How to Prevent Split Ends, According to an Expert Hairstylist

Updated on January 3, 2024

Similar to wrinkles and breakouts, split ends are among life’s great beauty certainties. Furthermore, once split ends start appearing, there seems to be no idea of how to stop them. There still is the hope of stopping them, and cutting them off is not the only solution. After detecting these frayed ends, it is no doubt that your mood is ruined. Therefore, you must always ensure that you prevent the occurrence of split ends in the first place. Subsequently, you get to achieve the luscious and long hair lengths you always have desired.

How to prevent split ends?

For you to achieve this successfully, there are several things that you need to implement. This is what we are going to take you through in this article.

What are split ends?

The growth of your hair starts from the root, and this means that the oldest part of your hair is the end. Moreover, you may have been with these ends for several years, with this dependent on your hair’s length. Therefore, you can easily picture all the things these hair ends have experienced over time; that is, how many windy, dry, humid, and cold days has it seen?

How many scarves, sweaters, and hats has it come into contact with? How many times has it been styled, washed, or straightened? Additionally, you need not forget that these ends are your hair’s most vulnerable and exposed part. Thus it comes as no surprise that they cannot last forever.

The daily wear and tear your hair is exposed to over time causes the hair cuticle to degrade and wear down, thereby exposing the inner cortex. Subsequently, this is what leads to your hair having frayed or split ends. The ends of your hair may split in several ways. For instance, you start noticing the ends that have broken into numerous pieces similar to a broom or tree, or the classic split end either in two or smaller, barely even being a split end.

Likewise, split ends may appear as hairs that thin at the end while the cuticle disappears, but the cortex is always intact, or your hair-splitting up to the shaft.

To avoid this, you need to trim your hair every month. Failing to do so will only result in split ends as they form the hair’s normal life cycle. So, discussed below are the common causes of split ends;

• Making use of heat tools is among the quickest ways of causing split ends. This is because excessive heat usually damages the ends, which already suffer stress from other factors.
• Physical manipulation and damage: It includes brushing, styling, handling, detangling, and touching your hair, which consequently causes the cuticle to break down slowly as time passes.
• Some other materials and fabrics cause your cuticle more damage in comparison to others. These include sweaters, hats, scarves, cotton towels, and pillowcases, which accelerate the development of split ends. Likewise, if you have long hair, it usually tends to brush the back of either your jacket or shirt, thereby causing this damage.
• Internal factors such as your body’s overall health, your diet, as well as your drinking water, can affect your hair’s strength. So, whenever your body is malnourished, dehydrated, or protein-deficient, your hair is more vulnerable to getting split ends.
• The environment also plays a part in the formation of split ends. Usually, cold, wind, heat, sun, humid climates, dry climates, so basically all weather patterns affect your hair. It is further accelerated if you often style your hair with puffs, afros, wash and go, or styles that expose these split ends to the environment.

How To Get Rid Of Split Ends: 10 Easy Tips From Stylists

Avoid washing your hair too frequently

Shampoos often have an extremely drying effect on your hair, especially products that are meant for oily hair as well as regular shampoos. It is because they can deprive natural oils of your hair, and this is needed to protect it from temperatures and weather.

Therefore, it is advisable to reduce the frequency with which you wash your hair, as this will allow your hair to profit from natural oils. Subsequently, this offers it with additional resilience to cope with all the elements.

You may think it is essential to wash your hair frequently; however, this is not the case. So, you should start finding out the ideal period between your washes by building it up gradually over several weeks, the space between each wash being a bit longer each time. In the long run, you will start seeing the fruits of your patience.

Minimize the use of heat appliances

Heat machines like flat-iron, blow dryers, and heat curlers despite being reputed or expensive are not suitable for your hair. The application of heat or blowing dry air on your hair reduces the natural moisture in your hair hence leaving it rough, dry, and brittle. Additionally, continued use can result in physical hair trauma, and this eventually causes split ends and hair damage.

Letting your hair dry naturally is the best way of drying your hair, plus the healthiest method of styling it is heating reduced heating. Thus, by being gentle, your hair not only feels and looks better; but it also lasts longer. Here is the list of the top 8 best hair dryers we reviewed.

Regularly trim your hair

Regardless of how well you take care of your hair, the daily washing and combing lead to some wear and tear, so you cannot entirely prevent splits from forming. Therefore, to control these split ends, a trim will, at some point, be necessary as proper care only temporarily stretches your trim appointment.

If you ever detect any random split end, you need to immediately get rid of it using a pair of scissors as leaving it uncut is a bad idea since it possibly can get worse and find its way up to your hair’s root.

When removing split ends, the scissors need to be sharp as a blunt pair might result in more splits eventually. Likewise, it is essential to cut approximately 1/4 an inch above the split end to ensure the chances of it reappearing are almost impossible.

Deep condition

Regularly shampooing your hair can take away all its natural oil. Simultaneously, you do not want your hair to be greasy as this never looks good on anyone, while still avoiding dry ends as they are more susceptible to splitting. Unlike regular conditioners, deep conditioners do not rinse off immediately after rinsing off the shampoo but are intensely nourishing hair masks, thus lasting for longer.

It is advisable to regularly deep condition your hair, like once a week, particularly if you frequently utilize heat treatments like curling irons or straighteners, or often go swimming. Moreover, a deep state not only helps your hair remain healthy and robust; it also helps it stay shiny and soft while also reducing frizz. Here is the list of the top 8 best hair straighteners we reviewed.

Take extreme care of your hair when wet

Wet hair usually is more fragile, thereby making it more vulnerable to damage. Additionally, damp hair often tends to tangle, plus brushing it using a hairbrush causes weakening and breakage. So, if it is a must you comb your hair while showering, it is recommendable you first brush out any tangles, and after that, you can get your hair wet.

Subsequently, add some condition to your hair and then using your fingers, massage it, then use a wide-toothed comb later on. To undo any tangles if you have tangled hair, start from the bottom till you can effortlessly sweeten your comb without any snag.

Furthermore, whenever you are tying your hair when wet, take extreme care because as it dries, it will start shrinking. Thus, if you tie it tightly while it is wet, this can cause it to get damaged. However, if you must tie your hair back when it is moist, it is advisable to purchase a no-snag hair tie.

Before washing your hair, first oil it

Washing or shampooing your hair might result in damage to your hair as wet hair during shampooing absorbs water and then swells. When in this condition, it usually is incredibly brittle, so it is much easier for chips or splits to occur.

Oils protect your hair by forming a protective sheath around the hair, and this minimizes the damage that happens while washing your hair. Likewise, it helps restore your hair’s moisture balance as well as nourish it, and sesame oil, coconut oil, almond oil, and jojoba oil are among the best oils for pre-wash treatment.

Gently detangle your hair

Tangles and friction usually lead to the formation of luscious weeds in no time, irrespective of whatever you do because of hot summer weather, swimming, or a scarf you have warped during winter. Consequently, in the evening, your hair will have split tangles despite doing your best in the morning to style and brush your hair, leaving you furious.

However, it is vital to resist the urge to pull a tangle, regardless of whether it is big or small. It is because doing so only further weakens the strands hence making your hair more susceptible to tear and the form split ends. Contrary, you should work through it patiently and carefully, and you will not regret doing this later.

To do this, select a wide-toothed comb or flat brush to work and always work from your hair’s tips and never the roots as this only makes things worse. Slowly brush up the strands, ensuring you do not pull your hair, and apply either a conditioner or detangling spray if the knot is somewhat tricky.

Always use wide-tooth combs

Using a wide-tooth comb is the best method of detangling your hair once you are done shampooing, as combs, unlike brushes, are usually more gentle. Furthermore, it would help if you never tugged the comb down your hair, that is, from the root towards the tip as this only causes hard knots that a difficult to undo. Consequently, the brittle ends will have to be exposed to comb bashing hence thereby causing split ends and hair breakage.

Protect your hair from exposure to the elements

Exposure to environmental factors like wind, sun, and cold have adverse effects on your hair. For instance, your hair might get damaged due to prolonged exposure to the hot sun, which leaves it fragile and dry hence more susceptible to split ends and breakages. Equally, cold winds can also have harsh effects on your hair.

Therefore, to prevent split ends, you should always protect your hair whenever you go outside ti in cold winds or hot sun. To prevent moisture loss from your hair due to the elements, you should wear a hat, a scarf or a cap. Moreover, they are excellent accessories plus perfect for hiding any bad hair days.

Use a leave-in conditioner

Applying to your hair a leave-in conditioner is a great way to prevent split ends if you often are susceptible to having them. It protects your hair from regular wear and tear, which usually happens because of styling, and combing as well as environmental factors such as cold winds or hot sun.

Moreover, it is not necessary to buy expensive brands as plant, and oil butter to make remarkable leave-in conditioners. Some of the best butter to use are aloe and shea butter, whereas the best oils to use are almond, coconut, and jojoba oil.

The use of these oils and butter leaves your hair looking both beautiful and shiny. It would be best if you started with a small amount, and you can later make adjustments depending on your hair’s needs since you also do not want your appearance greasy.

Conclusion

So, having gone through this article, you now have a better understanding of split ends, its causes as well as ways you need to implement to prevent split ends. Nevertheless, the primary thing you always need to do is pay close attention to your hair’s needs and then give it the care and nourishment it requires. With this, you will have done away entirely with bad hair days by guaranteeing the irritating split ends never form.

References:

1. How to Conceal or Get Rid of Split Ends – https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-get-rid-of-split-ends
2. How to Remove and Prevent Split Ends – https://www.wikihow.com/Remove-and-Prevent-Split-Ends