off it was less shiney. But i kept moisturizing and after 1 year they regained their shine and are no shinier than ever, even shinier than with cones.

[girlcat36]

I unwittingly used cones since the eighties. Invariably every time I visited a salon(infrequently), the stylist would say, "Your hair is soooo damaged!".
This confused me. I did not color, heat style, brush or do anything damaging to my hair. HOW could it be damaged???
Now, thanks to the internet, I know that cones are totally damaging to my hair. I have about 7" of cone damage still left in my hair.
I would definately say that cones kept my hair from receiving moisture(who knew?!).
Even though I now color my hair, it is in better shape than it was through the eighties and nineties when I unknowingly used cones.

[Lamb]

For me, the trick is in choosing my cones wisely. Amodimethicone doesn't seem to hurt my hair, dimethicone and cyclopentosiloxane (sp?) do. I figured this out by comparing ingredients in conditioners I used for over a month and liked/did not like.

[Anlbe]

I have damaged hair and yes, I use cones.
I use a moisture treatment before I wash, SMT, phytonectar or distilled coconut oil then wash with a shampoo for ultradry hair and then a conditioner treatment which has some cones in it. Most of the conditioners I've used didn't have cones but the one that works best for me has a small amount (phenyl trimethicone,) and protein as well alongside alot of oils. I imagine if I washed my hair regularly this routine could be quite damaging but as I only wash every 7-10 days it works great.

Related new question about cones locking water out; as we tend to put them on our hair when it's wet surely that would result in locking moisture in rather than out?

[Tangles]

Yes, my hair is somewhat damaged for reasons yet unknown. Jury's still out on cones. I stopped using them altogether for months, only to find a crop of new splits, bent ends and white dots. I'm currently looking for a way to use cones to lock moisture IN to my hair.

ETA: Girlcat, your new profile pic, goodness, SO THICK!

[girlcat36]

Yes, my hair is somewhat damaged for reasons yet unknown. Jury's still out on cones. I stopped using them altogether for months, only to find a crop of new splits, bent ends and white dots. I'm currently looking for a way to use cones to lock moisture IN to my hair.

ETA: Girlcat, your new profile pic, goodness, SO THICK!

Thanks, Tangles! Actually, it's still quite thin---the dark shirt makes it look thicker!

[catfish]

Yes my hair is damaged, from old perms, dyes, ect... All but two or four inches is virgin hair, but my hair is fine and breaks, tangles very easily. My hair is more tangly with cones but it is much straighter and looks nicer, however, without cones my hair is more wavy and feels nicer.:rolleyes: My hair may look less damaged and frizzy when using cones but I would rather have soft frizzy hair:o Everyone is different. To keep my hair looking healthy I do a lot of moisture treatments, use gentle products and trim.

[zombi]

My hair is INCREDIBLY damaged from too much dye and stripping and yet more chemical dye... but I have to say, I can use cones for an amount of time before my hair start to seem lank and limp and uninterested, and then I can't use for a time, and then I can -- it's a cycle. My hair likes them in doses, I think, is how it works.

The idea of doing an oil treatment and then using cones to lock in the moisture sounds good to me. I might try that.

[JamieLeigh]

I did find it to be true that cones were worse for my hair. You will get differing accounts from different people and hairtypes, lol. Some people can't live with cones, and some people don't really notice much of a difference. I definitely did, to the point where when I stopped using cones my hair was immediately drier. I've been CO with Suave for 4 months now, and my hair is soft and shiny. :)

There will always be a Great Cone Debate, as nothing is guaranteed to work for everyone.