Breakage on thin hair / dry ends, greasy roots / help?

[Symbiotek]

Heyy, I haven't really been active on this forum lately, but decided to ask for your help on a couple things... I fear I might have to do the big chop if I can't solve this soon...

First, my hair type is probably 1b F/M ii, the longest parts are between BSL and WL. There are a lot of individual hairs, but each hair is really thin and silky. I've noticed a lot of breakage near the back of my neck. You know, the hair has broken and is visibly shorter in the middle, and then there's "normal" longer hair on each side of the gap. My hairdresser told me I'd have to cut it all the way to APL/BSL to make it look even.

This picture (external link, not my picture) looks a bit like my situation, just pretend the picture was taken from behind

Do you have any ideas? How can I minimize breakage? Could this be from wearing my hair up im a bun? I've been using invisibobbles (phone cord hair ties) for a few years now, and haven't really noticed this until maybe 6-10 months ago. I wear my hair in a braid or a bun at night, and in a bun pretty much every day, I don't really know how to make any hairstyles or French braids or anything. I wear it down maybe once a week. I don't use heat or any hair sprays or dyes or stuff like that. I oil the ends after every wash.

Which brings us to the other problem I've been having. My hair is kinda dry (but still shiny?) at the ends, but the roots get greasy very quickly. I wash every other day. On wash day, my hair looks nice. The next day, the roots are already getting kinda greasy but it looks okay enough. And the next day, it looks and feels yucky - but the ends are still dry. Fortunately it doesn't get itchy unless I go like 6 days without washing.
I've tried using "calming" shampoos for a sensitive scalp, and they help a little. If I use "regular" shampoos, the roots get greasy in just one day. And because of the dry ends, I have to use really moisturizing and rich conditioners and hair treatments. And as I said before, I oil the ends after squeezing excess water out with a soft towel. The product I use has argan and camelia oils in it.
Should I try products for greasy hair, or would those only make it worse? I've tried CO-washing a few times but it leaves the roots greasy, I'd have to CO-wash more often to make my hair look clean.

Haha wow, that's a long post... But yeah, I'd appreciate any advice!

[mizukitty]

The nape breakage happens to me as well. It's an area that's vulnerable to it, as it rubs shirt collars and pillows and head rests and pretty much everything.

Fine hair is more prone to mechanical damage than other hair types. Changes in the way you handle, detangle, comb and sleep on your hair will make differences. Be extremely gentle when you dentangle and comb. Tangle teezer brushes work well since they have a lot of give, they won't rip the hair.

Have you tried scalp only washes? Your length is indicating it doesn't want to be washed that frequently, whereas your scalp does. It happens to many people. Washing the scalp only will remove those greasies, but you won't compromise the length.

Or, if you really need to wash the entirety, CWC is a good method for reducing drying and wear n tear on the length. Pre poo oiling (coconut) will be beneficial as well..

I'd probably throw in some protein, too. Will make your hair more resistant to breakage.

Good luck!

[lapushka]

If it's really a huge gap, then I would consider cutting back, but if it's just a tiny patch, I'd for sure microtrim.

Do you S&D a lot and cut a lot off, by any chance?

[Symbiotek]

Thank you for replying! I usually only wash the roots/scalp and try not to get any shampoo on the lengths. Maybe the CWC method will help, I'll give it a shot and see if the ends will be a little less unhappy

This is really frustrating. I've been really careful with my hair, and suddenly everything seems to go wrong. And I have no idea what hair habits I might have changed without noticing...

edit: I don't S/D or trim by myself. I visit a hairdresser every 3-4 months and get about 5 cm cut off.

[lapushka]

edit: I don't S/D or trim by myself. I visit a hairdresser every 3-4 months and get about 5 cm cut off.

That's about all your growth that you have cut off every 3/4 months. That's 6-8cm of growth, hopefully, and 5 off. That's a lot!

[Arctic]

Heyy, I haven't really been active on this forum lately, but decided to ask for your help on a couple things... I fear I might have to do the big chop if I can't solve this soon...

First, my hair type is probably 1b F/M ii, the longest parts are between BSL and WL. There are a lot of individual hairs, but each hair is really thin and silky. I've noticed a lot of breakage near the back of my neck. You know, the hair has broken and is visibly shorter in the middle, and then there's "normal" longer hair on each side of the gap. My hairdresser told me I'd have to cut it all the way to APL/BSL to make it look even.

This picture (external link, not my picture) looks a bit like my situation, just pretend the picture was taken from behind

Do you have any ideas? How can I minimize breakage? Could this be from wearing my hair up im a bun? I've been using invisibobbles (phone cord hair ties) for a few years now, and haven't really noticed this until maybe 6-10 months ago. I wear my hair in a braid or a bun at night, and in a bun pretty much every day, I don't really know how to make any hairstyles or French braids or anything. I wear it down maybe once a week. I don't use heat or any hair sprays or dyes or stuff like that. I oil the ends after every wash.

Which brings us to the other problem I've been having. My hair is kinda dry (but still shiny?) at the ends, but the roots get greasy very quickly. I wash every other day. On wash day, my hair looks nice. The next day, the roots are already getting kinda greasy but it looks okay enough. And the next day, it looks and feels yucky - but the ends are still dry. Fortunately it doesn't get itchy unless I go like 6 days without washing.
I've tried using "calming" shampoos for a sensitive scalp, and they help a little. If I use "regular" shampoos, the roots get greasy in just one day. And because of the dry ends, I have to use really moisturizing and rich conditioners and hair treatments. And as I said before, I oil the ends after squeezing excess water out with a soft towel. The product I use has argan and camelia oils in it.
Should I try products for greasy hair, or would those only make it worse? I've tried CO-washing a few times but it leaves the roots greasy, I'd have to CO-wash more often to make my hair look clean.

Haha wow, that's a long post... But yeah, I'd appreciate any advice!

Is this the longest your hair has been? I ask because some people seem to naturally have this kind of growth pattern, several of our members have it. It needs regular microtrimming I imagine, to grow evenly. Some of your hairs might have shorter terminal length, or they grow slower.

If it's a new problem (you have had blunt hem before at this length), then have you moved recently? I have seen our members have this kind of damage from hard water (usually after moving to a hard water area from soft water area).

Other kind of damage is of course possible, but if your hair really has this much broken off then something is quite seriously wrong.

Do I remember correctly that you are in Finland? Maybe I (or other Finns) can give you product recs.

[Symbiotek]

That's about all your growth that you have cut off every 3/4 months. That's 6-8cm of growth, hopefully, and 5 off. That's a lot!

Yeah. I get about 1,3 cm of growth a month. Before this whole breakage thing, I only had to cut about 2 cm, but it slowly became more and more. And now it's been 5cm for a few months. And it's still not enough I think I'll have to chop off quite a bit, but I don't want to...

[mellsss91]

Just trim the ends regulary with those sissers. I just gow to my ends and find those split ends and cut them off.
Also oil the ends Every single day.

!!

[Symbiotek]

Is this the longest your hair has been?

If it's a new problem (you have had blunt hem before at this length), then have you moved recently?

Do I remember correctly that you are in Finland? Maybe I (or other Finns) can give you product recs.

Yeah, Finland. I live in an area with extemely hard water, but I've lived here a long time. This is the longest hair I've ever had. I had no problem at BSL, and I'm currently maybe 10 cm past that (because I've had to cut off so much). Something happened that caused breakage, and I honestly don't know what it could be! Other than that I got into my first-ever relationship about a year ago, and along with it, got a new nocturnal activity. But a pillow can't cause that much damage, can it?

Thanks for the idea, mellsss91, I'll try oiling the ends every day instead of just after washing. Maybe they'll get less frizzy

[Symbiotek]

Here's a picture of it, at this very moment. It just air dried after washing and I detangled it with a comb. As you can see, it looks rather unhappy...