I need some encouragement

[C@ssandr@]

Sigh...

Last week, I hopped happily to my stylist to get my touchup at 14 weeks post. Stretching is a regular thing for me. I was expecting to hit BSL since I was APL already. I was sooo excited because my 1st HS reunion is Saturday!
I've been getting my trims and all when necessary. Well, my stylist became quite apprehensive after she blowdried my hair because she was scared to tell me she needed to trim me all the way back to SL (3 inches shy of APL). She showed my how raggedy, yes raggedy, my ends looked through and through. About 2 inches of hair made it all the way down to my bra strap. I was devastated.

Ladies, I took it like a soldier. The cut wasn't the issue, it's just the fact that I have no clue where I effed up erplexed. I haven't had a setback in 2 years!

I can guess that all of the bunning i've done is starting to wreck my ends.
And i'm still on the hunt for a new moisturizer because nothing is working for me. (she said my hair was dry and hard).

What is going on with me? I thought I was reaching OG status by now.

I feel like my regimen is out of control. How would you feel if you were swanging away one day only to realize your reggie was a big fail for the last 3 months? Well, that's how I feel, lol *sigh*

I need a hug

 

[faithVA]

keyawarren, I am sorry to hear about your setback. When I took my hair out of twists last summer I had a similar revelation. I thought I was doing so great but when the twists came out - no good news.

Besides bunning what is your regimen? Do you have a new plan to get back on track? With the new cut does your hair look healthy?

 

[lettieg27]

Im sorry to hear this happened to you. It is devastating to think something you've worked so hard at could fail but like the ladies here always say a setback is a set up for a comeback. Girl when you figure this out you'll be hotter than Britney after her meltdown and baby daddy drama.
Hopefully the other ladies here can offer some advice to help you get back on track.

 

[Prudent1]

keyawarren,
I am so sorry to hear of your setback! I have the same questions Faith is asking. I think once we know a bit more about your regimen and products used etc we can help more. I know you are in a state of shock for the time being with your event coming up and allerplexed. I learned I can't bun or do twist-out/ braid-out for long either. They do not work for my ends.

 

[C@ssandr@]

@keyawarren, I am sorry to hear about your setback. When I took my hair out of twists last summer I had a similar revelation. I thought I was doing so great but when the twists came out - no good news.

Besides bunning what is your regimen? Do you have a new plan to get back on track? With the new cut does your hair look healthy?

My regimen is pretty simple:

I wash my hair 1-2X a month.
Cowash 2x a month (actually only when it's needed).
DC about 3X a month.
I only use my blowdryer about 2x a month. I airdry mostly.

I can get away with this because I don't use alot of products that cause build up.

Renpure con for moisture
Aphogee 2 min for protein
evco+evoo+avocado oil when my hair is needs balance
Trader Joe's Tea tree tingle for CW
Moisturize my ends =
QP mango butter (isn't working since the formula change) Taliah Wajid Mist bodifier (isn't working) QB BRBC (isn't working!)

 

[C@ssandr@]

Honestly, the only thing that seems to have changed drastically was the lack of moisture on my ends. I can't seem to find a product my hair responds to! everything that use to work has a formula change! My last setback was due to experimentation...but that's because I was trying to find what works for me. Arghh. This is so frustrating.

 

[Prudent1]

Have you had any success retaining moisture w/ natural/ raw products?

 

[faithVA]

I am no regimen expert but I didn't see anything in there that would cause alarm. But I am also natural. Even without the right moisturizer for your ends it seems odd that you would damage your ends all the way back to SL.

I know that you said it could be due to bunning but is it possible that your bunning technique created breakage higher up your strands?

Ok - I'm done guessing because you need more expertise than I have. But will help bump this thread up so some relaxed LHCFers come in.

 

[JJamiah]

Sorry for your troubles.

Dudley PCA Moisture retainer is awesome for help with dryness and a little dab will do. when you bun how do you bun? do you pull tight, how do you hold it with pins? are the pins raggid? do you sleep with protective head covering?

Your hair may be dry, are you willing to try weekly cleansing? How about weekly DCing?

have your ends freshly trimmed and let's start again. You can do it!

 

[JJamiah]

I am relaxed;

I use Aphogee 2 minute weekly along with my favorite DC.

I always use a Leave in conditioner and Aphogee green Tea

I relax ever 6 months and get my trims.

I have recently tried to limit my heat, I rollerset and give myself a monthly Blow Dry pass, I have only used that once since April.

I don't use Shampoo. I use hair cleanser and maybe clarify every 3-4 months

 

[Iluvsmuhgrass]

I'm so sorry. It'll be ok.

I want to share something that worked for me. I started to experience breakage and I wasn't sure where I was going wrong. My hair was growing but I had little pieces of hair everywhere (out of the norm) so I did a trim thinking my ends were raggedy. I thought about what I was or wasn't doing... and it hit me. I wasn't consistent. I had stopped using castor oil. When I start to run out of a product, I end up being VERY light handed with it. So I loaded up again via a sale and voila! No breakage, only shed hairs. (I seal damp/moisturized ends with castor oil. A little goes a VERY long way. I've been putting it on the full length and it's made a big difference. My grass is fine but it seems to prefer heavier oils and some products.)


Tweak your moisture regimen a little to see what your hair likes maybe? If Castor is too heavy, try blending it with evoo or try a little coconut oil. I hope everything works out.

 

[C@ssandr@]

Have you had any success retaining moisture w/ natural/ raw products?[/QUOTE]

I am no regimen expert but I didn't see anything in there that would cause alarm. But I am also natural. Even without the right moisturizer for your ends it seems odd that you would damage your ends all the way back to SL.

I know that you said it could be due to bunning but is it possible that your bunning technique created breakage higher up your strands?

Ok - I'm done guessing because you need more expertise than I have. But will help bump this thread up so some relaxed LHCFers come in.

Sorry for your troubles.

Dudley PCA Moisture retainer is awesome for help with dryness and a little dab will do. when you bun how do you bun? do you pull tight, how do you hold it with pins? are the pins raggid? do you sleep with protective head covering?

Your hair may be dry, are you willing to try weekly cleansing? How about weekly DCing?

have your ends freshly trimmed and let's start again. You can do it!

I'm so sorry. It'll be ok.

I want to share something that worked for me. I started to experience breakage and I wasn't sure where I was going wrong. My hair was growing but I had little pieces of hair everywhere (out of the norm) so I did a trim thinking my ends were raggedy. I thought about what I was or wasn't doing... and it hit me. I wasn't consistent. I had stopped using castor oil. When I start to run out of a product, I end up being VERY light handed with it. So I loaded up again via a sale and voila! No breakage, only shed hairs. (I seal damp/moisturized ends with castor oil. A little goes a VERY long way. I've been putting it on the full length and it's made a big difference. My grass is fine but it seems to prefer heavier oils and some products.)


Tweak your moisture regimen a little to see what your hair likes maybe? If Castor is too heavy, try blending it with evoo or try a little coconut oil. I hope everything works out.

Have you had any success retaining moisture w/ natural/ raw products?

the best moisturizer I've ever used was Aloe vera+Saa+Glycerin+Water. I stopped only because I hate spraying my ends because I'm scared of missing spots. I prefer cream. But I might just got back to this

it could be due to bunning but is it possible that your bunning technique created breakage higher up your strands? This could very well be the case. When I bun, I just twist my hair around and use a bobby pin. I use a pony tail holder sometimes, but I am very carefuly with it. Also, I don't use raggedy pins. I get them from Sally's. But I didn't move my bun around...same spot everyday. <----I know better.

do you sleep with protective head covering? Every single night, yessir! This scarf has been good to me for years. But I'm looking into getting a better scarf. I want to nip this in the bud asap!

Tweak your moisture regimen a little to see what your hair likes maybe? If Castor is too heavy, try blending it with evoo or try a little coconut oil. I hope everything works out. You might be on to something! I stopped sealing with my OCM mix (my mix doubles as my face wash and ends-sealer, lol) But since rotating products like a madwoman, I haven't been sealing with my staple product. erplexed

*Sigh*

Thank you guys for the insight. I really appreciate the responses. :heart2:

 

[PJaye]

The first thing that popped into my mind while reading your post was "I wonder how her hair's porosity is doing" because when my hair was having a Saharan moment, PC really did the trick. None of the products I applied to my hair became effective until I was able to get my porosity under control.

Also, what types of leave-in conditioners and sealants are you using, if any? What types of moisturizers have you tried? Does your hair exhibit any type of protein sensitivity?

I'm sorry for all of the questions and that you're experiencing a setback, but what always helps me is an examination each product's ingredients and usage in relation to one another. For me, the culprit is typically erring too far on the protein side of the equation.

 

[mzteaze]

Sorry for your troubles.

Dudley PCA Moisture retainer is awesome for help with dryness and a little dab will do. when you bun how do you bun? do you pull tight, how do you hold it with pins? are the pins raggid? do you sleep with protective head covering?

Your hair may be dry, are you willing to try weekly cleansing? How about weekly DCing?

have your ends freshly trimmed and let's start again. You can do it!

I used to use this on my tired weave. Never on MY hair. Hmmmm I should pull it out again.

 

[C@ssandr@]

The first thing that popped into my mind while reading your post was "I wonder how her hair's porosity is doing" because when my hair was having a Saharan moment, PC really did the trick. None of the products I applied to my hair became effective until I was able to get my porosity under control.

Also, what types of leave-in conditioners and sealants are you using, if any? What types of moisturizers have you tried? Does your hair exhibit any type of protein sensitivity?

I'm sorry for all of the questions and that you're experiencing a setback, but what always helps me is an examination each product's ingredients and usage in relation to one another. For me, the culprit is typically erring too far on the protein side of the equation.

I used my Roux pc a week or 2 before my touch up. See? I'm an OG, lol. I don't use a leave in...haven't in a long time. I've been trying QP mango butter, Taliah Waajid, Qhemet, all listed in my previous post. I don't have a current staple in this area yet. I do have a protein sensitivity. My hair was protein deficient a couple of weeks ago, which made me deploy the aphogee 2 min. Works every time mixed with renpure! I usually seal with castor+olive oil. Guuuurl, I am telling you, I do the same thing....I dissect ingredients and everything. The only thing I can see so far (from this thread I started) is the "keeping my ends moisturized" issue. And that is still a work in progress.

 

[hola_lo2002]

Sigh...

Last week, I hopped happily to my stylist to get my touchup at 14 weeks post. Stretching is a regular thing for me. I was expecting to hit BSL since I was APL already. I was sooo excited because my 1st HS reunion is Saturday!
I've been getting my trims and all when necessary. Well, my stylist became quite apprehensive after she blowdried my hair because she was scared to tell me she needed to trim me all the way back to SL (3 inches shy of APL). She showed my how raggedy, yes raggedy, my ends looked through and through. About 2 inches of hair made it all the way down to my bra strap. I was devastated.

Ladies, I took it like a soldier. The cut wasn't the issue, it's just the fact that I have no clue where I effed up erplexed. I haven't had a setback in 2 years!

I can guess that all of the bunning i've done is starting to wreck my ends.
And i'm still on the hunt for a new moisturizer because nothing is working for me. (she said my hair was dry and hard).

What is going on with me? I thought I was reaching OG status by now.

I feel like my regimen is out of control. How would you feel if you were swanging away one day only to realize your reggie was a big fail for the last 3 months? Well, that's how I feel, lol *sigh*

I need a hug

I feel your pain girl. And yes, bunning probably contributed to your ends breaking. Well it depends on how you bun your hair and with what.

I was in your position few years ago. Imagine... back then, I was rarely using heat at all but everytime I went to my stylist, she kept showing me how nasty my ends were. Like you, I was bunning all the time thinking that I was protecting my hair.

I realised that I was bunning too tight and switched to hair clips that hardly put any pressure on my hair. I also switched hair moisturiser to Qhement Biologics.

Good luck

 

[C@ssandr@]

I feel your pain girl. And yes, bunning probably contributed to your ends breaking. Well it depends on how you bun your hair and with what.

I was in your position few years ago. Imagine... back then, I was rarely using heat at all but everytime I went to my stylist, she kept showing me how nasty my ends were. Like you, I was bunning all the time thinking that I was protecting my hair.

I realised that I was bunning too tight and switched to hair clips that hardly put any pressure on my hair. I also switched hair moisturiser to Qhement Biologics.

Good luck

Which QB moisturizer do you use? The burdock root butter cream is doing nothing for my hair

 

[MariposaSexyGirl]

I'm sorry that happened to you. Hair is always growing and it will be back. :hugs:

 

[blackpearl81]

I am relaxed;

I use Aphogee 2 minute weekly along with my favorite DC.

I always use a Leave in conditioner and Aphogee green Tea

I relax ever 6 months and get my trims.

I have recently tried to limit my heat, I rollerset and give myself a monthly Blow Dry pass, I have only used that once since April.

I don't use Shampoo. I use hair cleanser and maybe clarify every 3-4 months

That is exactly what I do and it has saved my ends....Maybe you should give it a try