Following my post last week on preventing single strand knots on natural hair, I realized it was also necessary to talk about her evil twin sister known as SPLIT ENDS.
Eliminating or reducing split ends on natural hair is serious business even if you do the search and destroy method.*
Let me explain.
When natural hair breaks, which happens even though you are extremely careful, it doesn’t break as a clean cut. Rather, it splits into two or more strands and keeps going up the hair shaft and/or it tangles with a healthy strand of hair unless it is neatly trimmed off.
Yes I know, split ends are the enemy.
So what can we do about them?
You’re in luck! Try the following 5 ways over the next few months and let me know if your ends look and feel way healthier.
- Bobby pins or general hair-care tools– Bobby pins are essential for styling but they can also be very damaging to your natural hair. (Just in case you were wondering where that mid shaft split came from, bobby pins are part of the cause.) The same goes for other hair tools like combs and brushes. This is because when hair tools begin to wear and tear from constant use, they become rough and can easily snag your hair. Discard old bobby pins that have begun peeling and do away with any hair tool you can visibly see or feel the tips are not smooth anymore.
- Avoid protective styles left in for too long. This one actually happened to me. I went on vacation one time and got so busy I didn’t make time to wash my hair so I left my hair in a particular style for 4 weeks plus without deep conditioning or anything. (Let me quickly add that, you can stretch your wash days for however long is convenient for you, but take some time to release and completely moisturize your hair) but don’t forget it in a style e.g. a bun because if you do, you might find an unholy amount of split ends when you eventually take down your style.
- You are using blunt scissors. Trimming or dusting your ends with blunt scissors only aggravates split ends. Make sure your scissors are sharp and are only used to cut your hair. Remember to also clean after use and keep it safely away.
- Focus your deep conditioner and hair moisturizer on your ends- As I have stressed in my post here and here your ends need more attention than the rest of your hair so whenever your deep condition or moisturize your hair, focus more on the ends of your hair.
- When stressed, avoid touching your hair. You may end up taking your frustration out on it. I have those days when I don’t really have the patience to detangle so I end up snapping a few strands which in turn increases split ends.
*Search and Destroy basically means, cutting off split ends whenever you see them.
I hope the few tips above will save your ends over time. Let me know if I left a few out in the comments below.
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7 comments
how about if when u moisturize ur hair, u keep finding fallen strands? and wats the best bonnet for the night?
Do you mean shed hair? Hair grows in stages. You can find more here https://igbocurls.com/2016/01/14/hair-growth-cycle/ but then you also need to know the difference between shed and broken hair strands.
The best bonnet for the night is a satin or silk bonnet.
For some reason, I missed all your comments. I apologize for that.
There is a difference between shed hair and broken hair. Shed hair is normal because it is part of the growth stages of natural hair.
However, broken hair is not normal and can be caused by different factors.
Use a satin or silk scarf, it is the best option for protecting your hair at night.
Thanks for the post. I didn’t know that my trusted bobby pins are the culprits.
My applicator bottle was the devil. it wasn’t smooth at all and my hair got caught on it all the time. Had to use a nail file to smoothing it out and problem was solved & I do not hear it getting caught in my hair anymore *phew*
http://www.curlspopping.com
Haha! It’s good you were observant. We really need to inspect our hair tools once in a while for the sake of our strands.