4a's and b's is this normal? Pics attached! Help me pleaaaasssseee!

[Endlesslegs]

Hi everyone,

Im at my wits end. Please have a look at the attached, do you lose this much hair in only three weeks? I had double the amount displayed this weekend but I didnt manage to take a picture as some were in the shower.

On the floor

in my palm

Its about the size of a gold ball


So my question is, what can I do to reduce this? Its been going on for a good 6 months now and although my hair still looks thick, I have lost so much hair and Im scared to lose even more. I have lots of short broken hairs and its really getting me down . I feel like I cant even touch my hair without long strands coming off. My hair is ALWAYS dry, I mean ALWAYS arrgh! It never feels like 'cotton wool' more like straw!

My hair in a fro

Straightened- I feel like my breakage is more reflected here, my ends are not too great despite me getting them trimmed last month.

Here is my regimen:

my hair is canerowed for a month under a lace wig which i take off weekly
Wash once a week with a non sulphate shampoo
Deep condition with moisturising/protein conditioner (alternating weekly)
Use porosity control after each wash to close cuticles
Moisturise hair daily alternating between keratin green mist and a moisturising spray leave in from aussie

thats it. Sorry my post is so long but Im so tired of the breakage. is this normal for 4a's/b's?

If not, please what are ur recommendations? thanks lovelies

 

[DaR3alM3]

No ma'am, half of that first picture is what I usually shed after a coupla days. That looks like alot of hair to shed in a week, since you say you do wash every week. Hopefully the ladies will get to chiming in I wanna know too.

 

[Christelyn]

How are you drying your hair? Are you combing dry hair? If so, that's a definite no-no for 4-naturals. You also might want to look into what kind of combs you are using. You might want to invest in some seamless combs. Also: what's the name of the poo and cond you use?

 

[Americka]

On average, humans shed between 50 and 150 hairs a day. This could be your season to shed more than normal. Do these hairs have a white bulb at the end? If so, it is indicative of shedding. If not, then it is probably breakage. But the amount in the pictures is not a significant amount to me! Not for a three week period. I think when hair is in a ball it is a bit deceptive, particularly if your hair is on the long side as yours is. I washed my hair today and the total amount of hair lost was double the amount in the first pic. I hadn't "combed" my hair in about a week or so, therefore I was not surprised. HTH!

 

[GreenD]

I shed about that much in a month's time (if not a little more) after I take my braids down. It's no alarm to me, as I understand that I haven't combed/detangled my hair in 3+ weeks. For some reason shedding doesn't bother me, as I worry when I don't shed any hair.

 

[200AndOne]

I don't think its a TON of hair to lose, but I understand your concern. My initial thoughts are that you may want to reduce the protein (keratin mist) and increase the moisture you're adding. I've never tried the aussie leave in, but you may want to consider something creamier (some folks swear by CareFree Curl, SCurl, etc. - I like Hawaiian Silky 14-in1), or maybe even a spray bottle with water, condish and some EOs (others use rosewater, aloe vera juice, etc.). Just noticed also, doesn't appear that you are sealing in the moisture you're adding with any type of oil? Maybe that would help some too.

 

[classychic1908]

I think right now you need to focus on getting your moisture level in check. This is what works for me.

I cowash with a cone free conditioner (Nature's Gate jojoba, I also like to add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teapsoon of apple cider vinegar, it detangles like a dream).

Use a deep conditioner (Aubrey Organics White Camelia) as a leave in. It's ok to be heavy handed if your hair needs it. I apply lots of leave in to my hair in small sections for good coverage ( like a relaxer).

I seal this moisture in the same small sections with a heavy oil like castor oil or my new fave if your hair is super dry: a mixture of castor oil, aloe gel, and glycerin.

Plat or twist your hair in a few big sections until at least partially dry. (I find this helps the moisture to really penentrate the hair shaft)


Spray hair with aloe juice (not gel) and glycerine (equal parts) on a daily basis and seal with the castor oil mixture. Don't be afraid to really wet your hair with the spray.

This reggie is based heavily on humectants... If you live in an area with low dew points this may not work too well. But this routine has solved my moisture issues hands down. No overly expensive products to buy, and it's simple to do.

Good luck and happy hair growing!

 

[missbritt1986]

I don't think its a TON of hair to lose, but I understand your concern. My initial thoughts are that you may want to reduce the protein (keratin mist) and increase the moisture you're adding. I've never tried the aussie leave in, but you may want to consider something creamier (some folks swear by CareFree Curl, SCurl, etc. - I like Hawaiian Silky 14-in1), or maybe even a spray bottle with water, condish and some EOs (others use rosewater, aloe vera juice, etc.). Just noticed also, doesn't appear that you are sealing in the moisture you're adding with any type of oil? Maybe that would help some too.

I agree. Oil is missing for sure. Try coconut. It changed my life. I use the Aussie Hair Insurance leave in. Love it because it has aloe vera & castor oil. I only use it after washing though. Maybe you need to scale back on the protein too. Focus on moisture & oil. Are you using a wide tooth comb, & are you combing too often? I try not to comb if I don't have too.

 

[MizzBrit]

looks normal to me..id actually be thankful to have that little come out after 3 weeks..

 

[lolascurls]

I'm not natural but I'm transitioning. Whenever I get that much hair loss I try to make sure:
1) it is shedding (white bulb at the root) not breakage.
2) balance moisture: protein. I would totally add more moisture to your hair. You can try clarifying first to remove any excess protein (as this can prevent anything else penetrating), then moisturize. Either try a moisturizing Deep conditioner or a water and glycerin spritz for your hair regularly! Too much protein can lead to dry, break-prone hair!
HTHs!

 

[Daughter]

In all honesty, that's about as much as I lose in about say, 2 weeks - I usually shampoo every 10 days or so, and in that time I keep my hair in twists so I figure it's shed hair that ends up on the floor/comb. Having said that, I'm ever learning to be more gentle in the way I handle my hair.

How do you protect your ends? My moisturising reggie is v simple, I just have glycerin and water in a spray bottle that I use each day, and I seal with castor oil. Been doing this pretty consistently since September 2009 and my hair doesn't feel as dry. I don't know where you live, but are you protecting your hair (esp the ends) from the coooold winter weather? I wasn't always diligent with this and ended up with crunchy hair, but this winter has been different

Hope I made some sense and I hope that helps!

 

[glamazon386]

It looks about normal to me too... I shed about that much when I don't comb for an extended period of time.

 

[Daughter]

I seal this moisture in the same small sections with a heavy oil like castor oil or my new fave if your hair is super dry: a mixture of castor oil, aloe gel, and glycerin.

Plat or twist your hair in a few big sections until at least partially dry. (I find this helps the moisture to really penentrate the hair shaft)


Spray hair with aloe juice (not gel) and glycerine (equal parts) on a daily basis and seal with the castor oil mixture. Don't be afraid to really wet your hair with the spray.

That's pretty much what I do, except I must try aloe juice someday...

 

[Endlesslegs]

Thank you SO much for your responses every one! I dont know how to multi quote but I'll try to respond to questions raised.

Regarding sealing with oil: I use castor oil to seal before cornrowing my hair the first time but after that I dont really seal until my next proper wash weeks later. I figured sealing was unnecessary since my hair is in plaits. I will do now though.

Re: Ends

I always try to baby my ends. but sadly I have quite a few broken hairs in that pile. Remember, thats not all I lost. I lost about double that size!!! Thats only from blowdrying

I also used to manipulate my hair weekly but now I keep my hair cornrowed for three to four weeks at a time. I never comb dry either. I always detangle with conditioner and only really comb using the blowdryer attachment.


Honestly guys, my ends gross me out. Am I being silly? Please tell me ur honest opinion on the state of my pictures!

 

[Nonie]

No ma'am, half of that first picture is what I usually shed after a coupla days. That looks like alot of hair to shed in a week, since you say you do wash every week. Hopefully the ladies will get to chiming in I wanna know too.

If you shed half that after a couple of days, then in a week you'd shed that times 3 plus a 1/4 that, so I don't think OP's shedding is a lot. Shedding a 100 hairs a day is the norm so to me OP's shedding is nothing to write home about. Not if that's been shed over a week, let alone THREE which is what I think OP said.

ETA: OP, if you would try S Curl as your moisturizer, I think you'd discover that your hair can really be soft. Do a search for how folks use S Curl and try one of those. I don't know if this has been mentioned but I think your keratin leave in is definitely one thing that could be giving you hard hair. Also when you DC with protein, do you follow with a moisturizing conditioner right after? (If you've already addressed this, please ignore.)

 

[Endlesslegs]

I think right now you need to focus on getting your moisture level in check. This is what works for me.

I cowash with a cone free conditioner (Nature's Gate jojoba, I also like to add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teapsoon of apple cider vinegar, it detangles like a dream).

Use a deep conditioner (Aubrey Organics White Camelia) as a leave in. It's ok to be heavy handed if your hair needs it. I apply lots of leave in to my hair in small sections for good coverage ( like a relaxer).

I seal this moisture in the same small sections with a heavy oil like castor oil or my new fave if your hair is super dry: a mixture of castor oil, aloe gel, and glycerin.

Plat or twist your hair in a few big sections until at least partially dry. (I find this helps the moisture to really penentrate the hair shaft)


Spray hair with aloe juice (not gel) and glycerine (equal parts) on a daily basis and seal with the castor oil mixture. Don't be afraid to really wet your hair with the spray.

This reggie is based heavily on humectants... If you live in an area with low dew points this may not work too well. But this routine has solved my moisture issues hands down. No overly expensive products to buy, and it's simple to do.

Good luck and happy hair growing!

Hi! thanks for your post, your regimen sounds good and I think Im going to adopt it! A few questions though.

Do you not get build up using a deep conditioner as a leave in? I normally use a creamy leave in like silicon mix or lacio lacio.

Do you shampoo at all?

thanks!

 

[Endlesslegs]

If you shed half that after a couple of days, then in a week you'd shed that times 3 plus a 1/4 that, so I don't think OP's shedding is a lot. Shedding a 100 hairs a day is the norm so to me OP's shedding is nothing to write home about. Not if that's been shed over a week, let alone THREE which is what I think OP said.

ETA: OP, if you would try S Curl as your moisturizer, I think you'd discover that your hair can really be soft. Do a search for how folks use S Curl and try one of those. I don't know if this has been mentioned but I think your keratin leave in is definitely one thing that could be giving you hard hair. Also when you DC with protein, do you follow with a moisturizing conditioner right after? (If you've already addressed this, please ignore.)

Hi Nonie,

Thanks for your reply. Ive tried using S-curl before but honestly it made NO difference. I also tried wave nouveau. They both felt like there was a slimy coating on my strands and bizarrely my hair still felt dry! I mean after about an hour it felt like I hadnt moisturised at all! I always try to use a moisturising dc after washing. For example today I used elasta qp dpr post wash.

I will retire the keratin leave in. I only started using it three weeks ago because I thought i needed something for the breakage. I have one inch broken off sports in my crown which leads me to conclude that my hair is breaking intensely. Most of the strands in that pile are very long but not all have the white bulb

 

[Mook's hair]

looks normal to me..id actually be thakful to have that little come out after 3 weeks..

Yeah, Looks normal to me too.

Mine is about the same for that amount of time. sometimes maybe even a little more.

 

[classychic1908]

Hi! thanks for your post, your regimen sounds good and I think Im going to adopt it! A few questions though.

Do you not get build up using a deep conditioner as a leave in? I normally use a creamy leave in like silicon mix or lacio lacio.

Do you shampoo at all?

thanks!

You're more than welcome! I almost never shampoo. I avoid cone based products and the only time that I shampoo is if I use cones for flat ironing, which is maybe twice a year.

I don't have build up issues, but I cowash weekly and if my hair is feeling a little heavy, I use plain water to spritz it or I just cowash in five days instead of seven. My hair is coarse, and has dry and poofy tendencies. It's not easily weighed down. Plus white camelia is largely oils unlike some DC's that are cone heavy.

Everything I use will rinse out with a cowash.

 

[frosty]

I'm permed and with my ng I use sta-so-fro to soften my hair. I like the way Tracyee detangles her hair. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZxWhw_a0eY
I've been living in braidouts for the last 2 months. I like the way chinablk does her braidouts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA-VQBvQQ_0

 

[Pooks]

Hey OP, the amount of shedding in your pics looks average to me - I experience a similar amount when I take out my plaits/twists after having them in for 4 weeks or so. I sympathise with your anxiety if there are spots where your hair has broken off to 1 inch though :/ Hope the advice to up moisture will help.

 

[Daughter]

BTW EndlessLegs - how hot is the blow dryer you use? Are your protective styles causing stress on your crown area causing it to break, ie too tight plaits/canerows?

 

[Nonie]

Hi Nonie,

Thanks for your reply. Ive tried using S-curl before but honestly it made NO difference. I also tried wave nouveau. They both felt like there was a slimy coating on my strands and bizarrely my hair still felt dry! I mean after about an hour it felt like I hadnt moisturised at all! I always try to use a moisturising dc after washing. For example today I used elasta qp dpr post wash.

I will retire the keratin leave in. I only started using it three weeks ago because I thought i needed something for the breakage. I have one inch broken off sports in my crown which leads me to conclude that my hair is breaking intensely. Most of the strands in that pile are very long but not all have the white bulb

Did you use the S Curl with other products? I think that's the mistake people make. I've suggested to a few people who said that to try it with nothing on. But be warned when you apply it do damp hair, it dries up hard. I think that's where many give up...but that's a mistake too. Instead after a day of wearing my hair styled when I touch my hair again and feel the crispness, I apply some more to soften it and make it easy to comb, then plait it and baggy for the night. In the morning, not only is it soft but it's also so easy to comb. And this time it doesn't dry up crispy. It stays soft and it isn't sticky. I think if you really do a search for S Curl threads, you will see many reporting that they find, to their surprise, that S Curl is not sticky at all (I personally would not use if it were), but is instead very water-based. My hair stays soft and moist w/o being sticky. And I usually don't have to reapply again until washday, as long as I baggy every night. And I never got to bed without plaiting my hair so that goes without saying. And trust me, I used to have rough hair:

I don't anymore

 

[Endlesslegs]

thank you all, i'll definately try the tips outlined


Daughter, im at a loss. my protective styles are not tight so i dont understand the breakage. i also blowdry on medium heat normally. i'll start keeping a hair diary now

 

[Janet']

In all honesty, that's about as much as I lose in about say, 2 weeks - I usually shampoo every 10 days or so, and in that time I keep my hair in twists so I figure it's shed hair that ends up on the floor/comb. Having said that, I'm ever learning to be more gentle in the way I handle my hair.

How do you protect your ends? My moisturising reggie is v simple, I just have glycerin and water in a spray bottle that I use each day, and I seal with castor oil. Been doing this pretty consistently since September 2009 and my hair doesn't feel as dry. I don't know where you live, but are you protecting your hair (esp the ends) from the coooold winter weather? I wasn't always diligent with this and ended up with crunchy hair, but this winter has been different

Hope I made some sense and I hope that helps!

ITA- I just re-did my rollerset on Friday after two weeks and had about that much hair...at first, I was concerned, but then after really thinking about things and putting things in perspective, I realize that I had not combed or really manipulated my hair for two weeks, so although I'm sure that I could be doing a little better, I'm not too alarmed.

 

[Uber]

that would be a heck of a lot of hair for me. I would cry if I saw that amount of hair. I used to get that much if not more blow drying etc every two weeks. I get a fraction of of what is in your palm (from the comb) and a fraction of what is on the floor.

i attribute this mainly to careful detangling in sections and a seamless comb.

but from reading everyone's posts it seems we are all different

 

[BeautifulFlower]

You'll are blessed. If you saw how much of my hair comes out after a week you'd be shocked. My hair balls are 3-4 times that size. And the longer my hair grows, the bigger the ball gets.

 

[DozenRoses99]

In my opinion, it does look like a lot of shedding/breakage for the thickness of your hair. I agree with the others who mentioned cutting down on the protein. I only lose that much hair if i've used a lot of protein and/or my hair does not have enough moisture.

 

[Vashti]

What sort of comb do you use? You should use a wide toothed comb and preferably a seamless, bone comb. Also, as someone asked earlier do you comb your hair dry, because that can cause massive breakage for ladies with type 4 hair. Also, combing your hair too often can cause breakage too.

You might want to try a hot oil treatment with either olive oil or virgin coconut oil. I've read that coconut oil especially can help with damaged or breaking hair.