What does damaged hair look like?

[MicheleClaire]

I was talking to a friend about my appointment for a small hair trim next week and we were discussing damaged hair. She said that when you run a comb through your hair, the place where it gets stuck in a tangle is where you should cut, because everything below that tangle is damaged.

That can't be true, can it? Tangles don't equal damaged hair! I have a few split ends that I'll be trimming away, but what other hair qualities are signs of damage? I'm not sure how much to trim off my hip length mane.

[RapunzelKat]

I was talking to a friend about my appointment for a small hair trim next week and we were discussing damaged hair. She said that when you run a comb through your hair, the place where it gets stuck in a tangle is where you should cut, because everything below that tangle is damaged.

That can't be true, can it? Tangles don't equal damaged hair! I have a few split ends that I'll be trimming away, but what other hair qualities are signs of damage? I'm not sure how much to trim off my hip length mane.

Oh dear, if this is true I would have to shave my head to get rid of all my damage! :eek: :eek: Well, ok not literally, but I do have tangle issues....

I'm fairly sure that tangles don't necessarily equate to damage. Ends that are split, bent, or have white dots are damaged. I can usually tell what portion of my hair is damaged by the feel of it - my ends are rougher and feel somewhat straw-like compared to the rest of my hair.

[NymphSpirit]

Damaged hair... for me it's when you run your fingers through it and it feels rough... like... sandpaper :D I guess you notice because it feels different from the rest of the hair, and not even oils or deep conditioning can make it feel like the rest, that's what I consider damaged hair :)

(Oh and a little thing my friend used to do to determine if her ends were damaged was grabing her hair.. may be 10cm from the tips and see if it stayed up or went down, if it stayed up then she considered it "straw hair")

[Zesty]

I get tangles in my bangs sometimes, and they're certainly not damaged! Even though excessive or unusual tangling can be caused by damage, tangles generally kind of come with the territory of long hair.

Individual hairs are damaged if they are split or have white dots. Hair overall can be damaged if it looks dull, rough, "like candy fluff," or it feels rough and dry. But that can also just be plain dryness and not damage, so the best way to tell is to look for splits and white dots, IMO.

[xoxophelia]

Damaged hair... for me it's when you run your fingers through it and it feels rough... like... sandpaper :D I guess you notice because it feels different from the rest of the hair, and not even oils or deep conditioning can make it feel like the rest, that's what I consider damaged hair :)

(Oh and a little thing my friend used to do to determine if her ends were damaged was grabing her hair.. may be 10cm from the tips and see if it stayed up or went down, if it stayed up then she considered it "straw hair")

I agree for many people this^ is absolutely correct. However, I just want to point out that for those of us with M/C to C hair, it does just stand up much more so than finer hair. So, even when my ends are healthy they will stand up. There is a little bit more flop to them when they are not dry though.

To the OP, the look of damaged hair depends on the individual head of hair. My hair has some shine when it is healthy but it is never super shiny. It is duller though when it is damaged. And for me, the rule your friend said would be true. My hair only regularly tangles if it is very damaged. For others that is not the case.

There are also LHC members who get many splits regardless of how healthy their hair is. So, get to know your individual hair. That will let you best know when it is damaged (how? follow some LHC guidelines for healthy hair for a few months and compare your roots to the rest).

[jacqueline101]

If its damage I wouldn't have any hair left and neither would anyone else.

[Pierre]

If I comb and hit a tangle, and it's at the ends of all hairs involved, then I cut it off, figuring the ends are damaged. If there's hair beyond the tangle (not counting a shed strand whose end is in the tangle), I try to pull the hairs through the tangle, or pull strands apart with my fingers, until I can reduce the tangle to tips, and then I cut it.

[Lissandria]

In response to the OP sometimes the symptoms of tangling you're describing occur also if ones hair is simply dry not necessarily damaged or if there is a protein/moisture imbalance. Just something to think about. As said above some hairtypes are more tangly than others.

[beachgirlla]

damaged hair = very dry very porous hair, like mine :rolleyes:

[Amber_Maiden]

Many people have healthy hair that gets easily tangled.

Damaged hair depends on the person, but mainly splits are a sure sign of it.

[ClassicalBlonde]

My hair tangles easily when it is healthy but it tangles like MAD when it is damaged. I had a bad cut around a year ago so I have a lot of damage, and for me that means dry ends that stick out everywhere, lack of shine and it seems to be more brittle.

[ChristyCheryl]

To me: damaged hair = split ends. Hard to brush for me can mean protein overload, not damage.

[almond]

This would explain why my hairdresser chopped my hair to shoulder length all the time, no matter how long and how damage free my hair was :confused:

[bubblyredhead]

I think with some people their hair just splits, I get a fair amount of splits I always have from the time I was a kid when all I did was wash condition brush and put it up till the present day.

[ravenreed]

I have wavy hair that loves, loves, loves to tangle. It isn't damaged. It is wavy and a little coarse.

[Carissamarie08]

damaged hair looks like mine. lol

[Helix]

I'm sure it means different things to different people...

To me damage to hair is anything that can't be reversed like heat damage, split ends or white dots at the ends of your hair, (you have to snip those off to get rid of them).

I don't equate tangles with damage because they are simply hairs that have intertwined with each other and can be untangled (if you can reverse it, it probably isn't damaged). However, in some instances constant tangles can be an indication of damage, (Split ends for example will catch on other hairs and cause tangles), but they are just the symptom and not the actual damage.