Please help me fix my hair!!

[rainbowinfusedspaceunicorn]

I have very long, very thick hair and the top couple of layers have just broken off at about eye level
I can't wear it down, I've never really found the right product to make it look nice anyway (always seems to have a fuzzy layer round the edge!) but now it's just awful. Feel like I shouldn't be wearing it in a high ponytail either as that's not going to help with breakage but that's kind of my go to hairstyle.
Will a haircut help? I don't think there are any styles which have layers starting at eye level and ending at the waist! I really, really don't want to get it all cut off.
Is there anything at all I can use that will smooth out my hair so I can wear it down while it repairs itself while not making it even more brittle and breakable? Help!

I love Phillip Kingsley elasticizer for giving strength and shine, but TBH I don't think anything can 'repair' hair that is already split/cracking. I think you might need to reconsider having a good trim to get rid of the very damaged hair and then concentrate on giving it lots of TLC as it regrows.

Regular trims will stop any more split ends travelling up the hair shaft and breaking higher up. Be careful with brushing, especially when wet, use a natural bristle brush, don't pull it tight into a towel turban when wet or pull too tight into a ponytail. You could also try a silk pillow case and you can buy anti breakage hairbands that don't snag in your hair.

I really like Elasticizer too but any deep conditioning treatments can help. Try to establish what is causing your hair to break. Try to cut down on products with bleach, and drying/straightening. Let it dry naturally a couple of times a week or slick it back with hair oil when wet into a ponytail or bun.

Possible hairstyles for you could be a fringe? Or French plait? There are a lot of updos on YouTube with instructions that might suit you, e.g. hair in a loose bun with small sections twisted and pinned off the face with grips.
Or how about a headband or sunglasses on your head to hold it back for now?

If you concentrate on getting your hair in good condition, the shorter bits will soon grow out.

Thank you both, I'll give that stuff a go and I'm already fairly sensible about taking care of my hair - no heat, don't brush it when wet, no snag hair bands etc.
And I will definitely get a haircut of some description was just hoping not to hear that the only available option was a pixie cut I'm just not sure of the length of time it will take for the shorter bits to grow but hopefully if I get some shorter layers put in and I'm extra careful with it they'll join up soon enough!

I would recommend cutting it a bit to get rid of damaged hair. Other than that, I am a huge fan of all Elvive hair products. Maybe you can try the hair mask, it works really well for me - it makes my hair softer, shinier and very easy to brush.

You could try co-washing. It basically means you wash your hair with conditioner and don't use any products with silicone in them (these end in -cone in the ingredients list). You don't use shampoo, just scrub your scalp with loads of conditioner then rinse (repeat if you prefer). Some people wash with a very gentle (SLS and paraben free) shampoo once a month or something.

It is especially good for curly/wavy hair but also thick and/or frizzy hair. It keeps the natural oils (but after a wash my hair doesn't look greasy at all) and doesn't strip your hair with harsh shampoos. I'm loving it, some people talk of a transition period where it looks a bit greasy but I didn't have that at all!

I use this on scalp/roots:
www.superdrug.com/Superdrug/Superdrug-Green-Apple-&-Tea-Tree-Conditioner-100ml/p/403351?gclid=Cj0KEQjwhtO7BRCtwuO9gfTH-fQBEiQAdJ8FYzfzTGya_TdNe8T5amCfPNOeDKKAuNRiQP-7GjkeUqsaAgUO8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

And this through the rest:
www.superdrug.com/Superdrug/Superdrug-Extracts-Conditioner-Coconut-%26-Almond-400ml/p/710274

That whole superdrug range is silicone free (and super cheap!) but tresemme naturals and tresemme undone is also silicone free.

I then just use a small blob of the coconut and almond conditioner as a leave in and dry hair in a t-shirt (towels can make hair more frizzy). Then leave to dry naturally. I also stopped using hair dye and switched to henna (I'm not sure if you dye yours or not). All that has made a big difference, my hair is so shiny and soft now.

Oh and you have to do one final wash with a shampoo with sulphate in (most normal shampoos have sulphates, I used a clarifying one) before you start co-washing to get rid of all the silicone build up in your hair. Then only silicone free from then on.

Thanks Raspberry, didn't realise you could get silicone free stuff that cheap have tried various other ones and they've all been pretty expensive and not that great (noticeably better than normal shampoo just not amazing), last one I tried gave me dandruff though so I've reverted to head and shoulders for a bit to get rid of it, though I'm sure that's full of all sorts of crap so will definitely give those a shot.
I use a microfibre hair wrap-y thing after showering, is that as good as a t shirt or not?

Have ends cut then use Pantene smooth and sleek conditioner and Toni and Guy hear protecter spray.

Rainbow, yep, I think a lot of people on the FB group I'm on use microfibre hair wraps so I'm sure they're great, I just use a t-shirt as it's cheaper easier .

I like this too which isn't too expensive:
www.amazon.co.uk/Dabur-Vatika-Protein-Hair-mask/dp/B0029RY3TG/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1467303177&sr=8-1&keywords=egg+protein+mask