Will you help me figure out what's causing my split ends?

[isawstars]

I got a touch up and trim last month and I've already see a TON of split ends. I'm doing search and destroy at the moment and it's so exhausting because there's so many of them. I've was doing the same regimen since August BUT I recently started getting getting lazy and messed around. I've never had this issue with my old regimen.

Old Regi

• Shampoo 1x a week
• Aphogee 2 min reconstructor 1x
• DC with quality conditioner (ie: biolage or silk elements)
• Detangle only with conditioner and don't detangle/finger comb til next shampoo day
• Leave in Conditioner
• Air dry in pony tail then bun when damp
• & Co wash as needed (still not detangling)

As of Lately ETA these are new habits in addition to my original regi

• Detangling when cowashing (wide tooth comb) AND on shampoo days
• Blotting wet hair in microfiber hair towel then bunning
• DCing with a cheap conditioner (Aussie 3 min)
• wavy/damp pony tails twice a week
• Using a Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1 instead of HE's LTR ("split end mender") every morning

 

[CurlTalk]

Are you brushing your hair to the ends (especially while wet)? What type of brush do you use? Are you especially gentle when combing/handling ends?

 

[isawstars]

Are you brushing your hair to the ends (especially while wet)? What type of brush do you use? Are you especially gentle when combing/handling ends?

i use a wide tooth comb when my hair is wet/covered with conditioner. I'm gentle at the ends but i'm kind of impatient but i'm not rough.

 

[TBS]

Are you deep conditioning with heat? It obviously is not a problem for many people on this board, but my hair couldn't take it. When I had cut my hair the second time I would deep conditioner with heat once or twice a week.. by the end of the month, I swear nearly every strand was split at the tips, if not they were split somewhere down the strand.

I finally attributed the splits to the heat after I cut my hair a second time (fade).. and a few months later I used my hair steamer (first time) and afterward I found a few splits, they were most definitely not there before. I'm in my hair all the time.. so I was sure.

I bought a seamless comb, but I have yet to use it on my hair this time around. I was using one with seams before.. so that may have contributed also.

I hope you find out what's wrong.

 

[isawstars]

..................bump

 

[Your Cheeziness]

I'm thinking that Aussie 3 Minute Miracle isn't a deep conditioner in it's function. I love it for cowashes, but I think the name is misleading. Your hair could be split due to lack of moisture. Everything else looks great.

 

[Nonie]

How often do you dust your hair? I am one of those who thinks split ends are inevitable. Even Wanakee (yeah I talk about her like she's the be-all-and-end-all of hair) who protectiv3 styled all the time with sealing recommended it, and you have seen how full her ends looked.

How are you wearing your hair? Do you seal your ends? You could be as gentle as can be but the elements do assault your hair daily, and as your ends get older and older, their age starts to show.

As for search and destroy, y'all have a lot of time on your hands. I have never understood what makes people think that when they are treating ALL the hair strands on their heads the same...and when they are ALL experiencing the same things at the same time...that some would succumb to the trials of life and split while others somehow come with muscles that withstand all...even though they ALL are growing out of the SAME head nourished by the SAME blood. I'm telling you the hairs you think are not split, are just half hairs left behind when the split tears off. When my hair ends thinned from not trimming, I can assure you, search and destroy would not have shown me a single split, coz I was late: the splits had come and gone before I even arrived. Had I trusted S&D then, I'd be wondering why my hair doesn't seem to grow coz those ends would've broken off putting me right back where I was a year ago.

 

[isawstars]

Anyone else? Thanks to the one person who voted in my poll

 

[isawstars]

lunch time bump!

 

[BlaqBella]

FUNNY^^! No but i want to know to so......bump

 

[mimi0410]

mmm...may seem like a silly question but are you certain that during your last trim all of the spit ends were taken care of?? Your regi sounds on point with the exception of your deep conditioner---when it comes to deep conditioning this is an area I dont go the cheap route on. So I would have to cosign w/Cheezi. You may want to switch up and use something that's actually geared towards deep conditoning.

 

[KinkyGenius]

I notice when I manipulate my hair a lot I get more splits (i.e., combing too often, detangling too frequently, etc.), as well as leaving my ends exposed all the time. I use to wear flexi-rod sets for the entire week, now I don't do them as often.

ETA: I invested in seamless, bone combs and that has reduced my splits tremendously. I also only detangle with a comb once a week on wash day (mostly). Throughout the rest of the week I detangle in sections using my fingers.

 

[Aviah]

Are you sure the scissors you trimmed with were sharp? Those could increase the speed at which you get splits.

 

[blue_flower]

Are you deep conditioning with heat? It obviously is not a problem for many people on this board, but my hair couldn't take it. When I had cut my hair the second time I would deep conditioner with heat once or twice a week.. by the end of the month, I swear nearly every strand was split at the tips, if not they were split somewhere down the strand.

I finally attributed the splits to the heat after I cut my hair a second time (fade).. and a few months later I used my hair steamer (first time) and afterward I found a few splits, they were most definitely not there before. I'm in my hair all the time.. so I was sure.

I bought a seamless comb, but I have yet to use it on my hair this time around. I was using one with seams before.. so that may have contributed also.

I hope you find out what's wrong.

I cut 4 inches off my hair in January and my ends were great for a couple months. But after I straightened my hair, there were split ends every where. I had to trim a half inch off. At least I know for sure now that it's the heat that's causing my ends to madly split.

 

[Aspire]

Hiya. I am not really sure about your hair texture. I have VERY fine hair and I HAVE to keep protein in my regimen. Without it my ends are just too vulnerable. To this end, I always use one of the following:
- a product to mask my hair (henna, cassia, and most recently protein color luminen mask),
- A protein DC (AO has a great one - green tea something or other)
- A LIGHT protein conditioner like Russ Calm for co-washing, OR
- A protein light conditioner at least 1/wk, like Aphogee

Without one of these in my regimen, my ends split like crazy because of the moisture needed to keep my fine hair from breaking.

It seems that you took out a really great, regularly used protein product as well as a great DC product. Your regimen is now missing both. JMO - Good luck

 

[LadyPaniolo]

I too suffer from the split end drama. It's enough to make me weep. It was never super awful until I texlaxed and now I just can't keep them from splitting no matter what I do. So I can totally empathize.

Are you wearing your hair down? I know you said ponytails... is the tip of your pony sweeping your clothes, your couch, your car headrest? That can cause splits.

 

[curlyninjagirl]

I voted detangling. I just read this article about african american hair growth and one study compared the act of combing to getting a hair cut. Here's a link to the article. http://thenaturalhaven.blogspot.com/2009/07/trimming-hair-growth-and-terminal.html