need help! hair breakage!

hi ladies

I am having a really tough time lately with hair loss and breakage.  I have never battled with this in the past but this season change seems to have really taken my hair for a ride.  Its static, falling out and breaking.  oh and suddenly my scalp is really dry (yuk)

I currently use VO 5 shampoo and Pantene conditioner.
I use Argan oil spray on my hair after washing and VO5 heat protect before straightening her hair.

I am really battling.

any suggestions.  Please!

signed
Desperate

I'm not a hairdresser but I battled with the same thing. I started usjng kpax deep penetrating reconstructor (read my review) as well as the reconstricting liquid and the split end mender. I stopped using any products cobtaing sls! Organic only for shampoo and that made s huuuuge difference to my scalp and my hair is a lot less frizzy. I also use coconut oil as a mask once a week or so, and I use the giovanni magnetic energy products and jason biotin shampoo and conditioner.

Hey

This might help http://123beautysolution.in/?p=917 Honestly I have tried the egg in my hair.... it works!

 

I wish I could give you some advice.  I hope you find a remedy really soon. x

Have a look at holistic hair website. Sometimes all you might need is a supplement for a while. There is such great advice on there. I have tried supplements to help with my hair and it makes such a difference. Hope this helps :-) 

Some shampoos have a lot of chemicals in them to make that foaming up feel when washing the hair and that can be very irritating.  I would try something natural. Economy store maybe. Try extra virgin olive oil as its very nurishing. I put all through my hair on a day I'm not going out. I rub into my scalp. You can try coconut oil as well. I have heard quite a lot about the benefits of coconut oil. When you rinse out the oils always shampoo before adding the water or the water will run right off the hair. Once shampooed and rinsed then do another shampoo and then condition. 

Sorry not economy it's eco store. My tablet is changing the words. :-)

I guess many women suffer from hairloss and breakage at this point of the year, the changing season. There are various causes of hair loss: diet, weather and unsuitable hair products. Some types of food are really rich in Omega-3 such as eggs and salmon but it's sesame seeds (black) that works best for me. 100 gram a week is good. Believe it or not I feel much stronger nail and hair. You can also buy Biotin supplements, they work well too. 
I agree that the shampoo you use may cause breakage, it might contain some chemicals that make your hair weak and damaged. It's not easy for me to find a suitable shampoo but I like L'oreal the best. I also mix argan oil with the shampoo coz I think the oil works well in protecting hair loss too. 

I can't rave about the MoroccanOil treatments enough!! After my cancer radiation treatments when my hair grew back it was a lot like what you describe. I started using the moroccanoil treatments and saw an instant difference! I used the hydrating hair mask treatment every week for about 2 months and the oil treatment every morning in the ends and the whole length of my hair before bed at night. Avoid straightening, blow drying & washing your hair too often. Wash once every 3-4 days for the first few months so that you aren't  stripping the moisture out. It really worked amazingly well for me. Goodluck :-)

Take selenium (just eat a few Brazil nuts each day - Pams are cheap) and use Garnier no more split ends serum (cheap from the supermarket). Works for me :)

Try using the Joico K-Pak Deep penetrating reconstructor followed up with the Intense hydrator. Pop a damp towel heated up in the microwave for 1min on your head while the reconstructor is on and it should help a ton! Or try to K-PAk Revitaluxe using the hot towel too :)

  My hair falls a fair ammount but is overall healthy. I do notice when I do notice less fallout when I wash it if I use SLS free shampoos and hair products with less nasties. I'm currently using Sorbet. I put coconut oil in my hair for one day once a week and then use the St. Clements bar to wash it out. Even though I have long hair I lately I haven't been needing much conditioner and my hair doesn't need washing for another 5-7 days. I esperience less hair loss and breakage when I fix my hair in loose styles and braids that don't put alot tension on the the roots. And also brushing my hair before I wash it lessens the knots and fallout during the wash. I hope this was helpful.

There can be all sorts of reasons for having your hair fall out, it can be diet (lack of a certain nutrient), stress is another big factor , the dreaded hormones, I think you have to play around and see what you can change and what works.  I had a a period not long ago where it was falling out - my hair does fall out but its always been like that but this was different but it passed after a week so I have no idea why it happend.  Hope yours just passes to =)

I always have huge chunks falling out, as I can't brush my hair regularly so when I wash it all comes out then what you normally filter through on a daily basis by brushing.   However I found that Pantene has an awful effect on my hair and its not uncommon for brands such as them to change their ingredients (normally accompanied with a new branding or bottle type, pattern or name changes) that could react against you hair, and your hair can acculumate a build up of parabens and sulfates that break down your hair structure.   (not a hair dresser just a geek for reading up on these things O.o)

My advice would be to throw them in the bin, and find a better brand (budget allowing of course) there are many home remedies though such as a apple cider rinse that helps cleanse the build up of products, coconut and olive oil masks for nourishing and so forth.  As your scalp is itchy you may indeed be suffering from an allergic reaction to an ingredient, if you find that it doesn't die down or you get welts, sores or redness go see the Dr!!!! you may need to do a sensitivity test for allergies.

At the end of the day the more natural and less harsh methods of looking after our hair is the best with little or no reactions.   Hope that helps a little and that it gets better soon =)

Parabens aren't harmful to your hair, or harmful at all really. They're just preservatives. Some people think they can cause cancer but that was based on one bad study, all other science says there's no issue with them. 

I found my hair fell out more when I was rough with it, like tying it up really tight, or not combing it properly. I always comb in little sections starting from the bottom if it's tangled. Try a good treatment, I always hear Joico raved about.

Lenarose is right. Parabens are PLANT DERIVED preservatives. They're naturally occuring in most fruit and vegetables that we eat. If you have Wasabi with your sushi, with one little smear you have consumed orally more parabens that you would have absorbed using products preserved with parabens throughout your entire life. It's an uneducated witch hunt. I studied cosmetics.
The reason that people questioned them is because there is potential for it to be an oestrogen disruptor, however soy is higher in phytopestrogens and has a lot more influence on the body than parabens do, as the ":hormanal disrupting" component in parabens is very quickly and readily metabolised and gotten rid of. I'd be more worried about eating soy. I've been told to avoid it because it can worsten my endometriosis. Stop worrying about parabens unless you'e going to stop eating fruit and vegetables, too.

Sodium Lauryl and Laureth Sulphates are more damaming, and are probably what's causing agrivation as it stripps your skin. Mineral oil can also cause aggravation. Check that there's no SLS's, anything labeled with petroleum, mineral oil anything "petro". That's the more likely culprit,  and you won't find any of those in organic shampoo. As for strenthening, I can't fault Joico K-Pax deep penetrating reconstructor, liquid reconstructor, and split end mender.
If your scalp is still irritaed, use a coconut oil mask. I use pure coconut oil and leave it over night, good for the hair, too.

Lena and Kate: YES!!! There is a lot of scaremongering in the "natural" beauty world, and while I totally understand wanting to put only good things on your body, a lot of preservatives aren't actually doing anything bad -- other than preventing microorganisms from growing in your products.

Coconut oil is one of the few oils that is able to penetrate the hair shaft. I personally don't use it but have heard so many good things from dry and curly hair types!

Thanks for posting that, Kate! I knew absolutely nothing about parabens but I was definitely aware of the common misunderstanding that they're "bad" for you - good to know they're not. (Plus I always enjoy reading your reviews and forum posts because you definitely seem to know what you're talking about!)

haha exactly. What's going to hurt you more, the plant based paraben, or the microorganisms that it prevents? I'd rather not smear a bacterial colony on my face.

Elana, that's such a nice thing to say! thank you! I try not to be too much of a know-all haha x

Sorry if my facts aren't spot on, I did state that I was only going on what I had personally read on other websites, I am not a hair stylist nor beauty therapist.  I was just sharing what I have found out and what has worked for me.  SLS are more damaging and I couldn't recall as I was typing what they were called.   Its a known fact that our hair goes through alot with heat, over use of products, dying, perms, even polluation effects it.  I was just giving my opinion on using something natural to cleanse whatever damage is done. 

aww Chikoboo, I'm sorry. It wasn't a personal attack, I know how misunderstood things can be with ingredients. A lot of people, even beauty professionals still preach anti parabens, so people aren't to know unless they go out of their way to find out. When you're constantly told something is bad for you and they scare monger by labeling is a carcenogenic, naturally people are going to get worried. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be mean or harsh, just let people know the facts.

chikoboo: all good, most of us aren't professionals obviously and we can only go on what we find out ourselves! I agree with the SLSs -- have noticed a difference since starting to go SLS and silicone free since last year. I still have one or two products that I use at the gym containing them but for the most part it's helped my hair. Also been avoiding them in skin products too -- so glad the cleanser I'm trialling for BR is SLS free.

Sorry Chikaboo, I hope I wasn't mean - I just see lots of people talking about parabens when actually they're fine. A lot of brands have removed them because people are so scared which is a shame because they're really effective. 

Sorry Chikaboo, I hope I wasn't mean - I just see lots of people talking about parabens when actually they're fine. A lot of brands have removed them because people are so scared which is a shame because they're really effective. 

Its ok Lenarose,  I think I took it a a personal attack as I was having a wee bit of an emotional day at work yesterday, hate month ends it brings out the worse in me I just want to punch people >.<  I re-read the thread last night and thought I was being a bit wet about it....should put a "don't mind me" sticker on it lol

   I generally steer away from parabens but I'm not going to chuck out a product that works pretty well for me just because of there's some parabens at the bottom of the list.

    Btw, if anyone has a itchy, flakey ultra sensitive scalp and wants something very natural and gentle I would recommend A'kins Unscented and Very Gentle Shampoo and Conditioner. It worked brilliantly on my scalp when it was dry, flakey and itchy soothed it unlike any previous shampoos I have tried. I have never dyed my hair so I don't know how it would be for color treated hair. It also has a really neutral scent so good for people with sensitive noses. I actually gifted a set to my grandmother who can't handle strong stuff and chemicals and she loved it so much she was using it as sparingly as possible to make it last forever.

I also thought for a long time that parabens are bad, just until I got more interested in beauty products and read a lot about ingredients and I've found some more information. It was really based on one study about finding parabens in a breast cancer tissue and they labelled that parabens are causing breast cancer, however a lot of percentage of that(of all types of) cancer tissue is water, so water causes cancer too, hmm? Really stupid study which really made companies use some other shh..stuff for preserving their products and who knows maybe that something else is worse than parabens as companies were using parabens for a long time for the simple fact that it's the best and most succsessful in this job.

I was on the parabens are bad bandwagon for ages too! then I did some further research and found out they are naturally derived lol, I was like WHAT!!! blueberrys have them?? LOL. I've been so paranoid about ingredients the last few years its drivin me mental! I still do alot of online research about what stuff really is and it still does my head in sometimes, but I've learnt to relax more about it, theres waaay too much scare mongering going on!

Btw do you colour you hair Mommyjenn? If not then you can maybe try a nuetral henna as a hair mask, although you may be able to dye over that I'm not really sure..... but it coats the hair (in a non-temporary way , I won't say permanent because I'm not quite sure how long it stays for) and gives it extreme conditioning, its done wonders for me, but I use red henna :)

Aw chikoboo! I hope you're feeling better.

I think it's important to remember that most of us aren't making personal attacks when correcting facts etc. It's hard to get things across online sometimes, so it's easy to read things as being sterner or unfriendly!

Hi there :) 

I have also had a struggle with hair breakage, and all of the above suggestions are true. My main pointers would be to stay away from supermarket shampoo and conditioner, as they do contain quite a lot of nasties. Depending on your budget, MoroccanOil and Kerastase do the best shampoo and conditioners, but if you are looking for a cheaper option, Organix hair products are amazing! You can buy them at Countdown and some pharmacies. Try their moroccon oil line. If you are wanting an even cheaper, and natural option, Sukin is fantasic! Natural and super nice.  Definitely do a deep condition once a week, and use as less heat as you possibly can, and when using heat use a heat protectant!! One product that I absolutely swear by, is this product by Kerastase called Initialiste, it will transform your hair!! 

Good luck!