Breakage Drama

[Pear Martini]

So my hair is kind of damaged but relativley strong. I recently got a full-head of highlights done after a very long time of contemplation.

I love my highlights but now I'm having terrible splits and breakage! Its so depressing because I'm very close to my goal (waist.

When I run my fingers down my hair, they get stuck in tangles usually about an inch away from the end of my length. Sometime I will rip my fingers through (I know, I'm bad) and pieces break off.

I alternate between Aveda Dry Remedy and Bed Head Dumb Blonde protein infused stuff. I figure since my hair is highlighted heavily, it needs protein.

So, basically the ends are tangling like crazy, and I'm have alarming breakage. Also, many splits. I haven't done any treatments in a while and I am wondering what I should do to treat this condition. I am in the mood for a treatment, but any advice helps. Thank you.

[jojo]

Have you ever tried tigi moisture maniac? this is my favorite conditioner for putting moisture back, I also love aphogee 2 step which is a strong protein treatment which I do every 3 months and follow with the tigi moiture, my hair is gaining length and breaks less often now, though I started hennaering so this may be why, but try a good protein treatment but make sure to follow with a good moisture treatment.

[Pear Martini]

Thanks, Jojo. Should I apply the moisturizing treatment right after I rinse the protein (while the hair is still wet) or wait til my next washing?

[Coan-Teen]

I strongly second a moisture treatment. Maybe a good leave-in conditioner to help reduce tangles? I'm not sure if you oil your hair at all but that can also be helpful with managing damage.

[ericthegreat]

What kept my hair healthy and strong from all the bleaching that was done to my hair to get it from jet black to golden blonde with platinum blonde highlights was coconut oil. I can't swear by it enough, coconut oil is a life saver!

Throughout this entire time that I've been lightening my hair to blonde, I have been using coconut oil as a deep treatment. For me, I apply enough to lightly saturate all of my hair (I leave out my scalp since I have an oily scalp, but I oil all my hair from the neck down) and I sleep with it overnight. I wash it out the next morning, and then I condition again. I have a variety of conditioners from expensive to cheap, but usually I'll use my cheap Suave Tropical Coconut. I save the expensive stuff for really special nights. I do my coconut oiling about once every week, and I swear they have kept my hair strong and shiny and healthy. Give it a try Pear Martini :).

[Lianna]

Parts of my hair is bleached, and it's dyed all over. This protein thing isn't a rule, my hair doesn't like protein, I do it maybe once every two months. Protein makes my ends dry, nontheless, after every protein treatment you need a moisture treatment. Dusts about 1/8 inch every two or three months are good too. When I used a protein conditioner my hair looked and felt pretty bad.

[Dyefree]

Not sure how applicable this is but I also use aveda dry remedy and it is pretty full of cones.... I also use the moroccanoil shampoo and cond range (all sls free), I did also carry out frequent oilings and protein occasionally.... And I found after an initial vast improvement suddenly my hair got crunchy, dry feeling and brittle with bits breaking off. I was tempted to go for a trim.... But then in the shower I thought I'd try a good sls clarifying wash. Followed by a moisture rich deep treatment

Omg.

My hair feels amazing..... Smooth, soft and sooo shiny- I just had major product buildup! Although my hair loves cones it does need an occasional sls clarifying wash to get rid of the buildup... And aveda dry remedy has some pretty heavyweight cones in there.

[aenflex]

I agree with Ericthegreat - coconut oil can really help, even if you don't like wearing it when you are 'out in public'...do like he does and many of us, sleep in it, leave it on for hours at a time. It really will help with the mouisture, and then you can continue with your protein here and there too.

[spidermom]

After your moisture treatment, leave a little conditioner in the ends and follow with a coney serum (I like CHI Silk Infusion). It helps me SO much with tangles. I only use it once per week however because if I use it every time I wash my hair, it has the opposite effect and makes the tangling worse.

[jojo]

Thanks, Jojo. Should I apply the moisturizing treatment right after I rinse the protein (while the hair is still wet) or wait til my next washing?

yes apply straight after, in fact ive just tried a really good conditioner a new one chemical free from tigi called love and peace and its actually better than moisture maniac http://www.gorgeousshop.co.uk/shop/tigi-love-peace-and-the-planet-1012/tigi-eco-awesome-moisturising-conditioner-200ml-3667.html i highly recomend it.

[jojo]

After your moisture treatment, leave a little conditioner in the ends and follow with a coney serum (I like CHI Silk Infusion). It helps me SO much with tangles. I only use it once per week however because if I use it every time I wash my hair, it has the opposite effect and makes the tangling worse.

Ihave to second spidermon's CHI silk infusion, I was recommended this by her and its now one of my favorites and lasts forever!

[andrea1982]

You could try clarifying with a stronger cone/free shampoo, then a moisture treatment just in case build up is contributing to the problem. When I had highlights my bleached bits loved the joico line (has lots of keratin protien). It made my hair feel normal again. I also agree with the above reccomendations to try coney serums and oil. You can even mix the two together as a leave in in damp hair. I find mixing the two helps both distrubute better (some serums already contain oil, like garnier smooth and shine and moroccon oil).

If all else fails, I would consider trimming. An inch or two off may prevent a lot of breakage higher up the hair shaft. When I highlighted, I found I had to trim about every 3-4 months to keep my ends feeling nice (however, it was also pre LHC so I didn't know about clarifying/oils etc.)

[Pear Martini]

Thanks for all of the responses :D. I really need to get back on the coconut oil train and clarifying train.

[thatjengirl1]

When i had fried hair from highlights long ago...coconut oil help me through it. just putting a very small amount on areas where it was dry