What did I do to my hair NOW?

[Nedertane]

So, right now, I'm having a REALLY bad case of Velcro-ends and some slight breakage. I haven't done anything different to my hair routine, like adding more heat or anything. They only real source of mechanical damage that I can think of is when I was trying to get a bit of rubber cement out of my hair, and I DID see a few breaks. Could it also be the result of more protein in my diet? Please help, I'm kinda scared. :(

[Kiwiwi]

I'm sorry to hear about your hair problems.
I have a few questions.
You say you didn't add more heat. Does that mean you do use heat? How often? Because one can use heat for a while and the damage can show a lot later.
Did you clarify? You may have buildup causing the velcro ends.
Do you trim/dust? How often? Maybe not enough trimming/dusting can cause this feeling in your ends for you.
I don't think the protein in your diet right now has anything to do with the hair that's already there. Especially your velcro ends.

I can't really help you yet without knowing these answers :-)

[Nedertane]

Well, I do use a blowdryer, but very little of it, and it's set to cold and stays there, anyway. I don't know if it REALLY counts as clarifying, but I did more of a "heavy" shampoo yesterday and today (I normally use diluted shampoo, and I did it twice cause I oiled a lot last night). As for trimming, I just had a trim about a month ago (and haven't seen new splits since!), and I've had to keep away from the scissors at the moment to keep from over s and d-ing.

[Madora]

A clarifying shampoo removes buildup and is so marked on the label.

Neutrogena makes one and you can find a reviews about it in the Reviews section (grey menu bar. Look under "A" anti residue..not "N").

[Nedertane]

Hm. So, you're saying it NEEDS to be marked as such? Not that I mind getting another shampoo, I just like to save money where I can. (^^")

[maborosi]

That's interesting...did you used to use heat? When my hair was around your length, a bit shorter, I guess, that's when my hair went to split-city because the ends of the hair are old, and mine had been subjected to some serious abuse (bleach, chem dye, daily straightening, curlers, hairspray...etc) and the damage didn't rear its ugly head until my hair had grown out. It made me feel sad because I thought I was doing great stuff for my hair.

I trimmed the damage off and eventually my hair didn't split as much.

~maborosi~

[Nedertane]

Um, I did use a warmer setting with it for a good while, but it still wouldn't touch my hair until it was about 75% dry. My hair was fine before yesterday, though. I'm really thinking it's got to do with that glue...

[maborosi]

Um, I did use a warmer setting with it for a good while, but it still wouldn't touch my hair until it was about 75% dry. My hair was fine before yesterday, though. I'm really thinking it's got to do with that glue...

Hmmm...it does sound like the glue could've caused breakage, for sure. But the splits is a mystery to me.

If your hair is splitting, though, the best thing to do is to cut the splits off before they cause any more trouble. It sucks, but it might be the best thing to do for your hair.

~maborosi~

[Littlewing13]

Try a henna/cassia gloss. My hair loves it! The ends are way velcroey, but the henna/cassia closes the cuticles & makes it feel nice for a while.

[Nedertane]

Since it's a gloss, it wouldn't change the color, would it?

[Fairlight63]

I don't think that protein in your diet could cause your hair to break off. Protein in your diet is good for your hair. Protein in your shampoo & cond. can be bad though.
What shamp. & Cond. do you use?
Maybe your hair is too dry & needs more moisture. The heat in the house right now can be very drying to the hair. I wear my hair up all of the time now, then at night wear a silk sleep cap. It makes a big difference in the feel of my hair.
If I was you, I would clarify my hair. Then put on a good moisturizing cond. maybe do the SMT treatment, then put a few drops of olive oil on hair while wet or damp.

[Littlewing13]

Henna gloss - yes. cassia - not unless your hair is blond, it may stain gold/strawberry otherwise.

[holothuroidea]

I second the recommendation to clarify. If you don't want to buy new shampoo you can use baking soda and vinegar/lemon juice.

I use 1tsp of BS in 8 oz of water, and a 1:4 dilution ACV in water. You can use regular white vinegar or lemon juice if you don't have ACV.

I don't think your diet is affecting your ends, as they were created a long time ago.

[PixxieStix]

Exactly what Holothuroidea said, you can use baking soda to clarify. Now, if you haven't done that before, please keep in mind that your hair is going to feel like STRAW right afterwards, so don't freak out, that is normal. After you rinse out the baking soda/water mix (I leave mine one for a minute or two before rinsing out), then you want to do one of the diluted AVC/vinegar/lemon juice rinses to fix your scalp pH, and then rinse that out, and then you'll be ready for a good deep moisture treatment! After that you'll have a good idea if anything is wrong with your hair, or if it was mostly just buildup. I like to oil my ends too just a smidge after washing, usually with coconut oil, but other oils can work too.

[Amber_Maiden]

Could be that the damage you had is just more apparent now.

[Nedertane]

CRISIS AVERTED, EVERYONE!

I did a thorough shampoo of my ends last night (SLS-free), just to make sure there wasn't any rubber cement, or anything else in there. Then, I doused it in my mom's leave-in conditioner (it's almost exactly the same as the one I've been without for a while). It seemed to have recovered, but I still wasn't sure. But this morning, I did my normal extra-light wash, and it's pretty much back to normal, save for a smigeon of excess oil. :D

So, I think that glue was the culprit (curse these college art projects!), and was just needing proper moisture, and telling me to get my old leave-in back lol. But I'll remember everyone's advice if this happens again. Thanks for the help, you guys are so sweet. :)

[holothuroidea]

So glad your hair is back to its normal self!