The 4 Most Effective Ways to Prevent Split Ends

Preventing split ends seems like an impossible task. And just like with all haircare practices, there’s no one-size-fits-all way to do it. With all the different products that claim to “seal” your split ends or your hairdresser saying there’s nothing you can do but to trim your hair... it kinda gets confusing. 

Like any haircare practice you choose to include in your routine, there’s this classic conundrum where you only get to pick between two options:

If you want quick, fast and easy results, then it's going to be difficult to get amazing results in the long-term. It's also going to cost you more time and effort now and in the future.

If you want incredibly healthy and beautiful hair without split ends, you’ll have to put in a little extra work now to achieve that. But once you achieve it, the time and money you need to spend to maintain healthy hair decreases dramatically. 

I’m going to explain how to prevent split ends quickly for short-term results and how to invest in your hair now so you can live your best life without split-ends long into the future. Read on!

Get Regular Trims 

Getting your hair trimmed regularly is a simple and easy way to prevent split ends. Not only does it get rid of the split ends you already have, but they prevent the strand from splitting up further. However, if you go with this option, you'll have to sacrifice how much length you will add over a period of time. Regular trims are perfect if you don’t care about adding length. 

Stop Using Heat and Chemical Treatments 

This is perfect if you aren’t willing to put the work into preventing split ends. Instead of actively working towards preventing split ends, you actually just need to stop engaging in actions that create them. This is the perfect option if you're lazy, busy or don't mind saying bye to your treatments.

However, this is not a good option if you like to style your hair and gain a lot of confidence from changing your hairstyle. For me, I love to lighten my hair and curl it, so I still use heat and chemical treatments. Due to my personal preferences and haircare situation, I’ve chosen to prevent split ends in other ways. 

Improve Your Diet 

This is going to be a slower process, but the results will be dramatic in the long-term. By eating foods for optimal hair follicle health, your follicles will produce a hair that has structure and strength. A strong and healthy hair is able to withstand environmental damage over the long-term. It will handle exposure to the sun or heat treatments much better than a hair that is produced when your diet is not optimal. 

Before I cleaned up my diet, I would start seeing split ends just above my boob area. With an optimal diet, I don’t have to worry about managing split ends until my hair reaches my belly button or lower. I also bleach my hair too, and my hair has held up incredibly well compared to when I didn’t eat well! Because my hair is strong and healthy, I don't require any expensive treatments to maintain my hair either.

Stop Aggressively Brushing Your Hair

With our busy lifestyles, we don’t always have the patience to gently detangle the knots in our hair. It’s faster to take a brush and get those bristles to do the work for us. However, ripping through your knots aggressively with a hair brush not only snaps some of the strands, but it also damages the hair shaft. This leads to brittle hair and split ends in the short-term. Being gentle and taking the time to detangle with your fingers will cost a bit more time, but it will prevent breakage and split ends for months to come.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there is always a sacrifice that needs to be made. By putting in the time and effort now, you can save yourself time, effort and money later. But this doesn't mean it's the better option. The right decision for you requires you to access what your hair goals are, how much time you have to spend on your hair, what your budget is, how motivated you are, and many other factors. In the end, it's all about what you want for your hair and what you're willing to do to achieve it.

Split-ends aren't your main concern but the hair you've been losing is getting to you? Here is how to reduce your hair loss in less than 10 minutes a day