Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge 2012

[faithVA]

1. Are you relaxed, texlaxed, natural, transitioning, etc
-Natural

2. Current Hair Length
-BSL

3. The issue(s) you are having with your ends
-Some dryness, a few split ends, general uneven-ness.

4. What you have tried to improve your ends
-Moisturizing more with higher quality products, mild protein, (inconsistently) sealing my ends

5. What you are going to try to get those healthy ends
-Continue moisturizing
-Sealing often with castor oil
-Maintaining my trimming schedule
-Being gentle on my ends

Happy to have you but sorry your having end challenges. But happy you are working on them before they get too bad. You have such lovely twists

 

[youwillrise]

1. Are you relaxed, texlaxed, natural, transitioning, etc - natural

2. Current Hair Length - my hair length is different all around. back - now top of armpit from past armpit, sides - now top of collarbone from top of armpit, front - now around bottom of bottom lip from a little past chin

3. The issue(s) you are having with your ends - they have a tendency to thin out, become see through, splits, fuzziness, ssks and alladat mess.

4. What you have tried to improve your ends - i tried to salvage them by keeping them pinned up and taking extra care to moisturize and oil them, but the damage was already done before i started doing those things more often...so i had to cut and start over.

5. What you are going to try to get those healthy ends - now that my ends are chopped, i'm going to continue to be gentle with them, keep them pinned up...take care to give them extra conditioning, moisturizing and lubrication...i usually seal the length of my hair with apricot oil and then do a mix of castor/apricot on the ends...maybe i'll even start using some kind of butter on the ends again.

6. Optional: share your current hair measurements either in inches or body lengths (SL, APL). You may want a record of where you started. - i havent measured my hair yet now that i've cut it. i'm gonna make a guess and say that now i'm at about 6.5 or 7 inches? i think i cut about 2.5 or so inches...didnt really measure, but that's just a guess. i will take some measurements next weekend when it's time to redo my hair!

 

[faithVA]

The AVJ/glycerin/oil mix definitely helped. So now working to see what ratios I can get away with. The current batch I am using 5 TBSP AVJ to 1 TBSP of veg. glycerin with no oil. I am going to apply that to my ends at 1x a day and seal with my shea butter blend.

I need a similar mixture for the rest of my hair but I may need to add oil to it because putting shea butter along the whole strand doesn't work well for my hair. Not sure if I want to use the same mix and then apply coconut oil or EVOO over the strand or create a separate mix with the oils already added

hmm. Ok I will try just using the same mix and applying the oil separate and see how that goes.

I twisted my hair with it Friday and it felt great yesterday. It still feels good today but I can tell it will need a boost tomorrow.

 

[divachyk]

I have not been the best at checking in on my challenges but I'm still moisturizing/sealing. Claudie's ends assurance makes my ends feel really good.

 

[NappyNelle]

faithVA I'm probably just being paranoid, but I'd rather catch my negligence sooner than loud

 

[NappyNelle]

Moisturized with CD Tui Spritz, then sealed ends with castor oil.

 

[LaidBak]

Sealed ends with mango butter before bed.

 

[faithVA]

Trying out my AVJ/glycerin this morning. Moisturized my hair with AVJ/glycerin and then sealed with a castor oil blend. My hair didn't fuzz. I am hoping that this ratio of AVJ/glycerin works well. The previous ratio held for 2 to 3 days. So this will need to keep my hair moisturized at least until Wednesday to match it.

 

[NappyNelle]

faithVA Do you think the Tangle Teezer can be the source of your ends problems?

 

[-PYT]

1. Are you relaxed, texlaxed, natural, transitioning, etc
-Natural

2. Current Hair Length
-CBL/SL

3. The issue(s) you are having with your ends
-single strand knots and split ends when I am not vigilant about caring for my ends

4. What you have tried to improve your ends
-Recently I have been getting professional trims after straightening, but I do not want to abuse heat in order to assure my ends are healthy.

5. What you are going to try to get those healthy ends
- While straight, I have been sealing ends with oil and keeping them off my shoulders.

Once I wash, I plan to twist and seal with oil and get on a set trimming schedule. Also, get better at moisturizing more.

 

[faithVA]

@faithVA Do you think the Tangle Teezer can be the source of your ends problems?

I don't think so because I haven't used it since January, even though I am always tempted to use it. And my big problems didn't start until March. Keep in mind, I have always had severe breakage and shedding since starting in 2009. That I was used to.

I used the Tangle Teezer more last year. I never really had problems with it. It's the only thing that doesn't pull my hair. But I did put it aside just to make sure. My breakage really did seem to be due to a product/ingredient issue. And I am saying that because not only were my ends breaking, all of my hair was really dry. I really think it was the protein. It was similar to when I tried HydraThermal products.

Ok - thats a long answer

 

[NappyNelle]

faithVA but that's a good answer. I haven't used my TT since last year after reading others' experiences with breakage from it, but I may go back to it soon for a full detangling session. (I haven't combed or thoroughly detangled with a tool since last March or something. )

 

[faithVA]

@faithVA but that's a good answer. I haven't used my TT since last year after reading others' experiences with breakage from it, but I may go back to it soon for a full detangling session. (I haven't combed or thoroughly detangled with a tool since last March or something. )

I think my not detangling with a tool is also causing me issues. My hair is the curliest at the ends, so finger detangling or using a wide tooth comb removes the shed hair, but I think I need to smooth my ends with a smaller comb to work out some of that curl. I am trying this along with the glycerin.

 

[LaidBak]

Sealed ends with mango butter followed by grapeseed oil.

 

[youwillrise]

gonna rinse & condition tonight and then i'll moisturize w/ the shea moisture curl & style milk and seal w/ sunflower/castor oil...a little extra castor on the ends.

took my hair down from the pins after a couple of days...my ends feel really good right now.

 

[faithVA]

My hair seemed like it would hold moisture for another day but decided to moisturize again with my AVJ/glycerin. Massaged it into my twists, my edges and my ends.

And as I pulled my hands over my ends, I only had 1 broken hair for my entire head. That's unheard of.

Hopefully this mix will keep working for me.

 

[LaidBak]

My go-to ends protector staple has changed. I just took a look at the new formula of Elasta QP mango butter, which is now "Olive and Mango butter". Looks like it got even better. They added some good stuff.

NEW Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Capric Capryllic Triglycerides, PEG-75 Lanolin, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Cetyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Retinyl Paltimate (Vitamin A), Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Biotin (Vitamin H), Linoleic Acid (Vitamin F), Persia Gratissima (Avocado) Oil [contains Vitamins B2, D, A, E, K, and Potassium], Parfum (Fragrance), Imidazolidinyl Urae, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Hydrolyzed Silk, Butylparaben, Cl19140 (FD&C Yellow 5).

 

[LaidBak]

Sealed soaking wet ends with mango butter before bed.

 

[NappyNelle]

My ends are holding up well since Sunday's sealing with castor oil. I'll be sure to do this at least 2x a week. I also didn't feel any single strand knots since my ends smoothed out after oiling. I definitely have to keep this up if I want to retain all of the growth that I can this year.

 

[NappyNelle]

I just sealed the ends of my twists and massaged my hairline with castor oil.

 

[LexaKing]

Just sealed with mizani coconut souffle, mizani h2o nighttime treatment, and argan oil. Hopefully I won't need a trim until June/July

 

[LaidBak]

DC'd after my workout. So I sealed my wet ends with the new formula mango butter and wrapped my hair for bed.

 

[faithVA]

Spritzed my hair with SM Mist and sealed with shea butter blend and put my twists in 3 big braids. Hopefully my hair will be soft tomorrow.

 

[Aggie]

I just updated the APL and SL challenges and I need to update with my latest pics here as well since they are pics of my ends after the removal of the last ssks and split ends from my hair.

Woot! Hare are pics:

 

[divachyk]

Claudie's ends assurance is awesome!

 

[lamaria211]

Im not in this challenge but I have a question do any of you ladies seal your ends with a serum?

 

[faithVA]

Im not in this challenge but I have a question do any of you ladies seal your ends with a serum?

I had an argan serum which I paid a ridiculous amount of money for. I used that on my ends. I think it worked ok. It went on well. I've not tried anymore. And it was far too expensive to repurchase.

 

[LexaKing]

Claudie's ends assurance is awesome!

divachyk tell me more about this product. The ingredients look really good, I'm thinking about getting it when I run out of my current moisturizer. Thanks!

 

[divachyk]

LexaKing I love the way it makes my ends feels smooth, silky and well moisturized.

 

[faithVA]

With the use of the AVJ + glycerin, I had much less breakage than I've had in the past few months. I prepooed today with AVG + castor oil blend, baggied for 45 minutes and detangled. I did have some breakage but I was glad to see much more shed hair than breakage. In previous weeks I had as much breakage as shed hair.

I am trying castille soap for the first time this week. I am hoping for positive results. And will continue with the AVJ/glycerin mix for now.