Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge 2017

[Pmpomatic]

Overnight: NG banana coconut prepoo and Jakeala parfait. Extra on the ends.
Today: Rollerset. No trim. Phyto serum and Jakeala parfait on ends.

 

[CheChe1881]

Thank you for this thread, @faithVA. So glad you are hosting it.

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

2. Current Hair Length After November's trim, my layers vary from ear length to just beyond shoulder length.

3. Why are you joining this challenge?
When I got a trim in November, I was unpleasantly surprised at how split my ends were and how much hair had to be trimmed (photos are attached). As you might imagine, I am certainly now inspired to learn to minimize split ends.

Photos enlarge upon click. Picture of split ends on one section, picture of length PRE-trim, picture of length POST-trim:

View attachment 382363 View attachment 382365 View attachment 382361
4. What have you tried to improve your ends?

1. I have learned to style my hair in such a way that the ends don't tangle too, too much. Absolutely hair game changing for me.
2. I just started this about a week ago: Apply a mixture of Netwurks Coconut Custard, castor oil, and jojoba oil to my ends. The Netwurks custard jar says it is designed to address split ends.
3. I have stopped going to new salons for natural styles and will only go to Angela Hicks or my crochet braider.
4. If I must go to any salon, I detangle my own hair before the salon visit, and I go in with my hair conditioner-laden and in twists.

5. What are you going to try to get those healthy ends?

I will cease pulling off knots that need removal. Instead, I'll cut them with scissors designed for hair. Anything else actually just creates a new split end, simply higher up on the strand. I didn't know that!

I am still deciding, but I am considering one or more of the following:

Often wearing well-gelled twist-outs or puffs (my hair hardly tangles at all with this style); often wearing African thread-outs (I'm currently practicing to replicate this tutorial's method); and/or often wearing clip-ins over two-strand twists.

My ends are crap. Would you recommend the netwurks custard for split ends? Has it been working for you?

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

My ends are crap. Would you recommend the netwurks custard for split ends? Has it been working for you?

Hi, @CheChe1881.

I can tell the difference since I stopped using it on my ends: My ends were doing great when I was using it every styling day. I stopped using it the past month (just lack of discipline because my big paper has taken over), and my ends have more knots and I got some breakage (though I think I caused the breakage by not doing a protein treatment in a timely fashion).

I always paired it with gel, and I don't have anything to compare it to, though. There may be better stuff out there for ends.

 

[Chicoro]

Washed my hair yesterday. I like that I have a separate and specific routine especially for my ends. I use castor oil on my hair and keep my hair in braids that I then put in bantus. I am so careful with my ends that I am able to retain single, long hairs that are shooting past the pack or the bulk of my hair, in length. I've got hairs that may be anywhere from .5 to 1.5 inches longer than all the other hair. And because of my ends routine, I'm not tearing them out or losing them all to tangles. I don't retain them all, but I can see them and I am keeping quite a few of them.

 

[Pmpomatic]

Overnight: stinky oil (scalp), NG banana coconut prepoo treatment, and Jakeala parfait (ends)

Today: Jakeala honey prepoo butter. 30 minutes under past cap before Hair appointment.

Press w/ trim (#2 for year)

Tonight: Hairveda Cocasta oil and QB aethiopika butter on ends.

 

[CheChe1881]

Washed my hair yesterday. I like that I have a separate and specific routine especially for my ends. I use castor oil on my hair and keep my hair in braids that I then put in bantus. I am so careful with my ends that I am able to retain single, long hairs that are shooting past the pack or the bulk of my hair, in length. I've got hairs that may be anywhere from .5 to 1.5 inches longer than all the other hair. And because of my ends routine, I'm not tearing them out or losing them all to tangles. I don't retain them all, but I can see them and I am keeping quite a few of them.

Would you mind directing me to your ends routine, please?

 

[Chicoro]

Would you mind directing me to your ends routine, please?

Ends Routine:
I keep my hair in 8 braids. Then I put each braid in its own bantu knot. Before bed, I unravel my bantu knots. I place the last 6 to 8 inches of my braid under warm water and saturate my braids. Then, I slather castor oil [only-no oil mixes] on the same 6 to 8 inches of my ends, on each braid. I put the braids back into bantu knots and then I cover my head with a plastic cap before going to bed. I do this every night. Most times, I do it in the morning, too. The bantu knots keep the ends from curling up on themselves. My instances of split ends and single strand knots have decreased significantly.

I used to put shea butter on every day but that got too greasy. I only put shea butter on wash day when I re-do my braids, as part of my leave-in process.

I also do everything in braids: pre-poo, wash, condition, protein treatment and deep conditioning. I discovered that part of my issue was that I was rough with the take-down of my braids. I was breaking my hair before I even started to finger detangle. So, I unbraid/re-braid my hair as little as possible and I am ultra careful with my hair when I do it. This has become the longest part of my hair wash sessions.

 

[GGsKin]

DCd my hair overnight on Monday with APB UCS (I love this DC so so much) and JCBO on my scalp and ends. I wrapped in a hot towel and foil a la Chicoro. Sealed my ends with shea butter before styling.

 

[CheChe1881]

Ends Routine:
I keep my hair in 8 braids. Then I put each braid in its own bantu knot. Before bed, I unravel my bantu knots. I place the last 6 to 8 inches of my braid under warm water and saturate my braids. Then, I slather castor oil [only-no oil mixes] on the same 6 to 8 inches of my ends, on each braid. I put the braids back into bantu knots and then I cover my head with a plastic cap before going to bed. I do this every night. Most times, I do it in the morning, too. The bantu knots keep the ends from curling up on themselves. My instances of split ends and single strand knots have decreased significantly.

I used to put shea butter on every day but that got too greasy. I only put shea butter on wash day when I re-do my braids, as part of my leave-in process.

I also do everything in braids: pre-poo, wash, condition, protein treatment and deep conditioning. I discovered that part of my issue was that I was rough with the take-down of my braids. I was breaking my hair before I even started to finger detangle. So, I unbraid/re-braid my hair as little as possible and I am ultra careful with my hair when I do it. This has become the longest part of my hair wash sessions.

Thanks so much ! Might have to adopt some of these methods.

 

[faithVA]

Doing more search and destroys lately. Just 2 more weeks until it is time to straighten and do a trim. It will be nice to have smooth ends again. I will definitely be doing a protein treatment as well to give my hair some strength.

 

[Chicoro]

Shedded hairs have beautiful ends. No knots and no splits. Things are working!

 

[Aggie]

Heavy layered on my moisturizer today with NG Hibiscus and Honey Leave-in, Mizani H2O Night-Time Treatment and MHC Type 4A Hair Butter and a tiny bit of evoo on the ends. Wearing my hair lightly twisted until dried.

 

[GGsKin]

Oiled my ends with wheatgerm oil.

 

[bubbles12345]

Ends Routine:
I keep my hair in 8 braids. Then I put each braid in its own bantu knot. Before bed, I unravel my bantu knots. I place the last 6 to 8 inches of my braid under warm water and saturate my braids. Then, I slather castor oil [only-no oil mixes] on the same 6 to 8 inches of my ends, on each braid. I put the braids back into bantu knots and then I cover my head with a plastic cap before going to bed. I do this every night. Most times, I do it in the morning, too. The bantu knots keep the ends from curling up on themselves. My instances of split ends and single strand knots have decreased significantly.

I used to put shea butter on every day but that got too greasy. I only put shea butter on wash day when I re-do my braids, as part of my leave-in process.

I also do everything in braids: pre-poo, wash, condition, protein treatment and deep conditioning. I discovered that part of my issue was that I was rough with the take-down of my braids. I was breaking my hair before I even started to finger detangle. So, I unbraid/re-braid my hair as little as possible and I am ultra careful with my hair when I do it. This has become the longest part of my hair wash sessions.

Do you take down your braids for each step or leave it braided the whole time without redoing your braids?

 

[Chicoro]

Do you take down your braids for each step or leave it braided the whole time without redoing your braids?

I leave my hair braided the whole time through pre-treatment, wash and deep condition. After I rinse out the conditioner, THEN I undo only 1 braid at a time.

I give that 1 braid all my attention by taking it loose while the other 7 braids are tied off and out the way. I finger detangle that one braid on which I am focusing, remove all shed hairs, put in my leave in protein mix and my shea butter mix and work it through that braid from root to tip. Then, I re-braid that braid up. I move this freshly re-braided braid out the way, and move to the next braid that hasn't been done since last week, and do the same thing.

 

[Aggie]

I leave my hair braided the whole time through pre-treatment, wash and deep condition. After I rinse out the conditioner, THEN I undo only 1 braid at a time.

I give that 1 braid all my attention by taking it loose while the other 7 braids are tied off and out the way. I finger detangle that one braid on which I am focusing, remove all shed hairs, put in my leave in protein mix and my shea butter mix and work it through that braid from root to tip. Then, I re-braid that braid up. I move this freshly re-braided braid out the way, and move to the next braid that hasn't been done since last week, and do the same thing.

This was very helpful @Chicoro. Thank you so much for sharing it. I think I will do this routine on my next wash day. I can see how the ends of my hair can be saved using your method.

 

[Aggie]

By the way, I did have 3 inches cut off on March 29th. I forgot to update that piece of info. I am no longer BSL but still a little longer than APL even with it off, thankfully.

 

[faithVA]

I'm doing a protein treatment, flat iron and trim this weekend. Hopefully it will cut down on this crazy breakage. I need to be more consistent with my protein treatments. I did better last year.

 

[Aggie]

I'll be doing a protein treatment this weekend as well @faithVA. I'm trying to really keep up with them this year.

 

[faithVA]

I'll be doing a protein treatment this weekend as well @faithVA. I'm trying to really keep up with them this year.

Maybe we can remind each other. I looked at the Nexxus Emergencee (sp?) at Kroger today. I'm glad I found a place close by to pick it up. I've heard good things about it so I want to try it. Since it isn't really a hard protein maybe I can use it more often in between hard protein treatments.

 

[faithVA]

I trimmed off 3/4" to 1". My ends were quite raggedy. I should have taken off more in February but I was too hesitant. My ends looked so much better when I finished.

I bought One N Only Argan Oil Split End Mender. Not sure how often I'm going to use it but hopefully it will help.

I've been trying to moisturize and seal my ends more.

They are getting better a little bit at a time but they still are struggling some.

 

[GGsKin]

DCd my hair on Saturday night, layering JBCO over my roots and ends. I also put some extra DC- APB UCS on my ends, before finishing my wash n go with KCCC.

 

[Chicoro]

Did my end of month measuring during wash/condition process. I lost 1 to 2 inches of length
on EVERY braid! Then, I realized that I skipped using doing both my DIY coconut conditioner and deep conditioning with heat. Both those two activities elongate and relax my hair. Thus, it is good that I have my process written. It is so easy to drift away and deviate from a process that is working for you and your hair. End of May next month, I now know that I have to be consistent with my process if I want to get real, consistent results. I was relieved that my loss of length is due to lack of elongation and not due to breakage. Phew! I'm relieved!

 

[faithVA]

Did my end of month measuring during wash/condition process. I lost 1 to 2 inches of length
on EVERY braid! Then, I realized that I skipped using doing both my DIY coconut conditioner and deep conditioning with heat. Both those two activities elongate and relax my hair. Thus, it is good that I have my process written. It is so easy to drift away and deviate from a process that is working for you and your hair. End of May next month, I now know that I have to be consistent with my process if I want to get real, consistent results. I was relieved that my loss of length is due to lack of elongation and not due to breakage. Phew! I'm relieved!

Yay. When I was reading I knew it couldn't be breakage. As crazy as my breakage is even I don't lose an inch.

 

[faithVA]

After all the trimming I shampooed, colored, put in my leave in and rollerset.

Unfortunately my ends were dry and crispy after being under 5he dryer and the breakage was unreal

I think I'm going to have to do some product layering on my ends before rollersetting. I'm hoping my ends are just crazy because I'm still growing out color but I have no idea.

So I used the one and only split end repair. I will use this every time I moisturize and seal it in with a pomade. Hopefully it will help.

 

[Chicoro]

After all the trimming I shampooed, colored, put in my leave in and rollerset.

Unfortunately my ends were dry and crispy after being under 5he dryer and the breakage was unreal

I think I'm going to have to do some product layering on my ends before rollersetting. I'm hoping my ends are just crazy because I'm still growing out color but I have no idea.

So I used the one and only split end repair. I will use this every time I moisturize and seal it in with a pomade. Hopefully it will help.

I'm sorry to hear about the breakage. You may want to begin to focus on fortifying the ends that are right above the colored hair. 100 % castor oil not mixed with any other oil may be helpful.

 

[faithVA]

I'm sorry to hear about the breakage. You may want to begin to focus on fortifying the ends that are right above the colored hair. 100 % castor oil not mixed with any other oil may be helpful.

I will try the castor oil. I have no idea where the color is on my hair. All my hair looks the same color. I know that makes no sense but my hair and color make no sense. I'm just guessing it must be the color because I can't think of any other reason my hair would be so dry on the ends.

 

[Chicoro]

I will try the castor oil. I have no idea where the color is on my hair. All my hair looks the same color. I know that makes no sense but my hair and color make no sense. I'm just guessing it must be the color because I can't think of any other reason my hair would be so dry on the ends.

That sounds right and makes sense to me. If you are wearing braids, this may work with your process/routine. I would suggest that you oil the hair midway up your braid, twist, no matter its length. If your hair is 2 inches long, oil the last 1 inch. If your hair is 8 inches long, oil the last 4 inches.

 

[faithVA]

That sounds right and makes sense to me. If you are wearing braids, this may work with your process/routine. I would suggest that you oil the hair midway up your braid, twist, no matter its length. If your hair is 2 inches long, oil the last 1 inch. If your hair is 8 inches long, oil the last 4 inches.

Ok will do

 

[Evolving78]

After all the trimming I shampooed, colored, put in my leave in and rollerset.

Unfortunately my ends were dry and crispy after being under 5he dryer and the breakage was unreal

I think I'm going to have to do some product layering on my ends before rollersetting. I'm hoping my ends are just crazy because I'm still growing out color but I have no idea.

So I used the one and only split end repair. I will use this every time I moisturize and seal it in with a pomade. Hopefully it will help.

I don't know if you use cones, but even when I don't get under the dryer, I apply a serum to my hair and ends when roller setting.