Breakage

[rainbowknots]

Ladies I need your help. Over the years I've always had a lot of breakage in the back of my head from wearing ponytails. When I joined the board, I decided to stop wearing them, and instead started pinning my hair up in the back using bobby pins. Now, I notice that I have a lot more breakage then I did when i used to wear ponytails . And I thought I was doing so well. I literally started crying when I saw how bad it was. My hair is barely NL, so I can't bun yet. I don't wear phony ponies, or wigs or anything like that. You ladies have any suggestions?

ETA: And I'm so confused because I'm not even applying a lot of tension to my hair like I used to

 

[Butterfly08]

I use bobby pins, but the giant ones and I LOVE when they get stretched out of shape. That way they slide into my hair easily. I wet bunned all last summer using these big stretched out pins and didn't get any damage. Are you pinning your hair very tightly? Or using those eensie weensie pins? I hate those things and I can see how removing them daily could cause damage.

 

[belle_reveuse28]

Two things that have helped me tremendously---

1. Luckiest Destiny taught me about braiding the hair in a cornrow straight across the back, mainly the nape of the hair, before bed each night and to be sure to wear a satin scarf. This will help the nape grow back in very nicely as well as protect it. If you wear your hair out, when it gets long enough, still wear a braid across the back and let the other hair cover it. It will preserve your nape and help it to stay healthy. This has worked wonders for my once damaged and broken nape... Oh, and another thing, be sure that your nape, before braiding, you apply some moisturizer and seal it with a bit of oil on teh end of the braid. That's also very important

2. Someone else recommended I get "Good Hair Days" hair pins from Sally's beauty supply. You get about 8 or 10 in a pack. They are AMAZING! I was bunning a lot but freaking out because I didn't want to create a demarcation line or breaking point from buning so much in teh same area. So it was suggested I get these. They slide right in adn out of the hair, hold the hair very well, but are very gentle. They help you create nice ponytails and buns without worrying about damaging the hair...

HOPe this helps!

 

[MissNina]

To somewhat echo Butterfly, maybe it has to do with the way you pin and remove them rather than the pins themselves. You have to be just as careful taking them out as you do putting them in. If you just yank them out, intentionally or unintentionally, you can get breakage.

Maybe you should just try co-washing, airdrying and half-wigging it for awhile - no pins. Doing that got me from SL to APL in about 3.5 months.

 

[rainbowknots]

I use bobby pins, but the giant ones and I LOVE when they get stretched out of shape. That way they slide into my hair easily. I wet bunned all last summer using these big stretched out pins and didn't get any damage. Are you pinning your hair very tightly? Or using those eensie weensie pins? I hate those things and I can see how removing them daily could cause damage.

Yeah I'm using the tiny ones, I try to be gentle when I take them out, but sometimes I can feel them snag

Two things that have helped me tremendously---

1. Luckiest Destiny taught me about braiding the hair in a cornrow straight across the back, mainly the nape of the hair, before bed each night and to be sure to wear a satin scarf. This will help the nape grow back in very nicely as well as protect it. If you wear your hair out, when it gets long enough, still wear a braid across the back and let the other hair cover it. It will preserve your nape and help it to stay healthy. This has worked wonders for my once damaged and broken nape... Oh, and another thing, be sure that your nape, before braiding, you apply some moisturizer and seal it with a bit of oil on teh end of the braid. That's also very important

2. Someone else recommended I get "Good Hair Days" hair pins from Sally's beauty supply. You get about 8 or 10 in a pack. They are AMAZING! I was bunning a lot but freaking out because I didn't want to create a demarcation line or breaking point from buning so much in teh same area. So it was suggested I get these. They slide right in adn out of the hair, hold the hair very well, but are very gentle. They help you create nice ponytails and buns without worrying about damaging the hair...

HOPe this helps!

It's not so much the nape (that's the area closest to the neck right?), it's more like in the middle up to my crown.
I actually have some of those pins but I have no idea how to use them . I tried to use them in the same way that I use the bobby pins and it didn't work. I'm horrible at "styling" my hair

 

[belle_reveuse28]

Yeah I'm using the tiny ones, I try to be gentle when I take them out, but sometimes I can feel them snag


It's not so much the nape (that's the area closest to the neck right?), it's more like in the middle up to my crown.
I actually have some of those pins but I have no idea how to use them . I tried to use them in the same way that I use the bobby pins and it didn't work. I'm horrible at "styling" my hair

Oh dang! Ummm... (Im lost for words)... Uhhh yeah, it does seem like teh bobby pins are doing you in... I would go with the suggestion above and start conditioner washing and air drying. Possibly trying to do braidouts. They are MAGNIFICENT and the hair grows a lot during that time. About the Good Hair Days pins, I dont stick them straight in, I put them in at an angle, but gently...