Question about trimming/S&D for damaged hair

[ukuleleclaire]

I've recently stopped straightening my hair, and switched to some of the wonderful techniques on LHC (coconut oil, ACV rinse, not piling my hair on top of my head to shampoo, etc.). It's working great so far! I am wondering if it is a good idea to trim though. A lot of my ends are really fried from the blow dryer and flat iron. When I was looking at them up close the other day, I wasn't sure if some of my "finer" hairs were even one strand at all, or a split end that had just traveled all the way up my hair. I'm fairly certain some of my shorter hairs are the result of breakage as well.

A couple pictures for reference:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2739/4448938372_d51058a609_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4448164885_094950b875_b.jpg

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Also, I'm fairly new here, I really hope this is ok to post!

[guccixx]

Have you tried S&D? From the first picture, I saw a few splits - looks like little white dots in the sun. But honestly, your hair doesn't look bad. It's hard to tell in pictures unless hair is really destroyed. It looks like you have some breakage (the shorter hairs), and I would only recommend a trim if the fried hair is bothering you. I know when to trim my hair because the ends feel GROSS. Like, literally feel brittle, like velcro, and along with the visible splits I get, the ends start to tangle *really* badly.

[Sunny_side_up]

Hi there

micro trims and dustings worked for me when i grew out razoring &heat damage. Also leaving my hair to naturally dry.
Happy hair growing:)

[FrannyG]

The quality of my hair vastly improved after joining LHC, but the previous damage was still damage. I did cut out some of the old damage eventually. Then I created more damage. :o So I gradually cut that out. I'm happy that I did, because my hair looks and feels the way I want it to look and feel, and it makes growing it out more of a pleasure.

Of course, everyone has different opinions on this matter.

Good luck on whatever you decide. :blossom:

[satindesire]

Take this with a grain of salt, since I'm not a hair care professional by any means. I can share with you MY experience and advice stemming from, however.

I used to bleach, blow-dry, and curl my hair ALL the time. It was a total mess. Unfortunately, ruined hair can't ever be returned to a virgin or healthy state, no matter what. Once those ends are split, you're boned, you know what I mean? As painful as getting your hair cut is when you're -trying- to grow it out, it's really a necessary step IMO to make sure that damaged ends don't 'spread'.

Trimming it a half an inch won't help if your hair is damaged up to three inches. My advice would be to bite the bullet, cut off ALL the damaged hair up to your healthy hair line, and start over fresh. Once you get rid of the damaged stuff, the quality of your hair will improve DRASTICALLY! Trust me on this, long damaged hair will -never- look as good as shorter, healthy hair.

[klcqtee]

You straightened those gorgeous wurls? Shame! I love your hair's natural curls!

Your hair looks pretty healthy to me. If you want to start S&D it can help your hair( it's helped mine a ton!) but it's very, very addictive. I think so long as you take care of it from here on out you won't have any problems and right now you don't "need" to trim it.

Welcome to LHC!

[Sweetness]

I had a (very) similar situation ... I decided to cut most of it off, as I explain here :
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=44519&highlight=honestly

But this being said, it really depends how you feel about it, and how damaged you hair really is (:

Your hair does seem beautiful & mostly healthy... but I know showing curl damage on pictures can be difficult ... you're the one who can feel it


Happy growing and welcome !!

[ukuleleclaire]

Thanks everyone so much for the input. I think I will end up doing a small trim on my ends, that's really where my hair feels like straw. I'll post an update later!

[ArienEllariel]

I'd recommend S & D first then if your hair still feels yucky on the ends you could do a microtrim. S & D literally saved my hair. That's the only way I've gotten it to as long as it is now (which is not long at all by LHC standards). I need to do a microtrim myself in another month or two.. I'm just putting it off in an effort to see how long it will be by then.

[Dars]

Pictures sometimes don't show damage well. It's up to you to decide because your the one who feels it, sees it up close and sees how it behaves on a day to day basis. Looking at the picture I would say don't cut because it doesn't look damaged but reading what you described I would definitely agree that you cut the damaged parts off. I personally don't believe in "babying" damaged hair.

[HintOfMint]

Going to have to support what people are saying about cutting off the damaged hair. Damage travels up the hair shaft like a run in your stockings. I tried S&D but then I finally had to grit my teeth and lop it off. I went from BSL to collarbone length. Then I swore off of all the things that damaged it and grew it out again and now it is mostly healthy and an inch from waist. Cutting it off is, in my experience, worth it.

[IcarusBride]

Also, for me putting oil in my hair really helped me to be able to SEE the splits. Not Coconut Oil, because it absorbs crazy fast in my hair, but both Sweet Almond Oil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil had this effect, making my splits more visible. Another tip is the lighting in which you do your S&D. I'm not the most experienced here but I have found the lighting is very crucial. If there's not a lot of light (ie: my bedroom with just the normal overhead light on) you can't see the splits well. Indirect sunlight (sitting in front of a window) or computer-monitor light I have heard recommended here at LHC. I also do it in the bathroom sometimes, my lights in there are much brighter than what I use in my own room.
Good luck!!!

[Carolyn]

I think your hair looks pretty healthy in your pictures but as someone else said pictures don't always show damage. I've found S & D to be very useful in getting rid of damaged ends. Be sure you are giving your hair lots of moisture. Have you tried CO washing?

[ukuleleclaire]

I think your hair looks pretty healthy in your pictures but as someone else said pictures don't always show damage. I've found S & D to be very useful in getting rid of damaged ends. Be sure you are giving your hair lots of moisture. Have you tried CO washing?

My roots are pretty good, it was the ends that were terrible. I did do a small trim last night (I cut my own hair) and I can actually run my hands through the ends now, which is a vast improvement. I will probably do some more S&D as well to try to catch all the split ends.

As for the moisture part, I've been using coconut oil, and have experimented with CO washing a bit. I don't think I was doing it correctly at first. I got a shampoo bar, and I've been washing every 2 to 3 days with that followed by ACV rinse. I read though that shampoo bars can do some bad things to your hair if you use them too often. Do any of you guys use them, and if so do you have good results with them on your hair? Or would I be better just looking for a sulfate free poo to clarify?

Thanks again everyone for the input, I was really agonizing over that tiny trim but I'm glad I did it now.

[Carolyn]

As for the moisture part, I've been using coconut oil, and have experimented with CO washing a bit. I don't think I was doing it correctly at first. I got a shampoo bar, and I've been washing every 2 to 3 days with that followed by ACV rinse. I read though that shampoo bars can do some bad things to your hair if you use them too often. Do any of you guys use them, and if so do you have good results with them on your hair? Or would I be better just looking for a sulfate free poo to clarify?There is a huge thread on shampoo bars so you might want to check that out. You'll find varying opinions on them. I have hard well water so the CV bars didn't work for me even with vinegar rinses. However I've had good luck with LUSH shampoo bars with my nasty water. Lots of people here use poo bars and love them but probably as many have tried them and didn't like them. It all depends on your hair and your water.

[ukuleleclaire]

Thanks, Carolyn. I'm on page 35 of the shampoo bar thread now, so much information! My hair did not seem to like CO at all, shampoo bars on the other hand it's been pretty happy with. Now to keep reading. :)