Is it possible I have no split ends?

[rachel1031]

First, let me say I've lurked a lot and really appreciate the advice of the members here!

I could could on two hands the times I have put heat on my hair in 2013. I have only let the hairdresser trim twice, but I do go in for color.

I'm going in next week, and she usually wants to trim. I have some old layers, but I can't see ANY split ends. Is that even possible? Do I just not know how to recognize them?

How do you folks *see* your ends? I have used a flashlight and a magnifying mirror. Any tips?

Thanks for all the advice.

[Applegirl84]

For me the background color matters most. For light hair use a dark color and for dark hair a light color. I hold my light hair up against my dark bath at in my well lit bathroom.

If your hair is in great condition maybe you just don't have many. I've been blow drying for years ( I stopped 2 months go) and even I can only find a handful. The very back of my hair seems to have the most and even there it's not many.

[Anje]

It's plausible. Some people have hair that breaks but really doesn't split, though I think they're more the exception than the rule.

It's also possible that you're not looking in the best light, or that you've got products in your hair that make splits less obvious. Oils do that for me, and I know others have reported similar effects from some silicone products.
ETA: I notice splits the best when I'm in the passenger seat of the car on a sunny day. Lots and lots of light, and I'm usually fighting boredom besides. Furthermore, I tend to lack appropriate scissors when I'm there, so the splits apparently feel safe enough to become visible. :P

[ositarosita]

I'm the same way .. I clarify and look at my hair against something really dark ( I have light hair) ... and have only found 3 splits since I stopped colouring my hair (2 years). So don't worry you're not crazy some hair just doesn't split

[kallarina]

I actually do mine in reverse for the color background. I have dark hair, and I use a black background in a well-lot room. I can see very clearly where the splits are then, because the damaged parts are white, like white dots. At the point where my hair splits, it is also white. It makes them so much easier to hunt down when I'm looking for the white bits, rather than trying to actually look for splits. I go cross eyes and end up cutting hairs that aren't actually split, but were two hairs that were completely separate!
Hope this helps.

[rachel1031]

Thank you all so much!

[stachelbeere]

chiming in - I also get very, very, very few split ends, if I do a 'raid' once in a while I find very tiny ones (less than a millimeter), but very rarely. What I do find a bit more often though are broken ends and bent hair. I suspect that my hair breaks instead of splitting; I more often find ends that I'm no sure if they're 'healthy' - I think something might have broken off there because they look uneven. I also think that if I have split ends they break off and I'm left with some taper, but I don't really know :/

Last year I used to have split ends, but now I am doing a lot of things differently so I think that's why.

[XcaliburGirl]

I usually don't find any unless I look for a while. I find more single-strand knots than split ends.

I do find some tapered strands, but I'm not sure if they are damage or new growth.

[jacqueline101]

I don't get splits but I do have breakage. I know it sounds strange but that's how my hair does.

[melesine]

It's possible. I don't get split ends anymore either. I credit it to totally changing my haircare routine.

[restless]

I S&D my brown hair infront of the computer screen with a light background (site) on. LHC for example is perfect for this lol :p Very rarely do I see split ends that look like a Y, but what I usually find are white dots that can be bent in a 90 degree angle or little knots.

I believe its possible for you to not have any split ends. I mean, youve trimmed twice this year already and if you treat your hair kindly and its not all too fragile than maybe thats enough to keep the split ends at bay. Since I started being nice to my F/ii hair I see less and less broken hairs, even though the last inches still have some dye left from previous hair dyeing/ high lights.

[lapushka]

I rarely get split ends. If you don't damage your hair, there's fairly no reason you should get white dots, split ends are a different matter and some people just get them. But if you don't have them, there is *no* reason to trim. None.

[AmyBeth]

I have very few. I S&D a couple times per month and usually only see 2-3.
BTW, you don't have to get a trim every time, even if your stylist wants to trim it. Sometimes you have to train them. Before I started doing my own hendigo, I went to a salon for color and after the color was washed out, I'd have the stylist put a deep conditioner in, and leave with my hair wet, up in a bun or braid. No blowdrying. I'd rinse the deep conditioner out either that evening or the next morning.:)

[oktobergoud]

I hardly get split ends too, but I do feel they break easier!

[goldenlady]

I have fine hair and I never get split ends.. It's one of the (only) perks of this hair type :)

[Naiadryade]

It's possible, though I would definitely try S&D in good light when you don't have any cones or oils on your hair if you use those things normally. As has been said, they can mask damage.


It's plausible. Some people have hair that breaks but really doesn't split, though I think they're more the exception than the rule.

It's also possible that you're not looking in the best light, or that you've got products in your hair that make splits less obvious. Oils do that for me, and I know others have reported similar effects from some silicone products.
ETA: I notice splits the best when I'm in the passenger seat of the car on a sunny day. Lots and lots of light, and I'm usually fighting boredom besides. Furthermore, I tend to lack appropriate scissors when I'm there, so the splits apparently feel safe enough to become visible. :P

Anje--I ALWAYS make sure to bring my hair scissors if I'm going to be a passenger in a car. This is actually where I do most of my S&D, as DBF and I share a car and he usually likes to drive.

[swearnsue]

I haven't had a split end yet and I keep looking. Maybe henna helps with it. I check every shed hair too to make sure it is a normal shed hair vs broken hair and if I had a split I would have found it.

But my hair is still pretty short, not quite to BSL yet.

When my hair was waist long in the 60's and 70's I had TONS of split ends but I never used protective hair styles back then.