Split ends and hair breakage

fin12

Can some people give any advice please.

I’ve long hair but in the last few monthsthe length has shortened all by itself through split ends and hair breakage.

I really need to stop my hair from continuing to split and break off, I have stopped using the hair straightener, I have started to take hair vitamins from Holland n Barrett n bought a lot of hair repair shampoo and conditioner but haven’t really seen much of an improvement.

Can anyone please recommend some products or vitamins to help with this?

Mandser

I'd suggest a good haircut and a deep repair shampoo and treatments. Do you use a heat protector, you should use one even when blow drying your hair.  What brands have you tried so far?

c6ysaphjvqw41k

Uniq One hair treatment by Revlon after getting a good haircut.

northgirl

I'm using the Aveda range for protect and repair but would be interested in a recommendation for a heat protector although I don't use straighteners.

Mandser

Ada Silly Carrot wrote: »

Uniq One hair treatment by Revlon after getting a good haircut.

UniqOne is great, Pureology heat protector is also good.  Definitely get a hair cut to remove all the dead ends and use a treatment at least once a week.  even coconut oil would help repair your hair if you dont want to splash out on an expensive treatment

fin12

Mandser wrote: »

I'd suggest a good haircut and a deep repair shampoo and treatments. Do you use a heat protector, you should use one even when blow drying your hair.  What brands have you tried so far?

Hi thanks, I did get a haircut and it has since that haircut started to shorten again by it’s self. I really don’t want to cut it again. I’m using lee Stanford coconut oil on my lengths at night. John Frieda full repair deep conditioner and shampoo. The problem is I have greasy hair at the roots so practically wash it everyday. I’m going to order redken extreme anti breakage from eBay read good reviews about it.

fin12

Has anyone tried the Hairburst vitamins or shampoos and conditioner, they are pretty expensive so just wondering are they any good?

Faith

In my experience, you’re not going to fix it by using shampoos and conditioners that you can buy in Tesco or Boots. I used to have extremely dry, splintered hair that felt terrible. About 3 years ago, I started using Redken shampoo and conditioners (I tried many others, including Pureology, but they never felt right). I regularly deep condition my hair (I was using the Joico k-pak range, which was great, and I’m now using Kerastase) and I always use a few drops of Argan oil on my hair when I’ve washed it. I only wash it every 3 days (It took a while to stop being greasy within 24 hours) and I always shampoo twice.

Over the past few years, my hair has totally changed from dry and horrible to soft and luscious. My hairdresser always compliments me on how soft it is! It takes a long time to see the changes, but the biggest thing for me was moving away from from high street brands and using [expensive] professional quality brands.

La_Gordy

What type of hair do you have? This could impact the next steps massively!

fin12

La_Gordy wrote: »

What type of hair do you have? This could impact the next steps massively!

I have like medium long hair, it would be fine, I don’t dye my hair either.

I know if I could not wash it everyday it would be a start but unless I’m just staying at home I can’t really not wash it.

fin12

Faith wrote: »

In my experience, you’re not going to fix it by using shampoos and conditioners that you can buy in Tesco or Boots. I used to have extremely dry, splintered hair that felt terrible. About 3 years ago, I started using Redken shampoo and conditioners (I tried many others, including Pureology, but they never felt right). I regularly deep condition my hair (I was using the Joico k-pak range, which was great, and I’m now using Kerastase) and I always use a few drops of Argan oil on my hair when I’ve washed it. I only wash it every 3 days (It took a while to stop being greasy within 24 hours) and I always shampoo twice.

Over the past few years, my hair has totally changed from dry and horrible to soft and luscious. My hairdresser always compliments me on how soft it is! It takes a long time to see the changes, but the biggest thing for me was moving away from from high street brands and using [expensive] professional quality brands.

Did u find Redken good?

Faith

fin12 wrote: »

Did u find Redken good?

Yes, that's why I've been using it for 3 years!

fin12

I bought keratase resistance strengthening shampoo, conditioner and heat protector.

Hopefully these will help me.

Thanks for replies guys.

Faith

A good haircut will do you wonders too. You might have to sacrifice a good bit of length but there’s no point in length if it’s all split and damaged.

La.de.da

Alfaparf do an anti breakage fluid. I spray on wet hair midlenghts and ends after every wash, helps reduce breakage from brushing etc.

A good haircut and routine will make a big difference.

emilymemily

Cocoa nut oil is great but used too often it can cause the hair to break as it creates too much of a protein build up - im not an expert, just what I was told, I used coco nut oil in my hair for years, ive since stopped as it was beginning to have the opposite effect, my hair was becoming dry and brittle. Get a trim every 6 - 8 weeks, get layers cut into it so youre cutting off dead hair up the length without actually losing the length if you get what I mean. Over washing is also really bad for hair. Have you tried dry shampoos for in between washes? Its great.

fin12

emilymemily wrote: »

Cocoa nut oil is great but used too often it can cause the hair to break as it creates too much of a protein build up - im not an expert, just what I was told, I used coco nut oil in my hair for years, ive since stopped as it was beginning to have the opposite effect, my hair was becoming dry and brittle. Get a trim every 6 - 8 weeks, get layers cut into it so youre cutting off dead hair up the length without actually losing the length if you get what I mean. Over washing is also really bad for hair. Have you tried dry shampoos for in between washes? Its great.

I used to use dry shampoo but it was absolutely destroying my clothes so I use it now on very rare occasions.

I know it is but I can’t go out to work or be out all day with friends with greasy hair. I feel so horrible if I did that.

fin12

Is there anything I can put in my lengths at night and leave on? Like a treatment?

Dial Hard

MoroccanOil. I often oil my entire head of hair with it (as in, absolutely lash it on from roots to tips and comb it through) and leave it overnight as a treatment. I obviously only do that when I'm washing it the next day but you could just do a light coating on the ends and not wash it.

The other major thing you can do for damaged hair is just leave it alone as much as possible - others have said to wash it less often if you can, but also try to brush it and even touch it as little as possible. When you tie it back, use bobbins that don't have a metal bond and if it's really bad, it might be worth investing in a silk pillowcase.

Good luck - I know how awful it is.

retro:electro

Olaplex no. 3 is good fin if you’re in need of damage repair.
I also use the Olaplex shampoo and absolutely adore it. It’s like butter on your hair. I’m blonde blonde so need all the help I can get. Also have the conditioner but haven’t used that yet. If your hair is damaged try substituting your conditioner for a mask instead. Leave for few mins and wash out

emilymemily

fin12 wrote: »

I used to use dry shampoo but it was absolutely destroying my clothes so I use it now on very rare occasions.

I know it is but I can’t go out to work or be out all day with friends with greasy hair. I feel so horrible if I did that.

Youre only supposed to spray dry shampoo into your roots, it shouldnt effect your clothes if youre using it correctly. Excessive oil production could be caused by something else, either a damaged scalp or hormone problem - again om not an expert but could be worth looking into.

As mentioned Olaplex is great for restructuring the hair.

I use Osmo deep moisturising hair mask and find it brilliant, you can buy a very large 1200ml tub in sallys beauty supply for 16 euro. Leave it in for 10 minutes or better yet, over night and wash it out in the morning.

SozBbz

Watching this thread with interest as I'm starting to suspect I might be going through something similar.

I've always had very good hair. The hair itself is not so thick, but I've so much of it that it was very full looking. Hairdressers would always comment that I had so much hair. I had the nickname "L'Oreal" in college and have had strangers come up to tell me how nice my hair was. Sorry if that sounds braggy but just trying to get across that it was probably my best feature.

However... recently the texture has changed. Whereas before I could basically step out of the shower and run a brush straight through it, its now a matted/tagled mess that I have to carefully section in order to detangle it piece by piece. Similarly, when I get up in the morning its much more messy than before. Previously some days I wouldnt even brush it and it would still look grand, but now its more like a birds nest.

I'm also finding that I can pull a significant amount of hair from my brush every 2-3 days. Before this would have taken weeks to build up.

Looking back I have experienced periods of fatigue looking back over the same period and I always struggle with my weight. I eat sensibly 80% of the time and train 3x per week but I'm still above the weight I'd like to be. I'd not previously connected the change in my hair (I'd maybe just thought it was just age - I'm in my early 30's.) Now though, factoring in all 3 things I'm starting to think theres more to it.

Would I be dramatic in going to my GP and asking for a Thyroid test?

retro:electro

Did you move house in between those times? I think the condition of the water where you’re living could have a lot to do with it as well

SozBbz

retro:electro wrote: »

Did you move house in between those times? I think the condition of the water where you’re living could have a lot to do with it as well

I have noticed water impacting on my hair in the past (it was more of a build up issue rather than damage to my hair) but in this case I'm living where I live for 3 years and have only noticed the hair issue in the last year or so.

Dial Hard

Stupid question, but did you lighten your hair considerably?

SozBbz

Dial Hard wrote: »

Stupid question, but did you lighten your hair considerably?

Nope. I have done in the past but I stopped almost 5 years ago and all of my hair is now virgin hair. All of the hair that was coloured has been cut out. Initially when the new hair came through it was great, you could notice a great difference between the previously blonde hair and the new, untreated brunette hair.

My hair is now behaving as it did back when I was lightening it (super tangled), but its not going through any of the same abuse. I only use heat styling once every couple of weeks at most, typically I let it dry naturally.

Faith

I wonder if it could be related to the weight loss? You might be missing out on nutrients that you were previously getting.

But no, I don't think it's dramatic to get your thyroid checked out. My mum has an underactive thyroid and it's one of the few things I'm paranoid about. I end up getting mine tested every couple of years.

fin12

I actually give up with my hair if I was confident enough I’d nearly shave the whole thing off, greasy on top, dry breaking off at ends, how can u treat a hair with so many problems.

I feel the keratase I bought for anti breakage is making it greaser on top.

kateee47298

I have long hair and within the past few years, I have made an effort to try and restore it back to health after a couple of years of straightening dried it out and caused permanent split ends. I found that using the least amount of heat worked the best for me and I did this by no longer straightening, curling or blow drying my hair. No dry heat AT ALL. I tend to comb my hair after washing and only brush when needs be. I also finish all of my showers when washing my hair with cold water. As regards to products, I have found that products recommended to me, including the ones mentioned above, only sometimes worked and I would recommend trying lots of different products to find the one right for your hair type and texture.

SozBbz

Faith wrote: »

I wonder if it could be related to the weight loss? You might be missing out on nutrients that you were previously getting.

But no, I don't think it's dramatic to get your thyroid checked out. My mum has an underactive thyroid and it's one of the few things I'm paranoid about. I end up getting mine tested every couple of years.

Thanks! Its worth thinking about. I have lost weight, and probably reduced the fats in my diet (low cal sprays in lieu of oils etc) however I've not been as strict as some people are, and have always been conscious of eating as nutritious food as possible with in my calories (avocado, oily fish etc). I've never gone below 1500 target calories per day as I don't think I'd manage too well and know I wouldn't stick it.

Its just a blood test isnt it? Probably would be no harm anyway if only to rule it out as a cause. Perhaps its just age and I don't want to admit it! I expect my hair texture to change (deteriorate) as my hair goes grey but thankfully thats not happened yet. I really want to maximise my few years of natural, uncoloured healthy hair and I just feel currently its just not right even though I've not made any major changes.