STILL LOTS OF SHORT BROKEN HAIRS (pics)

L

laurend085

Well-Known Member
********I MEANT OCT O9 NOT 08****





Okay so EVERYTIME I flat iron my transitioning hair I end up with a lot of little broken hairs all over my sink, myself etc. like this:

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This is only my 2nd time flat ironing this year and I did it maybe three times last year. I DC at least a couple hours or overnight beforehand with a moisturizing DC, blow dry (this time I airdried in ponytail rollerset but it didn't matter) and proceed to flat iron. I spend a lot of time going over the pieces because the ends of my hair is where the comb (comb chase method) gets caught up and I have to untangle it leading to all those little hairs.

Here's some info about my hair:

I've been transitioning since OCT 08. I don't believe I am progressing like I should be. My hair is just at shoulder length and I feel like it should be at least APL or MBL
a6cd0adf-fc6d-3e3b.jpg
taken today

I still have relaxed ends which I will be getting rid of this summer. Over the past six months or so I've been bunning with a phony pony cowashing about every other day with that, done some protective styles. I've started doing protein dcs along with moisturizing dcs every week or as needed. When my hair is in it's transitioning/natural state I don't have these little broken pieces and my hair feels fine to me but idk.

My mom suggested I get it trimmed which I haven't had since I began transitioning because I don't know when I need one or how much to tell a stylist to take off. She also said that if I had a perm my hair would be growing longer.

So idk what to do or what I'm doing wrong. I want my hair longer and I feel like I may go back to my stylist for her to flat iron it for me and wash every couple of weeks and maybe it will grow then. For now I'm getting a sew in some time this month.
Help? Thx!
 
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I know from my own experience that my hair has to be blown straight first before I can flat iron. Also, I CanNOT air dry and then flat iron... It seems like you are experiencing the breakage because you are trying to comb through hair that isn't straight to begin with. That's probably not going to work if you are trying to flat iron.

Since you don't blow dry often, I would say that the heat from the blow dryer isn't going to do any long term damage.... but your hair needs to be straighter (with the blow dryer) before you will get a sleek, tangle free flat iron. HTH...
 
How many times are you going over each section? That's a lot of broken hairs. How well do you detangle before you flat iron? What's your detangle method? What products are you using to DC and what leave in are you using? Are you using a heat protectant?
 
2Cute! said:
I know from my own experience that my hair has to be blown straight first before I can flat iron. Also, I CanNOT air dry and then flat iron... It seems like you are experiencing the breakage because you are trying to comb through hair that isn't straight to begin with. That's probably not going to work if you are trying to flat iron.

Since you don't blow dry often, I would say that the heat from the blow dryer isn't going to do any long term damage.... but your hair needs to be straighter (with the blow dryer) before you will get a sleek, tangle free flat iron. HTH...
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I normally do blow dry. This is the first time I tried to air dry and I get the same results either way.
 
smoothie696 said:
How many times are you going over each section? That's a lot of broken hairs. How well do you detangle before you flat iron? What's your detangle method? What products are you using to DC and what leave in are you using? Are you using a heat protectant?
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I usually try to do two passes at the most but today idk a few times. Then my hair was still poofy so when I was done I did it all over again. I thought I detangled pretty good. I usually try to detangle in the shower with conditioner in my hair in about four sections. Lately I've done that and use the tangle teezer to help distribute styling products and my hair seemed fine. To dc before flat ironing I try to use something moisturizing like aohsr, silk elements noisturizing treatment, gvp conditioning balm. This time I used gvp for the first time but same results. I then put a dime size of gvp skinny serum in my hair and some nioxin thermal bliss. I had also clarified before doing all this.
 
I think that maybe you should stop flat ironing for a bit. Try another styling method for now. I think its the two textures because hair that is transitioning is VERY fragile at the point where the new growth and relaxed hair meets.

Try styles like braidouts, roller sets.

That's my 2 cents
 
pringe said:
I think that maybe you should stop flat ironing for a bit. Try another styling method for now. I think its the two textures because hair that is transitioning is VERY fragile at the point where the new growth and relaxed hair meets.

Try styles like braidouts, roller sets.

That's my 2 cents
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I think I pretty much have stopped for me. Last year I only did it three times when I used to do it everyday. I haven't mastered a braid out or rollerset.
 
So no trim since October 2008. I think your hair may be split and damaged. So the ends just break off during styling. Maybe if you cut off the damage you want have so much breakage.
 
Around 8 months into my transition I saw a lot of broken hairs after a flat iron. What helped me was upping my daily moisturizing game. Making sure to moisturize and seal daily. Doing this has increased the moisture level in my hair so I am not so dependent on DC.
 
how are you detangling before you flat iron once it is dry? I know for me I have to blow dry my hair before flat ironing (I do a protein treatment in the wash before the blow dry). I tried once setting it to dry and then flat ironing and my hair tangled on itself when air drying. I ended up having to detangle my ends all over again.
 
It looks like you're having breakage on both relaxed and natural hair. How often are you doing protein treatments to help with the line of demarcation? You don't want your natural hair to be breaking off already (boo hiss). If you haven't trimmed since October 2008, I would go in for a good trim--I don't know how much that is since I don't know how much hair is relaxed vs. natural, do a good protein treatment to protect that line of demarcation until you're fully natural, and lay off the flat-ironing, which you've already indicated.

Oh, and I respectfully disagree with your mother on the "if your hair was permed it'd be growing longer" aspect. It's a matter of knowing what your hair likes and needs and going for it. If you do that I think you'll get great length no matter what!
 
You need to get a trim plain and simple.

When it's broke, ain't enough DC and babying in the world to make it any different. Go ahead and get a trim. If you have been transitioning since '08, then I think it's time..
 
Your hair must be really dry to be breaking that much.

I'm thinking you need moisture, moisture, and more moisture. Also, your flat-ironing routine may need some tweaking. Blow-drying sucks so much moisture out of your hair, especially if you're not using the right leave-ins.

I'm kinda confused about how you've been transitioning for that long and you still have relaxed ends? Is it just the rest of the relaxed hair breaking off? How long was your hair when you started transitioning? My friend never cut her hair and it all broke off after two years because she just wore sew-ins the whole time.
 
Solitude said:
Your hair must be really dry to be breaking that much.

I'm thinking you need moisture, moisture, and more moisture. Also, your flat-ironing routine may need some tweaking. Blow-drying sucks so much moisture out of your hair, especially if you're not using the right leave-ins.

I'm kinda confused about how you've been transitioning for that long and you still have relaxed ends? Is it just the rest of the relaxed hair breaking off? How long was your hair when you started transitioning? My friend never cut her hair and it all broke off after two years because she just wore sew-ins the whole time.
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I'm confused on how I still have relaxed ends as well I thought they'd be gone by now. And how I calculated they should be all gone. When I started my hair was in an asymmetrical bob one side was about chin length the other ear length. It's weird too cause it looks like my relaxed ends have gotten longer which I know is impossible but in like September it looked I had four inches left now it looks like six.
 
laurend085 said:
I'm confused on how I still have relaxed ends as well I thought they'd be gone by now. And how I calculated they should be all gone. When I started my hair was in an asymmetrical bob one side was about chin length the other ear length. It's weird too cause it looks like my relaxed ends have gotten longer which I know is impossible but in like September it looked I had four inches left now it looks like six.
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How can your relaxed ends be gone if you haven't had a trim?
 
Also those of you suggesting a trim how much should I do or should I just have her chop off the relaxed ends. I'm afraid of her trimming too much and the amount of relaxed ends varies throughout. Also the reason I was going to chop them myself was because she said she would do it on dry flat ironed claiming she can still see the demarcation line that way but I don't know how that would work out.
 
laurend085 said:
Doesn't the new growth eventually outgrow the relaxed ends?
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Only if your relaxed hair breaks off...otherwise, you have to cut them off. Also, your natural hair may be looking like straight relaxed hair if you are continuously (or had been) flat ironing and blow drying because they could be heat damaged.
 
Okay, here is my two cents. I think all of your relaxed hair is gone at this point. You have been transitioning for a little over 2 years now, and in that time you have probably grown well over 12 inches of hair.

I shaved my hair off in November 2009 to 1/2 inch and my hair is right around your length. So IMO, I do not think the relaxed hair is an issue here. Something else is wrong.

It sounds like you are really rough with your hair. You probably need to baby it more and lay off the heat for a while and keep your hair well moisturized. A trim would also help a lot.
 
I agree with the ladies here. It sounds like you need to increase your moisture. I suggest doing a hot oil treatment as well as your deep conditioning regimen. Also how do your ends look? Have you done the search and destroy method at all since your last trim? Sounds like you may have some spilt ends as well and a good trim should be able to help with your retention.
 
To clarify what I said earlier, my friend who transitioned without cutting had severely damaged relaxed hair. It was breaking terribly from bleach. So, each time she took her sew-ins out and washed her hair, etc. over the course of the two years, her relaxed hair was breaking off. It was easy to tell the relaxed hair was gone because it was bleached, brittle, and bone-straight. Her natural hair is dark black, thick and curly (4a/b).

I wish I had more suggestions. Besides trimming, maybe you could do a long-term protective style that would cut down on heat an manipulation like kinky twists, wigs, or a sew-in (done by someone who had healthy hair practices).
 
I think they're still relaxed ends because sometime before I decided to transition I had my hair colored a dark brown and I still see traces of that at the end of part of my hair and scattered throughout. Also when my hair is wet or has product there are random straight pieces on a lot of the ends and you can see where my Jair curls then stops.

As far as heat I used it a lot when I was maintaining relaxed hair. Since starting my transition I had used it alot on my first sew in because I had leave out hair. Other than that I've only semi when getting a protective style like braid extensions to make it easier for the braided because they seem to rip through my hair if not.

I will try to do more moisture somehow but when I think I am it's still not enough. Also should I still incorporate protein since there needs to be a balance?
 
***This is my opinion from my own experience with breakage***

If your hair is breaking while it is dry like that, you need moisture, moisture, and more moisture. Your hair is dry and damged. I would not focus on using any protein right now. Your main focus should be moisture.

A protein treatment could be a temporary fix (until you washed your hair the next time), but it will not be the permanent solution to your current hair woes. I had hair at one time that was so over processed that it would break by just touching it while was wet (it was very weak). The protein treatment I used (motions CPR) stopped my breakage in a snap. However, whenever I washed my hair, the proteins that filled in the missing gaps were washed off and I was left with the same damaged hair I had in the first place. It was only a temporary fix.

You may also have to look into getting a cut to get rid of those damaged ends. That is just my opinion. Something you are doing is not right and I would take a deep look at your current routine and reevaluate. I have been there done that with damaged hair 6 years ago. I was on the fence and stretched my relaxer for 6 months before that incident, but a year after that fiasco I went natural. No more breakage issues like that sense, 4 years and counting Good luck
 
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The pics that you took of your hairs in the sink look a lot like what I experienced when I had a bad case of dry hair. What do you use to moisturize and seal with and how often do you moisturize and seal? Also, when was the last time you had a protein treatment? I agree with the other posts that you need a good trim (maybe an inch? - totally up to you, though) and LOTS of moisture.
 
This is similar to what happened to me when I decided to go natural. My hair was RAINING broken strands from heat and chemical damage. If I were you I'd let those relaxed ends go (SNIP, SNIP). You don't want to hold onto chemically damaged hair when this is the result. Start your natural HHJ with a nice, fresh cut/trim, you'll be happy you did (I was!). :grin:
 
TraciChanel said:
The pics that you took of your hairs in the sink look a lot like what I experienced when I had a bad case of dry hair. What do you use to moisturize and seal with and how often do you moisturize and seal? Also, when was the last time you had a protein treatment? I agree with the other posts that you need a good trim (maybe an inch? - totally up to you, though) and LOTS of moisture.
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Thx. I don't use much to moisturize and seal. When I did I was using a Shea butter and oil mix when I last had extensions. Now all I do is maybe leave a little conditioner in after a cowash then put coconut or grapeseed oil some gel and bun.

I did a protein dc on Thursday only because I called myself trying to do a strand test thinking I need to incorporate both protein and moisture into my regimen.


I ask about the trim cause I don't know how much to get taken off and if I should have it done before it after a sew in. I also want to still be able to pull it back.
 
curlyninjagirl said:
This is similar to what happened to me when I decided to go natural. My hair was RAINING broken strands from heat and chemical damage. If I were you I'd let those relaxed ends go (SNIP, SNIP). You don't want to hold onto chemically damaged hair when this is the result. Start your natural HHJ with a nice, fresh cut/trim, you'll be happy you did (I was!). :grin:
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I wonder if it's previous damage from when I wasn't taking care of my hair that's still there. Like I said before I can still see remnants of the brown color I got but idk if that's the color or maybe even my natural hair. I did for a while alternate between color and perm. For example perm 6 weeks later color 4 weeks later perm etc. I had wanted to wait till summer to get the ends trimmed so in case I didn't like it I would have time to play with it then.
 
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