The Long Hair Community

Chris · February 5th, 2004, 05:43 AM

Oh what a day!

Yesterday I got my new hair scissors.

It was very expensive for me and really seems to be a quality product ( handmade from Solingen, 49 Euro)
"Now say good bye spliss!"

I thought and immediately started with Search&Destroy. I did it for nearly 5 hours and another 2 hours this morning! And all the spliss was gone... I searched and searched and couldn't find any more..

I tried out something new, a kind of hair regimen (is this really the word?) which is said to repair my ends and protect them from new spliss (or I hope so) and it is for remaining in the hair. So I did and let my hair dry by itself, without comb (just for the vertex) and without hair-dryer. It was soooo nice. No more spliss, and my curls came out in the whole hair, not only beside my face.

Then I got out. It's very windy outside today, but not cold. My hair was set out to the wind just about not more than 5 minutes.

Guess what I saw when I controlled it later:
NOW IT IS FULL OF SPLISS AGAIN!!!!!

:

:

Can it be possible?!?!?
Do I really have to cover my hair from every ridicolous tinily air breeze otherwise every hair end will get spliss? :what:

Seems to be a very depressing day today. So I will get home now and restart S&D

I would be so pleased about any helpful advice from you. Thanks

EvaL · February 5th, 2004, 06:31 AM

Oh Chris, that's too bad... Maybe you should get a real trim to get rid of the damaged ends. Cutting off about 1 or 2 centimeters would probably help.
Nice picture, by the way! I'm in love now!

busnutmedic · February 5th, 2004, 06:55 AM

I didn't think my hair had many splits, then I saw it in the right light and I started trimming them. Usually I'll cut untill I can't find any, and then *surprise!* in a different light I find tons of splits AGAIN. It might have been that they were split anyway, but they were just sticking together untill the wind separated them. Splits are pains indeed!

Bonnie

kc · February 5th, 2004, 07:39 AM

Oh Chris, that's just horrible. If I was you, I would schedule a trim and tell the stylist that you are only want a "dusting" (which is as little off as possible, but enough to get rid of the damage). Please let us know how you make out.

_banshee · February 5th, 2004, 08:11 AM

That's very strange! I can't imagine that hair would split after being exposed to the wind for just five minutes.

Does your hair tend to be dry? Maybe you should put some oil on your ends or some moisturising leave-in conditioner to make the more elastic and resistant to the elements

Apart from that I agree on what everyone else said - it probably would be best to get a small trim just to make sure that you really get rid of all the splits.

butterscotch girl · February 5th, 2004, 10:20 AM

I'm sorry to hear about your bad split end day! Last Fall I noticed that my hair suddenly got very dry when it got windy out. I've been wearing my hair under my coat, hat & scarf to protect it from all the cold wind. It has really helped completely! First I put it in a braid to prevent knotting though, because otherwise being under my coat makes it knotted. You might have fun with this idea. People will think you cut your hair because it is hidden,
then-SURPRISE!!!

E. · February 5th, 2004, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

Oh Then I got out. It's very windy outside today, but not cold. My hair was set out to the wind just about not more than 5 minutes.

Guess what I saw when I controlled it later:
NOW IT IS FULL OF SPLISS AGAIN!!!!!

:

:

Can it be possible?!?!?

Boy, no, that can´t be possible in my opinion ;-) Your hair is not *that* sensitive. Well, my hair is very undemanding- I treated it bad for years and it was nevertheless healthy. But 5 minutes beeing in the wind cannot cause such harm. Wind is drying for hair and may favour split ends but not after 5 minutes beeing there. I think it´s what Bonnie mentioned: you maybe did not see all of them. I suggest a trim and after that oiling or maybe a silicone serum for the ends.

Sunsailing · February 5th, 2004, 03:04 PM

I assume that "spliss" = splits?

Madeleine · February 5th, 2004, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunsailing

I assume that "spliss" = splits?

Yep. That's one of those infamous terms that sound English to the German ear but are used only in Germany. Like "Handy" for mobile/cell phone. Don't ask me who invents those words, it's just stupid - either use genuine English terms or keep to German expressions, but don't make something up that confuses people who try to learn English properly

**Teacherbear** · February 5th, 2004, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by busnutmedic

I didn't think my hair had many splits, then I saw it in the right light and I started trimming them. Usually I'll cut untill I can't find any, and then *surprise!* in a different light I find tons of splits AGAIN. It might have been that they were split anyway, but they were just sticking together untill the wind separated them. Splits are pains indeed!

Yep! I totally agree!!!

Chris, I suggest you don't spend that much time in a day trimming splits. Do it in smaller dosages. It won't seem so frustrating.

*I* think you are still trying to clear out all of the splits with your S&D missions.

Try trimming in different light. It makes a huge difference for me. My 2 favorites are outside in the sun (or in the shade, but with bright sunlight while I'm in the shade) OR in a dark room with you sitting in front of your computer monitor!

Just be careful with all of those split ends dropping into your keyboard!

CurlyLigeia · February 5th, 2004, 06:31 PM

Hi! I just wanted to chime in to agree with busnutmedic and teacherbear. When I first started trimming splits a few years ago ( I had actually never heard of doing such a thing until then

) I found so many!

It gets better so hang in there. Different lighting definately shows different splits. I try to vary the lighting for my S & D's, one time in sunlight then the next S&D by lamp light etc.

Oh! I have also found that background color plays a part too. I sometimes take a book with a black cover and look at my splits over that, then one with a white cover.

I hope this made sense and helped. It'll get better just don't spend a lot of time looking for splits right now, try to space it out like Tbear said.

EvaL · February 6th, 2004, 06:22 AM

That parrot keeps cracking me up. Too cute!

Chris · February 7th, 2004, 01:23 AM

I'm now really convinced that it was the stuff I put into my hair. I bought it because they didn't have my conditioner I normally use. My hair was so dry, and that never was when it got into wind for 5 minutes. I bought my normal conditioner in another shop and rinsed my hair 3 times with it until it was like before. So here's my advice:

DON'T USE
"Schwarzkopf Direct Scan&Repair for long hair tended to spliss" !!

That seems to be too acrid for hair!!

terri · February 7th, 2004, 06:07 AM

Funny you should mention this . . .

I have had some of the same issues. I spend an awful lot of time on Search and Destroy every 30 to 60 days. I was just about to make a post on this topic myself.

I have a few thoughts for you:

1) Chris, judging by your picture, I really think you are a curly head and therefore you should not be using a comb or a brush on your hair at all. Can you get a copy of the Curly Girl book? As a curly or wavy, your hair is very fine and breaks very easily.

2) When I visited Devachan( the salon where the lady who wrote the curly girl book works) a couple of years ago, I asked the stylist, Keith, why my hair still had splits even though I had painstaking tried to clip all the splits. He told me that it was impossible to get all the splits. So in other words, you may spend hours clipping them but because of the sheer amount of hair and the way splits will sometimes hold together its impossible to fully control them without "freshening the ends." This means that you really should try to dust (trim the bottom 1/8 of an inch of the hair) occassionally.

3) I personally think that Winter is the worst time for split ends.

4) As a person with delicate, curly or wavy hair you need to avoid or reduce shampoo and focus on conditioners.

5) Your overall growth may seem slower because because your hair is more delicate and breaks easier, but with patience it will grow and eventually you will be able to see the progress.

6) I do find that my hair is noticeably more manageable when I do trim out the splits, even when I don't get them all. Does anyone else find this to be true as well?

Hope this helps.

Chris · February 10th, 2004, 01:09 AM

I came on the idea of avoiding to comb my hair too this weekend. Yesterday I just combed the vertex after washing and let it air-dry. Well, my curls did come out, but not on the top of my head. At first my hair is nearly straight, and after 2 or 3 inches it gets curly. That really looks very strange if my hair is flat at the top and then goes wispy besides my face. I wore a ponytail to hide this. But I prefer to wear my hair open.
So what to do?

I stopped my S&D mission because I already notice that my hair gets shorter. And stranes free of splits 4 days ago are now already full of it although I controlled it in some different lights. Perhaps my hair needs to have splits. It grows long even if I don't cut the splits off. Don't know what to do.

Sorry I'm very depressed today, but it's not only because of my hair...