what else can i do?

[southerncharm]

i've mentioned i'm having problems with my ends, i've been natural for almost 2 yrs this May.

my ends will dry up like dry grass, i'd get them trimmed & by the next wk they'd be dry again, i'd wash & condition sometimes deep cond, but nothing helps, i've got every kind of shampoo from Wen to completely natural shampoos, same as conditioners.

i've got every kind of moisturizers from s-curl to all kinds of butters & all kinds of oils.

so on election day i decided to throw in the towel & just start pressing thinking that would help retain the moisture & stop the drying, my hair held moisture real good when i was pressing & transitioning from the perm, no drying what so ever.

but as soon as i became 100% natural i've been struggling every since, for almost 2 yrs i'm barely shoulder length . (trimmming)

when i was pressed 2 wks ago it was beautiful, it held the press really good, even when i exercise (walk), again she had to trim off alot but not all of the bad ends, cause i wouldv'e been almost bald.


so i went back today for a wash & press, my ends had dried up again, it was like as soon as she trimmed them & tried to move to another part of my head, by the time she had made it back to the other side they had dried up again, ya'll i'm not lying i was there almost 6 hrs , with her struggling with my hair

we're both lost & don't know what to do next & why my ends keep drying like that.
she has alot of clients that are natural & she never have problems like that with them.

sometimes i wanna just pull a britney spears & shave it all off & start over , we both joked about that but i'm afraid if i did that, that would be it, i'd never have length again, i'm afraid as soon as it would grow it would dry up.

i drink alot of water & also take alot of vitamins, i'm a fast grower but it's just those darn ends that i'm dealing with, the last thing i wanna do is go back to perming, my scalp won't be able to handle it especially since i have SD.

any advice will do i'm desperate(lol) , i'm due back in 2 wks, from someone that was MBL, it's really depressing that i haven't seen that length in a couple of yrs & wonder if i ever will again.

 

[Flawlis1]

First of all, stop trimming your ends everytime you go to the salon, you will never gain any length if you keep cutting. Since your hair is natural it is going to be dryer because of the curls and coarseness, and natural oils from your scalp will not make it down to your ends. It seems like you are going to have to keep your ends oiled on a daily basis. Also, if your stylist is pressing your hair with extreme heat just to straighten them, that is very damaging to your hair because it is being burned. I myself prefer avocado oil to moisturize my ends, but use a true oil, not that crappy oil with the silicones in it. A treatment I really like also is Ojon restorative treatment oil, it really helps to get my hair back in shape when I get to crazy with the flat iron and manipulation.

 

[Evolving78]

when was the last time you clarified and did a protein treatment? what heat protectant do you use? and what do you moisturize and seal with? you may have product buildup if you don't clarify at least once a month. i know for me, my hair can't take too much product. since i moisturize and seal daily, i have to wash twice a week. i tried to do the cowash thing again, but my hair has to be cleansed. if not, everything just sits on top, creating a coating. my ends start to get dry and crispy. i have fine 4a low porosity hair. even when i was natural, less was more. keeping my hair moisturized with moisturizing sprays and light oils helped, plus washing/cowashing helped too. my issue were the tangles. my hair is so coily, it would always tangle on itself. if i ever go back to natural, i will loc my hair. i can't be bothered with loose natural hair. too much work.

 

[~*~ShopAholic~*~]

Clarify/chealating shapoo would be best, use Roux Porosity Control to help your hair be able to absorb the moisture, then DC with a very very moisturizing conditioner, you may want to add a little honey and oils to it to boost the moisture. Apply a leave in, moisturize and seal, then put up in a style that tuck your ends away. I would DC every 3-4 days till my moisture was back then alternate moisture protein treatments. I wouldn't blow dry or press for a few months. Do you blow dry regularly, cause that maybe what's killing your ends plus your hair sounds porous.

 

[lamaria211]

Baggy your ends all day every day it works great

 

[lacreolegurl]

I would monitor the heat. Instead of blow drying, consider roller setting, taking care to seal your ends with something like grapeseed or Argan oil. Then flat iron or press. When I flatiron, I have to seal my ends each night and do Bantu knots.
I trimmed a lot off until I figured that out. Also, make sure the scissors being used to trim are sharpened and not dull. That may contribute as well to damage.
Good luck!

 

[faithVA]

I agree with stop trimming your ends. You have very porous ends which are going to dry out. My hair is the same way. My hair is low porosity but my ends are highly porous.

Do all the other stuff people mention and see if any of it works for you. But in the end, you will need to keep them moisturized and sealed daily.

Trim your ends only on a regular set schedule. Just because they are dry does not mean they are damaged enough to cut.

 

[southerncharm]

thanks ladies for your advice most of what you've said i've already done, clarified, i've always tucked my ends after i would wash & plait it up, maybe it's just what i use to moisturize & seal with. i haven't pressed but 3 times since i've been completely natural, once this past Sept, 2wks ago, & tuesday, but i guess that's 3 times too many for alot of heat.

but i'm gonna have to figure out something, looking at all the pictures of you ladies showing off their curly or straight hair & then having to look at mine is really quite depressing to me(lol).

i was thinking about getting a steamer, i just don't wanna waste money if it doesn't work but at this point i'm willing to try anything.

 

[Angel of the North]

Baggy your ends all day every day it works great

This is what worked for me when I had a setback with my ends

 

[prettybyrd]

Have you tried the LOC method? It doesn't matter which products you use, just using them in the order of liquid, oil, cream (LOC), has really helped my hair.

Specifically, I go LOC and then protective style. HTH.

 

[havilland]

i agree, try liquid, oil, cream. LOC

also, a steamer

also consider a water filter for your shower. maybe the local water is drying you out.

also, hide your hair in a baggy. wear a baggied ponytail for weeks on end. see if that helps you any.

stay away from sulfates just in case.

there is one lady on you tube that braids her hair with grapeseed oil and wraps the braid in saran, then wear a wig for a month.

 

[southerncharm]

UPDATE-KINDA LONG & I'LL BE ALL OVER THE PLACE SO BARE WITH ME(lol).

since i posted this i've made excellent progress, i've switched hair dressers from the one that did all this cutting, there was a problem in the shop the owner(the cutter) kicked one out for not bringing in enough customers & stealing hers , so that's the one i followed the one that was kicked out & that's the one that's helped me in her own way with out even knowing it.

about a month(around december) before she was kicked out she colored my hair, i haven't colored in yrs cause i was afraid on my scalp issues(SD), so i took a chance & let her color it, i asked did it have ammonia or peroxide in it & she said no, what ever it was it was in a metal tube.

ok, now i'm fixing to jump to another part of the story bare with me(lol).

so about a wk later i washed my hair & it did a lot of shedding, so i said to my self this is it, i need to see what's going on. i set up an appointment with a dermatologist an older white guy, he confirmed what another one had told me a few yrs ago that it was SD & alopecia(thinning in my crown because of the SD). so i said what ever he tells me to do, i'm gonna do, i'm gonna use the medicines like he tells me to.

he gave me the perscriptions for shampoo & ointment(FLUOCINONIDE 0.05%), so i said him dr k, i can't use any kind of grease on my scalp or it'll shed so he told me just follow my instructions & you'll be ok, i asked will my hair grow back he said yeah.


you see that's what i WASN'T doing when i was going to the first dr,
he'd write out perscriptions, i'd SOMETIMES get them filled but i wouldn't use them, i'm a natural kinda girl & i don't like using drugs not unless i really have to, so i dealt with this issue for 5 or 6 yrs, i was buying all kinds if natural & some times regular shampoos, oils, NOTHING WORKED.

i still was willing to put up with the itchy scalp, no dandruff just itching, you see i was getting 2 different stories, from the first dr and a tricologist(both black) she said he was lying i didn't have SD he just wanted to have me use & buy a lot of meds & get my money erplexed, but she(tricologist) was using tons of oils & grease on my scalp & it was making the problem worse shedding, itching, & she was getting TONS of my money, i spent almost 2k going to her just a little over a yr, i went to her first before him, she was highly pissed when she out i did go to him.

so i acted a dang fool & stopped going to both when i should've kept listening & seeing him, so that's when i made the decission to go to some one neutral(white) but i knew the answer when the blk dr told me at first, i had all the symptoms of SD, i guess i wanted to believe her cause she was a woman & i thought she understood more about womens hair .

so i got the perscriptions filled on the 8th of last month & still i planned on acting a fool, "i'm not using these drugs on my scalp like that", so my scalp started itching one night, so i said well let me use the ointment & see what will happen, i did say i was going to do what ever he tells me to do, i used the ointment & to my surprise my scalp stopped itching right a way.

so i said let me start using my shampoo, & see what happens i definitely didn't wanna use that cause i was already having problems with dry ends & the instructions says wash every 3 days , by the time i finish trying to get my saclp together i'm gonna end up having to shave my head & start over cause my ends are gonna be jacked up.

so i made sure i kept an eye on things(side effects), & follow the instructions to a T, I got on the web & read up on the ointment(FLUOCINONIDE 0.05%) to check on the side effects, so no wonder he was so sure my hair would grow back, one of the side effects was it would cause EXCESIVE hair growth , one of the sites i was on i can't remember what site it was, but it said some folk use the ointment that don't even have problems, if they can get their hands on some they'll use it just for hair growth.

but i'm doing GREAT(my crown), my hair has grown a lot it's thickening up at the roots, my scalp it also doing GREAT, i have to use the ointment once a day i use it at night, no itching or shedding, i had a follow up appointment on monday he said everything looked great, & for me to continue to use every thing for another 6 wks, no coloring for a while & i shouldn't have any more problems & i didn't have to come back not unless i start having problems again.

 

[southerncharm]

ok now on to part 2.


when i started letting the other lady braid my hair after she colored it, i noticed my ends wasn't drying out, usually when ever i got them trimmed by the next wk they was dried out again,they felt really good i was able to retain length, she told me what she was using, but she didn't say the name she only said it had wax in it, i tried to sneak a peek but she always had the jar turned around backwards(of course). i'd let her put it on my hair NOT my scalp.

but a lot or some of it may had to do with me going to the drs & getting my scalp healthy.

SO i would go & let her braid it after i washed it at home with my perscription shampoo, i was thinking if i can find out what she's using, even though she was doing a good job, i'd buy the grease my self & start letting some one else braid it( i know that's wrong ) cause i'm out of a lot of time & gas driving there to her 40-50 min.

all i know it was in a white jar with a blk lid, so i went to a beauty supply place & asked what do you have in a wht jar with a blk lid, that has wax in it?, so we started looking, so guess what it was DOO GRO, i don't know exactly what kind, but they only had one kind the one i got was triple strength for severly damaged hair, i got that & i also the mega thick for intense repair( at the time,why i don't know).

so since it was a long drive for me & i was gonna have to wash every 3 days, i wasn't about to put my self through that, i started washing & plaiting my self, making sure i paid close attention to my ends & put a good amount of grease on them.

ya'll i tried, lord knows i tried to stay all natural & not use chemicals & synthetic products, but with this experience i had to learn some times you just gotta do what you gotta do .

when i wash i use a clarifying shampoo first, then my perscription so i won't get a build up with the wax, i don't use the grease on my scalp only on my hair, i just use my ointment on my saclp, i make sure i DC just in case my ends try to dry out, i'll do it just until i finish my treatment, but man i can't wait till these 6wks are over(lol).

for some reason i used the repair treatment on tuesday instead of DCing, ya'll that was the best experience i've ever had on my hair, that stuff is outta this world, i had soooo much slip & it was sooo soft but i did look at some of the post here about mineral oils & some one did say i can't remember who but be careful cause it'll slip up on you,

but i'm gonna keep using my doo gro after my prescriptions, i'll just make sure i clairfy & keep an eye on things, ya'll wouldn't believe all the stuff i've bought & tried, i've seen some of your stashes i think i got all ya'll beat , now all i have use i my doo gro grease, that's it & nothing else.

one thing that a lot you have said, you just gotta keep trying until you find out what works for you, & not every one hair is the same.

ya'll i'm so gald i found out what works for me cause i was just about to throw in the towel & start pressing i wasn't about to go back to perming just pressing.

 

[belldandy]

I'm glad you found something that works!!!

 

[LadyEuphoria007]

I'm glad there was a happy ending to your story! You are right...sometimes you gotta so what cha gotta do.

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[ronie]

Happy you found what works for you. It's such a journey ain't it.

 

[greenandchic]

southerncharm - Yay! I'm glad you discovered what works!