Should I Cut? Hair Quality Issues.

[RavenBaby]

I have shoulder length dark blonde hair with about 2 inches of root (root colour brown). I'm upset because I got my ends trimmed late january and my ends were fine then, now I'm looking at my ends in the light lately and I see split ends and many breakage points (dots on the hair strand where if i pull it, the "bend end" breaks off") This is very frustrating for me as I'm desperate to grow long hair. In 2013 I got lowlights to tone down my blonde (late jan... It had 10% peroxide in the lowlights) and in 2012 and late 2011 I got my length bleached twice and a couple T bars. (last bleaching was september). I need advice because each time I ask for an ends trim I notice more breakage on my new shorter ends weeks later. What is the healthiest choice for my hair? Should I cut an inch off all over (even my layers) as many strands have these breakage dots near the ends? I hate the dry feeling of my ends but I want length so bad.. what should I do?

[Kherome]

First, I would quit with all the bleaching. Then, personally I would get an all over trim and be nice to my hair until the bleach damage grows out. Do you oil? Use cones?

[nobeltonya]

I second Kherome's suggestion. You can microtrim every few weeks until all of the damage is gone. That way, you're not losing a lot of length. Regularly oil, try a leave-in, and definitely stop bleaching.. Kherome, your hair looks awesome!

[ladylowtide]

If you have fragile hair, any amount of peroxide let alone bleach might be responsible for the problems you are having. Or it could be that the place you are going to is trimming your hair with dull scissors, which can create more splits, though I think this is quite unlikely as hair stylists are usually very fastidious about the condition of their shears.

I would probably cut at half the rate that you grow per month so that you can still see some progress but eventually get rid of your chemically processed hair.

[RavenBaby]

I can't stop the bleach completely because I need to make my blonde length match my roots (which are virgin hair), I'd say that I need 2 more set of full head lowlights on my length to make it match well, the salon I go to only does lowlights with 10% peroxide and I can't afford any other salon plus i want to make the lowlights last.

I don't oil, does it make a big difference?

By the way it's mostly bent ends and breakage dots that are the ends about to break and only a very small amount are actually split ends where the ends are split.. I wonder if that means anything D:

[kittengirl]

Personally I would let the virgin hair grow but not get more lowlights. I highlighted when my hair was shorter and had the exact problem you are having. Now my ends are quite strong and very very rarely break or split. You may have to put up with an annoying color for a bit in order to attain healthy length.

[Anje]

Just curious -- why bother matching your hair? The "Ombre" hair thing is in right now. You can rock that with minimal additional coloring.

Because oils don't do a whole lot for my hair, I'm less inclined than many to recommend them. I do suspect, though, that your hair is in need of moisture and quite possibly protein to help keep it healthy and minimize the breaking from here on out.

For protein, I'm not terribly experienced because my hair dislikes it a bit. In general, reconstructor treatments are useful. Joico K-PAK is often recommended by people whose hair needs protein, as is one of Aphogee's treatments. Another favorite around here is to mix a tablespoon of low-sodium soy sauce in a cup of water, pour it through freshly shampooed hair. Let it sit for a while, then rinse it out.

Immediately after a protein treatment, you're going to want to moisturize heavily. They typically make hair dry, even though they do strengthen hair that's lacking in protein. Furthermore, protein-treated hair tends to be more able to absorb moisture than untreated, in those people who need protein. For moisture, I'm a fan of our SMT recipe, but even letting your hair just soak in a moisturizing conditioner for 30+ minutes will do a lot. Repeat moisturization steps frequently and protein treatments occasionally as needed.

[SleepyTangles]

On me, oils do and did a lot for damage. I know nothing can repair damage, but the improvement is big nonetheless.
It slow down new damage, too.
A friend of mine is growing out bleached blonde hair and she can't stay away from her oil (a light oil, made mostly by caprylic triglycerides/coco caprylate, that are very "coney" to the touch). If she doesn't use it at every wash (after s&c), her hair feels very bad.

[TitaniaOfFairys]

Much less bleach damaged my hair very badly - not all of my hair, I had highlights only. I had some layers, and those were highlighted. The first time it was okay, then the second one (and it was 6 months later!), made the highlighted strands become like cotton wool. Expecially when wet, it was nothing like normal hair.
I wanted blond highlights once in my life, but I've never thought that only 2 times will make my hair so horrible.

A very strong protein treatment literally saved my hair. I colored the highlights back to brown, then I used Joico K-Pak deep penetrating reconstructor with every wash (I wash my hair every other day) and the highlighted strands became much more manageable. They were still damaged of course, but I was able to grow them out slowly, with monthly S&D and dusting. My hair grows quite fast, but it was a pain it the *** to grow out the layered strands with the highlights. I still have some damage on my ends, only 2-3 inches, but those are very brittle and tangles easily with the rest of my hair, which is virgin and healthy. But it can cause damage on the healthy strands too.

So I would suggest you protein treatment, S&D, then try to slowly grow them out.

[jacqueline101]

I agree quit the bleach and use a deposit only dye to touch up.