Sooo my ends are dry.

[FallingDarkness]

I don't use any leave in conditioners. :/
When I do hot oil treatments, I do the same as you do, YamaMaya, but I just shampoo it out, and I never oil when wet. I actually did so just the other night, and it didn't seem to help all that much...

[FallingDarkness]

I don't use any leave in conditioners. :/
When I do hot oil treatments, I do the same as you do, YamaMaya, but I just shampoo it out, and I never oil when wet. I actually did so just the other night, and it didn't seem to help all that much...

[FallingDarkness]

Double post, oops. Sorry!

[tigereye]

I agree with the clarifying/chelating, especially if you use cones or live in a hard-water area. Before I discovered my SLS allergy, I had both, and my ends were like straw (when I lived with my parents - they ended up moving from our hard-water unchlorinated private supply to the soft-water public supply purely because the older folks that lived near my parents were getting high rates of kidney stones directly related to the hard water. My hair improved with the change).
Cones locked out moisture for me, instead of locking it in, so try clarifying to get rid of excess.

And nightbloomings panacea truly is a minor miracle worker.

[QMacrocarpa]

If I'm not getting instant tangles or other velcro-y symptoms that tell me splits and breakage are on the way, I don't bother to trim when my ends feel rougher/dry.

[Johannah]

My hair was really dry to. I just clarified and my hair is soft right now. So I definitely second the clarifying thing.

[Firefox7275]

I don't use any leave in conditioners. :/
When I do hot oil treatments, I do the same as you do, YamaMaya, but I just shampoo it out, and I never oil when wet. I actually did so just the other night, and it didn't seem to help all that much...

Dont confuse aesthetic feel with improved condition, there is overlap but they are not one and the same. Penetrating oils (eg those rich in lauric or oleic acid) affect the cortex of the hair by increasing elasticity and reducing porosity. That may affect behaviour but not the feel of the cuticle if you are shampooing the excess off. Non penetrating oils may well do absolutely nothing if you shampoo them out, penetrating oils may do nothing if you don't leave them long enough (research is overnight to twenty four hours on dry hair).

Also don't expect instant gratification, that is silicones in commercial products, few functional or penetrating ingredients will work their magic in one treatment. If you want the cuticle to feel better and be patch repaired use ingredients that do this: hydrolysed protein, ceramides, 18-MEA and panthenol.

[G1ll]

Have you been doing anything different to your hair? Just baby it for a while. If you find nothing works, you might have to cut it. My ends were dry and i was trying a whole bunch of things to help them out. Unfortunately, nothing worked for me. So i just cut it. Feels 100% better now.

[höpönasu]

My ends are about 1" dry and it really crunches a little. I do oil soakings 1-2 a week but nothing helps. I think they are also a bit damaged from my earlier bleachings and heat styling. I see only one way to get rid of them and that's cutting but they won't bother me as much when I s&d a lot and micro trim too. When I'm at my goal lenght I will start maintaining and getting rid of them.

[meteor]

If the ends are dry, but not splitting, you can try:
1) clarifying (and possibly chelating, if you have hard water),
2) SMT or another intensive moisturizing treatment with humectants,
3) oiling (heavily pre-poo and lightly after) and leave-ins rich in oils, ceramides, silicones, 18-MEA, hydrolized proteins amino acids, peptides.

I don't think you really need a trim, unless the hair is splitting ... it could just be just seasonal dryness, which requires heavier products. Also cover your hair with silk when sleeping or putting on a hat. Silk is way less absorbent than cotton or wool or many other materials, which can help your hair keep moisture/oils.