What does a "Split end" look like?

[Dreamkitty]

I am not exactly sure what a split end looks like, I look at my hair and ask myself, is this a split end?:confused: does anyone have a pic of what it looks like? because I hate the thought of my hair shedding due to split ends and if I have it, I need to know. And also is fairytale ends splitends?

[enfys]

I am not exactly sure what a split end looks like, I look at my hair and ask myself, is this a split end?:confused: does anyone have a pic of what it looks like? because I hate the thought of my hair shedding due to split ends and if I have it, I need to know. And also is fairytale ends splitends?

*Removing link; check farther down in thread.

This diagram covers what most split ends could look like.
Split ends have no impact on shedding.
Fairytale ends are just ends of uneven length, not neccessarily splits. It is possible that there are splits in there or that they were caused by split ends breaking off but especially here people who like their fairytale ends tend to just snip off individuial splits (S&D).

ETA: While split ends won't cause shedding they can cause hairs to tangle around eachother and that tangling could lead to hairs pulling out while combing/brushing since they are knotted together. It's good to be able to recognise splits and generally advice is to cut them off. Prevention is better than cure!

[Dreamkitty]

Thank you for the link. Good diagrams, Im looking at my hair right now, do I take an individual strand of hair and examine if I have split ends?

When I take a few strands together, some of my hairs have that Y shape.

Its good to hear that split ends don't promote shedding because I read everytime that not trimming causes split ends and it eventually travels up the hair shaft and causes the hair to shed.

:) But even if I do develop split ends, I won't mind them as long as they don't have an effect on my shedding.

[slz]

They don't cause the hair to shed, they cause breakage : breakage of the hair that has a split end itself, and others nearby too since split ends promote tangling.

[enfys]

They won't affect your shedding but as I said they can caused damage to other strands. Splits will indeed travel upwards, and probably cause tangling/breakage.

There is a lot more to take into account when growing long hair than shedding alone; shedding is about the scalp and unless good care is taken of the length you may not get the best quality hair you could.

When looking for splits I tend to take a small section of hair and look at the ends closely. If I see any that look like splits I poke them to check it's not just two hairs crossed. If it is a real split then I will carefully snip it off a couple of millimetres above the split.

I tend not to do this too regularly because I often don't find many splits. However, I always do it if an area is tangling (especially my former fringe) because I will usually find a cluster of splits in that area. Once I trim them that tangling may stop for three months or more.

To me it's worth losing half a months growth to stop that tangling and resulting damage.

[surfguy87]

I too never really knew what a split end was. I use to shed alot when I had long hair but it never bothered me, it's all part of the process. I think now after looking at enfy's diagram I understand what spslit ends are also. Thank you enfy.

[Juliannaissance]

Split ends are like one strand of hair that split in two at the bottom, or even 3 or 4 splits, which I get rarely, which looks sort of like a broom. hehehe!!!

[missmandy]

If you don't know what they look like, you probably don't have them.

[Madora]

In finding split ends more easily, you might want to take a few strands of your hair, say about the thickness of a pencil, twist it all the down, then examine the length and snip off any split ends you spy.

Some split ends have a tendency to pop out when you do the "twist" method (at least for me). Of course you can just take a few strands and hold them under a good light source and snip away.

[Flaxen]

I've removed think link above because that chart was created by one of our own LHCers, and it is not credited in the blog. Here is the chart.:smile:

Created by tamuller
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa221/Cheeseistheword/splits.gif

[enfys]

Thanks Flaxen; I didn't know it was made by someone here though I had seen it here. I had a scan through the articles and didn't see it and that blog came up first in Google.

Could it be turned into an article so we can hotlink the image in future? Unless it has and I missed it :flower:

[Flaxen]

Could it be turned into an article so we can hotlink the image in future?

Done (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=189)! :grin:

[gotzbrainz]

flaxen's picture is so useful thankyou