View Full Version : hair breaks and doesnt appear to grow??
cupcake0619
April 18th, 2011, 12:07 AM
well to start off, im haley and i have been lurkin around for a while now and decided to join. :)
i just measured the other night and my hair is about 23 inches i think, but my problem is that my hair never looks any longer.
I have not dyed my hair since feb 2011 since i decided i dont think im gonna dye it anymore. i straighten maybe once a month. i do wash my hair every day because my scalp gets sooo oily i just cant handle skippin a day! i have definately tried, lol
i have a head full of split ends and white dots everywhere.
My is alot thicker at the roots and closer to my head than the ends.
I dont trim very often and i havent for a while cause i need a pair of good hair cutting scissors that i just havent got yet. lol
its been about 2 years that my hair has been about the length that it is now.
my ends just seem to break off faster than it grows.
I have about 2 to 2 1/2 inches of growth since dec 2010 when i bleached my hair (bad, i know lol) but its still the same length.
My hair is very fine and thin, and it breaks very easily, even just runnin my fingers though it, i can hear strands poppin and breakin off.
especially when i do straighten it, it just feels to tangly and breaks so easy and takes forever to brush out from all the tangles.
it doesnt feel healthy anymore, i used to straighten it and it would feel soft and silky and pretty but it doesnt anymore and idk why.
sorry for the rant but im frustrated. lol
thanks for any replies! :) :) :)
Mesmerise
April 18th, 2011, 12:15 AM
The problem is that your hair is super damaged! It sounds like it's growing fine. The only thing you can REALLY do is super baby your hair (no more straightening!!!), keep trimming off the damage, and be patient, because in time once you've grown out the damage, your hair WILL start to get longer, but it's going to take time.
Because you bleached it's probably even more damaged than if you just dyed. My hair takes dye okay, but when I've bleached it in the past it's been basically irreparable.
Read through the forums and you'll get to learn more about hair care, especially caring for damaged hair, however, don't expect to get a lot of length until some of the worst damage is out. However, many people have still managed to grow despite damage, just by trimming off less than the hair grows, and taking super good care of their hair.
cupcake0619
April 18th, 2011, 12:48 AM
http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/61675284@N04/5630608462/in/photostream
this is a recent picture after straighented lol
as u can see from the others it dont look much different of a length since atleast december, i dont have any pics like that from before then. even natural it looks almost the same legth! im scared to cut it with the scissors that i have because i dont want more splits from those! :(
cupcake0619
April 18th, 2011, 12:49 AM
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61675284@N04/5630608462/in/photostream/
cupcake0619
April 18th, 2011, 12:52 AM
also, i definatley have been babying my hair for almost a year with no different results. i never brush it unless im goin to straighten in, i just comb conditioner in while im in the shower.
i scalp massage and use coconut oil, and i sleep with it up. idk im very careful and it doesnt seem to help any. im flustered and i feel like its just never going to grow! :(
ashke50
April 18th, 2011, 12:56 AM
If you have a lot of splits then it could be that they are breaking off faster than your hair is growing, as you suggest. I recommend getting hold of some haircutting scissors, and then either trimming a bit, or doing a S&D (cutting off all the splits you can find). Might be worth wearing your hair up during the day sometimes too, if you don't already.
MonaLisa
April 18th, 2011, 01:00 AM
It's only in Feb that you stopped dying it. And you say yourself you're in a need of trim. Breaking ends - from old damage and splits is what keeps your hair from not getting length.
Mesmerise gave you good advice.
patience and a lot of care.
Mesmerise
April 18th, 2011, 01:02 AM
also, i definatley have been babying my hair for almost a year with no different results. i never brush it unless im goin to straighten in, i just comb conditioner in while im in the shower.
i scalp massage and use coconut oil, and i sleep with it up. idk im very careful and it doesnt seem to help any. im flustered and i feel like its just never going to grow! :(
It's great that you're taking good care of your hair now, and I agree that you need to get some decent haircutting scissors. You don't need the really expensive ones, but you can't use regular ones either.
The thing is, once hair's damaged...it's damaged. You're only going to be doing more damage by heat straightening, no matter how hard you try and protect it first. There's no way you can "heal" a split end or a white dot. You can do your utmost to stop hair breaking, but once the white dot is formed, it's going to break no matter what!
I think hair does have a point of no return, and there's no fixing it once the serious damage is done. The only way your hair will recover is by going natural (at least no bleach), and being patient. Your hair WILL grow and it will get healthier, but it's not going to be something you can really appreciate for a few years, as you have a lot of damaged hair to grow out. However, if you're really good to your hair now, the bleached parts nearer your scalp may not get as damaged as your ends are now, and thus may not split and break as much in the future.
hanne jensen
April 18th, 2011, 01:03 AM
Welcome to LHC! The best thing you can do is go on up to the top of the page and click on the articles. Then mosey on to the hair care articles. Click on to Nightshade's article on growing out damaged hair. While you're reading, click on all the underlined stuff in the article. This article will tell you everything you need to know about growing out damaged hair.
Avital88
April 18th, 2011, 01:13 AM
From the picture i can see your ends are really damaged.. You still have beautiful hair and i'm sure that it can be fixed!
I would really suggest doing microtrims,buy some good scissors and do feye's self trim method, Don't ever bleach anymore,lol,i know how hard that can be, but that is the main reason it isnnt growing!
Quit the straightening, believe me , when i quitted straightening my hair revived! Also i would like to suggest you to start washing with an SLS free shampoo(Bodyshops rainforest line f example)
If you wash everyday with a normal shampoo it will dry out your hair and lead to more breakage.SLS free shampoo's dry out less but still clean your hair.
I think if you would do these things that your hair can really grow longer,it wil be some slow progression in the beginning with lenghtgaining,but your ends will def.benefit from it and will break less.
So i want to wish you good luck on your hairjourney and hopefully you will follow the advice here nad grow out long healthy hair..
Avital88
April 18th, 2011, 01:15 AM
From the picture i can see your ends are really damaged.. You still have beautiful hair and i'm sure that it can be fixed!
I would really suggest doing microtrims,buy some good scissors and do feye's self trim method, Don't ever bleach anymore,lol,i know how hard that can be, but that is the main reason it isnnt growing!
Quit the straightening, believe me , when i quitted straightening my hair revived! Also i would like to suggest you to start washing with an SLS free shampoo(Bodyshops rainforest line f example)
If you wash everyday with a normal shampoo it will dry out your hair and lead to more breakage.SLS free shampoo's dry out less but still clean your hair.
I think if you would do these things that your hair can really grow longer,it wil be some slow progression in the beginning with lenghtgaining,but your ends will def.benefit from it and will break less.
So i want to wish you good luck on your hairjourney and hopefully you will follow the advice here nad grow out long healthy hair..
Firefox7275
April 18th, 2011, 01:16 AM
Welcome! :) Sounds like the heat styling and bleaching has badly damaged your hair. Many LHCers have found that fine hair just cannot take such harsh processes, and that the damage builds up over time. Once you have splits and white dots unfortunately you cannot repair those, so it would be best to cut the worst of that out. :( Then you can focus on babying the rest of your hair and growing longer!
Every time your hair gets wet that can be an opportunity to moisturise your hair but also a time when it is vulnerable. So it's best to use a rich conditioner, comb not brush and then air dry. As far as oily hair goes I have the same problem so I use a dry shampoo (Batiste) on my hairline and crown between washes. I am also learning that harsh shampoos make my scalp more oily, maybe you have a sensitive scalp too? Alternatives include adding coconut oil to your shampoo, washing with conditioner only or using a sulphate-free shampoo.
You have a tiny frame, it's possible your hair is not getting all the nutrients it needs - there is a helpful post on this in the Articles section (clicky at top of page). Basically your hair needs a wide range of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, protein and calories. I work in healthcare myself and have observed that many females don't get regular protein or enough healthy fats. :o
Gilly
April 18th, 2011, 01:32 AM
My hair is the same as yours and I really struggle to get it to grow, its baby fine and hates any form of heat :rolleyes:
I would suggest getting started with conditioner only washing, even if you only do it every other day and shampoo with a SLS free shampoo the rest of the time it will help to keep a bit more moisture in your hair and believe me this is what our hair desperatly needs!
Also I would suggest trying some Panacea hair salve, its made by Nightshade one of the lovely ladies on here, she FULLY understands what growing out damaged hair is all about! Her salve is beautiful, she does several versions and you can get samples of all of them so you can try them all before you decide which you like best.
I am hopeless and love ALL of them!!!:cheese:
julliams
April 18th, 2011, 04:41 AM
Gilly, can you post a link to the salve? I would be interested in seeing these.
ETA: Googled and found this http://nightbloominggarden.blogspot.com/2010/09/panaceas-hair-salve.html
RitaCeleste
April 18th, 2011, 05:58 AM
I've been coloring mine for ages. I damaged it not long ago. I spent tons of money trying to fix it. So far here's what worked on my over-processed hair. Aphogee 2 min Keratin Reconstructor. This made it stronger. Then I went to co-washing like one of the the other posters suggested. I use a little Aubrey Organic Honeysuckle Rose on the ends as a leave in. Basically anything without any protein at all works best to moisturize my hair or to use as a deep conditioner or leave-in. I love Meadowfoam Seed oil because its light, coconut oil I love as a prewash. I did order some stuff from soapersupplies (Meadowfoam oil) and Lakshmi's Cupboard (Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose, Nourish Spa Conditioner for cowash, and Vitika coconut hair oil), both are real sites and the stuff came pretty quick. Oils can be tricky on fine hair, but if you want it to shine, a little will add sparkle. My hair is coarser so maybe check what oils work best on fine hair?
cupcake0619
April 18th, 2011, 01:05 PM
thanks for all ur suggestions!
im thinkin about tryin to clarify my hair for the first time today. I feel like thats why my hair feels so tangly and such since a little while after i bleached it because i have been conditioning the h**l out of my hair! lol it didnt get like this untill the last month and a half or so.. I was wondering about tryin the baking soda mixed into shampoo method, also how is your hair supposed to look and feel after clarified and thoroughly conditioned..?
Anje
April 18th, 2011, 01:20 PM
Sounds like serious damage to me too. So you're on to damage control at this point.
No more bleach. No more straightening. Wear updos to protect your ends.
Clarifying might help, though if you shampoo daily I doubt you have much buildup. You probably want to do a lot of moisture treatments (I like SMTs). A good protein treatment like Aphogee or Joico K-Pak probably wouldn't hurt either, though you'll want to follow it up with something for serious moisture.
cupcake0619
April 18th, 2011, 02:09 PM
welp i just got out of the shower
i mixed one part baking soda and 2 parts shampoo and washed, i let it sit for like a min, idk if im supposed to do that or not but i feel like it would work better. lol
i conditioned like normal.
im gonna let it dry and get back on here with results :)
Lianna
April 18th, 2011, 03:40 PM
I have a different advice for you. I also have bleached/dyed hair. I see your hair is quite light, dyeing it darker (maybe a level 7 medium blonde) could make it stronger. This is something that I and some other girls (who bleached) have come to an agreement, but it's up to you if you want to do it. I've had hair almost as light as yours and that felt weaker, remaining at level 7, I don't see damage at all. Other than that, once a month straightning isn't that bad. A little trim after could do some good (half inch).
I also have to wash my hair daily, and that's okay, I've done it all my life...but if you really want to cut back on that try washing with just conditioner everyother day (but check if CO'ing all the time is for you, wasn't for me).
Have you thought about oiling? That really works for some, I find it specially good before and after a color treatment, something as simple as half tablespoon of olive oil can do wonders.
xoxophelia
April 18th, 2011, 04:10 PM
You will probably have to stop heat styling it all together. Try maybe some updos, a .5" trim once a month until you are happy with your ends, and make sure if you keep bleaching to only touch up your roots.
Another thing is to look at your diet if it has been getting a lot worse lately and you aren't sure why. If you aren't getting enough protein, calories, and other vitamins it can cause problems with hair thinning and becoming weaker.
racrane
April 18th, 2011, 04:51 PM
Like all have said, your hair is damaged. Baby it and be patient. And I recently gave up heat and it did WONDERS for my hair. If I can do it, anyone can. Good luck. :)
Fingolphin
April 18th, 2011, 05:15 PM
also, i definatley have been babying my hair for almost a year with no different results. i never brush it unless im goin to straighten in, i just comb conditioner in while im in the shower.
i scalp massage and use coconut oil, and i sleep with it up. idk im very careful and it doesnt seem to help any. im flustered and i feel like its just never going to grow! :(
You're not flat-ironing while it's wet, are you?
Alvrodul
April 18th, 2011, 05:44 PM
When your hair tangles like that and keeps breaking, that is you hair's way of telling you not to be mean to it!
If your hair is anything like mine, it will not tolerate bleach at all - my hair just curls up and dies if you wave a bottle of bleach at it! Chemical dyes were more acceptable to my hair, and I was actually fairly careful about it, stretching the time between dyings as much as I could. It still had negative consequences for my hair, though not as bad as the bleach.
And heat is not going to improve things either!
It has been some years since I stopped using chemical dyes. I am still growing out the damage, and I will be very pleased when it is all gone!
I hope you will be able to save your hair. You won't be able to get rid of the existing damage without cutting it off, but perhaps using coconut oil and doing frequent SMTs will be able to help the situation some. I suggest you do frequent trims until you have gotten rid of the worst of the damage as well. When the parts of your hair that are totally fried are gone, you should be able to gain length.
Happy growing!:)
CurlyZ
April 18th, 2011, 06:05 PM
It's great that you're taking good care of your hair now, and I agree that you need to get some decent haircutting scissors. You don't need the really expensive ones, but you can't use regular ones either.
The thing is, once hair's damaged...it's damaged. You're only going to be doing more damage by heat straightening, no matter how hard you try and protect it first. There's no way you can "heal" a split end or a white dot. You can do your utmost to stop hair breaking, but once the white dot is formed, it's going to break no matter what!
I think hair does have a point of no return, and there's no fixing it once the serious damage is done. The only way your hair will recover is by going natural (at least no bleach), and being patient. Your hair WILL grow and it will get healthier, but it's not going to be something you can really appreciate for a few years, as you have a lot of damaged hair to grow out. However, if you're really good to your hair now, the bleached parts nearer your scalp may not get as damaged as your ends are now, and thus may not split and break as much in the future.
I totally agree with this!
I used to bleach my hair - always just got the roots touched up, never the lengths -
and my hair started breaking like crazy.
Damage is damage. You'll have to cut it eventually.
So I second all the good advice here:
Baby your hair, protect it and stay away from harsh chemicals, heat,.....
Good luck on your journey!
tinywife
April 18th, 2011, 06:38 PM
First of all, you have beautiful hair! Congratulations on beginning your growing journey.
Here's the bad news: your hair is very damaged, and every time you straighten it it just gets worse.
Here's the good news: dyeing your hair with henna can actually protect the damaged bits, holding them together and keeping them from breaking. Plus it makes it soft and shiny! You can get some beautiful colors with henna, check out hennahut.com if you want to see some.
Nightshade
April 18th, 2011, 08:01 PM
I grew out some pretty nasty damage myself... there's an article on rehabilitating damaged hair linked in my siggy, perhaps give that a read? Anything I'd recommend here is already written there :flowers:
LittleOrca
April 18th, 2011, 08:14 PM
I grew out some pretty nasty damage myself... there's an article on rehabilitating damaged hair linked in my siggy, perhaps give that a read? Anything I'd recommend here is already written there :flowers:
I second this. It has helped me some.
cupcake0619
April 18th, 2011, 11:08 PM
You're not flat-ironing while it's wet, are you?
noooo wayyyy lol
and the last time that i did dye it, i dyed it a dark blonde, about the shade i thought my roots were but my hair fades sooo fast and always has.
this picture was taken just a couple days after the last dye and as u can tell from the most recent length picture it has faded alot. there is also a picture of me from like last week maybe which was the last time that i flat ironed. (btw sorry for the funny faces and such but these are the best pics i could find lol)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61675284@N04/5633312571/in/photostream/
i also found some hair cuttin scissors on ebay lol and i told my bf about them and he told me not to get them cause he didnt want me to cut my hair and i had to explain to him that if i cut the dead ends if it will eventually get longer. lol
Gilly
April 19th, 2011, 03:49 AM
Gilly, can you post a link to the salve? I would be interested in seeing these.
ETA: Googled and found this http://nightbloominggarden.blogspot.com/2010/09/panaceas-hair-salve.html
I am sorry I have not managed to get on here earlier! I'm glad you found the link, this stuff is fabulous AND addictive!:cheese:
alwayssmiling
April 19th, 2011, 04:00 AM
noooo wayyyy lol
and the last time that i did dye it, i dyed it a dark blonde, about the shade i thought my roots were but my hair fades sooo fast and always has.
this picture was taken just a couple days after the last dye and as u can tell from the most recent length picture it has faded alot. there is also a picture of me from like last week maybe which was the last time that i flat ironed. (btw sorry for the funny faces and such but these are the best pics i could find lol)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61675284@N04/5633312571/in/photostream/
i also found some hair cuttin scissors on ebay lol and i told my bf about them and he told me not to get them cause he didnt want me to cut my hair and i had to explain to him that if i cut the dead ends if it will eventually get longer. lol
If you are going to buy some good scissors I highly recommend Feye's self trimming. Honestly its very easy and you can do very teeny tiny trims yourself (a hairdresser may take one look at your hair and try and persuade you to take it very short). Don't tell your boyfriend he really won't know.
http://feyeselftrim.livejournal.com/
(sorry if anyone has already mentioned it I haven't read the whole thread)
My hair was pretty much like yours just before I joined, I was giving myself a chemical haircut with bleach and flat ironing. I had it cut so it was evened up, then slowly, slowly trimmed the damage away. It took about a year for my hair to start looking healthy again. But it was rather that or have my hair cut short.
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