S&D more damage than good?

[sazzie88]

After a recent thread of mine about co washing I took the plunge and had a cut. Not a big one only about half an inch.

A few days down the line my hair is back in bad condition, splits and white dots severely.

Now the ends that she cut are great but all of these split ends are the ones further up that I have previously s&d, there as so many that if I keep s&ding them my hair will just get worse. I would need a good 2 inches off to cut out all the damage.

I have been micro trimming and s&ding for months now but my hair just isn't improving. I really didn't notice all of this damage when I abused my hair and I seemed much happier with it :(

[honeybunnie8]

Are your scissors sharp enough? If you cut with blunt scissors it will cause more damage. You should be using super sharp hair scissors that are only used for hair.

[nobeltonya]

And the ones you are seeing you may have missed before... but if you go overboard with the S&Ding also, your hair will end up uneven. :rolling:

[HintOfMint]

On the off chance that those splits are the exact ones you have S&D-ed yourself, do you use scissors that are specifically haircutting scissors that you only use on your hair and nothing else?

If you use regular scissors, or use them on other things, the blades can dull, leading to a frayed ends when you cut your hair.

White dots, however, cannot be caused by dull scissors. It is likely they were caused by previous damage, whether it is heat, bleach, perm chemicals, friction... etc.

Do you have any damage that you are growing out? There's no way to repair damage, it can only be masked, and then grown out and cut. Maybe you have leftover damage that the trim didn't get to?

[sazzie88]

I bought them from my local capital hair and beauty, ( a hair dresser wholesale) kind of place. Is there any sort of test to test sharpness?

[nobeltonya]

As long as you're only using them on hair, and nothing else, they should be good. :)

[Madora]

You might want to investigate Mineral Oil (aka baby oil) to help keep your hair moisturized. Split ends are usually due to dryness.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=225

Ktani also wrote an interesting article on the benefits of catnip for splits:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=118

[sazzie88]

On the off chance that those splits are the exact ones you have S&D-ed yourself, do you use scissors that are specifically haircutting scissors that you only use on your hair and nothing else?

If you use regular scissors, or use them on other things, the blades can dull, leading to a frayed ends when you cut your hair.

White dots, however, cannot be caused by dull scissors. It is likely they were caused by previous damage, whether it is heat, bleach, perm chemicals, friction... etc.

Do you have any damage that you are growing out? There's no way to repair damage, it can only be masked, and then grown out and cut. Maybe you have leftover damage that the trim didn't get to?

I have dyed my hair previously from dark to blonde, so far I have roughly 3 inches of natural hair. I know cutting is the best idea but it's horrible to go shorter when the goal is longer.

What's funny it is there is only damage at the front of my hair not at the sides of back. It's very frustrating as th eback is growing longer and the front keeps getting trimmed.

[longhairedleah]

are you using sharp scissors? You could just be re-introducing damage as you cut it off...

And if you're, for example, still using heat but maybe gave up cones for your CO washing, you could be damaging your hair more than before because silicones protect the hair from heat....

not knowing more about your hair routine, it's hard to say what's up. S&Ding saved my hair from splits!! I still get the occasional split, but my hair used to be one big ball of split ends!

[sazzie88]

I have just looked and I have splits at the back, do you think I would have splits already if the hairdressers scissors were not that sharp? I had it cut Saturday?

[spidermom]

I've found that no cut can get them all. Even when I got the worst 7 inches cut off, I still had splits and other signs of obvious damage.

It's SO frustrating!

[heidi w.]

The biggest thing in S&Ding is to ensure the scissor blades are really sharp. I originally began with 5.5 scissors from Sally's. Eventually a friend gave me a super nice pair of scissors that are hairdresser scissors, $300 scissors, which I use to cut only my hair, and I use my little scissors for nothing else whatsoever. If the blades are dull, this is not the best cutting edge as it can kind of shred the hair end, leaving it vulnerable to splits. If you have dull scissors, it's best just to toss them and buy a new pair; rather than trying to find someone who really knows how to properly sharpen the blades.

You also need to make sure the downstroke is very smooth and has no hidges or hiccups in a clean downstroke. If that happens, you can put a drop of carrier oil on the hinge screw, work the scissors over & over again, and swipe the screw area clean of the remaining oil. Try to get as under the screw as you can, and don't go trying to tighten or loosen that screw. This can cause unbalanced scissors. A decent pair of is likely between $30-$40 at Sallys Beauty Supply.

How one holds the scissors can affect the angle of the cut. Think of it like a grid. You want straight across and straight down. Bent wrists or leaning hands can contribute to unlevel cuts.

Just stuff to know.

Whatever you do, do not use large scissors nor scissors used for cutting paper or fabric, or other projects (yarn, fingernails, and so on)....

Devote S&D scissors to ONLY cut your hair. And that's it.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

I've found that no cut can get them all. Even when I got the worst 7 inches cut off, I still had splits and other signs of obvious damage.

It's SO frustrating!

That's right. One will never get them all. The truth is that it's somewhat unusual for hair to have absolutely no splits. Some people say they have this situation, but in a number of such people's hair, I've found a split.

The goal is to simply manage the hair you have and the damage, not to aim for perfection. If you do that, you can actually cut so much that one might thin the hair a bit.

This is an attitude thing to look at.

Also do this activity in very strong light such as sunlight, which is the best, or at least halogen light, and work against a backdrop of color that opposes your hair color. Light hair, dark background; dark hair, light background......this helps you to see well. Be careful of the addictive quality inherent to S&Ding.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

I have dyed my hair previously from dark to blonde, so far I have roughly 3 inches of natural hair. I know cutting is the best idea but it's horrible to go shorter when the goal is longer.

What's funny it is there is only damage at the front of my hair not at the sides of back. It's very frustrating as th eback is growing longer and the front keeps getting trimmed.

For this problem, two times in my life, I just kept the overall length trimmed at a certain length and gave a side of my hair time to catch up. In the GM system, these are called weak spots, and I have a tendency for a weak spot in my hair length.

heidi w.

[LadyHazel]

I'm just going to tell the truth I avoid S & D as it makes hair uneven if done on a mass scale and it will grow funny and personally I do think in some people's causes it does worsen the problem and although people may argue with me it is not uncommon in my experience for people to have had a negative result due to search and destroy,

Why are thinning sheers so frowned upon? They make the hair uneven and in some cases prone to damage, the trick to s & d is never to go over board and go to a different stylist your scissors sound fine you bought them from a reputable company

[heidi w.]

I'm just going to tell the truth I avoid S & D as it makes hair uneven if done on a mass scale and it will grow funny and personally I do think in some people's causes it does worsen the problem and although people may argue with me it is not uncommon in my experience for people to have had a negative result due to search and destroy,

Why are thinning sheers so frowned upon? They make the hair uneven and in some cases prone to damage, the trick to s & d is never to go over board and go to a different stylist your scissors sound fine you bought them from a reputable company

If one's hair is so uneven that it's noticeable after removing split ends and other points of damage from the overall length, then you're overdoing it. That should not happen. This S&D thing is not called that in the GM system; I think he refers to it as "microtrimming or dusting" in his long hair care book, and in their salon.

Even they don't overdo it. The one time I went to the Madora salon in NYC/Manhattan, they trimmed off merely two split ends. I didn't ask for any dusting, so they didn't go whole hog, but at the time I knew my hair had far more than just two strands with a split.

The other thing, is that one has to watch the bend of the wrist and the lean of the hand in order to be certain they're cutting one single hair strand at a time straight across and straight down. This is where how one holds the scissors comes in.

heidi w.

[Mesmerise]

I have dyed my hair previously from dark to blonde, so far I have roughly 3 inches of natural hair. I know cutting is the best idea but it's horrible to go shorter when the goal is longer.

What's funny it is there is only damage at the front of my hair not at the sides of back. It's very frustrating as th eback is growing longer and the front keeps getting trimmed.

Honestly, my worst experience with splits came from bleach damage... I am afraid this is your biggest problem! I doubt it's your scissors causing it, especially if they're really sharp. It's more just that the hair is more prone to splitting and white dots because of the overall structural damage. Have you done a protein treatment or some kid of reconstructor treatment? I believe these can really help with bleached hair.

I understand you don't want to give yourself a big cut, but it may mean that you're just going to have to deal with/ignore the splits for awhile!

[pepperminttea]

Honestly, my worst experience with splits came from bleach damage... I am afraid this is your biggest problem! I doubt it's your scissors causing it, especially if they're really sharp. It's more just that the hair is more prone to splitting and white dots because of the overall structural damage. Have you done a protein treatment or some kid of reconstructor treatment? I believe these can really help with bleached hair.

I understand you don't want to give yourself a big cut, but it may mean that you're just going to have to deal with/ignore the splits for awhile!

Agreed. When I was growing out dye and perm damage, even just after a cut I still had splits galore. It's a long road, but you just have to keep trimming until all the damage is gone I'm afraid.

[swearnsue]

When you went to the salon did she style your hair for you with a blowdryer or curling iron? Those white dots sounds like heat damage to me, from my experience.

[sazzie88]

She did use a hair dryer on my hair which could maybe be what's caused it, but as I feared most I think it is damage from bleaching and over processing. It's so horrible because for th least year I have tried very hard to be as nice to my hair as possible and the condition just seems to be worsening :(

[torrilin]

She did use a hair dryer on my hair which could maybe be what's caused it, but as I feared most I think it is damage from bleaching and over processing. It's so horrible because for th least year I have tried very hard to be as nice to my hair as possible and the condition just seems to be worsening :(

In your shoes, I'd be thinking about whether length is most important or condition.

For me *personally* it will always come down to condition. Splits make my hair tangle more, and the tangles I get are worse. I loathe detangling. And the kinds of tangles I get with a lot of splits make my hair more prone to breakage. So I do trim and do some search and destroy, and I do not strive desperately for maximizing my hair's growth potential. Long is nice, but comfortable is the best.

Other people make other decisions, and that's fine too. And you can choose to focus on one more than usual or something... my first year at LHC wound up accidentally being a year of no trims, and I learned a lot by doing it. My normal trim frequency was already in the 6-9 months range, so accidental no trims for a year was not a big stretch. I got to 9 months, and decided to try waiting out the remaining 3.

Another factor is your hair type. Some kinds of hair dye more easily than others. For my hair, dye is not a big deal. I'm sure *eventually* I'd notice the damage, but it is not something easy and trivial to catch. And other hair types, it's positively ruinous. Even if your hair leans towards the ruinous end, there may be stuff you can do if having the "right color" matters a lot to you... it will cost you length over the long haul, but it's really important to have hair that makes you happy. I mean really, why would you sink 3-5 years of your life into a project that's making you miserable? That's insane!

[swearnsue]

If you want to grow your hair out long you may have the kind of hair that cannot handle any heat styling or bleaching. Nothing wrong with having delicate hair, it just limits your options. While your are growing out the old damage you could use cones to smooth out the splits so that you don't have to cut off all your damage. Still S&D, use cones, mild shampoo and clarify once every couple of months and see how it goes?

[luxepiggy]

She did use a hair dryer on my hair which could maybe be what's caused it, but as I feared most I think it is damage from bleaching and over processing. It's so horrible because for th least year I have tried very hard to be as nice to my hair as possible and the condition just seems to be worsening :(

In the course of your attempts "as nice to your hair as possible," did you happen to give up 'cones? If so, I highly recommend getting back on them as soon as possible. All of my hair loves 'cones, but I've noticed that the bleached bits need 'cones - lots of them, applied regularly! Otherwise they get angry :p

[lapushka]

In the course of your attempts "as nice to your hair as possible," did you happen to give up 'cones? If so, I highly recommend getting back on them as soon as possible. All of my hair loves 'cones, but I've noticed that the bleached bits need 'cones - lots of them, applied regularly! Otherwise they get angry :p

What Piggy says! If you by chance gave up cones, with bleached hair, that would be the wrong thing to do!

[sazzie88]

I thinkI might of given up cones :(

Whats so strange Is I used to constamtly bleach dye and abuse my long waist length hair to the point that I was using an iron on the strongest setting in an attempt to get straight hair. It worked and I cant remember hating the condition.

Whats so frustrating is I can brush it but within 5 minutes i cant run my fingers through it.

[Amethyste]

I suggest you to do heavy oiling (coconut, olive, almond which ever oil you prefer) the night before you are scheduled for a wash. I soak my hair in coconut oil before going to bed and in the morning, wash as usual and the hair feels so nice. I still have 1 inch of bleach damage on my top layers and with careful oiling, and baby oil when hair is dry has helped me to keep it under control and look good. I kow it's still there, but soon enough, it will be gone... Something to think about :)

[TiffanieJean]

It sounds like you need a new pair of scissors.