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I did go a period of time where I would experience a lot of breakage um my ends would break a
lot when I would comb my hair. There are a few things, well one main thing that I was
doing that contributed to...well and some things that I wasn't doing um that contributed
to breakage so.. um what I used to do with my hair..it wasn't a bad routine, um the results
were good, I had a really consistent result. Um but overall for the appearance of my hair,
it was good, but for the health of my hair it was not good and um what I used to do,
and I did use natural oils when I was younger in my hair um my grandmother taught my mom
to use olive oil in my hair. I went through a period of time where for about ten years
I was using a silicone based product, serum, and I believe it is..it's like a polisher,
frizz reducer, um and I believe it is also used as a heat protector although I didn't
use it as a heat protector because I did not use heat on my hair. I um would just let my
hair air dry, would put my hair in twists um and I would let my hair air dry, then I
would take the twists out then wear my hair that way and it was a routine, a weekly routine
I would do. I would use a lot of the silicone based product, I used a lot more than the
directions um stated because i got good results, good defined, long lasting results you know
for the week by using more than just a few drops or a dime size or a quarter size or
something the directions would say and it would give my hair a lot of shine and a lot
of definition and um it would make my hair look great and then what I used to do at the
end of the week is I would comb my hair out dry before washing it. All I would use is
the silicone, this heavy silicone product and I wouldn't put anything else in my hair
that was it...uh every one in a while I would get into some leave in conditioner but I don't
think that leave in conditioner was too good and I would use a little bit of it it was
like a liquid and I would put that on then put the silicone based product but mostly
it was just that one product that I would use. Then at the end of the week I would comb
my hair out and my hair felt soft, it was you know defined and everything and it did
feel soft and flexible. I would comb my hair out before washing it I would comb it out
dry and that's when I would notice a lot of breakage from my ends it would be like just
my hair breaking off at the ends and I didn't think about it too much I just figured, "oh
well maybe my hair is prone to breakage and it's just breaking and it's not a big deal"
and then it just happened for so many years that I just didn't really pay attention to
it um but I would get a lot of little, lots of little tiny broken pieces from my ends.
What I didn't realize at the time is that silicone based product um caused my hair to
be brittle. It did have some sort of a hold to although it didn't really feel like, it
didn't feel like a gel or a hairspray or a mousse or something like that. Um it had like
a soft, shiny, flexible result but I guess it was also providing some hold and it was
also making my hair brittle and then my hair would break off. Um even with the breakage
I would experience weekly my hair would still gain some length uh then what would happen..several
times I went a little bit more than a week without combing my hair out, I would go a
little bit longer and then when I would try to..then I would go in and comb my hair out
I would end up with more breakage and so.. I would start to gain some length and then
my hair would you know break, just break enough you know I would mistreat it or just not be
as careful, enough to the point where it would uh just break and not get very long. During
that time I wasn't really focused on growing my hair out I was happy with the results I
was getting, and then what I started doing is..I was at Trader Joe's I noticed that they
had jojoba oil and it was for you know, for skin and hair and uh I used to get it sometimes
and put it on my skin and then I started putting a little bit in my hair and as soon as I started
using natural oils in addition to the silicone based product I stopped seeing that breakage
when I would comb my hair. The jojoba oil brought incredible softness to my hair. Although
my hair felt soft and everything you know with that silicone product, it was extra extra
soft with the jojoba oil and my hair was getting oils throughout the week that it was not getting
before and it was softening up because of the jojoba oil I was using. Then one I started
using jojoba oil I went into also using coconut oil and then from there I started using more
oils um and also shea butter. That's pretty much the only thing like the single most important
thing that I did to prevent breakage. It wasn't even the elimination of that silicone based
product it was the addition of natural oils. I think one of the things that may have discouraged
me through those years from using natural oils is I think I remember reading somewhere
or just coming to understand at least from what I thought was that, that silicone based
product, silicone is an artificial oil and it didn't mix well with natural oils and so
I wasn't supposed to use both of them at the same time and um it just didn't occur to me
to apply natural oils once the silicone based product dried on my hair because I used to
put it on soaking wet hair, let it dry and then it just didn't occur to me to add natural
oils after that. I didn't add more of the silicone based product throughout the week
because it didn't feel right on my hair, like applying it to my hair dry it just felt really
strange and I didn't like the feeling of it and so I wouldn't do that I would just do
one heavy application with my hair being wet and then um that was it until it was time
to comb my hair out wash it and everything. Once I started using those oils I started
retaining length very quickly. I was able to notice 'wow you know the breakage is like,
gone!' you know.. and um I started retaining length and then I started to make more improvements
um like I improved the combing tools that I was using, I started looking more into seamless
combing tools and also higher quality shampoo and conditioners, I was just sort of using
inexpensive, low quality shampoos and conditioners and then I, I would sometimes use you know
nicer products um, better quality products um then I started using some natural products
that were of better quality and so I was slowly progressing to better quality products throughout
those years and that helped as well, and then I got rid of that silicone based product.
I noticed that my hair was just thicker, I guess the breakage possibly from that silicone
based wasn't just on my ends, but just as I would comb through, my hair was probably
more likely to break off. I do think that silicone can, you know that it's possible
for them to be used in a good way you know for them to work or for silicone to be an
ingredient in a product and it can be used successfully um I just decided because I was
such an extreme with using it where it was the only ingredient that I used and I used
it heavily I just decided that um I wanted to get rid of it and um I replaced it with
a gel and then I started working with oils and shea butter and I found that I was happy
with the results and um especially when I started using shea butter, that's when I really
was able to surpass the aesthetic results of the silicone product. So, those are the
main things that I did and my hair was not just good in appearance, um I felt that it
started to look even better and it just became healthier, so much healthier. I don't have
to worry about breakage, I can go over the week and go a few days over my weekly schedule
that I usually maintain for washing my hair, and if I go over that amount of time I still
don't get breakage. Um, my hair does feel like it's starting to get dehydrated if I
go over a week, just, it will start to feel like, you know, it needs um water um but it
won't, I won't experience that breakage that I would experience with that silicone product.
Once I ended up putting jojoba oil in my hair it just changed everything because my hair
was so much softer, it looked nice and you know it continued to look nice. I didn't see
a conflict between the silicone and the natural oils possibly because the silicone had already
dried in my hair and then I was putting oil on top of it so that might have had something
to do with it as opposed to trying to put the silicone in my hair with my hair wet and
then trying to put oil on top maybe that would be when they're not compatible, I'm not sure
but um that was the main thing and then I started retaining a lot of length and that
was it, that was basically it. Although I don't think that silicones are one hundred
percent bad, I believe that they could be used um, you know, just fine. For me um I
just decided that I wasn't going to use them at all anymore um because I found natural
oils to just be overall better for my routine and for what it is I am doing with my hair.
That's what works best for me and um I also think that people can have similar goals and
um use products that contain silicone and that they can be successful I just made the
choice not to use silicone anymore, I just shifted to using a natural gel and then to
using mostly using oils and actually mostly shea butter in my hair and that's been the
best for me in terms of both the appearance and the health of my hair. That was how I
switched over into having a semi-okay routine with my hair that gave good results appearance
wise to going to a routine that has good aesthetic results and also maximizes the health and
length retention of my hair.