.::Lead Hair? or Split End?::.

[Your Cheeziness]

@Your Cheeziness: I would have to agree. Back when my hair was bluntly-cut seems like growth and thickness occurred at a more rapid rate. I'm not understanding what could have gone wrong to cause such damage in this amount of time. I've PSed religiously, I've "square-danced" with my buns in order to ensure that no concentrated tension occurred in one specific area. I moisturize and seal every night, sleep with a silk head scarf on, Wash 1x a week and follow-up with a DC once a week. Co-wash once a week, air-dry 99% of the time (except on relaxer days). Protein treatment every 4 weeks or, dust with every relaxer, ONLY TO HAVE THIS happen?!!!! MAN......................................................................................................................................*in chris breezy voice* I'm done.

Hmmmm, that's a solid regimen. I'm sure between the 50-11 people on this board and other threads, you may find the cuplrit. Maybe splits that are higher up? Diet changes? Change relaxer strength?

 

[D.Lisha]

I hope the calvary comes in soon. The ONLY thing I can think that has changed since I started my hair journey, was that I stopped going to my stylist (the one that gave me my last major trim)...........Seems like another appointment with her in order here.

 

[curali]

I desparately need help, ladies!!

I've been transitioning for 2 years. No heat, no nothing for the entire 2 years.

I cowash daily, most days, DC once a week, and I keep my hair either plaited or twisted and Always under a wig.

I have splits that are all the way up the hair almost to the top! I have grown from having very thin fine hair that was above my shoulders down to about 1 1/2 inches past my collar bone in 2 years.

I use: Mane n Tail conditioner, EVCO, Avocado oil and Scurl and I always seal my ends with Soft t Indian Hemp hair grease.

What am I doing wrong? I was thinking I would have had more growth by now but the split ends Really have me concerned.

I always tie my hair up at nite and it's usually very dry in the mornings.

Please help!!!!

 

[n_vizion]

I read about a study once that demonstrated how we lose pieces from our cuticle layer from routine styling actions such as washing and combing the hair. This supports what Nonie is saying about the general "wearing" away of hair that happens even if we're extra careful. Obviously, the rougher you are with your hair, the more you promote damage but we also impact the cuticle layer even when we're gentle.

I've actually taken both routes when I've found myself with longer than normal strands. Sometimes I trim, sometimes I leave alone, baby the hairs, and wait for progress. I find that I'm more able to retain some length when I trim (even minimally). I also can retain some length when I leave my ends alone but it seems to take longer. There's just something about thicker ends that helps bring strength to the hair. I'm not a protective styler so the longer I allow long strands to linger, the greater the likelihood of additional damage to my lone ends.

 

[Bnster]

I guess you need to do your due diligence and check for split ends. Also IMHO lead hairs not all of course, can be from uneven cutting. No stylist can really cut completely even. Sometimes it is slightly or really visible. If someone didn't cut afterwards and see a difference in length continuously the same, the longer your hair gets, the more visible the uneven cut become. From the uneven cut means some of the hair strands are leading others and you end up with some lead hairs.

D.Lisha do not despair. Make your decision whether to cut or not. If you don't only time will tell if you made a correct decision and to learn by them. Good luck!

ETA: Oh I love the discussion in this thread. This is why I love LHCF so much, that we can express our opinions and provide facts to enlighten each other. It is very educating and makes me(us) start thinking. I was reading terms I never heard about like catagen and telogen. So much I don't know still.

 

[hopkinstudent]

AlliCat: I love your bun...took a look at your blog but I'm still not sure how you did them (1 &2). How about a utube video or a vid on your blog? Please, pretty please?!

 

[AlliCat]

@AlliCat: I love your bun...took a look at your blog but I'm still not sure how you did them (1 &2). How about a utube video or a vid on your blog? Please, pretty please?!

Thanks I'll PM you (to keep the thread on topic)

 

[Nonie]

AlliCat, PM me too.

 

[AlliCat]

LOL Nonie you're terrible I was just telling her I barely show my face on here much less make a video. but if I ever decide to to make a video, trust me, everyone will know. I also said its one of those experiment-with-my-hair type of styles that's why it was hard for me to explain how to do it

 

[divachyk]

AlliCat - all heck, you might as well blog about it because I want to know too. So PM me 3.

Okay so question - I just got a light dusting and noticed not all splits and heat damage (the little white bulbs at the end of the strand) are not gone. So, I've snipped them as best as I can. Is that what one would normally recommend until I can get another professional trim?

Also I find that if I don't snip those splits, the hair just snaps off anyway (eventually).

 

[Nonie]

AlliCat - all heck, you might as well blog about it because I want to know too. So PM me 3.

^^
AlliCat, that'll teach you just to write all that in the thread instead of talmbout a PM and making us feel slighted.

 

[AlliCat]

@AlliCat - all heck, you might as well blog about it because I want to know too. So PM me 3.

Okay so question - I just got a light dusting and noticed not all splits and heat damage (the little white bulbs at the end of the strand) are not gone. So, I've snipped them as best as I can. Is that what one would normally recommend until I can get another professional trim?

Also I find that if I don't snip those splits, the hair just snaps off anyway (eventually).

LOL in my last post that's exactly what I PM'd hopkinstudent. No secrets I just didn't wanna hijack the thread

 

[Nonie]

Okay so question - I just got a light dusting and noticed not all splits and heat damage (the little white bulbs at the end of the strand) are not gone. So, I've snipped them as best as I can. Is that what one would normally recommend until I can get another professional trim?

Also I find that if I don't snip those splits, the hair just snaps off anyway (eventually).

divachyk, IMO if some parts or your splits were left behind they'd continue tearing up your strands or will break off as you say. If you're comfy dusting some more yourself, I say the sooner the better. I'd put the hair in tiny plaits or twists and trim the same amount from all the ends. That way there shouldn't be a change in how your hair looks overall if you're dusting off the same amount.

So yes, if you can't go back for another professional trim, I suggest doing it yourself using the sharpest scissors you can find.

 

[AlliCat]

ETA: nvm she did

 

[divachyk]

Nonie - thx u. I'm unsure what method I've been doing. I have snipped a few strands here and there. Maybe a total of 5 or 6. Not too many, though. I use a magnifying glass to spot the split or the white bulb. I think I'm good for now but if I start seeing others pop up, then I will do the twist method you suggest. I will do more research on the topic also for understanding as I have a few lingering questions.

 

[Nonie]

divachyk, personally I do not think waiting to see splits is smart. I also don't think it's realistic to assume that out of 100,000+ hairs only 5 or 6 were split. If you saw any, then there are many more about as big, give or take.

I've posted a photo of my hair strand which appeared whole. But on magnifying it 4x with my camera it was clear that at that magnification less than a 1/4 inch was beyond splitting and was only a partial hair. And that is 1/4 AFTER magnifying, so a dot before, perhaps. I dust off a 1/4 every 8 weeks (started this schedule in Jan) and I am confident any splits I have are at the dot stage because May 1 week was my next scheduled dusting and I just did.

I never ever see splits because I keep them at a size that the naked eye cannot see unless magnified 4x. Solid rods that aren't tearing stand a better chance. And as I showed in my magnified image, the eye cannot differentiate a whole strand from a strand missing part of the whole or a cuticle. And that happens on ends whether you like it or not. So if you wait to see it, you are waiting too long. But I am beginning to sound like a broken record on this topic so I'ma just refer folks to my previous posts.

 

[newbeginnings2010]

Unpopular opinion here...I say keep it. If your hair is anything like mine it evens up on its own.

EDIT: I did some digging for ya:


That's my hair when I was SLish...no trims in between the pics. IMO you should wait a bit until you're closer to your next milestone to re-assess...especially if your ends are not split/damaged/breaking

I agree. If I kept cutting my thin ends, I would have never gotten as close to my length goal as I am now. That was my AHA! moment that finally helped me pass CBL after 4 years on LHCF.

There are plenty of ladies who have held on to thin or uneven ends, reached their length goal, and THEN started trimming away at the rest. Hairdrama is one of my favorite examples. Take a look at her fotki some time.

 

[divachyk]

Nonie, thank you. Didn't mean to make you feel that you were sounding like a broken record.

I don't think I was clear in my explanation. I just got my hair trimmed a few days ago and noticed there were a few splits left behind so I trimmed them. I am sure there are more, as you mentioned as some are hard to detect. I go to the salon every 10 weeks and plan to keep my trimming schedule consistent with my salon visits. Saying I'm good for now only meant I'm good until I go back to the salon and let them professionally trim it and/or until other splits are evident via the eye or my magnifying glass. Hopefully a split won't get too out of hand between now and 10 weeks. I will snip any strands that I personally detect that are fraying. Am I rambling? Am I sounding crazy? Please let me know as I'm new to this. I've always gotten my hair professionally trimmed (not dusted) with every TU so...dusting is new concept for me.

 

[Nonie]

divachyk, if you get it trimmed at the next visit and they do get all the splits out, then after some time has passed, like 2 months, just snip off this much __ from the ends. In other words, splits don't just appear w/o a starting point. So when your stylist tells you that you have splits, it's coz she can see them. They started weeks or months before then.

If you're taking good care of your hair and not abusing it, then your hair will just have normal wear and tear, which is gradual. By snipping off a tiny bit, you get rid of the starts of a split, so you ensure that the day your stylist sees it, it looks like it doesn't need a trim because it doesn't look split. It's all just prevention. It's what Wanakee did, it's what Brenda did, and it's what I did when my hair broke the 5-6 inch terminal length wall of 30 years and grew to 9-11 inches with fullness to the ends I'd never known from one inch in two years. And it just makes sense to me.

 

[divachyk]

Nonie, now I'm tracking. Thx u much for taking the time to explain this to me.

 

[ms-gg]

For me, I don't trim on a regular schedule anymore because you can never trim all of your ends anyway. Your hair is constantly regrowing and shedding at different rates so all of the ends of your hair will NEVER be the same length.


since we like visuals:
___________________
___________________ = hair that is 2 years old
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________ = hair that is 4 years old
___________________________________________
___________________
___________________

Those ends that are 2 years old will not be trimmed because the majority of us who trim our hair just go for those last few inches and trim them off. We don't go back and trim off those strands that are 2 years old because they are usually hidden in the bulk length when we pull our hair down to trim it. We don't freak out about them either because we don't think about them when we trim, although we trim those longer hairs on a regular basis.

You can go strand by strand and cut them off though. I ain't doing alladat. It takes me long enough to style and detangle my hair.

 

[ms-gg]

And let me add my theory of "Lead Hairs."

I don't necessarily believe that the longer hairs stop growing and the short hairs continue to grow, because the only time hair is at rest is when it is about 3 months before it is about to fall out, the telogen phase. But I do believe that the longer hairs may shed out over time, and that causes the hair to appear to "even out."

 

[Vintagecoilylocks]

I desparately need help, ladies!!

I've been transitioning for 2 years. No heat, no nothing for the entire 2 years.

I cowash daily, most days, DC once a week, and I keep my hair either plaited or twisted and Always under a wig.

I have splits that are all the way up the hair almost to the top! I have grown from having very thin fine hair that was above my shoulders down to about 1 1/2 inches past my collar bone in 2 years.

I use: Mane n Tail conditioner, EVCO, Avocado oil and Scurl and I always seal my ends with Soft t Indian Hemp hair grease.

What am I doing wrong? I was thinking I would have had more growth by now but the split ends Really have me concerned.

I always tie my hair up at nite and it's usually very dry in the mornings.

Please help!!!!

Why are you Cw daily? If you have fine hair I don't see how it could stand that. I have fine hair. I Cw about once every 4-5-6 days. Is your hair soft after air drying? Do you comb it wet or dry?. Any severe pulling on your hair wet can damage it. When you twist or braid do not pull on it and DO not braid or twist tight. Doesn't Indian hemp have petroleum in it? It use to.
It will dry your hair out. My experience was when I stopped all petroleum products I saw a huge difference in hair growth. It was also the last time I had had problems with splits. I no longer had problems with SSK's.

You sound like you are striping your hair. Consider using oil rinses once a week. Main and Tail is a reconstructor isn't it? Try less CW and make sure you are not protein DC weekly. Try a gentlier conditioner to wash.

Also make sure your diet includes good protein. Amino acids, water, and your basic daily requirements of vitamins and minerals.

I use to say and still do, treat your hair like fine silk. But even the silk worms had to be healthy to produce good silk.

If you have relaxed hair on your ends by definition they are already damaged. So consider taking the final ends off so you are only dealing with 100% natural hair.

Growing your hair has to be a wholelistic approach.

 

[Nonie]

For me, I don't trim on a regular schedule anymore because you can never trim all of your ends anyway. Your hair is constantly regrowing and shedding at different rates so all of the ends of your hair will NEVER be the same length.


since we like visuals:
___________________
___________________ = hair that is 2 years old
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________ = hair that is 4 years old
___________________________________________
___________________
___________________

Those ends that are 2 years old will not be trimmed because the majority of us who trim our hair just go for those last few inches and trim them off. We don't go back and trim off those strands that are 2 years old because they are usually hidden in the bulk length when we pull our hair down to trim it. We don't freak out about them either because we don't think about them when we trim, although we trim those longer hairs on a regular basis.

You can go strand by strand and cut them off though. I ain't doing alladat. It takes me long enough to style and detangle my hair.

ms-gg is right. The 2 year old strands (although that's a looong time but let's just use it) are indeed shorter than the 4 year ones. But by that virtue they haven't been around long to endure the elements that rip hair up the way the older 4-year old strands have. What's more, the shorter strands are somewhat protected within the long strands not unlike bunning protects ends by hiding them. So the ends of the shorter strands tend to be in better shape than the ends of the longer strands. So IMO, it's the longer strands that need trimming. They have been around longer and so are way old; they are exposed to the elements so are more vulnerable. And just those two reasons alone explain why they split first and so when you dust, it's the longest ends that stand out that need to be taken care off. Those hidden within are probably not in such poor shape and can wait a little longer. They will have their day when the long ones shed and then they stand up to be counted and dusted...which for me is every 8 weeks.