Split ends, fight them or forget them?

[Laurelin]

Newbie here! My hair is somewhere between waist and hip depending on days because I am quite fluffy but I am fighting split ends with S&D with a good pair of scissors several times a week to daily. I feel like my hair breaks and splits every time I look at it. I am quite gentle with it, combing with widetooth comb, braid and bun most of the time, sleep on a satin pillowcase but I feel like I am losing length and thinning the ends allot by S&D'ing this much... Are split ends really that bad for your hair or can I just grow my hair long without needing to worry too much or am I just over-doing S&D? :confused:

[Corvana]

Hmmm... you're certain your scissors are super sharp and used only for hair? If so, then you might just need to swap to microtrims regularly instead of S&D. I don't think there's an incredible risk of leaving splits, as it'd take a bit for them to travel all the way to the root. Maybe S&D half as often and see if there's any difference in how many splits you're getting?

I don't really S&D, but will cut out a split if I find one while I'm oiling up my ends or brushing or whatever. I could have a bunch hidden in there but I'm not super fussed about it.

[JennGalt]

If you’re dealing with that many splits, it might mean your protein-moisture balance is off somehow. Is your hair perhaps over conditioned (too much moisture and needs protein), or has had too much protein (needs a wash and a moisturizing treatment and stay away from the protein for a bit)?

[milosmomma]

Do you have any existing damage from past dyes/bleach or heat? Overly enthusiastic mechanical damage?

[Knightly]

Are your scissors only for your hair? Are they sharp enough?
If they're not sharp enough they could be causing the split ends instead of cutting them out

[Ylva]

If your hair splits to the point of thinning out your ends with S&D, I also recommend microtrimming instead, especially if you have damaged ends. If your hair is healthy, then something might be wrong about your haircare routine, like JennGalt suggested.

I personally just microtrim these days and I don't even look for split ends in-between. It allows me to fall into the benign neglect state of mind more than S&D does.

[MusicalSpoons]

I don't have the energy or concentration for S&D very often these days, and I'm not saying huge amounts of destruction from split ends. I mean, I have them - lots of them - but I don't think they're wrecking the rest of my hair. If I find a huge one I'll usually snip it off but otherwise generally don't. I'm also trying out using protein in conditioners (I had zero protein in my routine up to now) to see if that helps prevent them.

[Laurelin]

Thank you all for responding! :D Circa 20cm (7.8 inch) of my hair is still from when I bleached my hair and circa 10cm (4 inch) of that is from harsh bleaching which is pretty certainly what is causing the damage, My hair is kind of weird, the 'outer layer' (part of hair exposed to sun) is the part that was most bleached and damaged because I didn't always bleach the 'inner layer' (the hair underneath the outerlayer/closest to neck and body) so my inner layer is now 99% virgin while the outer layer is what has the many cm/inch of bleach left if that makes sense. :rolling:
TLHC is what inspired me to grow out my virgin hair and love my natural hair color for what it is. :o

I keep my scissors nice and sharp and only for hair. I have no protein in my routine except for a very occasional diy hairmask but I definitely will try and experiment with some more protein and microtrimming instead of S&D see what that does for me and fall more into benign neglection without worrying too much about the split ends.

[lapushka]

Newbie here! My hair is somewhere between waist and hip depending on days because I am quite fluffy but I am fighting split ends with S&D with a good pair of scissors several times a week to daily. I feel like my hair breaks and splits every time I look at it. I am quite gentle with it, combing with widetooth comb, braid and bun most of the time, sleep on a satin pillowcase but I feel like I am losing length and thinning the ends allot by S&D'ing this much... Are split ends really that bad for your hair or can I just grow my hair long without needing to worry too much or am I just over-doing S&D? :confused:

It all depends on how many you got. :)

If half your hair = split, I'd trim a little. Or else S&D is going to thin out your hemline considerably. Is it all split? Truly split?

To sort of "combat" this, moisturizing your hair will help a lot. A good deep conditioner at least weekly, or conditioning twice (either CWC or WCC), maybe the LOC/LCO method seeing as you're a 2 (info is in my signature).

[Viola_sororia]

I may do a tiny trim if there are too many split ends, but I don't specifically do S&D or anything. For the past year, maintaining my length by a trim of an inch every couple of months seems to have been enough. I think I'll continue this method, but not necessarily trying to maintain hip length for now. I'm fine with it growing longer.

[lapushka]

Oh yeah, I don't consciously look for splits either. If I happen to notice one, I might trim it off. But that's it.

I would say that if there's damage in the hair, I would regularly S&D and trim; yes, do both. Damage is damage and you are not going to get rid of it any other way. That doesn't mean it has to go fast. You can slowly microtrim all while growing it out. I damaged my hair plenty. I both cut it right off, and also there was a time where I grew it out from shoulder to hip (riddled with white dots and so sharply angled breakage points). I do think the growing it out way was the best way to go. Still had to cut back to BSL after. But then it was *gone*.

I hardly get splits, to be honest, but I no longer dye or do anything damaging to my hair. I do diffuse it weekly, but with the heat down low (slightly warm).

[ExpectoPatronum]

Thank you all for responding! :D Circa 20cm (7.8 inch) of my hair is still from when I bleached my hair and circa 10cm (4 inch) of that is from harsh bleaching which is pretty certainly what is causing the damage, My hair is kind of weird, the 'outer layer' (part of hair exposed to sun) is the part that was most bleached and damaged because I didn't always bleach the 'inner layer' (the hair underneath the outerlayer/closest to neck and body) so my inner layer is now 99% virgin while the outer layer is what has the many cm/inch of bleach left if that makes sense. :rolling:
TLHC is what inspired me to grow out my virgin hair and love my natural hair color for what it is. :o

I keep my scissors nice and sharp and only for hair. I have no protein in my routine except for a very occasional diy hairmask but I definitely will try and experiment with some more protein and microtrimming instead of S&D see what that does for me and fall more into benign neglection without worrying too much about the split ends.

The past bleach damage is probably why you have so many splits. I found it helpful to cut off all my damage before growing, but I understand if you don't want to do that.

[Chromis]

Both!

I prefer to set a limit, snip off five-ten splits a day for example and then put the scissors down. If you are not accumulating them faster than that you will eventually go from being like snipsnipsnipsnipsnip to snipsnip snip snip snip to ....snip..snip snip.....snip.

That said, if the damage is just in the hem line, microtrims will be a better way to go, just keep them very very micro indeed if you are looking to gain length. You have options here. You can cut back to healthy hair and then keep going. You can do little trims while continuing to grow and eventually you will have cut out the damaged part. Or you can cut back to where you can still put it up and then do that. I'd never bleached, just was rough with my hair before LHC, so I grew it a little past BSL and then cut back. I find it is more damaging to have hair down, so I would not personally want to cut back shorter than I still put it up. This depends a lot on your hair though!

[Laurelin]

I usually take an hour or so every one or two days and have to search well for them and cut off any splits or damage no-matter how small so I end up having barely any splits on average until a day or 2 later and then they're all back but it makes the hemline thinner and thinner because I am so worried the splits will ruin the length :-( it seems like S&D'ing this much is worse than a few splits if anything, which makes me wonder how bad having a few splits *really* is when growing past hip length. I am trying to slowly grow out the damaged, bleached part so after a year or so it should be all nice and healthy again as before dyeing without losing allot of length all of sudden but it is harder to me than it sounds like.
So for now my plan for routine change sounds like: Calm dooooown on that scissor, put in bun instead of braid when tempted too much and pick a few days a month to S&D and only cut off 5-15 of the worst splits each time and micro trim for healthier hemline every 2-3 months and see how it will look like after a few months of that.

[lapushka]

I usually take an hour or so every one or two days and have to search well for them and cut off any splits or damage no-matter how small so I end up having barely any splits on average until a day or 2 later and then they're all back but it makes the hemline thinner and thinner because I am so worried the splits will ruin the length :-( it seems like S&D'ing this much is worse than a few splits if anything, which makes me wonder how bad having a few splits *really* is when growing past hip length. I am trying to slowly grow out the damaged, bleached part so after a year or so it should be all nice and healthy again as before dyeing without losing allot of length all of sudden but it is harder to me than it sounds like.
So for now my plan for routine change sounds like: Calm dooooown on that scissor, put in bun instead of braid when tempted too much and pick a few days a month to S&D and only cut off 5-15 of the worst splits each time and micro trim for healthier hemline every 2-3 months and see how it will look like after a few months of that.

I would maybe stop with the S&D if it bothers you so much, and with the hemline and all... and just start microtrimming - YES! Exactly what you're planning to do (pardon me for reacting before reading everything).

The microtrimming thread is around here somewhere. Been a while since I last saw it pop up, though. :)

[Corvana]

Thank you all for responding! :D Circa 20cm (7.8 inch) of my hair is still from when I bleached my hair and circa 10cm (4 inch) of that is from harsh bleaching which is pretty certainly what is causing the damage, My hair is kind of weird, the 'outer layer' (part of hair exposed to sun) is the part that was most bleached and damaged because I didn't always bleach the 'inner layer' (the hair underneath the outerlayer/closest to neck and body) so my inner layer is now 99% virgin while the outer layer is what has the many cm/inch of bleach left if that makes sense. :rolling:
TLHC is what inspired me to grow out my virgin hair and love my natural hair color for what it is. :o

I keep my scissors nice and sharp and only for hair. I have no protein in my routine except for a very occasional diy hairmask but I definitely will try and experiment with some more protein and microtrimming instead of S&D see what that does for me and fall more into benign neglection without worrying too much about the split ends.

I think if I were in your shoes, I'd start microtrimming and do very very rare S&D. I think that the damage will split regardless, and it won't super harm your virgin hair to leave splits hanging about. That's just what I'd do, though! Microtrim every month, and S&D maybe twice a month, coming at it two ways :laugh:

[sophia_]

My hair is so fine that S&D gives me a headache, so now, unless I can see it and am near my scissors, I just leave them alone. I notice my ends maintain their thickness a lot more when I don't, though.

[Julescarm]

What I find helpful as my hair gets alot of splits is keeping a small pair of nail clippers in my pocket and S&D while waiting on people if I'm driving and the ROO method on ends of hair. (Thanks Lapushka!)

[milosmomma]

Im in with the micro-trimming suggestions. I have grown out both damage and fresh hair and I definitely find s&d on healthy hair much less stressful. On the bleach damage it was constant as you describe but on healthy hair it is actually enjoyable and therapeutic to me. Maybe if you want to continue enjoying s&d with damaged ends then I would agree with an above poster to set a number before hand.

[Katsura]

I keep an eye on my damages. I don't get split ends, I think it's because my ends are henna-laminated, I get those white dots that bend and break. I do S&D and if I see more white dots I try to think what I could change in my routine, maybe oil my hair more often. And I continue doing S&D and trim my hair a tiny bit when I think it's time to do so.

[Joules]

If my ends are so tangly and velcro-y that even brushing it is hard, then I S&D thoroughly. You have to make sure you're S&Ding with sharp haircutting scissors, because I made a mistake once (my shears needed to be tightened and I ignored it), my splits returned in just 1 month and brought some friends with them. So yeah, if you decide to search and destroy, be careful, if your scissors are good, it'll work wonders.

Microtrims wouldn't have worked for me, because my ends were extremely bad. It was either cutting off everythind at once, or S&Ding. Microtrimming would have only caused more damage.

I cut off 3 inches back in December, got rid of everything that was prone to damage, couldn't be happier. But I'd advise that only if you don't mind losing a substantial amount of length. Now my main goal is to return to where I was (only 3 more months to go) with the perfect hemline that I have.

[spidermom]

The last time I grew my hair out to the top of my thighs, I was obsessive about split ends. I'd S&D until I was cross-eyed and get trims about every 3 months, some of them as much as 4 or 5 inches.

Now I'm growing out from shoulder length to at least waist length, and I've made a vow not to look at my ends or trim. I don't ever want to be as obsessive as I was last time plus see how fast and evenly or unevenly my hair grows.

[Natalia_A00]

I try to ignore them because I know I shouldn't S&D too often (it's not very good if you do it all the time and it can turn your hair into an uneven mess), but I can't help but "fighting" them lol. I hate seeing split ends.

[lapushka]

What I find helpful as my hair gets alot of splits is keeping a small pair of nail clippers in my pocket and S&D while waiting on people if I'm driving and the ROO method on ends of hair. (Thanks Lapushka!)

Very much welcome! :thumbsup:

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

For me, if I ignore the spits they get worse. I either have to micro trim frequently. Or do large trims every so often.
I cant leave them though, but doing s&d ends up being a lot worse for me so I just stick with micro trimming.
I have to do it every month, I cannot go 2-3 months without any trims at all, because the splits will get REALLY bad.

[hannabiss]

I forget them until they become velcro-y. As long as my hair looks nice I wont worry too much.

[Spikey]

I agree with ExpectoPatronum that the bleach is probably to blame. I have a little strip of bleach in my hair from an old highlight, and it splits at about a million times the rate of the rest of my hair. The routine you're planning sounds good though, if you s&d too much you can lose progress.

If it helps, think about the bleach damage as a buffer that takes all the stress of being your ends while your virgin hair is safe and protected because it's less exposed and farther away from your ends.

[Dark40]

I would also suggest microtrimming too. Like microtrimming off 1cm or 2 that should be enough to get rid of the splits. I don't ever do S&D's. Because, that is entirely too time-consuming for me. So, every 6 months or so. Or, whenever it is needed I trim off 1 or 2cm, and my hair is just fine.

[Zelle]

I used to have a similar problem a few years back, tho i was quite drastic about it. I got a pixie cut and have been growing it out for the last two years. Ever since it got long enough, i loosely braid it at night and add a mixture of coconut oil, vitamin e and castor oil to the ends of it. I have not had one single split end since then. Considering the last time i got a haircut was over a year ago, i consider this quite an achivement :D :o
I hope this helps!

[lemonlollies]

I usually try to S&D once or twice a week, and perhaps micro trim every couple of months, but lately I’ve quit the S&D as I found I was getting quite obsessive. I’m finding that benign neglect is working for me at the moment. I’m going to let the length grow a little more without touching it then trim the ends overall. As long as I take care of my hair and wear it in protective styles and don’t use heat or roughly handle it, I’m hoping the splits won’t worsen inbetween trims, and I’ll have more time for more important things than staring cross eyed at my hair for hours on end as I used to!