How do you S&D?

[ilovelonghair]

There are different ways I think, some people take a stand and twist it till little ends of hairs pop out at the sides and snip those off, but for me I end up snipping off long hair too... so that doesn't work. I Take a strand and roll it around a finger and cut off only the damaged hairs, but nearer to the ends I cut off more, because there are so many split ends that I can't just single them out.
I did a massive S&D session a couple of days ago and there are still heaps of split ends left :(

[Hannah83]

I just started s&d, I do it one single hair at a time. It takes time but I feel an enormous difference at my ends. They are softer, more like the rest of the hair. I did'nt find so many but I see new ones everytime I look. There is a lot of hair on a head, it might take a while to have them all gone.

[YesitsReal]

I do the twisting thing, and then I fan out the ends and look for individuals. Somebody else suggested this first, but I find it helpful to pull up a white screen on my computer and hold the hair in front of it while sitting in a dim room. It helps the splits show better.

[Pear Martini]

It seems like no matter how much I s&D I will still find splits somewhere in there

[Harriet]

I twist and cut off individual splits. I've not long had a trim so i'm not finding very many at the moment. I hope it stays this way!

[Olde Soul]

I'm an ADD kid, so structured systems don't work for me. :p

I just keep a little pair of cuticle scissors in my purse and snip split ends off as soon as I see them. No rhyme or reason.

[Leneveu]

I'm not sure how to explain this clearly, but I take a strand (combed out) flat over my index finger, held in place under my thumb and middle finger, as high up as I can comfortably see, and then I move my hand slowly down the length, snipping off any splits as they pop up...

I hope that makes some sense :o

[Captain Nikki]

^That's basically how i do it too. But when Leneveu says strand, she means a small amount of hair.

[Harriet]

I'm not sure how to explain this clearly, but I take a strand (combed out) flat over my index finger, held in place under my thumb and middle finger, as high up as I can comfortably see, and then I move my hand slowly down the length, snipping off any splits as they pop up...

I hope that makes some sense :o

Oh yes I do this too, I didn't know how to explain it!

[zift]

I separate my hair in 10-12 parts and try to fan out the strands to search for splits and I cut them one by one. After a while I started having less splits though so it doesn't eat too much time anymore:)

[Yozhik]

I've tried the one-by-one method, but it always leaves me discouraged :(
Also, I'm at a stage now where my splits are mostly at a length where I can't reach them -- for some reason I get the most at the back of my head on the crown or a little further down, but when I pull those strands around my head, I have to strain my eyes to see them because my hair isn't long enough yet! Arg!
I think I'm going to go back to benign neglect ;)

[longforhim]

I just sort thru individual hairs and snip splits one by one.

[inspiral]

for me its all about the lighting.
my favorite place to s&d is outside in the sunlight. :sun:
when the sunlight hits my hair it totally lights up every bit of damage. at night time i use a bright light and hold my hair against a dark background. the computer screen technique works okay, but it is too straining for my eyes, and doesn't compare to the effectiveness of sunlight for me. (i spend enough time staring at a computer screen anyway!)

my technique: i just grab small sections of hair and examine them, spreading them apart throughout the length, and bending the sections down over my finger so that the ends up the length pop out.
i also use my fingers to feel out damage. i run my fingers down the strands, detangling a little, and when i feel any roughness i know there is either a tangle or a hair that is damaged in that place and i will examine that place until i find the hair that is making it rough (or it could just be a non-damaged tangle) , trim it, feel with my fingers again, etc until that piece feels completely smooth with no roughness, and then move on to a new section.

i also like to make sure that my hair is recently washed and not tangley, because sometimes the hair will get crimped from hair styles and tangles, but not to the extent that it is very damaged and wont go away when the hair is rewet, and those are sometimes hard to differentiate from the permanently damaged strands.

also watch out for white specks on your hair that looks almost identical to the white damaged spots. time and again i will see one and think, thats DEFINITELY damaged, and then i will run my fingers down that individual strand to be sure that its not just lint, and sure enough thats what it was. sometimes it will actually be a white damaged spot and sometimes the hair will break off when i run my fingers down the strand. good light helps tell the difference, but even then they are sneaky little lints that can trick a s&d pro-addict like me. even though it doesnt really hurt to trim an end that isnt damaged, since i am s&ding all the time, i don't like to trim anything that isnt necessary.

happy s&ding!:heartbeat

[Luckysock]

I know its bad, but I've started S&D at work :S I can't help it! something about the lighting in there, and the glow from my screen, (not to mention how easily distracted I am ;) ) I find all of the worst splits on my head. I know it super unprofessional and I have to stop, but I swear I can't find those same spilts at home...

[anneisanne]

I use diffuse sunlight or relatively strong artificial light and look at my hair against a dark background- I have dark hair, and the splits show up white. I then trim individual splits/ white spots.

Do y'all cut split-ends only, or do you also trim off the little white spots that show damage?

[Michou]

I know its bad, but I've started S&D at work :S I can't help it! something about the lighting in there, and the glow from my screen, (not to mention how easily distracted I am ;) ) I find all of the worst splits on my head. I know it super unprofessional and I have to stop, but I swear I can't find those same spilts at home...
ahaha, that's me too. I have got to stop playing with my hair in meetings, I look like an adolescent! Or a chimp.

[Qamar]

Ugh. I hit the wrong button and lost my looong post. :(

I can see splits best in bright sunlight, so I tend to S&D outside or when I am a passenger in the car. I carry tiny super sharp scissors in my purse, in the car, in my pocket at work, by my desk....

I had a moderate amount of splits until I splurged and bought a Mason Pearson to treat my hair. Sadly, that gave me a zillion splits. Between aggressive S&D and switching to a tangle teezer I now have far fewer splits.

I take pencil sized locks of hair and comb them with my boxwood comb. Then I fan out the ends and snip individual splits. I recomb and search several more times before moving on to the next lock. I snip white dots as well as splits but only after running my fingers over them to be sure they aren't lint.

[Bellalalala]

I take a small section of hair and run it through my fingers until I feel damage, then I cut it off.

I do both straight and twist techniques, and I cut anything that looks like it could possibly be damage. I have very fine hair, so it's better to cut before something becomes a problem.

I also cut out hairs with significant kinks in them because they cause tangles. I just keep snipping until it feels smooth when I run my fingers down the length.

Bad ends really mess up the way my hair looks, so I've become pretty ruthless.

[ilovelonghair]

I'm not sure how to explain this clearly, but I take a strand (combed out) flat over my index finger, held in place under my thumb and middle finger, as high up as I can comfortably see, and then I move my hand slowly down the length, snipping off any splits as they pop up...

I hope that makes some sense :o


That does make sense because that's how I do it!

[violeteyes]

s&d is so time consuming! But it's worth it :) I usually just s&d the pieces around my face that are still a little bit layered, as they tend to break more easily than the rest of my hair.

[Stormcast]

I tried the blank white screen ( i was unsure, because my hair is blonde) but it worked great! I try to snip every split end, every really kinky end, and every white end. I usually get a lock of hair between my thumb and my middle finger, with my first finger bending my strands. I run down the lock, and snip off any damage that pops up.