What kind of treatments, etc. would you do?

[nytquill]

Sorry for posting another question again so soon. Also sorry I don't have any hair pics to show you!

Basically I have just switched to a sulfate-free shampoo after years and years of using Pantene and realizing it was giving me a bad reaction. Don't ask me how I never noticed until now, I couldn't tell you! :rolleyes:

Anyways I'm noticing that my ends in particular are really dry and crunchy, kind of rough feeling and I think brittle. My hair is virgin, no dyes perms etc., I've always used conditioner and I'm not a big fan of blowdryers, but I just see a lot of wear and tear type damage since I haven't really been careful with it at all. No sunscreens, no updos (in an extremely windy climate - so glad to have moved away from there now!), no trims, etc.

I've been doing a LOT of S&Ding and finding bajillions of splits and 90-degree bends and white dots all the time. I am not lying, I have found a hair that had SEVEN different splits going up the length (yes, I counted!)My husband sees me with my S&D scissors and tells me I'm becoming obsessed! :p

I have read somewhere that Pantene can coat the hair and actually keep moisture from getting to it, so it's dry even though it looks shiny from the coating, and when you take that coating off you see how bad off your hair really is underneath. Any truth to that, you think?

Currently I am leaving my conditioner in for a good 5 min or more in the shower (while I finish up whatever I have to do) and doing a cool or cold rinse, then oiling my hair every day. I wrap my hair in a towel turban, re-wrap it a few minutes later and then once I'm dressed let it air dry (unless I have to go out in which case I'll use a cool blowdryer). I've started dampening and oiling the ends every night after supper too.

I've started being more careful about how I brush my hair but although I've picked up a BBB unfortunately I still use a plastic detangling comb and regular brush - I am planning an excursion to the Body Shop soon to pick up some more hair-friendly tools though.

So I'm just wondering given all that info what your advice is for my crunchy ends. Like should I just call it a loss and cut them off (I'm guessing a good 3 inches or so on the ends that feels really crunchy)? Carry on with the S&Ds? More intense or more frequent moisture, or some other treatment/technique I have yet to learn about?

Thanks so much you guys for all your advice so far, by the way! :)

[ravenreed]

I hate crunchy ends and trim mine aggressively. I find that when I let my hair get like that, I get more tangles and end up with more splits. Before you do that though, have you done a clarifying shampoo? You can manage that by adding a bit of baking soda to your shampoo. It will take off any build up that might be adding to the crunchy feeling. I used a shampoo bar and mixed a teaspoon of baking soda into a big cup of water and poured that on top of the shampoo. It actually helped once and I didn't have to trim.

I was using a mixture of Sally's version Biolage Matrix mixed with a bit of castor and coconut oil and then watered down, just for my ends and that worked pretty well, but I live in a dry climate and my ends need water as much as they do oils. (However, I henna'd and now my hair isn't responding the same way-) It might take you a while to figure out what oils work for you. I tried a bunch. Some were okay, some were terrible.

[nytquill]

The first day of using my new shampoo, I did a baking soda "scrub" (that makes it sound a lot harsher than it really was, more of a gentle wash/massage) because part of the bad reaction I was having included a lot of funky scalp buildup and crusting (sorry if that's a bit gross!) and I figured I probably also had some product buildup considering I've never clarified before!

But that's been two, three weeks ago now. Do you think by the sound of it, it might be worth another go with the baking soda? I mean I know everyone's hair is different but I just have so little experience judging what my hair needs at this point that I highly value some second opinions!

I have definitely noticed less tendency to tangle in the length since I started my new routine which I'm very pleased with, but the ends are just really really funky. Touching the end of my pony feels like petting a snake the wrong way or something! :lol:

[teela1978]

Have you checked out the newbie advice?
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39

There is also a list of very important threads (VIT's) in a stickied thread at the top of the mane forum, it might be a good idea to go through some of those and see if there is any help :)
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=7804

[amoulixes]

I think that I've read certain oils can give you crunchy ends, but no one specific; just whatever your hair "dislikes." Perhaps you should try a different oil?

[nytquill]

Teela: thanks! I had skimmed them earlier but I will go back and re-read in more detail.

Amoulixes: Hmm yes that's a good thought. I've been sitting on my hands forcing myself not to go out and try everything at once! I have used coconut oil for a week or so but I don't think I liked it very much to be honest; I don't feel my hair rejected it but it just didn't seem to do anything, almost like it didn't "sink in" well enough. I've been using jojoba more recently and I like it better but I should keep going and try some others, see what kinds of results I get.

And what about leave-in conditioners? Or does the oil kind of take the place of that?

[Carolyn]

I have read somewhere that Pantene can coat the hair and actually keep moisture from getting to it, so it's dry even though it looks shiny from the coating, and when you take that coating off you see how bad off your hair really is underneath. Any truth to that, you think?
Absolutely! It sounds like that's what you are experiencing now. Keep up with the S & D. Check out SMT (Snowy's Moisture Treament). You might like that. It's all a slow process. Bad ends and splits don't heal but you can baby them along until you get more length.

[pepperminttea]

I have read somewhere that Pantene can coat the hair and actually keep moisture from getting to it, so it's dry even though it looks shiny from the coating, and when you take that coating off you see how bad off your hair really is underneath. Any truth to that, you think?

Most definitely. I had exactly the same thing; I'd been using it for years, then switched to something sulphate and cone-free, and voila, my real hair appeared. I thought at first it was the effect of the shampoo, so I switched to another one (free of the same things) and had the same problem. I bit the bullet eventually, babied my ends with oils and updos until they had grown out enough to trim off. (I did have other damage at that point too though; dyed, permed... never again! Virgin hair is just so much less maintenance.) Fingers crossed all you need is S&Ding and and lots of heavy moisture treatments. :)

[Sissy]

Hi and welcome to LHC :)

Your hair sounds a lot like mine... frequent splits/damage. I also wear my hair down most of the time.

Things I would recommend (don't think you have to run out and get all these things right away LOL but perhaps put one or two on your Christmas list):

1) seamless comb (Hairsense on Ebay sells some very nice ones)

2) heat cap (I have a mastex one off amazon). I have noticed good improvements in my hair since using a heat cap for Deep Conditioning treatments

3) Decent pair of hair shears (not sure if you already have some). The shears you cut your hair with should be quality sharp shears that are used for nothing but cutting hair. Cutting hair with dull shears will result in reoccurring damage.

4) if you brush your hair consider a wooden brush or a Denman Brush... try to avoid plastic brushes with little knobs on the end of the pins as they can rip hair causing damage and splits

5) If you wear your hair down at night like I do then a satin sleep cap or pillowcase is good. I switched to a satin pillowcase a while back and this is supposed to be gentler on the hair. I can't force myself to wear my hair up or put a cap on my head... I need to feel free!

It sounds like you're already using some decent products. I would say if the ends are visibly damaged and split S&D them off... there is no way to repair damaged ends so may as well lose them. If the hair is just dry looking but not damaged you need moisture. You should start doing a deep conditioning treatment a few times a week. Wet your hair with warm water in shower and slather on a good moisturizing conditioner or intensive treatment. Put a plastic shower cap on your head and then sit under a heat cap. If you can't get a heat cap maybe try heating a towel in the dryer and putting it around your head. Keep the conditioner on for an hour at least then rinse it out.

Limit shampooing to only when you need to clarify as shampoos can be drying, even many of the SLS free ones can be a bit drying because of the other cleansing ingredients they contain.

Regarding if Pantene may have done some damage to your hair I'm not sure... it kinda seems like it could but I'm up in the air about cones. I've chosen to use cones mainly in my leave-in products because that way the moisture has already been put into my hair from conditioning and then I am just sealing it in and protecting my hair with the cones (that's how I feel about it at least). I don't think cones are necessarily evil but I do think they can be overused like anything else (people can even overdo the good stuff moisture or protein in their hair).

If you've been going without shampoo for a while your hair might just need a good clarifying. Also, hair like your describing can be caused from lack of moisture but could also be caused from lack of protein or overuse of protein. Do you use protein conditioners or treatments? If not try one out and see the results... hair with too little protein can become weak. However, hair with too much protein can become brittle. I know it's confusing and I still struggle with trying to find exactly what my hair needs but I know my hair has def. improved since trying these things.

Some good protein treatments are:
Hask Henna N placenta, Lustrasilk Mango Cholesterol Treatment, and Joico Reconstructor (Sally's carries a GVP generic of this which is very nice and less expensive than Joico).

Some good moisture treatments are:
SMT (you can find the recipe here)
Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner
Paul Mitchell Super-Charged Moisturizer
GVP Boilage Conditioning Balm Generic
Yes to Carrots Pampering Mud Conditioner
JASON Aloe Vera 84% conditioner
* basically any conditioner that's moisture rich can be used

Yesterday, I tried for the first time mixing cocoa butter, shea butter, conditioner, and sweet almond oil and apply it heavily to my hair bunning it and leaving it in all day. I had to do a conditioning deep treatment before washing it out as it was on so thick it wasn't gonna come out but after it was out my hair was very soft and my dryish ends had improved.

One other thing people have had good results with here is catnip tea rinses (make a tea out of catnip from the petstore and apply it to hair). I have tried them a few time and had good results but I haven't tried it long-term enough to see a good reduction in splits. The reason I can't stick with it is I can't stand to walk around for 20 minutes with a bag on my head dripping catnip tea LOL. However, I do want to continue to try it when I get more time. Some LHC users have said they can hardly find a split end after establishing a routine of catnip rinses.

I know this is a lot of information but I am hopeful that it will help you in someway!

Sissy

[nytquill]

Wow, thanks so much for the great advice and encouragement!

Tomorrow is wash day so tonight I slathered the ends in shea butter and have it up in a bun for that to soak in a bit as a more intensive moisturizing (on a side note, tonight is also the night I finally learned how to make a decent cinna-bun that's actually staying put!) We'll see what that does for me tomorrow after it's washed and had time to dry!

I'm going shopping tomorrow and I think I'll keep my eyes open for a protein treatment since I haven't tried one of those yet, just to see how my hair reacts to it as a kind of baseline.

And I'm going to start doing more updos while I'm out, especially since it's winter and I'm wearing jackets and hats all the time. But the more I look at it the more I'm thinking I'm just going to have to baby it until the wonky ends grow out.

One thing I've noticed in addition to the splits/dots/breaks is that it's kind of...crimpy or kinked looking on a lot of the ends, except my ends never get put into any styles that would put them into that kind of shape. It almost looks like a botched job with a curling ribbon when wrapping presents, and the ends that look like this are definitely finer than the others. Is that a symptom of any particular hair need/hair problem?

[Sissy]

One thing I've noticed in addition to the splits/dots/breaks is that it's kind of...crimpy or kinked looking on a lot of the ends, except my ends never get put into any styles that would put them into that kind of shape. It almost looks like a botched job with a curling ribbon when wrapping presents, and the ends that look like this are definitely finer than the others. Is that a symptom of any particular hair need/hair problem?

Hmm, it could just be a damage kinda like a split that hasn't formed yet... like how bent hair is a form of damage that will eventually become a split.

Protein treatments are nice and inexpensive I'm sure you'll find something good.

Also, I wish I could do updos better!