Keisha (not pictured) says;
I protective style on and off and I’ve been natural for about 3 years. Here’s the thing; my ends are helplessly dry and ratty looking! I’ve had to chop 2 inches off TWICE in the past 8 months. I know that your readers might not be able to specifically diagnose why MY ends are dry, but I’m hoping that, in hearing their experiences, I might be able to pick up on some things that I’m not doing right. So my question is;
Have you ever struggled with dry ends? If so, what was the cause? And what did you change to achieve smooth and moisturized ends?
44 Responses
I have the same problem with dry ends. What I usually do is deep condition my hair once a week. If I am protective styling then I wait. I usually just co-wash, but lately I have been shampoo-ing without the pre-poo. That’s also some of the reasons for my problem with dry ends. Also, The LOC method helps me. I also seal my hair with evoo or coconut oil after I wash or co-wash my hair. Maybe this would help.
I also live in CO and I have 3b hair. I use a sulfate free shampoo once a week and ALWAYS prepoo with either olive/coconut/grape seed or sweet almond oil. And I deep condition once a week using the baggie method. When I do this I usually just bag the ends of my hair to keep the itchy scalp at bay lol. Or sometimes I bag my hair with nothing but water this works well as an overnight steam treatment.
I used to have this same problem. My solution was in sealing my ends with oil after I moisturized my hair. I like jojoba oil. If I’m wearing my hair loose, I will spritz with water, put my fav hair milk in, then put a little jojoba oil on my ends as a finishing step. I find that my ends with remain soft all day. I also make sure to use a satin scarf when I go to bed. Going to bed on a cotton pillowcase is a no-no for my hair!
In this Video Kimmay talks about controling the PH Balance of your hair, to maintain moisturised ends and hair, this may help you 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3T7AjyDtbY&feature=channel_video_title
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3T7AjyDtbY&feature=channel_video_title
I have been natural going on 2yrs aug 19 I suffered dried ends until I began using kimmaytube leave in mix. I recently starte using the shea moister line, between the hair milk and the curl enhancing smoothie I am able to manage perfectly soft end in california’s 80-100° weather.
HtH
Products with water, and deep condition weekly works for me.
What I learned about my hair which is 4b:
– It’s highly porous.
– Aloe dries it out
– humectants can be the enemy as dew points/humidity are not high where I am. Things like glycerine pull moisture from my hair.
– It hates coconut oil – it results in dry brittle hair.
– Being highly porous, it loses moisture quickly but porosity control does not help.
– I have hard water which plays absolute havoc on my hair and is the main culprit in my regularly split/brittle ends.
what helps?
– protein for my porosity and fragile fine strands.
– balancing moisture and protein.
– eliminating glycerine, aloe and coconut oil and watching out for ‘danger’ ingredients.
– Always DCing once a week
– OIL RINSING – a must and so is:
-Sealing moisture in with oil – castor based mainly.
– Qhemet Biologics – Burdock Root cream. It contains glycerine but not so concentrated as to negatively affect my hair unlike other products with this substance included.
– Self trimming – I try to go as long as I can but dust my ends i.e cut off the ends where splits tend to appear. It is not a big trim.
Another possible culprit:
– Protective styles – if it weren’t for my tight shrinkage prone texture I would not do this as I feel it aggravates dryness and notice the ends of my twists are extremely dry because moisture does not seem to penetrate the dense 4b strands easily. I am not at a length to abandon twists yet twists left hanging leads to split dry ends that do not help retention. catch 22. Loose hair is easier to moisturise.
Not many DCS work for me to any great effect. I’m starting to conclude that my choice of ps (a result of a limited hair type texture)and my high porosity are the main causes of bad ends.
I feel your pain OP, at one point I contemplated returning to some cone based products to coat my ends but decided that oil rinsing, moist and seal and trimming/dusting would suffice. I accept that my tightly coiled ends will never be entirely split free or non ragged.
Thank you for this
‘- Protective styles – if it weren’t for my tight shrinkage prone texture I would not do this as I feel it aggravates dryness’
I thought i was the only one who experiences this, but unfortunately with my 4b/4c 6inches hair, wash ‘n’ gos are not really an option.
Is your hair very tiny Os?
I have very dry ends also, but these things helped me.
-Pre-poo
-If your using a sulfate shampoo, either dilute or add it to a bottle with oil and concentrate it on the scalp and let it run down to your ends.
-use a leave-in/mixed with aloe vera juice and oils (see Kimmaytube on you tube) to seal cuticles and prevent the feeling of dry ends
– use a butter on top if needed for extra moisture
-I know this can be given a bad rep but I seal with a silicone serum rather then just oils.
-Then for extra moisture seal just the ends with castor oil
Repeat last few steps every night.
I think your obsessing over your ends.
Quit cutting all the time and try the following:
Put conditioner on your hair and then look at your ends, and do this with just water as well. If the ends look healthier or maybe coil up or curl up then your hair is just drying differently.
It may be due to the products you’re using, what pH are they?
Sounds crazy but the pH plays a role in how your hair dries. I’ve noticed this in myself.
Check out kimmaytube’s channel she talks about this in greater depth and detail.
What’s Happening i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It abutsloely helpful and it has aided me out loads. I am hoping to contribute & help other customers like its aided me. Good job.
Try wheat germ oil. It”s the only oil that keeps my hair very moist. The only downsides are that it’s not cheap and it doesn’t have the most pleasant smell.
I dont baggy and I dont protective style very much, but my ends are soft. I think that this is because castor oil (JBC) is a staple in my regimen. I also co-wash frequently and rarely use shampoo.
I stopped using schampo and only wash my hair with condtioner and deep condtion it once a week. And before washing my hair I massage my hair with olive oil( not on the hairscalp) and leave it in for an hour before I wash my hair. When styling I use Curls Whipped cream and massage it extra on my ends. I sometimes use Redken Sleek Obidience. Maybe you should trim your ends every 8th week to keep your hairends in good shape;)
PH BALANCE, your cuticle is probably open and that might be why your experiencing the ruff-ness. Try using a small spray bottle with aloe vera juice, water and a little leave in conditioner.
I struggle with this issue too. I live in the South and the heat is outrageous here. I tried oil rinsing and I’m going to incorporate it in my regi. After I shampoo, I apply my fave oil (castor & grapeseed mix), apply liberally thru the hair and leave it in for about 5 min. Rinse it out with warm water thoroughly until all oil is removed, then condition as usual.
When I condition my hair, I add honey and EVOO to my conditioner and I sit under the dryer for about 45min to an hr on low heat. The heat also helps the oil dissolve more than mere rinsing. The goal is to retain moisture. My hair and ends feel like butter! I style my hair when its semi dry, not soaking wet. I also make it a point to tuck my ends away at least 3-5 days out of the week to protect them. I noticed a difference in my ends with this method.
What helps me is spritzing, adding a leave in and then sealing =)
Why don’t you start trimming your ends every 6 to 8 weeks? Take off about half of an inch to an inch every two months or so….. Deep condition! Leave the conditioner in for an hour or two w/ strict emphasis on the ends…. 🙂
Is the water where you live hard? Hard water can wreak havoc on natural hair…. Invest in a water filter system….
Are you protecting your ends from rubbing against your clothes?
Do you sleep with a satin or silk bonnet or scarf every night before going to bed?
Hope this helped….. 😉 Best Wishes!
I would suggest Roux Fermodyl 619. I recently had my ends trimmed…the following week I washed my hair and my ends felt dry. That’s when I remembered I hadn’t sprayed the Fermodyl in my hair (it makes my ends feel silky smooth). I used to use it years ago when I was relaxed, but had totally forgotten about it..until hearing about it again from Moptop Maven. It is a liquid leave-in that helps close the cuticles….I believe she said it has something to do with the lactic acid in it?
I put it in a mini spray bottle, to make it last longer. They come in little vials…but I find that I can get about 3-4 uses out of 1 vial. You can also add aloe vera juice to it. Hope that helps:)
The main thing that provided results for me was to dampen and/or co-wash my hair every day or every other day, and to seal with a bit of oil every now and then. (I wear my hair in twists almost all the time, so it wasn’t inconvenient to do that, as it might be for someone who prefers twistouts/braidouts.) Before that I’d been trying to fight the dryness with oils alone, but what my hair really needed was *water*.
Oils/butters on my ends attract dust/lint and lead to more tangles. If my ends feel dry, I add more of my moisturizer to them and re-set my hair.
Something that works for me is my super hot oil treatment that goes like this:
After shampooing…
With my hair in 8 twists, I put a generous amount of olive oil and coconut oil (forego the coconut oil if you are protein sensitive) near the end of each twist, and the apply my unpetroleum jelly (can be found on Lucky Vitamin or in Vitamin shoppe) to create a protective barrier.
Then, I dip each twist in very hot water (Not SCALDING hot!)for about 3 seconds, and quickly slap conditioner on that twist, while the cuticles are open and ready for moisture. After I do all twists, I put conditioner on the length of my hair and either go under my steamer, or chill with a shower cap for a little bit.
And voila! Moisture infused ends!
I also suffer from dry ends. I wear my hair straight most of the time. Any product or procedure recommendation on how to moisturize and keep hair from reverting. I use coconut oil, but wonder like another commenter stated—maybe its the prob.
There are two main things you should make sure you are doing in order to combat this. MOisturize(with water itself or something water based) your ends and seal with an oil that your hair likes. I love castor oil, but cannot seal my ends with it. It is just too heavy for my fine strands. I find that my ends love jojoba and coconut oil, so finding an oil that makes your hair feels soft is crucial.
Remember to do BOTH (moisturize and seal) or your hair will either be dry or feel greasy but not soft.
Also, sleep with a satin scarf on nites. This should help some.
One optional thing you might want to try is henna-ing your hair. I have henna’d mine recently and I have noticed that my hair is SUPER soft and the tangling and bushiness of my ends have reduced siginificantly. Just throwing that out there. Make sure you do research on it thoroughly though because it is not for everyone.
Seal your ends with Jamican Black castor Oil.
using aloe vera gel on my hair to lay my cuticles down and making sure I find the right thing to seal my hair has made a difference. Sealing with an oil doesn’t work for everyone.
try sealing your ends with cocoa butter or castor oil, I wash/style my hair once a week and add a butter or oil to the bottom 1 inch of my hair when I braid/twist
Deep condition every week
Moisturize and seal daily FOCUSING on your ends
Determine if you are protein sensitive. If you are don’t use coconut oil or protein conditioners
Use a heavier sealent like castor oil on your ends.
Consider using a heavy butter like shea butter on your ends to seal as well.
Moisturize twice a day?
i totally agree with your method Monisola. I had the same issue of dry ends and when i added a religious deep conditioning treatment to my routine my hair completely changed course. Whenever I wash my hair I use Jessicurl deep conditioning treatment (amazing) and EVOO over it, baggy and sit with my heat cap for 30 min to an hour. I also added black castor oil to my shea butter to seal.
side note: ACV rinses are also good for this problem, it helps smooth the cuticles.
Love the comment! How would I deteremine if my hair is “protein sensitive”?
BAGGY METHOD ALMOST EVERY NIGHT. it leaves my hair sooo soft in the morning. my hair is really able to take in the moisture i give it.
I hate the baggy method. It makes my hair unnaturally soft which weaken it but I guess what works for one doesn’t always work for another.
It does the same for me, it leaves my hair mushy and fragile.
What is the baggy method?
Hey Jade.
The baggy method is a a form of extra conditioning for your hair or ends by covering hair with a plastic bag. It can be done several ways but usually requires one to moisturize hair, place a shower cap over head or sandwich bag over ends, and keep that way for an extended time. This may be helpful for more info: https://www.curlynikki.com/2011/06/what-is-baggy-method.html
I had this problem until I started using Care Free Gold Hair and Scalp spray. It was like a miracle! My dry, crunchy ends vanished…within a few hours!! I have used this product faithfully for almost a year and my ends have not been dry once in all this time.
I sometimes experience dry ends for a number of reasons.
Reason #1: Too much product build-up.
Reason #2: Damaged ends. Either heat damage or stress damage. I have also heard that too much sun can qualify as heat damage.
Reason #3: Not protecting my hair at night. Ratted ends sometimes feel dry to me so I tie up my hair every night.
Reason #4: I just need a trim.
And how I fixed it…lots and lots of water. I stopped trusting in products with water as the first ingredient. My hair needs more water than that. I used to think it was enough but it’s not for my hair. For example, I just started using oyin’s frank juice. OMG! I’m in love with that stuff!! But even though water is the first ingredient it sometimes leaves my hair feeling a little dry. I love the product though because it leaves my hair feeling really soft. But I need to spray a little water first before adding the frank juice. Or maybe it’s just me. I might be spraying too much of it. Idk. Anywho. I hope you find out the culprit and resolve that dry ends issue. I hate the feeling of dry hair. It’s weird but feeling dry hair make me want to drink water. idkw. :S
I have similar issues with my hair–been natural for 2 years. But, the ironic thing is, it’s growing! So, I’m wondering if my ends truly are really dry because I feel if it were dry and brittle it would break off more. My theory is that it has more to do with the curling at the ends of the hair that might make it feel more rough. My hair curls at the end and each hair is of varying length, so when I rub my hands down the hair, it feels more rough at the ends. When I look at the ends individually, I don’t notice much damage either.
But, what has helped me:
1.) The baggy method: moisturizing the ends and and then covering with a sandwich bag. I usually do this at night.
2.) Moisturize every day (or every other day) and make sure to seal with an oil.
@Beneath. I just BC earlier this month and I thought my ends were dry too. However, I came to the same conclusion as you with the varying end lengths and curls. I kept snipping and snipping and they felt the same, which shouldn’t be because the rest of the shaft was fine, so in theory if I cut up to the part that was smooth the ends would feel smooth. Needless to say I’ve stopped snipping!
Yes, I struggled with horribly dry ends. And kept reapplying moisture, but by the end of the day they were crispy again. And then I figured out the problem…it was coconut oil.
My hair absolute hates it. Three months ago I trimmed my ends and slowly added things back into my regime, and my hair reacted well to everything, but the minute I added coconut oil it dried my ends out.
My hair hair holds on to protein very well, I don’t even do protein treatments. And coconut oil help in preventing the loss of protein in the hair.
So, it could possible be something in the products that you’re using that you hair doesn’t like.
I have definately struggled with dry ends. Although part of my problem is dealing with color which I have now opted to stop all together. For me I use conditioners geared towards dry or damaged hair, or extra moisture is key (examples garnier length and strength, Shea Moisture Organic Anti-Breakage Hair Masque Yucca & Baobab, Aussie Moist are just a few) and I deep condition a lot now which seems to have helped my problem, also twisting my hair each night in big twist have worked which keeps my hair from getting tangled. Hope everything works out I know how fustrating it can be!!!
I am dealing with the same problem. I live in Denver, CO and the dryness of the air hear is taking a toll on my hair. I recently chopped like 3 inches of my hair off. I am in desperate need of advice as well.
Hey Jasmine. I’m dealing with a completely different climate (Humid Hell, Miami) but you and I share the same issue: SAD ENDS! My partial solution is trim, trim, trim. It sucks, especially in that middle stage after the big chop, when you just want to not look like a boy, but if your ends are suffering, it’s key.
That said, I NEED to add this: I read the section on your profile about your regimen and laughed because it sounded a lot like me years ago. I’m mulatto so I often used the stuff my ‘white fam’ used. Herbal Essence, Suave, etceterraaaa… That’s out! I use cream cleansers instead of shampoo. Leaves my hair CLEAN (I swear) but not dry. I wasn’t used to it at first because I wanted a soapy lather and it feels like conditioner, but I’m over it. My scalp is healthier, less itchy, and my hair is moist and (drum roll)….it really helps with split/brittle ends.
If you want to know what products I use, let me know.
Visited your blog, btw. Good stuff. 😉