Are there certain hair types that are inherently

[ShortyDooWhop]

more likely to have split ends, no matter what? I have predominantly 4a hair with a few patches of 3c and there isn't a single area that doesn't have split ends, single strand knots, etc. I moisturize, I protective style, I baby and care for my hair and still damaged hair. Are there any other ladies out here who can relate?

 

[getoffmylawn]

I don't know but I have a small 3c area at my crown that is plagued with split ends and it's also the shortest. The remaining hair rarely has any issues.

 

[Lilmama1011]

I think it depends on if your doing the right thing for your hair and once you have done some damage to your hair if you continue to keep the damage parts you will forever have splits. Like I have 4a 4b hair and when I was relaxed in high school I had little to no splits and even my Indian friend noticed sitting in the back of me. She said "omg, I see no split ends in your hair, your hair is so healthy" and I do remember when my hair was like that and if I did get a trim that ended up taking some of of my length it grew back in no time, but I did something that damaged my hair a year after graduating high school I care not to say

 

[ChocolatePie777]

I think so but i dont think it has to do with curl pattern though......hopefully someone more versed in hair types comes in

 

[empressri]

The finer the hair, the more prone it is to be damaged. I've said it once, I'll say it again; coarse, stick straight Asian hair?? Resistant to heat, colouring, and the like. Hell my Filipina friend broke my sturdy comb in high school! lol

Now if you have bends and twists in your hair, you already have that to contend with, but also when it's fine fine fine, very prone to splitting and the like. When I got my hair cut at Ouidad, Sondriel said my hair is fine. I was like....is it? But I see what she meant. Even just combing my hair wrong can trash its cuticles.

 

[Just11412]

I'm 4a and i'm very prone to splits. i mean i dust, trim, search and destroy, watch my ends very carefully, i use mostly natural products (i'm talking shea moisture, aubreys, giovanni's), protective style like 99% of the time, have a good expensive pair of shears, i hit my hair with protein (nothing harsh because my hair doesn't like that) and use ceramides. guess what i still get them. but not as much as i used to (before i would trim my hair and the next day i would see splits).

my split level has gone way way down i have to say.

 

[Lynnerie]

My natural hair had splits but my relaxed hair doesn't.

 

[faithVA]

My natural hair had splits but my relaxed hair doesn't.

I agree with this. Relaxed required very few trims. My natural hair seems to need dusting every 8 to 12 weeks. I dusted my ends this week. Let's see how long the SSKs stay at bay.

I do think that certain combinations of hair characteristics are going to have more splits and SSKs than others: curl diameter, thickness, porosity, etc, can really make it very complicated to have great ends.

 

[Oasis]

i don't care what anyone says. for me? yes.

i can cut my hair and my split ends will be back THE VERY NEXT DAY. i used to do all the ''right'' things but now since i know my hair will split and break regardless, i just do whatever.

 

[ShortyDooWhop]

The finer the hair, the more prone it is to be damaged. I've said it once, I'll say it again; coarse, stick straight Asian hair?? Resistant to heat, colouring, and the like. Hell my Filipina friend broke my sturdy comb in high school! lol

Now if you have bends and twists in your hair, you already have that to contend with, but also when it's fine fine fine, very prone to splitting and the like. When I got my hair cut at Ouidad, Sondriel said my hair is fine. I was like....is it? But I see what she meant. Even just combing my hair wrong can trash its cuticles.

So do you suffer from split ends and breaks along the shaft of your hair? What do you do to prevent this?

 

[ShortyDooWhop]

i don't care what anyone says. for me? yes.

i can cut my hair and my split ends will be back THE VERY NEXT DAY. i used to do all the ''right'' things but now since i know my hair will split and break regardless, i just do whatever.

I feel the SAME WAY!!! I've done it all hoping for a different result and yet my hair stays the same...

 

[cutiepiebabygirl]

I'm relaxed with fine strands. Like Empressri stated, any little thing and my hair will split.

I rarely use heat ad protective style most of the time. I do everything "right", but I still get splits! My hair is now WL, and I cut back to WL ever relaxer to keep fresh ends and keep splits at bay.

 

[Anne26]

I will answer your question "yes" because the oposite is true for me, I think I've seen 3 splits all my life. Usually the finer is the weakest, but I have fine and medium strands myself. I do dust often, maybe that helps a lot.

 

[empressri]

So do you suffer from split ends and breaks along the shaft of your hair? What do you do to prevent this?

I can be prone to them if I handle my hair too roughly.

Honestly, sometimes they just happen anyway. I just carry on with my life lol. If it's bad enough, I'll just cut the strand.

 

[southerncitygirl]

nope i think density, how often you trim, dryness, and how you handle your hair all play a part. i wash in sections, moisturize-seal, use hardcore protein treatments every 4-6 weeks, and trim every 3 months to combat splits.

 

[PinkPeony]

The curlier the hair the more prone to splits imo.
There are things you can do to combat that,for me it's keeping my hair moisturized with conditioner 24\7 and keeping my strands *lubed up *

 

[Aviah]

Yup... Mine.

I just dust every 8 weeks and that has helped a good deal.

 

[MrsJaiDiva]

My 3b/c hair loves protein, so using it weekly really helps with the splits, and helps me to retain. I also use ceremides, and I stopped using shampoo and only use cleansing conditioners. Lastly I trim/dust 3-4x's a year, which takes care of any splits & SSK's, and keeps my hair healthy.

 

[havilland]

yes!

i have to do regular protein treatments, use ceramide oils, deep condition twice a week, protective style, stay away from heat, moisturize and seal, not comb or brush and KEEP MY SCISSORS SHARPENED ON A REGULAR....and i STILL get splits.....that's why i dust ALOT.

start with a fresh trim. then dust OFTEN.....by dust i mean, barely trim 1/8 of an inch every month or so....sometimes more often than that.

 

[greenandchic]

My hair is porous and fine/medium in a lot of places so I'm prone to splits if I'm not careful. Besides careful hair care practices, I have to seal with oil/butter, ceramide, use gentle proteins, and seal with henna and/or clear hair glosses, dust, and protect.

Less relevant is my curl pattern which is 4a, 3c, 3b (in the back) and maybe some 4b somewhere.

 

[Oneprettypa]

This may be a very amateur question, but how do you know what your hair type is?

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[Nonie]

So do you suffer from split ends and breaks along the shaft of your hair? What do you do to prevent this?

I believe using brushes or combs with seams can rip the strands of your hair. I also believe bubble hair can cause this to happen.

@faithVA @Lynnerie While SSKs can happen along with splits and maybe be worse when you have splits, I do not believe they are exclusively caused by split ends. It's just the nature of our hair because of the coils to form knots. So those of you who think you didn't have splits when relaxed but do when natural and are using SSKs as the proof are wrong IMO. Straight hair just doesn't get SSKs the way curly hair does and it has nothing to do with splits. Ask anyone who wears her hair straight or stretched all the time and you'll learn that they don't have SSKs. It doesn't mean they don't have splits.

Hair splits the same way whether relaxed or natural. Now SSKs are a different story.

 

[faithVA]

I believe using brushes or combs with seams can rip the strands of your hair. I also believe bubble hair can cause this to happen.

@faithVA @Lynnerie While SSKs can happen along with splits and maybe be worse when you have splits, I do not believe they are exclusively caused by split ends. It's just the nature of our hair because of the coils to form knots. So those of you who think you didn't have splits when relaxed but do when natural and are using SSKs as the proof are wrong IMO. Straight hair just doesn't get SSKs the way curly hair does and it has nothing to do with splits. Ask anyone who wears her hair straight or stretched all the time and you'll learn that they don't have SSKs. It doesn't mean they don't have splits.

Hair splits the same way whether relaxed or natural. Now SSKs are a different story.

I don't think I was saying SSKs are caused by splits. But I would have to reread my post. Whether one causes the other in my hair or not I wouldn't know. I know that where I have an SSK, there is at least a 50% change there is a split. And I know I didn't say I didn't have splits when relaxed. The frequency was much reduced even with poor hair practices which I had.

I don't think it is an equal comparison. I have to jump over the moon to reduce the splits in my hair as a natural and I didn't have to do that as relaxed. So yes if I don't comb it, don't do x, y and z and then do a, b, c,d then maybe, perhaps, possibly I can reduce the splits. Um, but yeah... that's a lot of ifs.

Whether it's a split or an SSK on my hair it doesn't really matter, It's going to be a frail area of my hair and break at that point.

 

[Lynnerie]

Nonie I didn't say SSK's were the reason I got splits when I was natural. I just know I had more split ends when I was natural than I do as a relaxed head. I know relaxed hair as well as natural hair can have splits.

I do not know why my natural hair had more splits but it did. I was constantly cutting to get rid of them and then when I just decided to let them be I had terrible breakage. I eventually texlaxed. I didn't wanna do it but my retention was being affected.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie I didn't say SSK's were the reason I got splits when I was natural. I just know I had more split ends when I was natural than I do as a relaxed head. I know relaxed hair as well as natural hair can have splits.

I do not know why my natural hair had more splits but it did. I was constantly cutting to get rid of them and then when I just decided to let them be I had terrible breakage. I eventually texlaxed. I didn't wanna do it but my retention was being affected.

I don't think I was saying SSKs are caused by splits. But I would have to reread my post. Whether one causes the other in my hair or not I wouldn't know. I know that where I have an SSK, there is at least a 50% change there is a split. And I know I didn't say I didn't have splits when relaxed. The frequency was much reduced even with poor hair practices which I had.

I don't think it is an equal comparison. I have to jump over the moon to reduce the splits in my hair as a natural and I didn't have to do that as relaxed. So yes if I don't comb it, don't do x, y and z and then do a, b, c,d then maybe, perhaps, possibly I can reduce the splits. Um, but yeah... that's a lot of ifs.

Whether it's a split or an SSK on my hair it doesn't really matter, It's going to be a frail area of my hair and break at that point.

@faithVA you didn's say SSKs are caused by splits, but you did imply that because you get them now that you are natural, you know you have splits more than you did. In other words, I inferred that your stating that you know you get splits more when natural than when relaxed it's coz you have SSKs now. Which is something many have said: that they can tell they need to dust their ends and that they are in bad shape because SSKs increase. And once they dust, their ends behave well thereafter.

@Lynnerie, I didn't say you said SSKs are why you get splits. But whether you said it or not, it is not untrue that SSKs will cause splits. Which is no wonder: I mean you're talking about a strand with a rough surface (the cuticle having layers like scales)

...being pulled against itself into a knot:

And that will lead to breakdown aka damage:​

So yes, creation of single strand knots will cause splits...as some say, SSKs is how they know it's time to dust--maybe coz they go hand-in-hand with tears on strands.​

But I still think hair that is prone to splitting will split whether relaxed or natural is because relaxers do weaken hair. According to the P&G website where I got those images, below is the damage caused to our hair by relaxers:​

So while with natural hair you're starting with hair that is virgin and whose bonds have not been broken and so should be strong and able to withstand much, you have coils that require respect and careful handling and good knowhow of how best to treat the hair so you don't get SSKs or tangles (keep it stretched and ends trimmed) which will cause it to break. While with relaxed hair, you start with hair whose bonds have been broken so it's weaker than natural hair, but it doesn't have coils so it can be left loose w/o it tangling, but because it's weaker than natural hair, it too needs TLC otherwise it too will break.​

But as you can see, tears will happen to both types of hair. In fact, with relaxers the splits happen even when the cuticle looks fine (last image).

When people say they didn't have splits or not as many then as they do now, as I always say, it's wishful thinking. Coz you can't count or see them...so how can you tell you have more? Just coz you can't see them, doesn't mean they are not there. It could just be that they are more visible when your hair is in one form more than in another. What's more, if you were not a hair fanatic back then who was paying attention to your hair as you do now, you may have missed it.​

The only explanation I can see for one to have more splits when one's natural more than when one was relaxed is if one's overmanipulating one's hair, using seamed combs, using heat when hair is wet...basically doing stuff that causes hair in its strongest form to be damaged.​

Anyway, that's my POV, but no one has to agree.​

 

[faithVA]

@Nonie,

When I post I don't usually go into a lot of detail. So I leave out a lot. I'm not really for dotting i's and crossing t's in post in general.

I know I had split ends when I was relaxed. That's not in question. I got my hair done every 2 weeks when I was relaxed. Of course I can't prove it at this point. Too many years have gone by. But I don't believe that I had the issues with my ends that I have when I was relaxed. And I went through the same bald to APL transition that I am going through as now. I was able to trim 3x a year and still retain.

I do my own hair now and I definitely know what my ends are like. And you can see and feel the issues with my ends. It's not even a question.

In my opinion no matter how nicely I treat my hair in its natural state, I can going to need to dust it more often than I would have to if I were relaxed. I don't think that all naturals have to do this. I do think that the charactertistics of my particular head require more dusting.

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you about everyone ends splitting and needing dusting. But I think the frequency of that really varies and can only be answered by the particular person.

Since we don't have to agree. Let's leave it at that. I am only speaking for my head. Which is all I ever do.

 

[Nonie]

@faithVA, I agree, we don't have to agree. I just think it's difficult to compare oranges and apples. I mean, how you treat natural hair isn't how you treat relaxed hair so you may be right: maybe you do manipulate your hair more in its natural state and cause more damage.

But there's also the question of how it is you can tell which hair has more splits than the other. As I've shown ad nauseum in umpteen posts, just because people don't SEE splits doesn't mean they are not there. And we've seen that splits on relaxed hair happen just from the act of relaxing which means even before you manipulate your hair, you may already have splits by the time you neutralize the relaxer. Hence my having difficulty in understanding how folks are able to compare.

What's more, until just a few months ago, many on the forum swore they never get splits. But by just giving my idea the benefit of the doubt and assuming they do and so dusting before the non-existent splits cost them retention, they have seen a change in their hair and improvement in retention. Meaning they splits they didn't think they had were just invisible.

Last but not least, while many of us have been relaxed, very few had BSB/MBL length hair back when hair forums and healthy hair care were in our radar, yet our hair was still growing, just not getting long. Stylists may have been partly to blame for cutting our hair so we never see long hair--but they told us we had splits hence the trims. And if we were not going to stylists, it was breakage that made our hair never grow to those lengths. Splits do cause hair to break. So how can we be so sure we didn't have more splits then, yanno?

BTW @faithVA, this post isn't to argue with you. I'm posting it for anyone who is on the fence who cares to know why I say what I say. I haven't been around your hair so don't know whether your splits are more now than back then. Just wanted to play devil's advocate because I know it may answer another's question. (BTW, I should mention that the Denman will cause you split ends, so if some of you are using brushes now more when you're natural than you did when relaxed, then that could also be why you find your hair splitting more.)

In short, the point I was making is that it isn't the state of the hair that is to blame for splitting, so no one should relax or not relax because they think they will get less splits. Why anyone has splits has more to do with their haircare practices and the hair their genes gave them, than whether it's relaxed or not.