new thread
I honestly can't remember what I've told you about my hair, so here's a briefing:
My hair (on top) is about half an inch below my chin and the same lenght all the way around. The underneath part is extremely short (it's called a skater hair-cut as far as I know) because it's too thick for the length it is. As for color, I'm not sure what my natural colour is but my roots tell me that its a sandy blond. I've dyed it varying shades of red since last June, and I like it darker. It's naturally pretty curly, but it's less and less curly the longer it gets. I prefer it to be straight and so I blow dry it and then straighten it with a hot curling iron, then curl the ends under a little bit. The front I curl so it goes up a little bit before falling into my face. By the way, I am not a transvestite (that was for Mr. Jim from LA).
Okay, here's the problem. I have awful split ends. I cut it once(over an inch and I felt scalped), but it didn't get rid of them. Also, my hair is very fine and breaks easily. Between the coloring, blowdrying and hot curling iron, my poor hair is beginning to have problems. I absolutly refuse to cut it (I've worked over a year and a half to get it to this small length), but I want it to be healthy and good. And straight, and red. Is there anything I can do to improve it's health and strenght without cutting it and starting over. It grows too slowly for that and I would be drivan mad if I had to go thorugh that again. Thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to give me.
Luke
28 March 1999
Luke --
I also have rather fine strawberry blond hair, which is growing
a lot slower at tit-length than it did when creeping onto my
shoulders. However, I NEVER blow dry it, since that is guaranteed
to split the hell out of my ends.
I occasionally (1 - 2 X/ yr) let a stylist trim less than an
inch off the ends to make it healthier. Honestly don't know if
the "let me just trim it a little" helps it to grow better but at least it helps control the splits.
I've found coloring/highlighting changed the texture of my hair. First few days too thick and big, but after a couple of shampoos
and conditioner, much easier to control. I do it once every year
or so.
Perhaps with your fine texture, you need to try a leave-in
conditioner. For many years, I've found REBALANCE by L'Anza
works wonders for controlling my hair without leaving a waxy
feel to it. Have heard it's not available in some places outside
the Western states (L'Anza is based in Los Angeles).
You might try rubbing some of it in on your ends and dry/fine
places. Let us know if it helps.
Other thing I've also found helps is to leave the hair alone!
Shampoo and condition lightly, deep condition once in a while.
Big toothed comb and boar bristle brushing at night. Otherwise,
too much fussing can make the hair temperamental!
Enjoy. . .
Tim in Anchorage AK
take a long break from coloring & ditch the blow dryer. look for a good conditioner- preferrably a leave-in.
Forget the dyeing, forget the curling, forget the blowdrying. If you'd just leave your hair alone it will in time be healthy.
When I first grew my hair out, I didn't know about caring for long hair, and I got brittle hair with splits on the ends and lots of hairs just breaking off. Despite advice from some to trim the splits off, I listened to others such as Victor who runs this board, and I refrained. My hair is now longer than ever, and I have no splits at all!
So don't trim, man. You may have to dye once to match your roots. Then just start doing things right, and healthy hair will come out of your roots and someday all your hair will be healthy. By not trimming, at least you will have your hair during this time. The "bad" hair is not going to infect the new stuff. ((grin)) Splits won't travel up into healthy parts of your hair. They'll just stop when they get to healthy hair and both sides break off there.
Bill
Do you use any products on your hair to protect it from heat when styling it? If not, you might try one of the hair straightening balms. They protect the hair from the heat and help it stay straight. I like the Redken product that comes in a green tube, and I think several other companies make similar products. Even with the balm, I'd agree that you should try to use as little heat as possible to get the style you want.
Doug