Show Me What Split Ends Look Like

[fayeelizibeth]

So, searching for this did me no good, as typing 'split ends' brings up nearly every thread on the boards :lol:

Anyway, I'm wanting to do some S&D type trimming, but I can't seem to identify the split ends in my hair. I sincerely doubt that my hair doesn't have any, but I can't seem to locate any…my hair is fine, would that make a difference?

I suspect that it's because I don't know what I'm looking for…does any one have pictures/descriptions of their split ends that they can show me to get an idea? How do you find your split ends? Anything else you're looking for when you S&D?

Thanks!

[akilina]

Why dont you do an image search on Google or something for "split ends".
Split ends literally look like....split ends. The end of the hair strand splits off into two directions or sometimes more
Oh! and I also look for little white bumps that can be anywhere from a half inch to several inches up the strand.
You must just be lucky and not have any if you cant see em! :)

[Dovetail]

Oh, I found a pretty good image but it's pretty huge:

http://kencooper.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Hair_Pencil.jpg

That hair is particularly bad though, most of mine just have a little tiny v at the end

[Mairéad]

Here is a photo I found.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/normaljean/341349045/

However, splits can have all sorts of appearances. In fact, I know there is a graphic that floats around this forum detailing the many ways a split end can look like.

If you don't know what one looks like, there is a good chance you don't have many. I personally don't think I've ever had one. When I was growing up girls would talk about their split ends and I had no idea what they were talking about. Some people just have hair of steel.

[spidermom]

Simple split ends look like this: Y

It's easiest for me to see them if my hair is braided and a split end pokes out of the braid.

[moxamoll]

You might want to check out this article: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=189

[Madora]

Excellent idea, Moxamoll!

And those splits can occur anywhere on a hair strand, although they tend to favor the ends as the ends are the oldest part of the hair and suffer the most from splits.

[Five of Five]

I have fine, blonde hair much like yours.

I think that, if you are having trouble finding split ends in your hair, you either have hardly any, or the ones you do have are only 'baby' splits. These look like normal hairs until you look really close up and see that the very tips look thicker than the rest of your hair - since your hair is fine and blonde, you might not be able to see a pronounced split until it gets really bad.

I find S & D more effective with damp hair as it swells up the hair a little, making them more visible, and the bad hairs tend to stick out of the wet clumps.

[Mesmerise]

To be honest, I didn't know what a split end looked like until I had damaged hair either! I only found out after I'd done some damaging stuff ;) (I used to hear girls at school talk about split ends, so I knew what they were in theory but I'd never seen one in my own hair!).

Maybe you really just don't have any, or so very few that they're really hard to find! Unless you have noticeable split ends, I don't think there's much point in an S&D session!

[jacqueline101]

They're v looking and occur on the ends.

[brave]

I have a hard time finding them in my hair as well, and I've concluded I just don't have that many. Some people seem to get them more than others.

[leslissocool]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_f79Txcniat4/TDKZVjo194I/AAAAAAAAAGE/hWf4idBum8M/s400/DSC_0453.JPG
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_f79Txcniat4/TDKYOY7P9cI/AAAAAAAAAF0/0DwXQdrKVbo/s400/DSC_0004.JPG
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_f79Txcniat4/TDKY33cONcI/AAAAAAAAAF8/NO4SdHJrx14/s1600/DSC_0452.JPG

There are different kinds! Mine are more like D, E and F in the chart below.

https://www.spaboutique.ca/Rebus/SPABOUTIQUE_preview/images/SpaBoutique/English/split_ends.gif

[seven77]

I had a wicked one once.. was hard to photograph on my iPhone.. but yeah

http://x72.xanga.com/371e12e770033282143379/o224880222.jpg

I cut my hair off soon after this, I had SOOO many bad split ends.. but now I regret chopping my hair :'(
But hopefully now I can grow my hair back out and learn ways to reduce split ends :)

[bumblebums]

those are epic, leslissocool :) It's nice to see examples of split ends on coarser hair. I am one of the lucky ones who rarely gets them, and I have to really look, because my individual hairs are not thick at all...

[fayeelizibeth]

huh...

I guess I did know what I was looking for, I just must not have that many. I will take the advice and look when my hair is wet.

Thank you for the help! :)

[leslissocool]

those are epic, leslissocool :) It's nice to see examples of split ends on coarser hair. I am one of the lucky ones who rarely gets them, and I have to really look, because my individual hairs are not thick at all...

Yeah I have really coarse hair, the type that doesn't feel soft at all. When I have split ends, it's like they are blowing horns and banging drums, calling the attention of EVERYONE! One thing I am very lucky, mine don't split easy. But break off almost, like a clear bump and then the hair is bent a bit. However, my hair is really strong (I still have bleach damage, was able to grow it in spite of bleaching 7-9 times!) and it really takes a lot to do so. Before I bleached my hair, I remember looking at my friend's hair with all splits and thinking "Wow I didn't know hair could do that!" because my hair never did. Then I bleached :o.

I wonder though, it seems like fine hair tends to break off more than split. At least DH's and BFF's hair seems look like it grows slow because of it.

[bumblebums]

Yeah I have really coarse hair, the type that doesn't feel soft at all. When I have split ends, it's like they are blowing horns and banging drums, calling the attention of EVERYONE! One thing I am very lucky, mine don't split easy. But break off almost, like a clear bump and then the hair is bent a bit. However, my hair is really strong (I still have bleach damage, was able to grow it in spite of bleaching 7-9 times!) and it really takes a lot to do so. Before I bleached my hair, I remember looking at my friend's hair with all splits and thinking "Wow I didn't know hair could do that!" because my hair never did. Then I bleached :o.

Yep, I had a similar experience--I had only a theoretical understanding of what split ends were until I discovered hot ironing, dye, and other wonders of modern haircare. Then I got splits aplenty.


I wonder though, it seems like fine hair tends to break off more than split. At least DH's and BFF's hair seems look like it grows slow because of it.

That's probably true, though I have seen breakage on coarser hair, too, and some fine hair splits... I think it has to do with the tightness of the cuticle, which might be somewhat independent of hair texture/thickness.

[leslissocool]

That's probably true, though I have seen breakage on coarser hair, too, and some fine hair splits... I think it has to do with the tightness of the cuticle, which might be somewhat independent of hair texture/thickness.

That makes sense!

[julierockhead]

I have a hard time finding splits too, I will try the damp hair and the braid method. I remember having splits during my box dye and blowfryer days, but they seem to have 'split' after I started coming to TLHC!

[Dovetail]

I do mine in a dark room in front of the TV or other bright back light, it helps them stand out really well since my hair is quite fine, and blonde. Also, I think the worst thing about noticing split ends, for me at least, is that after that I can't Un-notice them, and it drive me nuts lol

[bumblebums]

I do mine in a dark room in front of the TV or other bright back light, it helps them stand out really well since my hair is quite fine, and blonde. Also, I think the worst thing about noticing split ends, for me at least, is that after that I can't Un-notice them, and it drive me nuts lol

I have the opposite problem--I notice a split, run to grab the scissors, but then can't find it again :)

[henné]

I don't have split ends anymore, but I do get the 'thin' ends.

[schweedie]

Well, OP, you did say 'show me'... ;) My best split end ever was of the tree variety, I believe.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=6095&pictureid=122614

That was one of my rare coarse hairs, which I'd never seen get a split end before. I meant to snip it, but then this happened -


I have the opposite problem--I notice a split, run to grab the scissors, but then can't find it again :)

That happens to me all the time, too.

[Flying Penguin]

I also have a hard time spotting split ends. For me the difficulty is picking out the split end amongst the rest of the hair. Like, when you're looking at a bunch of hair, how do you distinguish true split ends vs two hairs that are randomly positioned together until their ends diverge? Haha. Or are you supposed to go through your hair in really tiny sections? That seems like it would take forever!

[Madora]

I also have a hard time spotting split ends. For me the difficulty is picking out the split end amongst the rest of the hair. Like, when you're looking at a bunch of hair, how do you distinguish true split ends vs two hairs that are randomly positioned together until their ends diverge? Haha. Or are you supposed to go through your hair in really tiny sections? That seems like it would take forever!

Yes, you take very thin sections of hair, twist them gently down to the ends, then snip off any split ends or white dots that pop out of the twist.

And yes, it is time consuming...but to many (including me), it's worth it to keep damage at bay.

You can actually see the split ends...either on the very end..or along the strands. I personally don't use the twist method but concentrate on the last 4 inches of tiny sections of hair. Fortunately, my splits are very minimal.

Split ends are usually due to lack of moisture, so keeping your hair moisturized is a good idea.

[MandyBeth]

Ha, my damage happily stays in the twist. That method doesn't work for me.

Having fine, mid tone hair - I can't see a split until it's a tree or a lot of splits at the end.

[plurabelle]

Like, when you're looking at a bunch of hair, how do you distinguish true split ends vs two hairs that are randomly positioned together until their ends diverge? Haha. Or are you supposed to go through your hair in really tiny sections? That seems like it would take forever!

I started doing S&D recently, and I thought I would have the same problem, since I don't see any splits when I do it indoors. But if I do it in sunlight, splits are extremely easy to distinguish. They definitely don't look like normal hairs, because they are much lighter. I section my hair into two, cast my gaze over my ends, holding them up to the light, and usually any orangey/yellowish/whitish bit that jumps out at me is a split or a baby split. Then yes, you have to grab only that hair (this is kind of hard to do and sometimes it escapes, which is frustrating), bring it closer and snip it a centimetre or so above the split.

I also wrap the hair a bit around my finger (horizontally) to see the ends which are shorter than the rest of my hair, or splits that occur above the end. Once you start seeing them, you'll realise they look really ugly - like actual damage - and can't be mistaken for two healthy hairs.

[julierockhead]

I can't find a split in my hair. I looked at teeny tiny sections, twisted them, looked for them in the sun and in bright indoor light, braided, enlisted DD to help, nothing. Not one. I haven't had a trim in two years, I henna and generally treat my hair like antique lace, but no splits at all? Is it really possible?

All this time I have been feeling guilty for not doing S&D!

[karli]

I have mostly white dots on the end of the strand, a lot of them.. My splits don't travel, but they do break, I guess.. Only place for me to see them is in the car, indirect sunlight?

[Slug Yoga]

I have to say, it's not like I actually want split ends... but some of these close-up pictures are pretty cool, especially the tree ones. Or the ones that somehow split like a roundabout :laugh: Makes me almost want crazy split ends... if they weren't damaging or didn't feel rough! It would add some variety!

[PolarCathy]

I'm jealous! I've only ever had "type a" in that figure. Also they don't travel.

"G" I can't even imagine. How???

[Flying Penguin]

Yes, you take very thin sections of hair, twist them gently down to the ends, then snip off any split ends or white dots that pop out of the twist.

And yes, it is time consuming...but to many (including me), it's worth it to keep damage at bay.

You can actually see the split ends...either on the very end..or along the strands. I personally don't use the twist method but concentrate on the last 4 inches of tiny sections of hair. Fortunately, my splits are very minimal.

Split ends are usually due to lack of moisture, so keeping your hair moisturized is a good idea.


I started doing S&D recently, and I thought I would have the same problem, since I don't see any splits when I do it indoors. But if I do it in sunlight, splits are extremely easy to distinguish. They definitely don't look like normal hairs, because they are much lighter. I section my hair into two, cast my gaze over my ends, holding them up to the light, and usually any orangey/yellowish/whitish bit that jumps out at me is a split or a baby split. Then yes, you have to grab only that hair (this is kind of hard to do and sometimes it escapes, which is frustrating), bring it closer and snip it a centimetre or so above the split.

I also wrap the hair a bit around my finger (horizontally) to see the ends which are shorter than the rest of my hair, or splits that occur above the end. Once you start seeing them, you'll realise they look really ugly - like actual damage - and can't be mistaken for two healthy hairs.

Thanks for the info! :flower: