Split Ends

[daviine]

Okay. I was sitting in the car and I guess the sun was shining on my hair. I noticed that some of my strands had white dots on them. Most of them were at the end of the hair strand, but a few appeared seemed to be near the end of the strand but not at the tip. I couldn't figure out what it was so upon closer inspection it appears that I have split ends!!!

I really don't know how it started or where I got them from but I have a theory. Maybe all this time when I thought I was looking at overprocessed ends, I was really looking at split ends. And perhaps they were split up and so even though I was getting trims they weren't enough. Thus explaining the vicious cycle that won't allow me to retain length.

I haven't been able to determine how many split ends I have since my hair is no longer long enough to pull around in front of my eyes. I'm considering a hair cut but I'd have to know how much of a cut I'd be looking at. I'd want to be able to at least pull my hair into a ponytail.

If I don't cut it, I'm not sure if that would cause more damage than its worth. I'm not really sure what to do. These can't be regular split ends from wear and tear since I just got my hair cut on Thursday.

I've also conidered purchasing a good pair of scissors so that I can dust as I please. I don't know. Now that I know that I have split ends, I'm afraid that I may become obsessive about dusting.

I'm really getting tired of all these surprise setbacks.

When I was in the car, I had my whole post planned out in my head and now I'm sure that I didn't include a lot of the stuff that I wanted to say.

If I remember more, I'll post later.

Edited to add: So what do you think I should do?

 

[Paris Belle]

I think everyone will always have split ends to some degree. Don't start getting obssessed and dusting every day..I used to do this and it really hindered my hair growth.

When I stopped obssessing, moisturized my ends more and conditioned my ends a lot more then I noticed an improvement.

If you aren't doing this already, I would, if you are ,continue. I would only dust once a month during the New Moon.

My main concern is the obssession. Many products (esp. Pantene) say things like they can prevent split ends. I saw a special on television with medical doctors and dermatologists. All of them said this was untrue. That naturally we will attain split ends. However, we do know that we can minimize it by protective styling and moisturizing and conditioning the hair. However, we will always have them.

 

[Kitkat]

Girl, this hair thing can really test our patience, doesn't it?!! It seems as if there's always some new surprise around the corner.

This is getting on my nerves, too.

Maybe it would be a good idea to get a good pair of scissors so that you can dust your ends as you see fit. That way, you can take care of split ends whenever you see them. Just don't get too carried away, or you'll be cussing yourself out!!

I bought a pair from Wigs & Plus on 14th Street for $8 or $9. Rays has scissors also but they're really expensive there.

 

[daviine]

I understand that we will always have them. But sholdn't we get them near touch up time--after you've put wear and tear on your hair since the last trim.

I don't think you should see split ends two days after a touch up.

 

[adrienne0914]

if marvin cut 1-2" i cannot believe that you still have split ends. what the hell was he cutting then?

i wouldn't fret about it. i bet if we looked closely at our hair, we could find quite a bit that wasn't just right. quit looking so closely!!

i'm being facetious, but i think if you got that big trim, it might not be split ends. it could be something else. that's what i'm hoping at least...

 

[Honey Vibe]

I think it's still possible Adrienne. I rarely have split ends, but the hair will be split inside the shaft in several places (especially if I pull on the hair).

 

[Paris Belle]

I agree. You shouldn't.

I agree with Adrienne, I don't think it is split ends because you had such a huge trim.

I'm just saying try moisturizing your hair first, because it could just be dry.

If you do this and you still think it's split ends, then I would dust, but I wouldn't panic just yet. That's all I'm saying.

 

[daviine]

Okay....I actually pulled a piece of my hair out and where the dot was, my hair split in two. So it is split ends......but how much do I have?

Carmen you wanna inspect my hair next week? I'll bring a magnifying glass with me. Just kidding (unless you gonna do it)

 

[Allandra]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
CarmenRose said:
I think everyone will always have split ends to some degree.

[/ QUOTE ]
D I T T O !

 

[inthestars]

I have this heavy duty pomade by Abba called Define and texturize and I noticed that it also smoothed my edges..It costs less than 10 dollars,so try it.

 

[OnlyErin]

I know what you're going thru, daviine. It is so weird - about a week after my touchup/trim, I notice split ends, too! At first I thought maybe my ends were more damaged than I had initially believed and that my hairstylist wasn't cutting off enough, but then he did a pretty decent trim and my ends weren't too bad, and I still saw spilts. What's scary to me is a strand of hair split in three!

I think it might be the scissors used or maybe the technique. I read somewhere that razoring the hair gives it a softer, bouncier feel, but because you're cutting on an angle, it leaves the hair susceptible to splits. Also, if the scissors are dull, it could jack up the hairshaft. Now, Marvin seems to at least have some decent cutting tools (for what he charges, he'd better

), so the dull scissors thing may not be a factor. I agree that you should diligently moisturize your ends and try not to worry much. I was sitting behind this cute little girl on the bus yesterday who had waist-length hair (she was latin, I think) and I was sitting close enough to see very many split ends in her hair. (Man, I need to stop checking out other people's hair). So I think even the healthiest heads have them!

OE

 

[Faith]

Just think we have over 100,000 strands of hair on our head....give or take. We are all bound to have split ends on some of them. It's hard to keep track of that much hair. You do the best you can and your hair will be fine.

 

[Paris Belle]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
daviine said:
Okay....I actually pulled a piece of my hair out and where the dot was, my hair split in two. So it is split ends......but how much do I have?

Carmen you wanna inspect my hair next week? I'll bring a magnifying glass with me. Just kidding (unless you gonna do it)

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll inspect your hair for you and then I'm going to

you for being obssessed.

Daviine I'm sure it's not that bad. Really. You can dust, but don't worry too much.

I posted this in another thread, but there's a girl in my class (she's Dominican) and within a year she grew her hair from shoulder to almost waistlength. Apparently during that time she noticed splits but did nothing about it and it didn't hinder her growth at all. When she got close to her goals, she trimmed off a few inches (more than I would have) but it didn't hurt her.

I think sometimes (following the post about the little girl with waist length hair) women of other cultures don't obssess about their ends as much and continue to condition and grow their hair. Also, I went to one stylist (she happened to be Dominican) and I told her I wanted my hair to grow very long (this was a few years back) and she said to just let it grow w/o trimming it and to only trim once a year.

But following the old belief of trimming it 6-8 weeks I ignored her.

My point is, AGAIN, we will always have split ends. Continue to moisturize your hair and take care of it and trim only when necessary and what's necessary. If you really think they are bad, do a light dusting, but limit dusting to once a month.