split end prevention

[lolar]

Hi all,
I had my hair trimmed today. I've been trying to stretch out time between trims. Basically I wondered if you knew of anything I could put on my hair to help prevent split ends so I can go a little longer before having to have another trim. My last gap between trims was 6 months and that seems to be a little to long for my hair!
thanks in advance..

[sarah112786]

The only thing I can think of is to keep it in a bun as much as possible and keep your ends moisturized. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

[lolar]

Thanks, thats what I thought too! Guess im just kinda hoping there is a magic cure for split ends out there that I dont know about yet! I have my hair up most of the time anyway and barely use heat.. are there any leave in conditioners or oils etc that anyone has had success with??

[Long_hair_bear]

coconut oil as a prewash tends to help me in stretching trims alot :)

[Wildcat Diva]

Check out the catnip thread. Do a google search for that along with LHC. Then... Off to Petco to buy some catnip!

[Angelica]

There are serums on the market which state they safeguard against split ends. Those splits are horrors. I always wear my hair up, no difference I still have splits.

[Wildcat Diva]

Serums equals lots of cones which equals use of a SLS shampoo or some clarifier occasionally. If this is acceptable, that's great.

Me, I'm a no cones no SLS girl, not sure about the OP.

[rowie]

I second bunning, updos, and any protective hair styles on an everyday consistent basis (just make sure to rotate styles and area of placement to relieve stress points to your scalp). I also believe in keeping the ends always moisturized to help avoid dry hair snapping or breakage, whenever your ends feel dry then oil it up. Also, Cassia or henna treatments help strengthen hair. You can also try incorporating SMTs and fox's shea butter hair treatments on top of your S&D. Best of luck.

[Wildcat Diva]

For moisturizing the ends, I like to use a misting bottle with rosewater in it, then add three drops mineral oil on your palms, rubbed around and wiped on the ends, or the same thing with Nightblooming's Panacea. Which has Shea butter, mostly I believe.

[lapushka]

I barely, rarely, have split ends (like 2 to 3 in the last 2 years or so). My hair is conditioned twice after each shampoo, then follows a leave-in and a serum or a few drops of mineral oil.

[Naiadryade]

I second catnip. Not foolproof and it takes some dedication--it's best as an hour-long wrapped treatment, and the more often you can do it, the better--but many folks have sung its praises. Check out the catnip thread, and pay special attention to what ktani said. She's the guru.

And yeah, keep your ends moisturized and try not to let them rub stuff. And get some sharp hair scissors, only use them on your hair, and whenever you see a split, cut it off. That will at least delay it splitting further.

But this is a battle I'm still fighting, myself. My hair is super prone to split ends.

[Wildcat Diva]

There used to be a catnip article, but I can't get to it since the forum had crashed.

[Vrindi]

I'm battling splits too. It's from dye damage on fine hair, so I know I'll be battling them until that hair grows out. I use coconut oil on my ends pretty much daily. It really helps. I try to keep it up during the day, so it doesn't rub against the back of my chair or get caught in things. I just try to keep it super moisturized, especially because I live in the desert and any moisture is just sucked out the instant I go outside. I S&D pretty casually, but every day. I check the ends of braids or the sections I know split more easily and snip off whatever I find with my hair-only scissors. I consider it daily upkeep, like my eyebrows. :eyebrows:

I tried to do an SMT this week, and couldn't find aloe anywhere. Instead, I substituted coconut oil for aloe, used my whole foods brand 360 conditioner, and honey, and left it on for over an hour. It works beautifully to moisturize!

Also, I micro trim. This really helps to keep the ends from splitting, but I still get length. I trim about 1/4 inch, max, every 4-6 weeks. With hair that likes to split, micro trimming and regular dustings is a hair saver.

[melusine963]

My magic product is definitely coconut oil, both as a pre-wash treatment and as a leave-in. The leave-in acts as a detangler and has helped me keep my mechanical damage from brushing to a bare minimum. Together with updos, this means I hardly get any split ends anymore.

[ravenheather]

I catnip once a week for an hour. I also use nightblooming panacea if the ends are looking dry.

[ravenreed]

I have relatively few split ends thanks to catnip. I use it as a leave in every wash.

[torrilin]

A lot of dealing with splits is prevention.

On my hair, blow drying causes both mechanical damage and heat damage. Not good. (diffusers or salon style helmet drying systems are not a problem) We shall not speak of curling irons, crimpers or straighteners. Once my hair was free of heat damage, I found that trims every 6-9 months were acceptable, and a year was doable.

My hair is fine and fragile, so combs and brushes can also cause mechanical damage. Each individual use is no big deal, but since I've swapped to just finger combing, I have fewer splits. This is with only using things like smooth wooden combs and boar bristle brushes before. In another 5 years or so, I should have a clear idea on how much net effect this change has had.

Styling aids like bobby pins and ponytail holders can sometimes cause damage. I generally find rotating my hairstyles is enough to prevent this issue, but if you have a signature style, it may be causing problems.

Some posters find that dye or bleach cause lots of dryness and thus split end damage for them. Chlorinated swimming pools, a hot tub habit or a perm or chemical relaxer habit can also cause damage, dryness and split ends.

Some posters find that hard water can build up on their hair and cause dryness and split ends if left unchecked. Diluted acid rinses or chelating shampoo can help with this.

The other prevention habit I have is lots of moisture. Since my hair is stupidly fine and generally acts like it's low porosity, pure oils don't absorb well and can be tricky to apply successfully. I tend to use copious amounts of conditioner instead, in a formulation that works well on my hair both wet and dry. If oil works, use it tho.

All that said tho, I don't think an every 6 months trim habit is hugely excessive. Most posters with fine hair seem to prefer (comparatively) frequent trimming, and they're still able to grow to very long lengths.

[Vanilla]

Mineral oil really cuts down on the splits for me.

[jacqueline101]

I'm going to try vo5 shampoo and conditioner for splits see if that helps.

[spirals]

I'm currently using catnip in the form of an infusion. My hair oil is infused with it. I did that because my scalp hates it. It does help temporarily seal the splits and helps my hair shine more, which it just does not do naturally. But I think from now on I will be putting catnip tea in my flax spray--which I just invented--as well. I use it almost every day to tame frizz or remoisturize my curls or detangle, so I will get a good amount of catnip on my hair regularly if I do that, and I don't spray my scalp, so it will be fine.

[katiebeans]

I will be watching this thread! I brought a nice pair of hair-cutting scissors this weekend, and plan on trying out Feye's hair trimming instructions to to cut off about an inch when my hair drys. It hasn't been trimmed in at least a year and my ends need to go.

So from there on out I am going to try to be very preventive of split ends. I am going to try oiling the ends daily, but I'm afraid that the coconut oil I use might be too heavy to not wash out. But we'll see. I also plan on buying ribbon to tie braids off and I am debating the regular practice of S&Ding. I have been looking into catnip as well, so this thread has really encouraged that idea :)