A head full of split ends can single-handedly ruin your hopes of healthy hair growth and length retention. Generally, split ends occur when the bottoms of each strand lose moisture and protein, thus causing them to “split.”
No one can 100% avoid split ends, but there are several key ways to identify and prevent them from completely taking over your head! Here are three tell- tale signs to look out for:
How does the hair look?: If the hair looks frayed or fried at the ends and there are noticeable splits on multiple strands of hair, it’s time for a trim.
How does the hair feel?: If you can actually feel rough and dry knots/bumps on the bottom of each strand, then you have split ends.
How does the hair sound?: Ever been detangling your hair and hear a crunching sound with every brush stroke? That indicates two things: that your hair is very dry…and has split ends.
Common causes of split ends include: excessive brushing and combing of the hair, excessive heat, chemical services, overexposure to the sun, wind, environmental toxins, harsh products and excessive hair manipulation.
Prevention: Trim your hair at the beginning of every season (fall, winter, spring and summer) by a professional hairstylist. Often times, the different seasons and varying temps wreak havoc on our hair, so trims prevent further damage.
Some people avoid cutting their split ends in an attempt to retain length. However, you’re actually causing added damage and may eventually have to cut more than you originally desired.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.
Think of split ends as a run in your stockings. Once it’s started, the run will eventually travel up the leg, ruining the stockings even more. Split ends occur the same way. If they’re not taken care of properly, it will continue to move up the hair shaft and cause damage.
A regular deep conditioning schedule also aids in the prevention of split ends. Be sure to alternate between a moisture-based and a protein-based one. Additionally, repair products, such as split end sealers, offer more instant results by fusing the split ends together, and making them look less noticeable.
Here are three products to get started with:
This smells delightful and is made for color treated hair.
Great for all textures and has Monoi Oil, which has tremendous moisturizing and restoring benefits!
A lightweight option for those who like to treat their hair during sleep.