Hair breakage!! Urgent

[Anonymous]

I recently moved into my college dorm and my hair is breaking off and there are split ends sticking out from the top to the bottom. My hair isn’t falling out or anything it is just breaking. Ive always known my hair to be super healthy so this is freaking me out. What should I use or what should I do?

[GennX]

The first thing that came to mind was that you've got hard water and didn't have it (at least not with the same minerals and ratio) before now. Hard water can be dealt with using a showerhead that has a filter that can be attached, a whole house water softener system, or using something like Malibu C hard water hair care products.

If you're going to bed with wet or damp hair, even though it's not advisable, if you use silk or satin pillow cases that's better than full on cotton pillow cases which pretty much suck all the water the fibers can absorb from your hair and if you have dry or weakened ends to mid-shafts but an oily scalp you're not getting the natural oils pulled through the entire length.

If you're putting your hair up in a bun or pulling it back into a ponytail a lot, don't pull it as tightly and use the old school scrunchie or a ribbon tie instead of a regular elastic band. Tight elastic bands can cause things like "traction alopecia" and breakage, it's the repetitive stress on the hair that's the issue. Depending on if you wear your ponytail in the same spot every time you may also see breakage where you've worn whatever you use to tie it back with as time passes.

Eat well, drink plenty of water. If you've colored your hair or plan to, go to an Olaplex partner salon to do it and use Olaplex step 3 at home. If you're using heat styling tools on a regular basis, use a heat protectant every time you use them. 

[GG84]

@Anonymous

 This may be a hard water issue. If nothing else has changed, as in you have not chemically treated your hair, severely heat damaged your hair, did a crash diet since moving into your dorm, then this is hard water/mineral deposits. It can wreck HAVOC on your hair. If the answer is no to the above questions, heres what you can do: Head out to your nearest beauty supply and pick up Malibu Hard Water Shampoo and Conditioner. It helps mitigate the deposits. @bakeamuffin

Suggestion of Olaplex No 3 is definetly necessary also. 

[bakeamuffin]

@GG84 I’m super curious, would you recommend using the Hard Water Shampoo and conditioner regularly, or more like a once a week treatment? 

I always appreciate and love reading your haircare advice ☺️

[GG84]

@bakeamuffin

 Thank you. Sometimes I feel like a hair snob? Or that I come across as a know it all type...but genuinely i'm just sharing 2+ decades of knowledge. 

To answer your question, it gets tricky. It's great to use the Hard Water shampoo + conditioner, however you are rinsing your hair with the water you are trying to remove the deposits from. I live in an area where my water is off the charts hard and mineralized. This is horrible for my vibrant hair and the health of my hair. I have a water softener however that does not help with the minerals - the best investment I have ever made was a Spirit Shower Head. They aren't a cute waterfall shower head, we can get it at Canadian Tire for around $45. It filters the water through the shower head and you just change the filter every now and then. It's incredible. 

[bakeamuffin]

I would invest in that, it sounds helpful! The water in my area is really hard too, I’ll definitely check it out. Thank you for the  recommendation @GG84  ☺️

I don’t think you’re a hair snob, but I’ve been following your posts for a while and have always loved your insights, it’s great to get advice and tips from someone in the industry. You’re valuable to the BIC! 

[Anonymous]

Thats what I figured, thanks for the help

[bakeamuffin]

Olaplex no. 3 will help to repair broken bonds within the hair shaft to help prevent future breakage. I highly suggest using this treatment at least once a week. 

The Alterna leave in hair protein treatment would also be wise to use a few times a week to help strengthen your hair. 

I would also suggest minimizing heat styling until your hair is back to a healthy state. I personally use and love both of these, they’ve really helped me to achieve strong, healthy hair. Good luck @Anonymous! 

https://m.sephora.com/ca/en/product/caviar-anti-aging-restructuring-bond-repair-leave-in-protein-cre...

https://m.sephora.com/ca/en/product/olaplex-hair-perfector-no-3-P435618

[Olaplex]

Thanks for sharing the Olaplex love!