help! my hair has changed!

[nymbuss]

hi. it's a bit awkward being in a lhc, since my hair is short (very). ive had it waist length almost my entire life - long, thick, shiny hair. but then i turned 17 and wanted a change, so i cut it (myself, in a bathroom, with a razor) pixie - asymmetrical and dyed it pink. then i dyed it several colours - red, purple, brown, blond, red again, cut it a million times (at a hair salon or by myself- sometimes i did a pretty good job and if not, i always had as an excuse the popular asymmetrical cut).

recently ive started growing it again, but its very thin (the amount of hair and a hair's thickness as well, probably from all the chemicals i poured into it). also, the scalp has always been normal, a bit greasy. ive tried henna and i liked it. but i got a bit tired of the colour so i tried to remove it with lemon juice (first time with no conditioner) and i think it burned my hair and possibly my scalp, because ive never had such dryness and dandruff. the dandruff might be the cause of a cone shampoo my stylist recommended, that worked just fine for hair loss, but gave me the flakes. also, ive noticed some dryness after using a colorless henna (dont recommend it to anyone, anything that has additives in it is bound to mess up the hair). ive now switched to something natural - a herbal shampoo without any synthetic ingredients. i also use kallos conditioner (because of the dryness, i havent used conditioner for about 5 years, just olive and castor oil-leave in as a treatment for hair loss) and seldom vinegar rinse. and no blow dryer for about 8 years, but whats the use...

long story short. i have never experienced dandruff, dry and thin hair. i know the changes are also due to another hormonal stage im in, but im a bit scared ill never be able to grow the length i used to have. (im at shoulder length now). i was thinking about henna-ing it again, just to cure the dryness, but i dont want to have to keep dyeing it just to keep the colour difference from showing.

any advice, please?http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

[CurlySasha]

Honestly, you'll probably have to cut off a lot of it. ALL the damage. I know it hurts, but it'll be the last time you have to do such a drastic cut.
Once your hair is cut and healthy(or healthier), start treating it really well. No heat, no dyes. You might like to try a no-cone, no-sulfate, or even water only routine. Oil your hair often (I like olive oil or coconut oil). Read up on lots of ways to treat your hair well.
If you're concerned about thickness or growth, you could try something like scalp massages, perhaps with a product like castor oil.
Good luck, and I hope you get your beautiful hair back! :D

[katsrevenge]

ACV rinse for dandruff/itchy scalp.. as for the hair... you could baby it and trim the growth away each month to replace with healthy hair or you could snip it all off at once.

I henna regularly.. both because I love the color and because it controls ezema/dandruf/itchy scalp.

Right now I'm trying a mix of castor and EVOO rubbed into my scalp once a week an hour before shampooing to see if that helps any. It helped clear my face up.. so we'll see. It's also good for hair.

I'd suggest reading the hair care for newbs in the articles section too. LOTS of info there.

[luxepiggy]

Honestly, you'll probably have to cut off a lot of it. ALL the damage. I know it hurts, but it'll be the last time you have to do such a drastic cut.
Once your hair is cut and healthy(or healthier), start treating it really well. No heat, no dyes. You might like to try a no-cone, no-sulfate, or even water only routine. Oil your hair often (I like olive oil or coconut oil). Read up on lots of ways to treat your hair well.
If you're concerned about thickness or growth, you could try something like scalp massages, perhaps with a product like castor oil.
Good luck, and I hope you get your beautiful hair back! :D

I disagree - the above would probably be excellent advice for a curly, but most of it is unlikely to work well for thin 1a hair.

[oktobergoud]

Honestly, you'll probably have to cut off a lot of it. ALL the damage. I know it hurts, but it'll be the last time you have to do such a drastic cut.
Once your hair is cut and healthy(or healthier), start treating it really well. No heat, no dyes.
Good luck, and I hope you get your beautiful hair back! :D

I agree with this. I know some won't, but I do speak from experience. When I joined this board, after a few months I cut my pixie again, supershort this time to get rid of all the damage. I had bleached it platinum for a year and it was FRIED! Cutting it was a really good decision for me! Yes, it was a bit painful and hard, but my hair was so much healthier!

I have bleached my hair platinum several periods of time. The first time was so many years ago and I bleached it from black APL hair to platinum white. I had to cut it into a pixie, it wasn't even an inch long!! It was beyond fried, thin and when I put my hand through my hair, my hand would be full with hair!

It will grow back though, don't worry! I feel my hair isn't as thick as it used to be, yet, but it definitely has gotten so much thicker already! But I did cut all the damage...

It's all up to you! I'm not saying you NEED to cut your hair, but if I were you, I'd do it. I never regret my cuts because they made my hair feel and look a lot better. I know there are a lot of things you can do for your hair to make it feel better, but when it's really damaged (from chemicals) there is no way you can 'fix' that. Then again, I have no idea how damaged your hair really is, only you know :)

Anyway, good luck! And don't worry, your hair will get better and thicker again, but it will take time!

[luxepiggy]

Welcome to the forum, nymbuss! (^(oo)^)/"

Your hair sounds a lot like mine - I'm a 1a too :) Can you tell us a bit more about your hair as well as your current routine? Are the strands fine, medium, or coarse? What kind of wash routine & frequency are you currently using? Do you use any products on your hair between washes?

Worry not! When I first arrived on the forum, I was really concerned about my dry, thinning hair too. With a bit of TLC, your hair will soon be on its way back to its former thick, shiny glory (^(oo)^)v

[Khiwanean]

How long is your hair now?

I think the most important thing right now is getting your scalp rebalanced. Straight lemon juice can be really drying and I'm betting that's what upset your scalp so much.

I would start by clarifying your hair. Neutrogena anti-residue is an often recommended clarifing shampoo here. Follow that with a moisture treatment, like an SMT (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128) and reassess from there.

[NymphSpirit]

I think you should just let it rest; try benign neglect. If you keep doing things to your hair then it wont get any better. Oh and henna won't 'cure' dryness, an frankly if you don't want to keep dying it then I'm sure it wouldn't be a good choice either.
Truth is the hair that is already damaged probably won't get any better, and I talk from experience. Baby your roots as much as possible and then trim often until you get all virgin hair. Of course you can try oiling, cassia, and many other natural things that could make the best out of the damaged hair, but ultimately, hair that has been abused wont ever be same as never/gently touched hair.

Welcome and don't feel awkward, many of the beautiful people here with kilometric manes started the same way you did :)

[lapushka]

I'd stop dyeing it first and foremost. No, not even henna! I agree with those who've said to cut out the damage. Whether you do that slowly, inch by inch, or in one go is totally up to you, but it's the only way to get rid of that much damage... and it's a lot of damage.

[Roscata]

Sorry to hear about your hair issues. *big hugs*

recently ive started growing it again, but its very thin (the amount of hair and a hair's thickness as well, probably from all the chemicals i poured into it).

Believe me when I say I have been there. I abused my hair and scalp with chemical dyes for about 10 years and I lost a lot of thickness. The only thing that helped me stop the horrendous shedding and get my hair thicker has been Neelibhringadi Ayurvedic Hair Oil (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=34344), but I hear good things about Castor oil (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=18265) as well although it never worked for me (I see you're testing it out right now). There are other options such as rooibos tea, iodine, MSM and monistat but none of those are used specifically to get thicker hair, they are usually used to get faster growth (I'm just giving you options).


ive never had such dryness and dandruff. [...] gave me the flakes

I suggest a scalp scrub (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=87690&highlight=scalp+scrub) for the flakes and dryness. You may also want to consider using a big of oil on your scalp as a leave-in (just a few drops), my recommendations are: jojoba oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil.


ive noticed some dryness after using a colorless henna (dont recommend it to anyone, anything that has additives in it is bound to mess up the hair).

"Colorless henna" does not exist, henna ALWAYS colors the hair ~red. Cassia Obovada is sometimes referred to as colorless henna although it is NOT a henna plant. Cassia does tend to dry out the hair at first for some although it is used as a conditioning treatment (it confuses me too, lol) but it is also said to cure dandruff. Cassia can be bought in pure form with no additives whatsoever, I like these two sites HennaSooq (http://www.hennasooq.com/organic-cassia-obovata/) (favorite) and mehandi (http://www.mehandi.com/shop/cassiaobovatabuy.html).

i know the changes are also due to another hormonal stage im in, but im a bit scared ill never be able to grow the length i used to have. (im at shoulder length now).

Changes in hormones can definitely affect the thickness of your hair, that can't be helped but I doubt you won't be able to grow your hair long because it is thinner than before. If your hormone issue gets solved you will see improvements in your hair.


i was thinking about henna-ing it again, just to cure the dryness, but i dont want to have to keep dyeing it just to keep the colour difference from showing.

If you used colorless "henna" how do you have a color difference? And I thought you said the "henna" dried out your hair and you want to use it to cure the dryness? I'm confused.

If you plan on using Cassia to cure dryness I strongly suggest trying a moisturizing gloss (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=154).

Other suggestions: try conditioner only washes (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=18) that should take care of your dryness issue.

Good luck in your hair journey! :)

[nymbuss]

whoa, i didnt expect so many answers so quickly. ill try to answer all the issues, hope ill manage.

last summer i returned from a 5-months exchange program in southern spain (very dry weather). my routine there was castor oil at the roots (for hair loss, and it works! - provided that you do it on every wash) and olive oil on the length - leave in all night and wash in the morning. i know it sound a bit icky, but i used a plastic foil to wrap the oily hair and a towel to keep it warm and prevent the dripping on the pillow. as for shampoo, i used clear dandruff for men - i know we have different hair, but it gave my hair volume and shine. i had been using it for about a year or two, but then i realised it became the primary cause for hair loss. oh, and also i only washed once a week - now i do it once every 4 days, because i have a different shampoo and ive notices its the optimal interval.

even with the olive oil treatment, my hair was very dry and i got rid of all of it until december or so. meanwhile ive tried WO, but ive given up after 2 weeks. im sorry, but i got college, and all the girls are so girly and squeaky clean, i felt so dirty even washing the hair once a week. also, the water where i live is really hard, so WO would leave residues that no vinegar rinse could remove...

after achieving brand new hair - no treatment, no dryness, no nothing, a friend of mine recommended henna. i combined it with coffee (half and half, vinegar, an egg yolk and a bit of honey) to get a colour closer to my natural one - and it kind of worked (there was just a small difference). after 2 treatments with normal henna - about one month apart, i started using that cone shampoo (something petroleum based, it is said to thicken the hair and prevent hair loss, which it does, but also gives you a lot of dandruff and really bad itches - it had laureth sulfate :( ). as i didnt want to keep colouring my hair, but i wanted the henna effects (on the scalp and hair), i tried the colourless henna (or cassia obovada, as Roscata suggested).

then i tried to remove the red from the normal henna by using lemon, like i previously mentioned, and its pretty dried up now. im using a placenta hair mask from kallos, which i read on the forum that has 2 cones, but for the time being ive been using it on my length and prevented the building up with some vinegar rinse. ive already used it twice and it looks promising, but im planning to go cone free for good.

so back to the topic, sorry for the long story, i thought i had to clarify some aspects. ill name just the people that raised different issues, talk about common topics altogether (hope i dont offend anyone XD)

1. castor oil and oils in general. castor oil is great, helps with hair loss and thickens the hair, but its very difficult to have a constant routine :(. in the end its one of the best treatments, so i think im going to start doing it. ive tried applying coconut oil on both wet and dry hair, but even if i put a small amount and spread it on my fingers, some strands will be greasier than others. i also tried with argan and almond oil (which are completely liquefied at room temperature, spread better and also have pretty good effects), but i encountered the same problem. i hear everybody puts on oil, must be me then...

2. cutting it off - im going to be patient and remove it bit by bit, ive already cut a lot of it to remove spanish climate effects and i feel like im not gaining any length. i think its the best solution - and also using in parallel conditioner and oils, to see if i can save some of it. @Oktobergoud, thanks for sharing your experience, i guess theres hope after all for people with colouring mania XD

3. @Luxepiggy im not on my usual routine now, because of the exchange program (i couldnt find my products in spain), my hairdresser (use this shampoo, she said, it will be fun, she said) and mostly, my own fault. usually i use a liquid Softsoap, i wash the hair once or twice, curl it up and cover it with a towel for 10 minutes (i also change the towel if it gets wet - the usual stuff). thats it, nothing else on - benign neglect, as Nymphspirit said. i comb it with a wide-tooth comb from tips to roots - just to untangle it. as for drying it, i...uhm... bang my head... ive done it for a very long time (about 8 years) - helps a lot if you have really long hair, dries really fast :D i guess many people do it, but if not, this is how i roll: first i rotate it in both directions - like a helicopter, then (head down), i bang it up and down, and finally (head up) sideways. i know it may sound a bit traumatic for the hair, but you dont do it rocker-style (hardcore headbanging - to harm it) and not constantly (about 5-10 movements to air it out, then you let it chill for a few minutes, then repeat). it may take a bit longer, but at least you dont harm your hair with heat and you get a bit of volume (your length will smooth it out, no worries, ive been there). oh, and also staying a bit head down will increase blood flow to your scalp - all the more happiness and nutrients to your hair. @ Khiwanean, ive read a thread about honey and it said it dries and lightens the hair a bit (it contains a substance similar to peroxide, but obviously in a very small concentration). im going to try it though, a small quantity cant hurt, and the combination with aloe and conditioner is sure to moisturise. will do the clarifying too, to get rid of the build up.

4. type of hair. this is another weird thing about my hair. on my temples, its very fine and it breaks easily - i think im going to have to do layers to cover this flaw up (although i hate layers!! - im all for classic, straightly cut hair). also i think this may also be due to the way i sleep - on the sides (ive used for a while silk sheets, but i didnt notice any difference). on the top of my head its medium and lately its been coarse, because of the lemon. also, because of the castor oil treatment - where i would part my hair into 3 sections, i have 2 partings on the sides of my head i cant seem to get rid of. i have been trying to temper them by using centre of more moderate side parting, but its been almost an year now and they dont want to go away...

5. length - ive had some layers and ive cut them all at once - sometimes the stylist does stuff behind your back and you cant argue until its too late. its about shoulder length (and very thin in the front). im going to try to upload some photos on a random website (i dont think im allowed to attach photos yet) to see my old length (16 years - before the radical cut), the pixie period and the recent length.

6. @Roscata: i am definitely going to try your options for hair growing (at least to hurry the 'getting rid of the damage' process). as for the henna, i used the red (normal) one and i liked the effect (from this i got the colour difference, but not too big, because i used coffee). on the colourless one's box also said henna, but besides cassia (which i clearly remember having looked up on the web) it had some other herbs... i will ask the lady from the store to give me more details and ill get back to you. you said cassia dries up at first - does it get better after a while if i apply it repeatedly? also, about the hormones :D i was wondering whether my hair changes are also due to growing up (from a kid - ive had thick hair my entire childhood - to an older teenager - im 21). has any of you noticed such significant differences?

thats about it, i think. thank you for the advice and hope to have a sustainable collaboration:joy:

[Roscata]

ive read a thread about honey and it said it dries and lightens the hair a bit (it contains a substance similar to peroxide, but obviously in a very small concentration). im going to try it though, a small quantity cant hurt

People usually microwave the honey until it bubbles up in order to kill the peroxide (10-30 seconds), that should help out with the dryness too. Careful though honey is a humectant which can cause frizz in humid weather.

(at least to hurry the 'getting rid of the damage' process)

To deal with damaged hair I suggest reading these two articles:
Damaged Hair: Understanding, Preventing & Rehabilitating (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79)
Keeping Split Ends At Bay: Secrets of Gently Handling Your Hair (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=8) (also good advice for avoiding breakage)

you said cassia dries up at first - does it get better after a while if i apply it repeatedly?

No. It does leave a build-up behind just like henna which causes dryness until it gets washed out properly. To avoid the dryness you can use conditioner only to wash it out of your hair and follow up with an SMT or your favorite deep conditioning treatment.


I'd like to add a big thank you for replying to our/my response(s) and I hope my advice helped. Please feel free to ask, message or add me anytime. I hope it all works out for you. :)

[nymbuss]

alritey, sorry for taking so long, but the pictures are finally here! you can see them here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109148520430608452457/albums/5739469607045941057. first one is from my blue period (guess the movie), and the third one is the current length.

as for an update, my hairs doing a lot better, i tend to panick a lot.

so ive tried the scalp scrub you guys recommended (with coconut oil) and its not that itchy anymore. i still have flakes, but i cant expect to get rid of them only after one massage.

ive been using the placenta hair mask (this is, i believe, the fourth time applying it) - i leave it on for 30 mins, rinse with cold water and ive noticed its getting a bit heavier - might be from the build-up (?). anyways, i will give up on this as soon as i notice complete recovery from dryness. also, i put on coconut oil on wet hair (not that its hot outside, its liquid and easier to manage) and the first 2-3 days i keep it tucked in, to maintain it moist (so i read somewhere on the forum). also, loved the honey tip! my hair does feel better, but i guess its from all the treatments combined.

as you can see from the current length picture, the hair in the front is thinner and finer than the rest of the scalp. i guess its from the teasing (when i washed it once a week, i would tease it to hide the greasiness, eww) and the braiding and the playing. i now have a wide tooth comb and ill try to neglect it a bit. from now on, its all in my head, control - control!

thanks, everybody!:joy:

[Roscata]

I'm glad to hear your hair is doing better! :)

And off topic I saw the name you have next to your photo and wanted to add: Imi place numele tau. :D

[nymbuss]

[offtopic] hah, so my secret has been revealed. oddly, i dont have enough privileges to contact you...

[Roscata]

[offtopic] hah, so my secret has been revealed. oddly, i dont have enough privileges to contact you...

Sadly you have to wait until you get 25 posts to be able to see profiles, send private message and add people. But I will leave you a comment on our profile to remember me when you have that many posts (I can't add or message you either until you have 25 posts). :D

[BlazingHeart]

Okay, first off, I looked at your pics - you don't have thin hair. It may be thinner than it was before, but I'm looking at the third pic (which you said was current) and there's a lot of hair there.

Second, I'm not sure you're understanding what we mean by coarse. It's not that it feels rough to the touch, it's that the individual hairs are very thick, like sewing thread.

Most people have fragile hair at the temples - I've got a clump of maybe 20-25 hairs that never get more than about 4" long. Now, if you want to hide that, why not cut in a couple of face framing wisps instead of full-on layers? It would serve the same purpose but be a lot less cutting.

For the flakes and itching, if you don't mind the possibility of a little bit of lightening, I very highly recommend using chamomile tea on your scalp. It's the last thing I do when I shower - I shampoo, conditioner, ACV rinse, and then chamomile tea rinse. I like the way it makes my hair look like I've been in the sun a bit, so I sometimes leave it in. At the very least, leave it on for about 5 minutes (what's perfect is to put it in and clip your hair up, then wash your body, then rinse it out). It's an awesome scalp-soother.

For the dry, rough hair, you really should check out the SMT recipe here - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128. It's probably the favorite treatment for hair that needs some TLC.

If you want encouragement on growing out your hair, there's a thread for people with short hair growing it back out here - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=18405.

Oh, and the less-thickness-than-before thing - once your hair is healthy again, you may have a SLIGHT loss of thickness from what you had in your teens, but it shouldn't be major. I'm 28 and my hair is very nearly as thick as it was in my teens, and that's despite some major health-induced sheds (I have hypothyroidism, and any time my medications aren't in balance, I lose a lot of hair). It's probably just the damage making your strands smaller and causing more of them to break than they would when they're healthy. Wait until your hair healthy, un-dyed hair is shoulder length before you determine that your hair is actually thinner.

~Blaze

Anyhow, welcome!

[jacqueline101]

I'd say a trim is in order if your hair is damaged really bad. You can trim a little at a time so you won't lose your length.

[nymbuss]

@blazingheart: alright, so i measured my hair (like in the instructions for hair types) and i have a thickness of 6cm minus the bangs (which arent very thick, but still there). i guess i had this idea stuck in my head that if my temples look thin, they determine the overall thickness. so its normal (ii), 1a (when i use conditioner and leave it hang or blow dry it, sometimes its b, because of the head banging) and fine at the temples, medium overall. gonna update my profile as well.

i was also thinking about cutting the front strands shorter, but everytime i do - after 2 or 3 weeks - i decide that i hate layers and cut all the length in the back to even it. i guess i think that if i get to a certain length, the front strands wont be so abused by the pulling into a pony tail, bobby pins etc. im going to take your advice about growing the front ones and see how they behave overall - maybe i reach a maximum length like i think you did and ill do the whisps thing. [im also going to search for a picture of my old temples thickness, to show the difference].

so i rinsed with chamomile last night. feels a lot softer (my water is very hard, this also contributes to scalp dryness, so i left it in). the scalp already has less flakes, because of the coconut oil massages and vinegar rinses, but im going to stick to chamomile too - it itches less. im also trying to get rid of the henna, so im going to do some more (but gentle) lemon - conditioner masks to dissolve some of the color...

i also have some hormonal problems (hypo thyroidism as well, and im in between treatments, looking forward to see the effect of the new pills). hair thinning (and alopecia) might also be due to the high quantity of testosterone in the blood, because i cant see any other significant effect.

@jacqueline101, i trimm every 3 months - my stylist is really nice and understands she only has to cut 1-2 cm. ive lost a lot of length 2 trims ago, when i cut out the layers (i evened the longer strands with the shorter ones in the front). cant wait to pass shoulder length !!

@roscata - one of the reasons i wanted to message you was to ask you about some hair products (dont know how long youve been away, but maybe you remember). i try not to experiment new products unless recommended (and even so, they dont always work, like this shampoo which gave me flakes).

[Silverbrumby]

[QUOTE=nymbuss;2106157]
recently ive started growing it again, but its very thin (the amount of hair and a hair's thickness as well, probably from all the chemicals i poured into it).

Just checking on the 'thin' do you mean you can see through to the scalp more than before is just the length part say 1 inch out from the scalp thin?

You must have a ton of breakage so that would be why it's feeling thin.

The good news is that genetics don't change. You have a terminal length which the hair will grow to and if you once could grow your hair to waist you can again.

Bad news. Sometimes there are a few conditions which can change the texture and thickness of hair. I have thyroid disease and it's changed my hair but I think most of the change for me is age related. Age makes a difference to growth rate and thickness for some gals. I'm one of them.

Good news is that if you are under 43 age related changes are probably not the issue.

I agree with the following:

* stop using dye on the hair.

* do either cut of the new growth each month or go for a more major cut. Try cutting it to chin if pixie is too much.

* do try the conditioner, aleo and honey treatment on your hair.

* do try conditioner only washes or get a sulfate free shampoo. Loreal make a range of them which I like.

There is a lot of great advice here on the site. It saved my hair. Just try a few simple things at a time. Stop dying, do get sulfate free products, take a deep breath and know that the length you once had can be yours again.

Can't wait to see photos of your hair as you bring it back to life.

P.S. ~ When I first joined I had a hair thickness of 2.4 inches or 6cm. I had no bangs. Now my hair is up to 2.75 inches or 7cm(?)

[Silverbrumby]

Oops, just saw your reply. Sorry for the repeat of information.

[my2cats1]

You're getting a lot of great advice here; I just wanted to add a reminder to care for your hair internally, too -- make sure you're getting enough protein and "good" fats, vitamins, etc. I noticed a difference in my hair when I added more fish oil into my diet.