THOSE WHO HAD/HAVE BREAKAGE PROBLEMS

[Your Cheeziness]

For me, initially using more protein (than usual) drastically reducing direct heat helped me stop excessive breakage. Of course, I balanced it with moisture DCs.

 

[HoneyA]

DC with protein I'll have to say and I'm going to have to make it a weekly thing I think. Jherri redding natural protein stops my breakage immediately it seems. I've also used Motions CPR to stop breakage and that stopped it immediately as well.

 

[Missi]

alternating between protein & moisture helped so much... more so UBH Deep Conditioner & UBH Hair Lotion eliminated my breakage. Once i noticed my breakage stopped: i baggied my ends and always protect them when my hair is in any style.

 

[Patricia]

DC with protein I'll have to say and I'm going to have to make it a weekly thing I think. Jherri redding natural protein stops my breakage immediately it seems. I've also used Motions CPR to stop breakage and that stopped it immediately as well.

you gonna have me running to get some jherri redding

 

[Innocent_Kiss]

Ultimately, you have to discover which your hair needs. IMHO, the "hair strand test" is the simpliest way. Take a strand of you hair, preferably clean hair with no product, so that you may have the most accurate results. Take the strand and tug at it until it breaks.

If it makes a loud pop noise, but has little or no elasticity (stretch) then your hair needs moisture. Increase your DC and moisturizing treatments.

If the strand had a very faint, or no "pop" noise at all, but you were able to give the strand a reasonable stretch, you need structure via protein. Give yourself a protein treatment. I use ORS Hair Mayonnaise or Giovanni Nutraphix.

If your hair lacks elasticity, and had a faint or no pop noise, do both - with the moisturizing treatment last. I think it's a matter of establishing the perfect balance for your tresses. This helped me so much in assessing what to do for my hair. I was experience SO MUCH breakage! Everytime I would manipulate my hair, my shoulders, back, sink, and comb would be FILLED with broken strands. I immediately associated breakage with the need of protein, when in fact, I needed moisture! HTH

 

[calihair 2007]

for me it was moisture. My hair was dry as a desert. I've learned "my" hair doesn't like too much protein but loves moisture. I've found Aubrey Honeysuckle rose and a little protein & a good trim cured all. I've kept my products to a minimum too and finally realized that less is more.

 

[yaya24]

When I have breakage, I clarify then follow with a moisturizing DC

 

[skatergurljubulee]

When I suffered from severe breakage I thought it was normal that you pulled out handfuls of hair on the daily basis, two to three handfuls on relaxer days. I've got thickish hair so it didn't seem like a big deal. I discovered ApHogee 2 step via Healthy Textures and YT and now all I do is shed if I lose hair and on occasion I have one or two broken hairs daily.
I'm relaxed, and I have to say it was 2 hard core protien treatments (spaced 6 weeks apart) and ORS mayo once a week for two months (followed by a moisture condish) that made the big difference. I do the ApHogee keretin treatment 1- 2 times a month now in order to maintain the protien levels instead of during hard protien treatments.
HTH

 

[skatergurljubulee]

Maybe someone already said this...but you have to know why you are breaking before you address the problem:

Too dry?
Too much moisture?

Both can cause breakage from what I have learned here.

Someone mentioned clarifying first. I agree. Then wet test a strand or two in different places on your head. If your hair snaps quickly with no stretching, you need moisture. It's too dry.

If it stretches a looong way and then breaks you need protein. It's not strong enough.

If it does a normal stretch and bounces back or breaks after that little stretch (which normal, healthy hair will do), then your hair is probably healthy but has some porosity issues who can lead to breakage. The cuticle may not be closed enough, thus leading to weakened hair and breakage.

Roux Porosity Control is ALWAYS wonderful as a final step to make sure the cuticle is sealed and you keep whatever progress you have made in rectifying the problem. I can't find it here in the UK, and I have looked for it, but it's probably the reason my hair never broke or shed in the US. I used it because my mom gave it to me and it smelled good. I didn't know it was exceptionally good for my hair. Shame...

Someone please correct me if I wrote wrong info.

I hope this is helpful...

cj

Thanks so much! Hopefully I'll be able to stop the little bit of breakage that I'm experiencing. I haven't henna'd in a while- I forgot to add that I henna for strength erplexed ,sorry(I did that usually after a clarify and protien treatment). And a Q for us State side: Is Roux Porosity Control easily available? Like at Sally's? I love at that store.

 

[titan]

I voted for DC moisture,because a couple of months ago the ends of my hair were snapping off, a problem that I have never had before my BC, but I have started to DC once a week, and no more snapping ends. I'm currently natural.

 

[bajanplums1]

doing both
i do a reconstructor treatment and a deep conditioning treatment every week

 

[TLC1020]

My hair broke off and I still don't know what's the problem... The texture of my hair has changed as well .. I am not sure what's going on...

 

[ctosha]

I had a slight problem maybe two weeks ago. I have been using le kair cholesterol once every week for almost two years ever since being natural. It does have keratin protein in there so I think that may have been the culprit since my hair doesn't like protein. The breakage wasn't major but every morning when i did my bun i would see little broken hairs on my hand when i touched my hair which i normally don't see. I figure my hair has gotten enough protein and it is strong enough not sure what it was but on my next wash which was a week later i switched and started using a moisture conditioner, creme of nature (the purple bottle old formula) and there are no little hairs on my hands. I stocked up on that and the shampoo since the old formula is discontinued. In my case i figure it was the protein.

 

[dynamic1]

First things first....CLARIFY

(2) Protein treatment

(3) Moisture treatment

Ditto what she said. It worked when I was relaxed.

As a natural the most important are clarify then protein because I maintain moisture sufficiently.

 

[HoneyA]

you gonna have me running to get some jherri redding

You definitely won't regret it. You see and feel the difference in your hair immediately and so do other people I might add

 

[ajargon02]

FINGER COMBING!!!

This has greatly reduced my breakage. I would be in a hurry,and not properly handle my hair.

Now (thank the lord) I have changed my ways, handle my hair like fine china, and PROPERLY brush when needed. I will only brush once a month, but finger comb weekly.

This OVERALL with a good routine, is sooo helping me retain length.

 

[MD_Lady]

I'm a relaxed 4a with fine strands. In my case, seborrheic dermatitis was the cause and a balm prescribed by my dermatologist was the solution. I'm not advocating that people run to the doctor at the first sign of breakage, but I'm sharing my experience to show that scalp health may be an underlying factor if all your best efforts are failing.

Now that I've gotten that under control, I make sure to balance moisture and protein. When my hair needs it (about 2 weeks prior to my next relaxer), I'll use a moisturing protein treatment (Paul Mitchell, ION, or ORS hair mayo + egg) and DC with a hair masque. In addition to that, I always DC when I wash my hair, but use a thicker conditioner as it gets closer to touch-up time.

 

[MCMLXXII]

7500mcg of Biotin (daily) helped me retain my hair, made it much stronger.

 

[Patricia]

You definitely won't regret it. You see and feel the difference in your hair immediately and so do other people I might add

Do they sell it at sallys?

 

[Denise11]

7500mcg of Biotin (daily) helped me retain my hair, made it much stronger.

7500 mcg! That's a lot! You know you can overdose on vitamins and minerals and cause health problems. You'll have gorgeous hair and be sick!

 

[cocomochaa]

Maybe someone already said this...but you have to know why you are breaking before you address the problem:

Too dry?
Too much moisture?

Both can cause breakage from what I have learned here.

Someone mentioned clarifying first. I agree. Then wet test a strand or two in different places on your head. If your hair snaps quickly with no stretching, you need moisture. It's too dry.

If it stretches a looong way and then breaks you need protein. It's not strong enough.

If it does a normal stretch and bounces back or breaks after that little stretch (which normal, healthy hair will do), then your hair is probably healthy but has some porosity issues who can lead to breakage. The cuticle may not be closed enough, thus leading to weakened hair and breakage.

Roux Porosity Control is ALWAYS wonderful as a final step to make sure the cuticle is sealed and you keep whatever progress you have made in rectifying the problem. I can't find it here in the UK, and I have looked for it, but it's probably the reason my hair never broke or shed in the US. I used it because my mom gave it to me and it smelled good. I didn't know it was exceptionally good for my hair. Shame...

Someone please correct me if I wrote wrong info.

I hope this is helpful...

cj

You can't find porosity control?!!Peckham in london! There's loads of it there, just littered on the streets LOL ok not on the streets but in ALL BSS on the highstreet; that's at least five shops. HTH

 

[chebaby]

im relaxed and transitioning. what keeps me from having breakage is that:
1) i pre poo with every wash(once a week). from root to tip on dry hair i pre poo with a mix of conditioner, honey and oil
2)i do a light protein (joico k pak reconstructor) with every wash
3)i always deep condition with a moisturizing deep conditioner under the dryer
4)i detaingle in the shower under the runing water to prevent tangles.

 

[melodies815]

This is the simplest and clearest identification description I've seen. "breaks fast=dry, stretches then breaks=need protien, otherwise attack porosity.
I'm almost sure I have to cut away the damaged hair first. Otherwise it seems pretty strong and healthy.
Question: Is losing approx 100 strands of long and short (pieces) too much for natural hair. That's what I lose every 2-3 days when I GENTLY reposition my bun and/or cowash?

I do think that losing approx. 100 BROKEN strands every time you handle your hair gently is too much. Sorry I didn't see this sooner. This happened to me when I first moved to Britain and I lost a LOT of hair. I had that horrible inverse "V" on the left side of my head and had to cut too many times to mention just to maintain some kind of healthy look. Over time, you will lose your progress if that's what you lose in addition to normal shedding.

Also...ALWAYS attack porosity if you have the ability to do so. It closes the cuticle and "seals in" (for lack of a better term) what you have done to help your hair. The protein AND moisture will be in the hair and not "seeping" out because of an open cuticle...which would cause breakage more easily. I hope this is helpful to you!!!

cj

 

[melodies815]

You can't find porosity control?!!Peckham in london! There's loads of it there, just littered on the streets LOL ok not on the streets but in ALL BSS on the highstreet; that's at least five shops. HTH

LOL

I don't know London at ALL!!! I live in Peterborough. To be fair to myself, I am not enough of a PJ to pay nearly $40 for a train ride to London and then another approximately $25 for the Porosity Control. Too cheap for that .

We go back to the US in a little over 2 weeks, so I'll pick up two bottles there from Sally's. Thank you so much for the information, however. That was so sweet!

Here is a for you!!!

cj

 

[Sundiva]

Nayeli,
Are you natural?

 

[Tyra]

Protein treatments, Deep Conditioning, Biotin Shampoo, Co-washing, and Baggying.
Of those I really can't say what has done the most to combat my breakage. Wait! Yes I can. It's the baggying (after moisturizing and sealing).

BTW. I'm mostly relaxed some texlax.

 

[Dak]

I'm a natural that regularly flat irons. Over the summer I started experiencing breakage in the back of my hair. It was from sweating, my hair would frizz and then in the process of detangling it was more prone to breakage.

So hair will be off my neck this summer.

 

[Mo96]

DC with protein....Nexxus Emergencee saved the day!!

 

[njerannce]

i STILL have breakage problems. i texlaxed my hair maybe 3 years ago and didnt know how to care for it. i used flat irons nearly everyday!! then obviously i started to have serious breakage, but as i still didnt know how to care for my hair i didnt do much to combat it. I had sl hair and i broke off to neck length. now im on my way back to sl. I still cant figure out why i still have some breakage! Ive noticed if i dont moisturise my hair daily it will feel dry and il hear the snap,crackle and pop sound when i comb or rack my fingers thorugh my hair. SO is this a moisture problem? Sometimes when i do a moist dc my hair feels uber soft almost mushy. So i tried doing the aphogee 2 min recon last night and alot of hair broke when i washed it out. When my hair is wet it jus breaks so easily!! could it be the shower pressure? Ive started protective styles and wearing a satin bonnet to sleep in (i was never consistant in covering my hair at night til now)

Sorry for all the questions, but i really need help. Ive posted on a thread before about my breakage and got no response i wanna reach my apl or at least past sl by december goal, but at the minute it doesnt seem likely.

 

[Patricia]

i STILL have breakage problems. i texlaxed my hair maybe 3 years ago and didnt know how to care for it. i used flat irons nearly everyday!! then obviously i started to have serious breakage, but as i still didnt know how to care for my hair i didnt do much to combat it. I had sl hair and i broke off to neck length. now im on my way back to sl. I still cant figure out why i still have some breakage! Ive noticed if i dont moisturise my hair daily it will feel dry and il hear the snap,crackle and pop sound when i comb or rack my fingers thorugh my hair. SO is this a moisture problem? Sometimes when i do a moist dc my hair feels uber soft almost mushy. So i tried doing the aphogee 2 min recon last night and alot of hair broke when i washed it out. When my hair is wet it jus breaks so easily!! could it be the shower pressure? Ive started protective styles and wearing a satin bonnet to sleep in (i was never consistant in covering my hair at night til now)

Sorry for all the questions, but i really need help. Ive posted on a thread before about my breakage and got no response i wanna reach my apl or at least past sl by december goal, but at the minute it doesnt seem likely.

Sound like the problem I had. I really recommend a weekly protein it changed my hair problems around for the best. I can literally go a whole week moisturizing 1X. My hair now holds moisture because the protein treatments allows my hair to hold it. A lot of times we assume we need moisture because our hair is dry but a lot of times our hair can't hold on to moisture cause we have no protein in it. Please read the thread I started MY DISCOVERY. This will truely help you. I'm telling you I was loosing hair just like you. Click on my profile and then statistics, and look at the threads I started. You will find the 2 min at this point is not strong enough for you to see the results you need. You might also want to check out the challenge I started too! PROTEIN IS MY FRIEND.