Thin, rough ends--Help!

[YesitsReal]

I'm having a lot of trouble with my ends, and I thought y'all might have some suggestions. Here's the gist of it:

I have really fine BSL hair, and it's prone to splitting. As of right now, the bottom 2-3 inches is layered, and the ends are getting very rough, tangly, and see-through. They sometimes even look like cotton candy, especially after I've had them in a braid or something where I tie off the end. I've tried clarifying, then using a protein treatment, and that seemed to help for about a day. I've also tried cones, no-cones, oil, and CO to see if any of those would make a difference. No dice. So then I tried first S&Ding and then trimming about 1/4 inch using Feye's method, and it doesn't seem like either has helped much. On top of all that, my hair hasn't grown very much in the last year. I used to average up to an inch a month, but I don't think I've put on an inch in the last three or four months; it just won't grow like it used to.

I'm kind of at a loss as to what else to do. I thought about going to the salon and having the whole thing blunt cut, but I would lose about 3 inches, and I was really hoping to grow to waist for my wedding in October. I don't want my hair to look terrible, though! What should I do??

[Vercelli]

As your wedding is in October (right?) you still have a lot of time to rescue your ends. I have a similar problem, however, in my case due to having bleached/highlighted a couple of years ago. Even though my ends are much thinner than the rest they are ok-ish in my eyes and I only mictrotrim to even out the hemline a bit (bit by bit).
I would suggest using oil regularly. Have you tried that already? I mainly wear my hair up so I don't really care if it looks "greasy" due to too much oil. What I do is I oil my lenghts thorougly with coconut oil and it helps on my hair. Have you considered trying Panacea's hair salve? Or anything else which contains sheabutter?
Anyway, I think you should try rescuing your ends instead of cutting them! :)

[YesitsReal]

Thanks! I haven't tried anything with shea butter yet. Maybe I'll pick up some salve when I get paid on Friday.

[spidermom]

Good luck rescuing them, but sometimes we just have to cut bad ends to experience growth again. I had flat iron damaged ends in 2005 and tried all spring/summer to baby them along plus got teeny trims every 3 months. I had 3/4 of an inch in growth over 4-5 months. Finally I'd HAD IT with fighting damaged, Velcro ends and had 5 inches cut off! What a difference. AND my hair grew 1-1/2 inch in the 3 weeks following my cut (then slowed to slightly more than 1/2 inch per month).

[Anje]

Well, my ends get rough and tangly and generally weird and nasty when I've got protein overload. Any chance that's the problem? My usual way out is clarifying, followed by repeated SMTs, though you can use a different moisture treatment if it works better. And of course, cut out all protein on the hair for a while.

[GrowingGlory]

Remember, today's length is tomorrow's ends!
Good luck, and congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

[GrowingGlory]

If your hair grows quickly, I'd suggest a consultation to see if a trim is in order. Sometimes that is the simplest, most lasting solution.
If your hair grows slowly and you are not willing to lose any length, consider regular use of protein treatments applied to the ends, shampooed out, then lightly oiled with coconut oil or argan oil.
I would also suggest increased consumption of protein rich foods that contain essential fatty acids like coconut milk, eggs, seeds and nuts.
Gentle handling is also very important. A Tangle Teezer, a wide tooth bone, horn or wooden comb, and a boar bristle brush might be your hair's best friends. A mild emollient shampoo would spare your ends from needless stripping each time that you wash your hair. You could try loosely braiding the length and shampooing only the scalp and the loose hair but not the braid. That will protect your length and delicate ends. Remember, today's length is tomorrow's ends!
Good luck, and congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

[Alvrodul]

I have also had a problem with my ends - in my case it was a matter of old chemical damage in addition to ordinary wear and tear. After I started using Nightblooming's Panacea on my ends, they have become nice and soft - I also treat my hair with oils daily and SMT regularly. My hair certainly loves that!:D

[maus]

Sorry to hear about your hair troubles.

I would like to second the oiling suggestion. I had (and still have) dry ends due to prior dying and general mishandling (straightening, blow-drying). I have tried all kinds of oils out there, and none didn't do much for me (some seemed to make it worse, like coconut oil, which a lot of the LHC folks swear by). Until I found avocado oil, which seemed to make it better. I am now using jojoba oil, and my ends are soooo soft!

It seems to be a matter of hair texture, I would think. Different hair likes different stuff, so please, don't cut if off without having tried a few more oils/DTs.

[LHC100]

I agree with not cutting until you've tried an oil regimen for a while. Coconut works beautifully on mine...

[Aurantia]

Well, my ends get rough and tangly and generally weird and nasty when I've got protein overload. Any chance that's the problem? My usual way out is clarifying, followed by repeated SMTs, though you can use a different moisture treatment if it works better. And of course, cut out all protein on the hair for a while.

Seconded. Your description sounds exactly like what I experience with my own (fine) hair when there is too much protein. Have you checked out this article: Damaged Hair: Understanding, Preventing & Rehabilitating (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79)?

[Sinisiew]

A couple of things spring to mind as I read your post Yesitsreal.

First of all you mention that you've tried a lot of things but you're not mentioning anything about how you're handling your hair. Are you wearing it up? Are you letting it airdry? When you comb it, how do you do that? Do not underestimate the effects of mechanical wear and tear.

Secondly, all of the things you've tried, for how long have you stuck to a routine before you've deemed it non-functional? You're mentioning oil for example but you're not saying which oil and how you've applied it or for how long you tried an oil before switching to another.

When it comes to slow growing hair I suggest you look at your scalp rather than your ends. your hair is dead, your scalp however, is not. Do you have bad circulation? A gentle massage and excercising can help with that. You're getting married in October, does this mean you have altered you diet? Perhaps you're feeling stressed? All of those things can lead to a growth stall. Having "bad" ends however will not lead to an actually stalling of growth, it may however look like it is, if the ends are breaking of at the same speed that you're growing new hair. Do you have splits or white specks on your ends? If you do, then it is a good idea to s&d them or cut them since a damaged strand of hair behave very much like a frayed rope, the damage will travel up.

Personally I use coconut oil on my ends every day, Like you i have fine hair with dry tips, they don't have splits but they are dry and therefore the last centimetre of my hair is "rougher" when it comes to texture. What you must remember is that oil can't "heal" your hair, it's not a question of putting oil on and then having healthy ends. It's about a daily routine so that your hair maintains moisture on a regular basis keeping the ends less dry so they won't break. You're also mentioning that you've had layers cut in your hair, when the hairdresser cut them, did she use a razor or a scissor that she "pulled" through your hair? If so chances are you're ends are prone to splitting because they look like the stem of a rose when you cut it to put it in water. i e cut diagonally, rater than bluntly. Not great for a hairtype that is fragile to start with.



I would suggest you read nightshades article on understanding your damaged hair

[haibane]

Misting has done wonders for my splitty ends. I use water with a tiny bit of conditioner and/or oil.

[Lilli]

I also will have terrible ends if I use anything with protein. Clarifying fixes it.

[IndigoAsh]

I use almond oil on my ends, give it time to soak in, and go about my day. It doesn't work it's way up the hair strand and make my whole head greasy like coconut oil did(I didn't even use a lot). I use coconut oil before washing it and never shampoo the ends ever. I even condition the bottom(shoulder blades and down) of my hair before I get in the tub and apply/rinse shampoo.

[lesbia]

Have you tried henna or cassia? Cassia helped a lot my fine and thin hair.. :)

[lapushka]

I'd try clarifying every time for a while, and only using conditioner on the ends. Just regular shampoo and conditioner.

[Dark Queen]

I've been oiling my ends as they grow out and they feel even better since I started CWC-ing. It's the combination of that and regular S&D that's helped them start behaving. Though it has taken a while so YMMV

[YesitsReal]

Fair questions, Sinisiew. My hair routine (in a nutshell) consists of washing my hair every 3 or so days with Aveeno shampoo (roots) and conditioner (from ears down). I let it air dry and then detangle with a wide-tooth comb--it seems to detangle easier this way, and I don't seem to lose as much hair. I wear it up or braided about 80% of the time, and I sleep in an oiled braid on a satin pillowcase. That's not the whole of my routine; occasionally I throw in a moisture treatment or a clarifying treatment, depending on how my hair feels at the time.

I did read the hair diagnostic article, and eliminated protein for a while, but that didn't seem to work very well. I decided to go for a "middle of the road" routine and see if that works. I kept the above routine, except I switched from refined to unrefined coconut oil (and started doing it more regularly--refined oil makes my hair too oily if I put in on while my hair is wet, but unrefined doesn't seem to have that problem), switched from the Aveeno conditioner to Garnier Triple Nutrition conditioner, and I use a clarifying shampoo about every two washes. So, effectively, I've taken out some of the cones and proteins from my routine, but not all of them. Plus, I did an EXTENSIVE S&D about two weeks ago. My ends have improved considerably. They feel much softer and smoother. I've also added scalp massage to my routine to see if I can get some more blood flowing up there!

Thank you all for your help. I appreciate the input!

[x0h_bother]

...My hair routine (in a nutshell) consists of washing my hair every 3 or so days with Aveeno shampoo (roots) and conditioner (from ears down). ...

I did read the hair diagnostic article, and eliminated protein for a while, but that didn't seem to work very well. ... switched from the Aveeno conditioner to Garnier Triple Nutrition conditioner, and I use a clarifying shampoo about every two washes. So, effectively, I've taken out some of the cones and proteins from my routine, but not all of them.
I was going to say, Aveeno has tons of protein and my hair responded the same way. If you are still using their shampoo you may want to switch out for a while.

[einna]

Good to hear (read) that your ends have improved. I was going to sugest trimming the 3 inches, since it sounds like it dosent grow because the ends break of. Now that the ends have improved I`ll just suggest a small trim, like the one you got before, just to really get going and make sure the hair dosent "eat it self up". Good luck growing long till october :D

[Annalouise]

One more thing to think about, if those ends are say 3? years old, then what were you doing to your hair three years ago? It might be if it is damage, then you have to cut it off because you can't turn it back into healthy hair. But, if those years ago you were taking care of your hair then I would suggest you clarify and do some SMT's or other deep moisture treatments. That usually works for me.:) And change your shampoo and conditioner too.