new thread
Hey everyone,
It looks like time (among other things, like headbanging) has taken a toll on my hair. And unfortunately I only recently noticed it. I've usually gone by the 1 trim per 6 months rule, sometimes stretching it a bit, and my hair has been in decent shape. Now it's quite damaged; I'd almost say 1 out of 5 hairs is a split end--and this is after an inch off the bottom was trimmed, even though I wasn't "due" for one!
So I've been trying to decide what to do about this. My first instinct was to simply look through every one of my hairs and see if there's a split end; trim it off if it needs it. I'm a bit OCD so don't laugh. I did that for about 2 hours the other day and I was only about 10% through my hair, at best. Anyhow, is this the way I should handle that many splits? I don't have layers, but alot of hairs that are split are simply shorter, probably because they've been split for awhile and keep breaking. On the other hand, I told a friend of mine about this and she said that it would be a bad idea, because then my hair would be all different lengths and "poof out"... hmmm... but I'm not so sure about that advice. However, if I was to cut my hair (with even ends) to get rid of the majority of the shorter split ends, I'd be looking at losing 8 inches or so. Ahhh!!
I'd recommend keeping up with the process of going through your hair and cutting each split end you find. Personally, I think it's the best way to keep length and get rid of split ends. It's also something to do while watching TV. I think the poofing out comes more from hair that breaks from split ends and not from hairs just being a little shorter than other hairs.
If you want to keep your hair as long as possible, trimming of all the split end is the only option.
If it happened to me I would just cut of the amount needed (as long as that wouldn't be shorter than shoulderblade lenght) because I don't want to spend a lot of time on my hair.
I go to a George Michael salon for long hair at least once a year for a "slit-end trim". It takes at least 45 minutes as they look through your hair and only trim off any splits. Your hair is no shorter after the process. Like you said, just trimming the ends will not deal with all the other shorter hairs.
Of course you can do the search and destroy mission yourself if you have the time and patience, but it's really nice to be pampered at a salon where they treat your long hair with respect!
That's very good advice indeed and a great way of getting rid of split ends. It certain beats getting inches trimmed off eh trimmers!
Cheers,
John.B
What you describe is known (at least on long hair boards!) as "Search and Destroy" or S&D, and is a very good idea. Don't worry about it making your hairs different lengths, as they are anyway. Different hairs are always at different stages in their respective life cycles. so the idea that you hair is ever a single length is purely an illusion.
When hair is cut to "one length" it doesn't really mean that anyway. What it really means is that the hairs on your head all grow a different distance to get to the same "hemline" that it has been cut to.
You don't have to finish doing S&D in one session. In fact, it would usually take too long to do that. It can be spread out over days or even weeks. IMHO it is a much better idea than a trim, because you lose far less off the length and still get rid of the split ends. Of course you can't get this done at a salon because it is too labour intensive, so you have to do it yourself.
You don't have to have OCD to do S&D, although it might even help, LOL!
Lot's of good tips in the other replies I would only add as a routine take 5 or 10 minutes a day and sit and huts for splits.
Don't make the routine too labor intensive or take too long. a little bit each day and in a few weeks you'll notice an improvement hopefully. After a while you'll notice they're getting harder and harder to find, as well you can continue headbanging as long as you keep up the daily search and destroy to keep things in check.
Kevin
...only occur after you've reached a certain length. Reason I ask is that I examine every single shed hair that catches in my fingers or lands somewhere visible...I'm OCD in that way. I've never seen a split hair, but my hair is only 6 maybe 7 inches long. Is this something that will develop later or are some more prone to them than others?
I'd have to say yes, and yes. I can only speak from my own experience--however, I never saw a split hair of mine until this year (been growing and trimming since April 03, I'm at about 24+ inches now). I would also have to agree that some are simply more prone than others, especially depending on how much each individual takes care of their hair.
n/t
I read everyone's advice, thanks to everyone who took the time to post!! It seems there is a resounding "yes" to S&D... nice! I'll have to start doing this everyday, and keep up with it as well--hopefully it will never get this bad again!