Brittle, breaking hair! Need recs

[archel]

I'm having major problems with brittle hair and breakage. The henna has helped some, but not enough. I can even feel strands break when I do things like gently braiding my hair! I'm oiling and being gentle. I'd love some natural recommendations. I want the breakage to stop! Sigh...

[Alvrodul]

Does your hair have enough moisture? My hair absolutely loves having SMT (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128)s, and that is one thing that has helped my condition a lot.
It could also be old damage - have you bleached or colored your hair, or do you use heat? That is another thing that is likely to do a lot of damage.
Also have a good look at your detangling tools. Can they inflict mechanical damage on your hair? I have come to the conclusion that the combs and brushes I used before i found LHC were very bad for my hair - I now use seamless combs, and make a point of not combing it before it is entirely dry!

[alwayssmiling]

CO washing, leave in conditioner (a small amount of ordinary conditioner will do), no heat and sealing in moisture with a tiny amount of oil at the ends. Are you braiding too tight or using elastics?

[pixiestar]

When my hair was breaking recently I used the avocado and evoo deep treatment. That seemed to help me:) Or you could try a smt:)

[Meli]

My hair is very prone to breakage so I'll list some things that have helped me:

Clarifying - I get more breakage if I have build-up so I clarify on a schedule. With my current, low-build-up washing routine I need to clarify once a month (I get build-up very easy).

Gentle handling - my hair is very sensitive to friction so gentle handling and updos is extremely important. Granted, friction causes splits and not just breakage, but I do find I have more breakage as well if I slack on the handling. I wear my hair up nearly 24/7, mostly buns in daytime, and at night I braid it and put the braids in satin pouches to protect them. I mostly detangle by fingercombing.

Protein - using protein makes my ends crunchy and breaking like mad, so I stay away from proteins. It took 3+ months before the crunchiness went away after ditching the proteins...

Oiling - I haven't really decided on this one. I find some oils make my ends crunchy and more prone to breakage. Especially coconut oil made my hair break like there was no tomorrow, and EVOO also caused breakage, although not as much as the coconut oil. Jojoba, on the other hand, made my ends quite soft when mixed with conditioner. Unfortunately, by mixing conditioner in it, I got build-up so fast that it totally defeated the point in oiling in the first place... But it might help someone who is less prone to build-up so just thought I should mention it.

Hope you'll find this helpful - my suggestion to you is clarify if you haven't already, then do some moisture treatment. Check your products for proteins and if there are any, consider trying protein-free for a while. Also, I don't know which oil you use but you might want to try a different one. Or more drastically - stop oiling altogether for a while to see if the oil causes problems or not.

[Anje]

Check your Moisture/Protein balance and report back!

This is the description that makes the most sense to me. (http://blackbeautyblackhair86911.yuku.com/topic/511/t/Hair-Breakage-and-Shedding-101.html)

(Link doesn't seem to work for me this morning... might just be me. Here's an alternative link to the same info. (http://web.archive.org/web/20080926112118/http://blackbeautyblackhair86911.yuku.com/topic/511/t/Hair-Breakage-and-Shedding-101.html))

[archel]

Actually I haven't used anything with protein in over a year (literally), so I am wondering if that is my problem! I had thought the breakage was from heat, but my virgin growth that I have not blow dried or flat ironed EVER has breakage too! So today at Marshall's I picked up a Rusk product called Cure (I am picturing Robert Smith using this after teasing and spraying the hell out of his mop top). It has protein, B vitamins, etc. It's a rinse out you use after shampoo and before conditioner, so I tried it today after my clarifying shampoo with Giovanni 50:50 Balanced and then used the Cure, and then the 50:50 conditioner, which feels amazing.

I did an SMT a few days ago and it made my hair so greasy and lanky. I did something wrong, obviously...

I am wondering if catnip might help?

[archel]

I had stopped using any and all heat and started plopping my hair instead of scrunching. I also just put my nylon brush AWAY and may just toss it. I am off to Amazon.com right now to order some wooden combs....ONLY to be used on dry hair.

[archel]

Oh and I am using elastics, but they have no metal. It's the only way I can put up my hair since it's not long enough for sticks yet. Sigh

[whitestiletto]

You should get little octopus clips (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41yy8S3vmoL._SL500_AA300_.jpg), I switched to them from elastics for my APL hair. I got ones about an inch long, from the drug store. I twist my hair into a bun and clip.

Also... more henna? Each time I henna my hair gets a little stronger.

[BlazingHeart]

Oh and I am using elastics, but they have no metal. It's the only way I can put up my hair since it's not long enough for sticks yet. Sigh

Totally not true! You can use a clip like a ficcare or a flexi-8 to put your hair up in a peacock twist. That's what I do most of the time as my hair is not yet long enough for most stick and fork styles.

[torrilin]

You're typing yourself as a 2c, and yet you're ordering wooden combs to only be used on dry hair? I see an awful lot of curly haired women report getting massive breakage from trying to detangle dry hair. Mostly I see them describing their routine as involving detangling wet, with a ton of conditioner still in their hair.

While my hair is (comparatively) very straight, I find the same ideas work well for minimizing breakage on my own hair. I do most of my detangling by fingercombing my conditioner soaked hair.

[archel]

I don't know what my hair type is. It was curly yesterday and barely wavy today after air drying the exact same way. I'm at a loss.

[archel]

Blazing heart, I have looked for Ficare type clips and haven't seen them around. I don't want to be ordering tons of stuff online...any ideas of places to look?

[archel]

Oh and thanks - I have octopus clips and even the flat ones give me the most terrible headaches. Sigh! They're cute too...

[justgreen]

Flexi-8 (http://www.flexi8.com/)'s are much more affordable.

[BlazingHeart]

Flexis are indeed much more affordable than a real Ficcare.

I have a fake Ficcare type clip (a fakkare, in LHC-speak) that I got at Rite-Aid for I think $5 that does quite nicely for a peacock. I actually like it better than my real Ficcare, because it's lighter weight, though it doesn't have teeth like a real one so the hold isn't as secure. I'm going back and forth on letting go of my Ficcare on the swap board because I don't use it much at all. You can buy the real thing at Nordstrom's if you don't want to order things online.

Flexis, to my knowledge, you really have to buy online. They used to go to craft faires in California, but the last time I was at one they used to attend, they weren't there.

Edited to add: The disadvantage to buying them at Nordstrom's is you won't get as many color varieties by far. I'd advise looking at both the Nordstrom's and Ficcare websites to get an idea how big the difference in variety is. If you don't want to order from their website, you can always do an ISO (in search of) post on the Swap Boards and see if you get any offers, provided you don't mind buying from individuals. I got my Ficcare off the swap boards. Also, Nordstrom's has at least the medium Maximas clip (which is the most popular variety) on sale now through August 1.

[Alvrodul]

Actually I haven't used anything with protein in over a year (literally), so I am wondering if that is my problem! I had thought the breakage was from heat, but my virgin growth that I have not blow dried or flat ironed EVER has breakage too! So today at Marshall's I picked up a Rusk product called Cure (I am picturing Robert Smith using this after teasing and spraying the hell out of his mop top). It has protein, B vitamins, etc. It's a rinse out you use after shampoo and before conditioner, so I tried it today after my clarifying shampoo with Giovanni 50:50 Balanced and then used the Cure, and then the 50:50 conditioner, which feels amazing.

I did an SMT a few days ago and it made my hair so greasy and lanky. I did something wrong, obviously...

I am wondering if catnip might help?
I would definitely suggest that you try it! From what I understand, it should give your hair moisture, and probably also help with your breaking ends.

[archel]

Well, can I just use my kitty's stash in a tea ball or what? LOL Considering both of them have had fits trying to get the lid off this can, I am wondering what reaction a rinse on my hair will get! LOL

[Alvrodul]

Information is here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=476)! Hope it will work for you!
(And I also hope the kitties won't be too unhappy with you for stealing their catnip!):D