Getting rid of dry ends

[Tegaladwen]

I am thinking of giving my ends a small trim. I haven't cut my hair since last august, I have not actually done anything to it really apart from shampoo on top and condition half way down my hair. I'm realising I should be taking better care of my hair if I want it to grow to waist length.
It's just above my bra strap in length at the moment. Anyway the ends of my hair are quite dry and have a crispy feel when I rub them with my fingers. Could anyone give me some advice on what I could do to soften them up? I have to wash my hair every two days as I have a greasy scalp and my hair gets drier half way down my hair. I've heard oiling is a good option?:confused:

[julliams]

Go for the trim. Your story is so close to mine. My last trim was August last year and my hair was beginning to split like mad. I had been thinking that I would not trim until I reached goal but I caved and decided trim.

I only lost an inch and it has made a big difference to my hair. My hair is softer, less tangly and all round better to look at.

Oil is good - I use coconut and jojoba (seperately). I had been cone free from September but have decded to go back to cones as my hair just feels better with them.

[Tegaladwen]

Thank you for the reply! I was thinking of taking off an inch just to get rid of the tatty ends. I haven't noticed a lot of split ends yet but I'm sure if I left it I would eventually! I've got lots of long layers in my hair so I think I will just dust off any split ends maybe. Will try the coconut and jojoba oil on the ends see if it makes a difference. :)

[deviantkitten]

I use coconut oil in my hair the night before I wash. I have allot of damage on my ends. I am trying to grow out years of dyeing my hair. After using coconut oil, my ends feel nearly as soft and smooth as virgin hair. A trim is good tho. Even with nice looking and feeling ends, in the end, nothing is going to get eliminate the damage other than trimming.

[ChloeDharma]

I would advise you try clarifying before doing anything, followed by a good moisture treatment....ie an SMT or similar. What you describe is what hair can feel like when there is buildup.
If you still feel like you need to trim my rule of thumb is whatever you think needs to be trimmed.....half it. Often just a dusting or 1/4 inch trim can make a huge difference.
Other tips would be to keep your hair up as much as possible, oiling is excellent but i personally would advise against mineral oil in your sitution. Coconut or jojoba seem to be among the most popular.
Misting hair regularly can help keep hydration levels higher too, and a regular DT can help keep the hair moistened and nourished.
HTH :)

[FrannyG]

I second what ChloeDharma says and suggest clarifying your hair and doing a deep moisture treatment before you do anything else.

I get buildup from time to time, even though I'm cone-free. Everyone gets buildup. When it's time to clarify, my ends feel like Velcro. After clarifying and deep treatment, it's much better again. And I'm a trimmer, so it's not that I don't believe in trimming.

I just think that the clariying option ought to be explored first, so that you know if it's buildup or not. If you don't, you may find yourself trimming more length and more frequently than necessary, than if you really know what clarifying and deep moisture feels like.

Hope that helps. Good luck. :)

[Sunny_side_up]

Go for the trim. Your story is so close to mine. My last trim was August last year and my hair was beginning to split like mad. I had been thinking that I would not trim until I reached goal but I caved and decided trim.

I only lost an inch and it has made a big difference to my hair. My hair is softer, less tangly and all round better to look at.

Oil is good - I use coconut and jojoba (seperately). I had been cone free from September but have decded to go back to cones as my hair just feels better with them.

Same here!:) hair felt alot better for it, then from there keeping it happy with good ol' coconut oil, have yet to try jojoba!

[Vermelha]

Coconut oil on wet ends does wonders for my coarse, dry hair. I put it in a loose braid or low half-pulled-through ponytail to dry overnight. In the morning, my ends feel much better.

[elina333]

Have you tried clarifying? Also, I swear by coconut oil! :cheer: So def give that a try before trimming!

[chopandchange]

Oil isn't the solution for dry hair. Unless you do it on wet or moisturised hair, you are just sealing in the dryness. Oil doesn't moisturise, it lubricates.

Condition, condition, condition! Or use anything moisturising. Honey, glycerin, aloe vera or treacle/mollasses are the standard LHC kitchen cupboard humectants!

[Ravenne]

I had the same thing a while back. Dry ends on the last 2-3 inches. They felt like straw, but they weren't splitting so I was hesitant to trim them. I started putting coconut oil on the ends after I got out of the shower, while my hair was still wet, and voila! Nice moisturized ends. 180 degree turnaround. A little oil goes a long way. I used one fingernail scraping and when my hair dried, it wasn't stringy or greasy at all.

[praia98]

Give it a good calrifying wash first and deep treatment.Even with cone-free and natural stuff you can get build-up. The trima bit. My ends get velcro-y too when in need of atrim, but firts clarify to see just in case. Wet the ends before oiling always. I use a tiny bit of coconut oil or jojoba as well now and then.

[ChloeDharma]

Oil isn't the solution for dry hair. Unless you do it on wet or moisturised hair, you are just sealing in the dryness. Oil doesn't moisturise, it lubricates.

Condition, condition, condition! Or use anything moisturising. Honey, glycerin, aloe vera or treacle/mollasses are the standard LHC kitchen cupboard humectants!

I think you must be thinking of mineral oil when you make that statement. Coconut oil can increase moisture levels and putting it on the hair should not seal in dryness as it allows moisture to enter and exit the hair shaft but at a slower rate, this also has the benefit of keeping the water content within the hair shaft more stable reducing the repeated cycle of swelling and shrinking that unprotected hair can experience which over time can have a weakening effect and further reduce the ability of the shaft to retain moisture. This is a common misconception people have by assuming that all oils act the same, they don't.
From personal experience i can say that when my hair was extreemely dry and damaged from chemical damage prolonged soakings in coconut oil are what made me able to grow out my damage without a big cut, if i had not done that most of it would have just broken off as the hairs were so brittle they snapped at even a light touch sometimes.

[chopandchange]

I think you must be thinking of mineral oil when you make that statement. Coconut oil can increase moisture levels and putting it on the hair should not seal in dryness as it allows moisture to enter and exit the hair shaft but at a slower rate, this also has the benefit of keeping the water content within the hair shaft more stable reducing the repeated cycle of swelling and shrinking that unprotected hair can experience which over time can have a weakening effect and further reduce the ability of the shaft to retain moisture. This is a common misconception people have by assuming that all oils act the same, they don't.
From personal experience i can say that when my hair was extreemely dry and damaged from chemical damage prolonged soakings in coconut oil are what made me able to grow out my damage without a big cut, if i had not done that most of it would have just broken off as the hairs were so brittle they snapped at even a light touch sometimes.

Oh. Sorry. I was just basing it on my own personal experience as well, but everyone's hair is different, so I'm sorry if I made an opinion sound like a statement of fact. :o

[ChloeDharma]

Oh. Sorry. I was just basing it on my own personal experience as well, but everyone's hair is different, so I'm sorry if I made an opinion sound like a statement of fact. :o

No worries.....sorry if my response sounded harsh, i never meant it to be i just find myself typing that same information quite alot so have become a bit robotic with it lol :flower:
The humectants is good advice though some people can find they draw moisture out of the hair if they live in very dry climates......but for us in the UK they are a great idea as we don't really have that problem lol ;)
You are not alone in the crunchy thing from coconut oil, some other members find the same thing, but it is interesting how hair reacts differently, personally my hair loves just about any oil but some people find they can't use it at all because they get crunchy.......kind of shows hair sometimes isn't the exact science we'd like it to be.
Anyway, sorry again if i came accross harsh, it was unintentional xx