Fixing split ends

For me personally, having healthy hair is pretty important.  Trust me, I am OCD when it comes to hair.  I cringe at the thought of brushing knots, the sound of hair snapping, and of course, split ends.  I used to want to damage my hair as much as possible in 8th grade.  I stopped using hair conditioner for 3 months because I thought my hair didn't need it because the shine from chemically straightening was mirror like.  9 months later, I had split ends up to 7-10 inches up and I would find some hairs splitting 10x.  If I saw a split end back then, I would take both ends and rip them open so they went all the way up.  Despite all this cruel abuse, my hair still grew to around my belly button since I got hair cuts once a every year or less.  Looking back, I don't know how I could have possibly that it was a good thing to do but thank god I've learned.

One of the most important things to know is the anatomy of hair.  Your hair is made up of proteins, people who lack protein in their diet will often have weak/slow growing hair.  Under a microscope, you can see that hair is covered in scales.  These scales are called cuticles.  The cuticles cover and protect the cortex.  The cuticle is clear while the cortex is the color of your hair.  Since the cuticles cover your cortex, it is essential to keep your cuticles in tip top condition because once weathered away, your hair will become dry and prone to damage.  When the cortex has burst, there is a split end.  Once a cortex has burst, there is no fixing/repairing possible.  You can't magically bind protein together with hair conditioner permanently.  The only solution is to cut it off.

Cutting hair off is a brave thing to do because many girls are very attached to the length of their hair.  Not only letting go hair important, but the type of scissors is too.  Obviously, if you go to a profession to get your hair trimmed, they will use proper scissors.  But, if you hunk around a pair of scissors everyday to cut off split ends when you're bored like me, you need to buy yourself a pair of professional cutting scissors.  It will be one of the best investments you will ever make for your hair.  Even though you are cutting off your split ends, if the scissors are not sharp enough, it will leave your hair in a way that it will split again.  Using professional scissors will cut your hair in a sharp clean cut, unlikely to split.  If you cut off all your split ends with kitchen shears or play scissors, you will most likely find them again.  However, if you cut with professional scissors, you will notice a dramatic decrease in split ends.

You can buy professional scissors at Sally's beauty supply.  There are a pair of Vidal Sassoon ones for only $10.  There are ones you can buy for $80, but I would only get them if I were a hair professional.  I do not suggest buying razor combs or anything with a razor.  They even leave my Asian hair split when freshly cut.  Oh and only use hair scissors for cutting hair, if you use it to cut paper, the blade will dull up.

Don't forget, after you cut off your split ends, it is like a fresh start to take extra care of your hair again.  Don't neglect taking care of it just because you don't see splits.  Preventing is easier than cutting every single split end only.