Luscious Healthy Ends Challenge - Fall 2011

[abcd09]

@faithVA

thanks!! my hair is a mystery. a bad, bad mystery lol.

So what are you doing for your ends consistently,
balancing protein and moisture? weekly balancing. hard protein once a month- emergencee. my hair likes aphogee 2min every week. DC always afterwards.
Moisturizing and Sealing (more now because its fall)? everyday 2x a day. Castor oil seems to dry them out. I just started using the kimmaytube leave in and it is keeping it moisturized, but they still split.
DCing or steaming regularly? yup, each week. i wash 2x a week now after washing once a week for about a year, and 2x a week for a year before that. my hair prefers 2 x a week due to buildup and dryness.
dusting regularly to keep them away? been trimming weekly. i thought i got to a point where they would not split anymore after trimming an inch or two, nope. ::
Keeping them hidden? in buns 100% of the time:( this seems to work for others, but not my fragile, thin hair. doesnt seem to make much difference.


I think one factor killer for me is detangling. I am very careful, but despite how delicate i am, they seem to appear magically.

I have weak, fragile hair. It's just weak and will split and tangle no matter what and will never be blunt or thick even when I was natural. I experimented with my bangs, trimming them every other week or when i see splits. they still are not blunt. the rest of my hair is the same.

 

[faithVA]

@faithVA

thanks!! my hair is a mystery. a bad, bad mystery lol.

So what are you doing for your ends consistently,
balancing protein and moisture? weekly balancing. hard protein once a month- emergencee. my hair likes aphogee 2min every week. DC always afterwards.
Moisturizing and Sealing (more now because its fall)? everyday 2x a day. Castor oil seems to dry them out. I just started using the kimmaytube leave in and it is keeping it moisturized, but they still split.
DCing or steaming regularly? yup, each week. i wash 2x a week now after washing once a week for about a year, and 2x a week for a year before that. my hair prefers 2 x a week due to buildup and dryness.
dusting regularly to keep them away? been trimming weekly. i thought i got to a point where they would not split anymore after trimming an inch or two, nope. ::
Keeping them hidden? in buns 100% of the time:( this seems to work for others, but not my fragile, thin hair. doesnt seem to make much difference.

hmm I don't have a definite answer. I see you are moisturizing but maybe you need something heavier to seal with even though you are relaxed. Have you tried a butter, unpetroleum jelly, crisco, grease on your ends when you bun?

And I know you said you wash 2x a week, I am assuming that you DCd with at least one of those washes? Are you washing or cowashing 2x a week?

 

[ReignLocks]

abcd09 What do you do with your hair at night? Do you tie it up, wrap it, put a silk scarf on, etc???

 

[faithVA]

@faithVA


I think one factor killer for me is detangling. I am very careful, but despite how delicate i am, they seem to appear magically.

I have weak, fragile hair. It's just weak and will split and tangle no matter what and will never be blunt or thick even when I was natural. I experimented with my bangs, trimming them every other week or when i see splits. they still are not blunt. the rest of my hair is the same.

Oh, and I dont' know if you detangle before or after washing, but have you tried oil your ends or oil rinsing prior to detangling? I found that as soon as I wash the conditioner out, if I put butter on the ends then I reduce the tangles and can detangle more easily.

 

[abcd09]

hmm I don't have a definite answer. I see you are moisturizing but maybe you need something heavier to seal with even though you are relaxed. Have you tried a butter, unpetroleum jelly, crisco, grease on your ends when you bun?

And I know you said you wash 2x a week, I am assuming that you DCd with at least one of those washes? Are you washing or cowashing 2x a week?

I've tried shea butter- seems to sit on me ends even when warmed, have tried vaseline-that's drying and makes it crispy, my hair seems to dislike mineral oil. i havent tried crisco though...

I dc each time. Sometimes for .5 hour, sometimes for 1 hour. I find that I must, must, must dc. I cowashed for awhile (a whole year) but always had GUNK at my roots. it was so nasty and looked horrible and was nearly impossible to remove. i use a sulfate free shampoo once a week.

@ReignLocks I sleep on a satin pillow case and I wear a satin scarf- not too tight. and My ends are tucked either in a roller or in a bun, depending on if I can handle a neck ache in the morning lol.

Oh, and I dont' know if you detangle before or after washing, but have you tried oil your ends or oil rinsing prior to detangling? I found that as soon as I wash the conditioner out, if I put butter on the ends then I reduce the tangles and can detangle more easily.

I finger detangle before and finger then wide tooth after. My roots/demarcation and further tend to mat, especially beginning two months post relaxer. I'm not stretching long term this time, but even when I got a relaxer on schedule before matting starts, ends never were blunt for longer than two days. What kind of butter do you use? I've tried some oils before.

I think this is what frustrates me with my four year long HHJ. I've tried nearly everything and it doesn't seem to work. May be the curse of the thin, fragile hair type.

I love everyone's lush thick ends. Too beautiful

 

[faithVA]

I've tried shea butter- seems to sit on me ends even when warmed, have tried vaseline-that's drying and makes it crispy, my hair seems to dislike mineral oil. i havent tried crisco though...

I dc each time. Sometimes for .5 hour, sometimes for 1 hour. I find that I must, must, must dc. I cowashed for awhile (a whole year) but always had GUNK at my roots. it was so nasty and looked horrible and was nearly impossible to remove. i use a sulfate free shampoo once a week.

@ReignLocks I sleep on a satin pillow case and I wear a satin scarf- not too tight. and My ends are tucked either in a roller or in a bun, depending on if I can handle a neck ache in the morning lol.


I finger detangle before and finger then wide tooth after. My roots/demarcation and further tend to mat, especially beginning two months post relaxer. I'm not stretching long term this time, but even when I got a relaxer on schedule before matting starts, ends never were blunt for longer than two days. What kind of butter do you use? I've tried some oils before.

I think this is what frustrates me with my four year long HHJ. I've tried nearly everything and it doesn't seem to work. May be the curse of the thin, fragile hair type.

I love everyone's lush thick ends. Too beautiful

Ok, getting a little clearer I have thin, fragile strands as well. If you look at them they break. But I'm natural.

Do you have any light oils at home sunflower, EVOO (no mineral, castor, coconut). ?

Before you bun moisturize it with water or whatever you moisturize with (not kimmay tube). Then apply the oil. Then apply the butter.

It sounds like you have porous ends like mine. You don't seem to retain the moisture in them. The oil is too light by itself to keep the moisture in. And the butter is too heavy. If you try adding an oil layer between the water and the butter, it should give you a better result.

But it can't be a heavy oil it has to be lighter.

 

[ReignLocks]

I'm actually learning a ton from this thread. Thanks faithVA

 

[JustGROWwithIt]

faithVA
Good TIPS!! My ends aren't as serious as abcd09 but I will still definately learn from your wisdom
abcd09 Hang in there. You'll find something that works for you.

 

[LaidBak]

abcd09
It actually sounds like you have a good regimen. But if you're DCing twice a week and still have dryness issues it could be two things: hard water, or high porosity.
-Roux Porosity Control will take care of highly porous hair. It helped me out tremendously.
-A shower water filter/softener will take care of hard water.

Test your water first, if you have hard water Roux PC won't work anyway. I discovered Roux and it was my staple for a year. It worked wonders for me. Then I moved overseas to a place with horrible water quality. The Roux stopped working for me. 6 months into it I discovered about the hard water and the shower filters.

 

[abcd09]

@abcd09
It actually sounds like you have a good regimen. But if you're DCing twice a week and still have dryness issues it could be two things: hard water, or high porosity.
-Roux Porosity Control will take care of highly porous hair. It helped me out tremendously.
-A shower water filter/softener will take care of hard water.

Test your water first, if you have hard water Roux PC won't work anyway. I discovered Roux and it was my staple for a year. It worked wonders for me. Then I moved overseas to a place with horrible water quality. The Roux stopped working for me. 6 months into it I discovered about the hard water and the shower filters.

Yeah the hard water is certainly something others have noticed here. I bought a water filter that I cannot use in this older house we moved into. I used it before in the apartment before last, and I did not notice a difference. Currently, The shower head does not have any type of screw fissure to secure it on. So I have a water filter sitting in a basket waiting for the next move. I have used roux for awhile, but that would explain some problems although I'm retaining more softness/moisture now.

thanks faithVA, i will try that. did you find kimmaytube did not work for you?

 

[faithVA]

Yeah the hard water is certainly something others have noticed here. I bought a water filter that I cannot use in this older house we moved into. I used it before in the apartment before last, and I did not notice a difference. Currently, The shower head does not have any type of screw fissure to secure it on. So I have a water filter sitting in a basket waiting for the next move. I have used roux for awhile, but that would explain some problems although I'm retaining more softness/moisture now.

thanks @faithVA, i will try that. did you find kimmaytube did not work for you?

I mentioned not moisturizing with the kimmay tube recipe because its intention was to moisturize and seal all in one. So its not the best for using as a moisturizer and then applying an oil after that. And the oils you use do matter. I usually test oils on sections of freshly washed hair with no other product to see if they work.

With that said, no I have not found the kimmay tube recipe to work for me. I've tried it a few ways with different products and I just couldn't get it to work. But I found for my hair, putting products on 1 at a time worked far better than my trying to mix them to put them on. Not sure why. But I have tried cuz I'm lazy.

Perhaps if I used the kimmay tube recipe and then put a butter on top, it would work better. Oils alone will not seal my hair, even Castor Oil. And butters without oils, leave my hair greasy, and the butters do not absorb into my hair so they just sit there or they make my hair white.

I may try it again in the future.

 

[faithVA]

JustGROWwithIt[/USER];14807081]Good TIPS!! My ends aren't as serious as @abcd09 but I will still definately learn from your wisdom

If you try the moisturizer, oil, butter method please let me know how it comes out and what products you used.

This is a new part of my regimen so still learning.

 

[LaidBak]

Applied vatika frosting to my ends before bed

 

[abcd09]

If you try the moisturizer, oil, butter method please let me know how it comes out and what products you used.

This is a new part of my regimen so still learning.

Im trying it using shea butter because that's the only butter I have right now. So far, haven't noticed much, but will continue.

faithVA i looked at your hair pics and I noticed your texture is very similar to mine when I was natural! Finally a hair twin...

 

[faithVA]

abcd09[/USER];14832689]Im trying it using shea butter because that's the only butter I have right now. So far, haven't noticed much, but will continue.

@faithVA i looked at your hair pics and I noticed your texture is very similar to mine when I was natural! Finally a hair twin...

What oil are you using?

No fair being a hair twin if you aren't natural

 

[abcd09]

Well to be honest, I stopped relaxing my edges/sides a year ago, so I have about 5 inches there now, stretched and boy are those ends difficult to stop from splitting/tangling/balling together! I thought it was my relaxer, but really it's my fragile, fine hair type!


I've been using an argan oil, or sometimes Hot Six Oil (has ceramides in it) or jojoba oil. My hair likes 100% Moroccan Argan Oil the best, but I have yet to order another bottle online although I will when the holidays are over.

I'm going to try to not trim my end for a month...maybe... and just focus on babying them. Your tips are very helpful! It's refreshing to have someone have a similar hair type and have success as well.

 

[faithVA]

Well to be honest, I stopped relaxing my edges/sides a year ago, so I have about 5 inches there now, stretched and boy are those ends difficult to stop from splitting/tangling/balling together! I thought it was my relaxer, but really it's my fragile, fine hair type!


I've been using an argan oil, or sometimes Hot Six Oil (has ceramides in it) or jojoba oil. My hair likes 100% Moroccan Argan Oil the best, but I have yet to order another bottle online although I will when the holidays are over.

I'm going to try to not trim my end for a month...maybe... and just focus on babying them. Your tips are very helpful! It's refreshing to have someone have a similar hair type and have success as well.

Ok, not familiar with any of those. But if you have a chance try something light like Sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, or rice bran oil. Thinner oils work better with butters. A thick oil will do nothing with a butter.

Yesterday I actually just did an oil rinse (filled sink with water and put 3 caps of oil in it) and dunked my hair in the water and massaged it in. Then I applied SM Smoothie (which I have mixed with a lot of oils). My hair is actually fairly straight so my ends don't tangle and don't knot up.

It is pretty much about ingredients balancing and complimenting each other. When our hair doesn't like the ingredients or ingredient combinations it acts up. Otherwise it acts very well.

 

[Aggie]

My ends are improving nicely. I don't see as many splits as before bu tthen again, I am a little more diligent about having them trimmed away than I have been in reent months. Baggying is helping me to manage them a lot.

 

[mstokes2008]

I took my mini twists out and I'm DCing as we speak. Today was my first time seeing my hair out since my trim, and man what a difference it made!! Don't sleep on regular dustings/trims if you need them ladies. You may intially lose some length but the results are worth it. It may all be in my head but I already feel like I gained back what I lost. But that could be partially because of the Sulfur challenge and my PS. But either way I'm thrilled!!

 

[faithVA]

Dampened my ends with water and sealed with shea butter blend. I was tempted to skip this step last night But I caught myself. My ends in the back are safely tucked away in a bun.

 

[abcd09]

ohhhh god. my ends split again. again!! i just trimmed them. and i've been wearing a bun 100% of the time, detangling with fingers, air dried in rollers last dc, sealing, moisturizing woosah. /done

 

[LaidBak]

ohhhh god. my ends split again. again!! i just trimmed them. and i've been wearing a bun 100% of the time, detangling with fingers, air dried in rollers last dc, sealing, moisturizing woosah. /done

So sorry hun. I wish there was something we could do to help. 8 understand your frustration so much. But don't give up. Maybe someone can chime in with some advice that will help.

 

[GIJane]

ohhhh god. my ends split again. again!! i just trimmed them. and i've been wearing a bun 100% of the time, detangling with fingers, air dried in rollers last dc, sealing, moisturizing woosah. /done

What type of scissors did you use. Maybe they weren't sharp enough.

 

[faithVA]

ohhhh god. my ends split again. again!! i just trimmed them. and i've been wearing a bun 100% of the time, detangling with fingers, air dried in rollers last dc, sealing, moisturizing woosah. /done

Nevermind - I'm losing my mind

 

[SimplyBlessed]

Hey ladies I would love to join yall!

Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using HTC_Amaze_4G

 

[faithVA]

Hey ladies I would love to join yall!

Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using HTC_Amaze_4G

Welcome SimplyBlessed. Cut and paste the questions from the origina l post and you are good to go.

 

[Bublin]

ohhhh god. my ends split again. again!! i just trimmed them. and i've been wearing a bun 100% of the time, detangling with fingers, air dried in rollers last dc, sealing, moisturizing woosah. /done

abcd09 i realised that finger detangling was causing more problems that not for me. I wasn't removing all the shed hair which was tangling up with the rest of my hair and was causing breakage and splits. I now am sure to remove all shed hair everytime i wash and gently pull them out whilst styling inbetween washes.

 

[Trixie58]

Hello,

Thanks FaithVA, LaidBak, and everyone for all your advice,...I'm not sure how to call people out so it shows up correctly, sorry! But since I cut out my wrong products and organized my reggie my hair has behaved so much better and my ends and hair are always moisturized. Lately I have been baggying every nite with UBH Satin Creme (it arrived) and castor oil, that's the only thing that keeps my ends moist.

abcd09 if you see this what is your regime at nites?

Here is my growth from my traumatic cut (Nov 9 2011) to now (taken this morning), I think it's good (thanx to your advice + prenatal vitamins and biotin), When my unobservant boyfriend noticed yesterday I figured it was time for a post lol. Several inches to go.

 

[faithVA]

@abcd09 i realised that finger detangling was causing more problems that not for me. I wasn't removing all the shed hair which was tangling up with the rest of my hair and was causing breakage and splits. I now am sure to remove all shed hair everytime i wash and gently pull them out whilst styling inbetween washes.

It makes all the difference in the world.

 

[faithVA]

Trixie58[/USER];14877207]Hello,

Thanks FaithVA, LaidBak, and everyone for all your advice,...I'm not sure how to call people out so it shows up correctly, sorry! But since I cut out my wrong products and organized my reggie my hair has behaved so much better and my ends and hair are always moisturized. Lately I have been baggying every nite with UBH Satin Creme (it arrived) and castor oil, that's the only thing that keeps my ends moist.

abcd09 if you see this what is your regime at nites?

Here is my growth from my traumatic cut (Nov 9 2011) to now (taken this morning), I think it's good (thanx to your advice + prenatal vitamins and biotin), When my unobservant boyfriend noticed yesterday I figured it was time for a post lol. Several inches to go.

Nice, definitely noticeable progress.

When you want to mention someone or call someone out as you said, put the @ symbol before their username or select their name in the post and then click the blue circle icon in the formatting section.