Does anyone else find S&D kinda hard to do? HELP!

[SheeJee]

I've tried S&D for the first time today, it gave me a headache (I have bad eyes anyway, so I had to put my spectacles on to be able to see anything). My hair is just past shoulder length and 2b/2c, very fine and thin. I feel like I had so many split ends :( or at least, weak translucent ends if that makes any sense. I used to heat style a LOT though, and I've just recently stopped, so I guess I'm just cutting off the damage I caused I suppose.

But I found it really hard to S&D, to see anything and to cut split ends off, and also it was time consuming. Does anyone have any tips of advice in regards to S&D? Can I just get a trim at a hair salon instead or is that really bad?

Thank you :)

[Yame]

At that length, I'd find it hard, too. I don't mind S&Ding, but my hair is long and I don't even look for splits anywhere above APL.

[Kyla]

If you have that many split ends and you've used heat a lot in the past, it may be better if you cut a few inches off to have a remotely fresh start. You may still have splits, but you'll have less and it will make it easier to S&D. Personally I when S&D I don't set out to find and cut off all of my split ends-I only do it for about ten minutes at most. The thing is, I do it almost every day, so that's what makes a difference.
That is just what I've done personally though, you could also just so microtrims once a month or two and continue to S&D to get rid of the damage very slowly. Good luck!

[Yame]

Sorry for the double post, but I want to add that I think you should skip on S&Ding until your hair is longer... like, at least APL, but probably closer to BSL. For now, just treat your hair well and grow it out... if you really need a trim, go see a stylist, because I don't think at this length you'd be able to self-trim, either.

But someone with shorter hair may have better advice.

[greentealeaf]

Whether or not you trim is really just up to you. However, it could be that even if you get a trim not all of your split ends will be gone because they aren't always necessarily at the ends (could be at the ends of layers, further up the hair, etc.). It always helped me to be near a wall that was a contrasting color to my hair. Holding up my black hair to a white wall seems to make it easier to spot splits.

[Kyla]

Oh-I totally skipped over reading your hair length. I'm sorry! I imagine it's very hard to S&D at shoulder. If it's too hard on your eyes/too time consuming, it may come down to a choice of whether you want to grow out the damage and cut it off when your hair is longer, or if you want to cut it off now.

[greentealeaf]

Oh-I totally skipped over reading your hair length. I'm sorry! I imagine it's very hard to S&D at shoulder. If it's too hard on your eyes/too time consuming, it may come down to a choice of whether you want to grow out the damage and cut it off when your hair is longer, or if you want to cut it off now.

Ack! Same here... My hair is at shoulder length at the moment and it would be sort of difficult to see to do a S&D. I'd probably just do what you can and not stress and just let it reach a longer length where it'd be easier.

[Lianna]

Take little sections, twist it and snip the ends. Trim little as 2mm of the bottom if really needed. At shoulder length it should be hard, but twisting is quite easy, you can get some off the length and use the mirror for this.

[isabelx]

I'm in the same boat, my hair is at shoulders and I get many split ends due to previous heat damage, and doing S&D is hard for me as well :( I like the idea of not stressing about doing it until it's longer but I don't actually think it's going to gain any length with the amount of splits I have? I want to avoid going to a salon because they either take too much off or aren't very good at all and miss loads of the splits!

[QMacrocarpa]

My advice is don't do it. Life's too short to give yourself a headache. I'd try switching to occasional self-trims as needed instead.

[isabelx]

I suppose, I just want to cut off as little length as possible so I can actually gain some length.

[celebriangel]

Yup...it'll be easier at BSL or so. I still don't do it though - I don't think I have all that many splits, and they seem relatively "healthy" (? I mean, not bent or damaged or unhappy or rough-feeling...just separated into 2 hairs at the end) so I can't see them unless I examine each hair individually. Which...uh, no.

I figure if they aren't damaged enough to show up much, they aren't damaged enough to cause problems with the hair further up. I'll start S&Ding maybe when I have more and more obvious splits - or maybe I'll just get trims. My hair just really isn't that split prone unless I seriously abuse it (I know, hard to believe as an F/M, yeah? But it's true. I didn't know what a split end was until I started dyeing, blowdrying and flat ironing all the time at the same time, and even then my hair still grew just fine).

[neko_kawaii]

Just past shoulder length is just far enough away for me to start focusing on the hairs. No wonder you got a headache! I have read that splits if left alone will keep traveling up the affected piece of hair and this will slow your over all growth and affect the thickness. Because it is so hard for you to see the splits at your length, I would get a friend to take a look for you and help you decide if there are enough splits to merit a trim or not. It might not be as bad as you suspect! Happy growing.

[jojo]

At shoulder length you shouldn't really need to do s&ding as your ends are not very old so shouldn't be splitting. If they are then you need to get a very small trim, do deep conditioning treatments and if its long enough keep it up and those ends protected. I never saw a split until I reached just passed bsl by this time my ends where nearly 5 years old. Hope this helps :)

[longhairedlady]

I agree with jojo. I am thinking you need to be doing some heavy conditioning if you are getting splits at this length. And I also agree that you should start wearing it up to protect it more.