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View Full Version : Guy Tang on how to remove split ends



Blue Mermaid
January 28th, 2018, 10:40 PM
I saw this pop up on my Youtube feed and thought I'd share it. If you don't know who he is, Guy Tang is a professional stylist known for being very prestigious. He has a Youtube channel where he shares tips, tricks, etc. He is a great educational resource for both professionals and everyday folks :) Speaking as a licensed cosmetologist, his techniques are phenomenal! His techniques for S&D are awesome, I've used the braid trick before but I like his idea on rolling the hair around a finger to make split ends stick out. Hopefully posting an outside link won't cause any problems here. Mods, let me know if I need to remove it from my post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB1AZ5DGPCU

My tip: When trimming or removing splits, make sure your scissors are sharp! There is a huge difference in scissor quality between a 10$ pair and a 50$ pair, and an even bigger one in professional grade scissors 200$ and up. Cutting your hair dry or with dull scissors is a recipe for disaster. Dry hair is more likely to split from being cut because it is both stronger and more brittle than wet hair. For a while, I was getting dry haircuts to encourage my waves to form into curls. My splits got worse and worse until I went back to wet cutting.

divinedobbie
January 28th, 2018, 11:14 PM
Is there any science behind cutting dry hair causing splits or was this only your experience?

Blue Mermaid
January 28th, 2018, 11:31 PM
Is there any science behind cutting dry hair causing splits or was this only your experience?

Well, we know wet hair is weaker due to the temporary breaking of hydrogen bonds. That's why they say not to brush or treat wet hair roughly. Wet hair is also more flexible/elastic. When cutting, one blade "pushes" the other "cuts". When the hair gets between these two blades, it will be cut. However, if the scissors aren't sharp enough, it will "crush" the hair as it cuts, breaking the cortex apart. The cortex is like a rope, lots of tiny strands woven together to make a single strand of hair. When they unravel, you get a split end.

When cutting hair in the salon, I noticed wet hair cut much more easily and cleanly than dry hair. I think that is why wet hair cuts are the standard in the salon, honestly. In my experience, I saw no reduction in splits dry trimming regularly, but when I went back to wet trimming, my splits have gradually gotten better, without any other significant changes in my routine. If anything, I've been slacking because my hair isn't protesting with so many splits!

It's like the difference cutting wire versus thread- wire is stiff and hard to cut and will often cut unevenly because of the forces needed to cut it. Thread is flexible and easier to cut.

It may not be much of a difference for finer hair, but my hair is coarse and very difficult to cut.

lapushka
January 29th, 2018, 06:34 AM
My mom always cuts her hair dry. I always (when I do) cut my hair dry. It is the clearest for me. When it's wet it's maybe much more easy for stylists to do, but for me as a home-cutter, no.

Blue Mermaid
January 29th, 2018, 07:33 AM
My mom always cuts her hair dry. I always (when I do) cut my hair dry. It is the clearest for me. When it's wet it's maybe much more easy for stylists to do, but for me as a home-cutter, no.

Your texture is considered 'fine' is it not? Finely textured hair cuts easily wet or dry. Dry cuts are nice in that you can see the hair cut take shape before your eyes, and do bring out the best in wavy or curly hair. They also are cut very differently. More go with the flow, whereas a wet cut is very, very structured. What I'm referring to is ease of cutting, is the actual closing of the scissors and how much resistance there is. Fine hair I can cut easily wet or dry with minimal resistance, even cutting large sections at once. Coarse hair will often "crunch", bend, split, or get pushed out of the scissors unless you take very small sections. I could use a heavier scissor to combat this, but I have petite hands and anything longer than 5.5 inches feels unwieldy. When the hair is damp, there's less pushing/crunching and the hair cuts more cleanly. My theory is that because it cuts easier wet, there is less trauma on the hair. That is what I was trying to express.

Another example is *gasp* razor cutting. When razor cutting fine or normal textured hair, the razor glides without tugging. Whenever I've had a razor haircut, it has been PAINFUL. The razor does NOT want to cut my hair easily, even when it's brand new/super sharp. Even with short hair, I couldn't tolerate it, even though I loved the softness and shape it gave to the cut. Cutting other's hair with a razor, it always was more difficult if the texture was coarse. Fine hair I could swish it right through, no problems. It cut precisely where I put it. Coarse hair would get pushed around, make horrible scary snapping/tugging sounds, and not cut cleanly. I tried to avoid razor cutting coarse hair, or using a razor in general, but some people are adamant that they want their hair cut that way. :rolleyes:

Granted, at this point, it's just a theory.

littlestarface
January 29th, 2018, 08:59 AM
I have to say I would LOVE to go to him for trims and treatments mm hmm. He is amazing with hair! He even says not every hair that sticks out is a split no one says that but here. I bet he'd shape and trim my hair up nice. Its a shame im not a millionaire LOL. But my splits I have to physically search for the split they don;t stick out most of the times only the tiny ones, the big ones I have to search through alot of strands.

I also wonder what kind of scissors he uses, man they look sharp as eff.

Suze
January 29th, 2018, 09:13 AM
It terified me when he started using the clippers!

ShahMat
January 31st, 2018, 11:18 PM
I think I will try and get some information about it, I'm curious now!
I have always cut my hair dry, both because I get to see much more precisely how much I'm cutting and because I can see in real time if I'm making any kind of mess and correct it right away
I have medium hair with a certain percentage of coarse/wiry hair, and it never crossed my mind that maybe scissor blades could bend the hair before actually cutting it... maybe it depends on how sharp they are? I mean, would using really really sharp scissors solve this or not, in your opinion?

Oh, and I totally feel you about razor cutting. The hairdresser tried to do that when I got the last salon haircut, maybe four years ago? The idea was to soften the layers (I wanted a deep U/V-shaped hemline), and instead of that super-light dusting-like amount of hair, small chunks fell off leaving my ends spiky maybe because, as you said, the razor couldn't cut the hair without applying a lot of pressure on the strand, with the consequent snipping of more hair than necessary... still fighting that unpleasant look to these days :rant:

Andthetalltrees
February 1st, 2018, 10:01 AM
My hair is super coarse, I use cheap scissors(They're like 7$) and I cut on dry hair. I barely ever have any splits, I S&D maybe once every 4-6 months and I usually have only 1 or 2 split ends, If that(Last time I had none). So correlation isn't always true for everyone

gustavonut
February 1st, 2018, 02:44 PM
My hair is super coarse, I use cheap scissors(They're like 7$) and I cut on dry hair. I barely ever have any splits, I S&D maybe once every 4-6 months and I usually have only 1 or 2 split ends, If that(Last time I had none). So correlation isn't always true for everyone

I’m the same way. Except I haven’t S & D’d in about a year and a half, and my last trim was last February-March. I only have a couple bent ends but have no scissors to cut them with till I get back home. I guess our hair type is really resilient.