FRUSTRATION: Hair thinning at ends (pics)

[hillytmj]

6 MONTH UPDATE--FRUSTRATION: Hair thinning at ends (pics)

Thank God for progress! Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement. Updated pics taken in March 2012.








Original Post from Oct. 2011

Hi everyone,
I've already cried this a.m., but I wanted to share my feeling among people who would understand so I could move on. I had a lot of shedding in the past two weeks since my relaxer. I washed it last night and took a pic of my WL hair and it is thinned out in the center.

View attachment 127225

I haven't had a major trim since April when I had a bad layered cut. I asked for long layers and the lady cut my hair into two distinct lengths (no layering at all). I've only dusted a few times since and assumed the thinness was due to the drastic differences in my length.

It's been 7 months, and the layers grew out pretty well, but as you can see from the pic, it looks see-through at the bottom, even though the individual strands have caught up with each other and are about the same length.

This is the first time this has happened to me since I started my hair journey 5 years ago. I'm not sure if it’s a combo of my hair being old (longer hair = older hair) or a number of other factors.

· When I wet my hair to wash it last night, it still smelled like relaxer and it was shedding like crazy! I called my hairdresser to chew her out and washed it with a neutralizer shampoo and followed up with a protein treatment. The shedding stopped. I wish I had done this when I first noticed my hair shedding more than usual while it was dry (last week). I waited two weeks to wash after a relaxer because it's so expensive and it looks really fresh.
· I started slacking off on my vitamins since July because I had to take daily acid reflux medicine and a daily antibiotic and I felt overwhelmed with taking so many capsules.
· I also didn't moisturize/seal my ends because it was so humid this summer and I didn't want to weigh my hair down. This was also an effort to not make the drastic layers so noticeable because the two lengths made my hair look thin.
· The only other thing I can think of is that I didn't do a weekly DC, but maybe every other week. I always moisturized after shampooing though, and this routine isn't terribly unusual for me.
· I think the combo of these things impacted my hair. I can't pinpoint one single reason.

I went ahead and trimmed a few inches this am. It looks better but you can still see a clear difference in the thickness throughout. Again, I haven't had see through ends in 5 years.

View attachment 127227

I'm going to trim the rest tonight, so I'll probably be BSL again, which is still a great thing. I'll also get back to the basics. I've been taking my vitamins consistently again for the past two weeks, but I'm even more motivated now. In terms of relaxing, I find it hard to believe that my stylist wouldn't put neutralizing solution on my hair, so I don't know if it wasn't rinsed all the way, etc.

This taught me that I have to stay focused on my reggie, no matter what. I also need to learn to do my own relaxer. Period.

Thanks for reading, listening.

 

[darlingdiva]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Dry your tears, ditch that hairdresser, and start anew.

 

[hillytmj]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Dry your tears, ditch that hairdresser, and start anew.

Thanks for the encouragement. I had to get this off my chest so I can do everything you recommend.

 

[Nonie]

@hillytmj, I'm sorry you experienced this too. You mention a few things you slacked on like not moisturizing ends. Ends start wearing away right after a trim, so the more effort you make in protecting them, the longer the wearing takes to become noticeable. And then if you dust within a short time, you are able to get rid of the wearing part that was about to wreck havoc on your ends, before it has a chance too. That you went long w/o trimming and then didn't moisturize your ends may have had something to do with the wearing away. Also the cut you describe might've exaggerated things.

Just go back to what you've done and don't let "style" interfere with a good regimen. If it ain't broken, don't fix it. *** humidity. Take care of your ends. And if you moisturize and seal with a serum, humidity shouldn't matter at all. Or you could just seal wet ends with a serum. The serum ensures your ends don't lose moisture while at the same time keeping humidity out. And a serum will not weigh your hair down. I used to have the best swang when I used a serum on my relaxed hair. I'd apply it to damp air before styling or before airdrying: smooth, shiny hair that can be whipped.

 

[hillytmj]

@hillytmj, I'm sorry you experienced this too. You mention a few things you slacked on like not moisturizing ends. Ends start wearing away right after a trim, so the more effort you make in protecting them, the longer the wearing takes to become noticeable. And then if you dust within a short time, you are able to get rid of the wearing part that was about to wreck havoc on your ends, before it has a chance too. That you went long w/o trimming and then didn't moisturize your ends may have had something to do with the wearing away. Also the cut you describe might've exaggerated things.

Just go back to what you've done and don't let "style" interfere with a good regimen. If it ain't broken, don't fix it. *** humidity. Take care of your ends. And if you moisturize and seal with a serum, humidity shouldn't matter at all. Or you could just seal wet ends with a serum. The serum ensures your ends don't lose moisture while at the same time keeping humidity out. And a serum will not weigh your hair down. I used to have the best swang when I used a serum on my relaxed hair. I'd apply it to damp air before styling or before airdrying: smooth, shiny hair that can be whipped.

Thanks for the tips, Nonie. So now that I'm doing the major trim, how often would you recommend that I dust? I remember reading a long time ago that Tracy dusts every two weeks.

 

[questionable]

Hi hillytmj...sorry this happened to you. With a little tlc your hair will back to wl in no time. I know you can do it !

 

[mEmYSELFaNDj]

Awh im sorry about your setback. But at least you know what you need to do to get your hair back in the shape you like it. And your hair will be back beyond WL in no time.

 

[hillytmj]

Hi hillytmj...sorry this happened to you. With a little tlc your hair will back to wl in no time. I know you can do it !

Thanks, ma'am. I appreciate the support.

 

[hillytmj]

Awh im sorry about your setback. But at least you know what you need to do to get your hair back in the shape you like it. And your hair will be back beyond WL in no time.

Thank you. I'll be sure to post progess updates as they come.

 

[Nonie]

Thanks for the tips, Nonie. So now that I'm doing the major trim, how often would you recommend that I dust? I remember reading a long time ago that Tracy dusts every two weeks.

I do it every 8 weeks (2 months). Every two weeks seems a little too much IMO, when you consider that all you may gain in that two weeks may be 1/4 inch. So I let my hair grow about an inch then I dust off about 1/4 inch. You will know what schedule works for you when you start to notice that your ends look full all the time and you're still gaining length. Wanakee and Brenda both whose ends look nice and full trim every 6-8 weeks and it was their schedule I have tried to follow. And while I don't even PS or seal, I do find this schedule keeps me from noticing thin ends.

 

[hillytmj]

I do it every 8 weeks (2 months). Every two weeks seems a little too much IMO, when you consider that all you may gain in that two weeks may be 1/4 inch. So I let my hair grow about an inch then I dust off about 1/4 inch. You will know what schedule works for you when you start to notice that your ends look full all the time and you're still gaining length. Wanakee and Brenda both whose ends look nice and full trim every 6-8 weeks and it was their schedule I have tried to follow. And while I don't even PS or seal, I do find this schedule keeps me from noticing thin ends.

Okay, that's sounds about like what I was doing when I dusted on a regular basis, but I wasn't cutting 1/4 inch, more like 1/8 inch. I'll get back to taking lots of pics to track the progress of my ends because they don't lie. Thanks again, Nonie.

 

[kblc06]

I know how you feel- even other people have noticed that my hair has thinned due to shedding . It'll get better soon.

 

[hillytmj]

I know how you feel- even other people have noticed that my hair has thinned due to shedding . It'll get better soon.

Aw, thanks for the hug ma'am. Hope your situation gets better soon too.

 

[Nonie]

Okay, that's sounds about like what I was doing when I dusted on a regular basis, but I wasn't cutting 1/4 inch, more like 1/8 inch. I'll get back to taking lots of pics to track the progress of my ends because they don't lie. Thanks again, Nonie.

LOL hillytmj do you know how hard it is to see 1/8 inch? This --> _ is how small 1/8 of an inch is--hard to even see what you're cutting; more like a speck of dust. LOL I think when people say they dusted 1/8 inch, they really mean a 1/4 inch which is this big: __

I personally think I cut off a little more than that, even though I call it a 1/4 inch. I can't even grasp 1/4 of an inch ie this much__ properly between fingers to be sure I'm cutting that much. I aim for that much but I'm sure I cut more. Doesn't bother me though.

 

[Kn0ttyByNatur3]

I am mad at your stylist. How could she miss some areas of your when washing your relaxer out? So glad you caught it before anymore damage took place.

I hope your hair recovers, OP.

 

[klsjackson]

Hi everyone,
I've already cried this a.m., but I wanted to share my feeling among people who would understand so I could move on. I had a lot of shedding in the past two weeks since my relaxer. I washed it last night and took a pic of my WL hair and it is thinned out in the center.

View attachment 127225

I haven't had a major trim since April when I had a bad layered cut. I asked for long layers and the lady cut my hair into two distinct lengths (no layering at all). I've only dusted a few times since and assumed the thinness was due to the drastic differences in my length.

It's been 7 months, and the layers grew out pretty well, but as you can see from the pic, it looks see-through at the bottom, even though the individual strands have caught up with each other and are about the same length.

This is the first time this has happened to me since I started my hair journey 5 years ago. I'm not sure if it’s a combo of my hair being old (longer hair = older hair) or a number of other factors.

· When I wet my hair to wash it last night, it still smelled like relaxer and it was shedding like crazy! I called my hairdresser to chew her out and washed it with a neutralizer shampoo and followed up with a protein treatment. The shedding stopped. I wish I had done this when I first noticed my hair shedding more than usual while it was dry (last week). I waited two weeks to wash after a relaxer because it's so expensive and it looks really fresh.
· I started slacking off on my vitamins since July because I had to take daily acid reflux medicine and a daily antibiotic and I felt overwhelmed with taking so many capsules.
· I also didn't moisturize/seal my ends because it was so humid this summer and I didn't want to weigh my hair down. This was also an effort to not make the drastic layers so noticeable because the two lengths made my hair look thin.
· The only other thing I can think of is that I didn't do a weekly DC, but maybe every other week. I always moisturized after shampooing though, and this routine isn't terribly unusual for me.
· I think the combo of these things impacted my hair. I can't pinpoint one single reason.

I went ahead and trimmed a few inches this am. It looks better but you can still see a clear difference in the thickness throughout. Again, I haven't had see through ends in 5 years.

View attachment 127227

I'm going to trim the rest tonight, so I'll probably be BSL again, which is still a great thing. I'll also get back to the basics. I've been taking my vitamins consistently again for the past two weeks, but I'm even more motivated now. In terms of relaxing, I find it hard to believe that my stylist wouldn't put neutralizing solution on my hair, so I don't know if it wasn't rinsed all the way, etc.

This taught me that I have to stay focused on my reggie, no matter what. I also need to learn to do my own relaxer. Period.

Thanks for reading, listening.

I'm so sorry this happened to you! Your hair is still beautiful and it will back in no time. I recently had a bad experience at the hair salon. My relaxer was not applied properly, so I ended up with under processed hair that also was not completely neutralized. My hair was healthy APL, and after this strecth, I would have been only 2 inches from BSL. Now I have see through hair from the nape to the ends. The old relaxed hair broke off from the under processed hair. So I feel your pain. I too will be doing my own relaxers from now on.

 

[niqu92]

OMG this is exactly what happened to me except my shedding was due to dominican stylists and birth control

i went from this(it was actually much longer than this)

to this

i cried for daaays ive never had see-through ends in my life but after crying for a week straight i decided to go hard in the paint with my regimen lol so im hoping and praying by this time next year my hair will do a complete 360.

but to look on the bright side,as you can see in my 2nd pic, im gaining some arm muscle with turbo fire lol

 

[luckiestdestiny]

I'm so sorry to hear this. It's unfortunate that relaxing more times (than not) makes you have to depend on someone else. Combine that with your stylist not rinsing the relaxer properly and I think you have your major culprit. But I do think you know what to do, and now it's time to make it happen. I'm sure you'll be back in no time. Perhaps you might want to look into self relaxing? I know tons of relaxed heads do that around here. I can't give any more suggestions because I'm a natural and I can't really advise on how to self relax but I know that it might make you feel like you are in control more so (than the whims of a stylist). I know that I freak out knowing that something major that is my hair...may be in the hands of someone who might make a mistake. Just a suggestion! Or perhaps...another option is to always make sure to do a neutralizer just in case, even if your hair looks fabulous after it's done...go home and double check by reneutralizing it yourself or insisting that she rewashes it numerous times until you are satisfied.

You know what to do though in reference to moisturizing, etc, so really I think it's about applying the knowledge that got you to your length in the first place again and being diligent in taking care of your hair. It'll be back in no time. The biggest problem is always finding out what works for you so you've already done that work and so it's just a matter of time before you get back to your goals. Take care and no more tears! I understand how horrible set backs can be, but I am living proof that you can whip them around (I've had health and stylist set backs and cut back but am now back to where I want to be myself).

 

[Nonie]

Thanks for the tips, Nonie. So now that I'm doing the major trim, how often would you recommend that I dust? I remember reading a long time ago that Tracy dusts every two weeks.

hillytmj Because you didn't mention me, I never saw your question till now when this thread was bumped up. I just jumped on the schedule that Wanakee and Brenda (www.blackwomenrejoice.com) follow of dusting every 6-8 weeks and it works for me. I have locked my schedule into 8 weeks. I'd rather do it sooner than later. At least if I do it sooner, I can afford to take off the tiniest amount and not be worried about leaving splits behind. Because by doing it sooner, I get to my ends before they've had a chance to really get worn down to a visible state. Dusting every 8 weeks has helped me see my hair break barriers it never did before, and I am glad to say the ends look as thick as the rest of my hair.

So you could try 2 months like I do...and take off as tiny as you feel comfortable. If you want to stretch to 3 months, you could, but just know that every time you wait too long, you end up having to take off more. So I personally prefer "prevention" by getting to my ends before the splits have had a chance to do much damage, at which time I can take off just a tiny amount and not have to worry about it costing me much in length.

HTH...and it wasn't too late in getting to you.

 

[hillytmj]

bumping...update posted