split end help

[Magelet33]

I haven't been around much because I've just been letting my hair be, and grow. No trim (just S&D), mostly WO (very occasional conditioner, sulfate free and I think cone free, but that's just every few months), combing only.

Lately, when doing my S&D, I notice a huge amount of split ends. Like, I've S&Ded for maybe 15-20 minutes the past three days and still feel like I have an insurmountable amount of splits and white damage beads.

I wear my hair in a braid 80% of the time, maybe more, tied with a standard metal-free hair band. Could the hair band be damaging it? I have a lot of splits around where the hair tie is and the end of my hair but also up higher in the middle of my length too. I sleep in a braid (or with my hair still in a shirt, plopping overnight but it doesn't seem tangled at all when I do that), and I work in a braid.

On the theory that the hairtie might be doing a lot of damage, I tried pinning up a french braid with a hairstick under my headscarf yesterday which worked reasonably well. I could try finding more hairstick dos that work with headcovering (I think I could use pins pretty well too.) But is there something better than "hair safe" metal free hair bands for tieing off braids?

I also sometimes wonder if my scissors could be damaging it. I use a pair of sharp embroidery scissors that I only use for hair, but maybe they aren't as good as hair scissors? I didn't have the money for a new pair of scissors when I started and had just been gifted new embroidery scissors that I hadn't used. I maybe could afford cheap hair scissors now if that might be a problem.

Maybe I'm not cutting enough hair off when I S&D, and so I don't get all the way back to healthy hair? I definitely don't cut a 1/4 in, because often I lose the hair back into the rest if I try to pull it out. Also, having so many splits, I worry about cutting a 1/4 in all the time and then losing my length.

I'm trying to think what might be causing my splits, and also what I can do to prevent them. I know I can't heal them, and I have to just cut them all out, but I want to reduce the number of new splits and damage occuring so that I can catch up with the splits.

I'm open to trying treatments which will strengthen my hair or prevent splits (I'm thinking of trying catnip though I don't want my hair dyed at all) (also, I'm not interested in chemical-y treatments. herbs, yes. oils, yes. natural conditioners or other treatments, I'll consider if I can afford it on my tight budget.)
as well as techniques to better protect my hair from splits. (I cover my head in public with at least a bandana's worth of scarfs, so a lot of hairstyles don't work for me, but tell me if something works well and I'll see if I can adapt it.)

Oh and other than the splits, my hair seems pretty healthy. It doesn't feel dry or greasy (before WO, it was often dry). The ends sometimes feel a little coarse/dry but I put some coconut oil on and that seemed to help. They're sort of... rough though, I think from the splits.

Thank you so much.

[aenflex]

Your hair is just beautiful! WO has treated you very, very well. I honestly would suggest getting a trim rather than S/D...but that's just me :) Doesn't seem like your gonna be able to get them all yourself...I don't know anything about WO, really. But it almost sounds like you need some conditioner?

[spidermom]

I think changing what you use to tie off your braid is worth a try, although as hair gets longer, the ends get older, and I think split ends are pretty much to be expected (that's how I comfort myself, anyway).

This is how I tie my braids off (wetting the ribbon first so it clings better, putting poly-tie over it tight enough so the ribbon doesn't slip off the end), and it seems to cause no damage whatsoever.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/th_tools.jpg (http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/?action=view&current=tools.jpg) (both clickable)
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/th_agedbraid.jpg (http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/spidermom/?action=view&current=agedbraid.jpg)

[Magelet33]

Thanks aenflex. Those pics are old (6-8 months I think) but I think it does look pretty good still (and I'm getting closer to my length goals :D) . It's just these splits are driving me up the wall.

I definitely keep considering trimming and almost getting to the point of doing it, but then I realize/remember that a trim really isn't going to help that much. There are as many, or more splits 5 inches up, than 1/2 in from the ends. I think a trim would eliminate baby fairy tale ends and lots of length, but not eliminate the splits particularly. Then again, maybe I should just off an inch. It's so soft and then that last inch is a little dry.

I could definitely give conditioner a try. My hair doesn't feel dry at all to me, and I think it really likes the WO, but I can give conditioner a try and see if it likes it and helps reduce the splits if it might help. It's actually kind of funny, I ended up with WO out of sheer neglect when I was too busy and stressed to deal with my hair any more than rinsing and just forgot about and could barely afford shampoo and conditioner, and then by the time I had energy to spare for my hair my hair was totally adjusted to WO and liking it.

Spidermom, so you wrap ribbon around your hair and then secure it with a hairtie on the outside of the ribbon, is that right? I can't quite tell from the second pic, it's too small on my screen.

Am I being too much of a hair perfectionist? searching for fewer split ends? I just feel like I've read a lot of people having next to no split ends here, and I'd love that. I didn't used to have so many split ends.

Thanks.

[aenflex]

Why not strive for perfection?? :)
Good luck to you! I hope you find something to coat and protect your hair, I just think that's the best way to defend against splits, since your routine is so simple and gentle it's a wonder you are getting them at all. I guess like spidermom says, the hair just ages and degrades a bit...Either way I love love love your hair!

[spidermom]

Spidermom, so you wrap ribbon around your hair and then secure it with a hairtie on the outside of the ribbon, is that right? I can't quite tell from the second pic, it's too small on my screen.

Thanks.

You can click on the picture to see a larger version. But yes, you've got the idea, and of course there are a lot of choices of ribbon colors, textures, etc. The hair-ties are called Goody Abby Elastics.

[spidermom]

P.S. - I find striving for perfection to be depressing. I treat my hair as gently as I can without putting it under glass out of direct light, and I still get plenty of splits which, like yours, are scattered throughout my length. I've even found a split on a less-than-shoulder-length hair.

[sibiryachka]

Thanks aenflex. Those pics are old (6-8 months I think) but I think it does look pretty good still (and I'm getting closer to my length goals :D) . It's just these splits are driving me up the wall.

I definitely keep considering trimming and almost getting to the point of doing it, but then I realize/remember that a trim really isn't going to help that much. There are as many, or more splits 5 inches up, than 1/2 in from the ends. I think a trim would eliminate baby fairy tale ends and lots of length, but not eliminate the splits particularly. Then again, maybe I should just off an inch. It's so soft and then that last inch is a little dry.

I could definitely give conditioner a try. My hair doesn't feel dry at all to me, and I think it really likes the WO, but I can give conditioner a try and see if it likes it and helps reduce the splits if it might help. It's actually kind of funny, I ended up with WO out of sheer neglect when I was too busy and stressed to deal with my hair any more than rinsing and just forgot about and could barely afford shampoo and conditioner, and then by the time I had energy to spare for my hair my hair was totally adjusted to WO and liking it.

Spidermom, so you wrap ribbon around your hair and then secure it with a hairtie on the outside of the ribbon, is that right? I can't quite tell from the second pic, it's too small on my screen.

Am I being too much of a hair perfectionist? searching for fewer split ends? I just feel like I've read a lot of people having next to no split ends here, and I'd love that. I didn't used to have so many split ends.

Thanks.

I am right there with you! Don't know if this applies to you as well, but since I was, ahem, very aggressive with the S&D on my ends when I began the practice 9 months ago, I now find most of my splits/damage on canopy hairs in the shortest "layer". What's happening as those hairs are getting longer is that I can find the splits in that area, now that they're getting long enough to reach and inspect. It may be that the "new" splits you're finding are actually the result of older damage - that's the comforting story I tell myself, anyway.:rolleyes:

If that doesn't seem right to you, it might be worth a look at your scissors, maybe see whether it would be more cost-effective to sharpen them rather than replacing them?