New Year, New Hair
In light of a new year and new habits, I wanted to address a question that I get in the salon a lot. “How can I keep from getting split ends?” Split ends happen to most of us but there are some ways that you can prevent them. If you think about it, the ends of your hair are the oldest and most abused part of the hair. They get tortured with heat and brushing day after day and if they aren’t maintained eventually become dry, brittle and end up splitting and fraying. So here are some great ways to maintain healthy hair and prevent frying and drying.
Use Protection!
Didn’t your mother teach you to always wear protection? Heat is one of the fastest ways to get split ends. But how are we supposed to look fabulous without it? Use Product! I know a ton of clients that have a grave yard of perfectly good products in their bathroom. I’d love to talk further about this point but i’ll save it for another post. It’s so important to actually use the heat protectant i know you have, and use a lot! One of my favorite heat protectants is Kevin Murphy’s damage manager. It’s completely weightless, so if you’re not use to having products in your hair, don’t worry you can’t feel it. It’s made with Arnica root extract which has natural healing properties and has Kevin Murphy’s trademark ingredient X-HP which protects from heat up to 428F degrees! I took a styling class one time and burned my hand with a curling iron. The Kevin Murphy Educator ran over with a bottle of Damage Manager and sprayed it on the burn. I thought she was crazy until it took the pain away! Thanks Arnica :-) Spray this from root to end on each section before you use hot tools or you can flip over and spray all over and then brush through your hair if you’re just blow drying.
2. Take your vitamins!
I will say, I have had clients come in consistently with split ends, claiming that they haven’t used any heat. To them I say, try working from the inside out. If someone tested a strand of your hair they could learn a lot. Like what medications you’re taking, or drugs for that matter. What you put inside your body effects your hair growth and health. This can get complicated for the individual and if you are loosing hair abundantly or it becomes very fine and brittle you should consult your doctor. But on a simple level, taking a biotin vitamin can be very helpful. You want your body to be in the best position to create the proteins it needs to build healthy hair. Drinking more water can make a world of difference as well. These are great new years goal to add to your daily routine. Its something that takes time to see results but won’t just be good for healthy shiny hair but also for a healthy shiny you!
3. Treat yo self!
Get your haircut and get a treat while you are there! The only way to really get rid of split ends is getting them cut off other wise you can use treatments to re-bond the ends between salon visits and prevent further damage. I like to say I’m a length saver, unlike some nightmare stories of hairdressers being given and inch and taking a mile, but for those really concerned about losing length i’ve introduced a new service called dusting. This is a quick dry cut where I comb through and nip split ends. This could be a great thing for someone who gets frequent split ends or for someone growing their hair long. Although this is not a replacement for a real haircut which would give you shape and truly maintain the ends. Treatments are the other thing you should be doing on a regular basis. If you color your hair, I highly recommend Olaplex Treatment. It is a new technology developed by some smarties at MIT and its pretty legit. This treatment is an additive for color and lightener, followed by a mask after the color is rinsed, with the option of taking home step 3 for at home maintenance. It actually relinks the broken protein bonds in your hair after they are damaged during your color process. So in other words, insurance for your hair. If you don’t color your hair there are other options. I can do a strand test on your hair to determine if you need protein, moisture, or if you have chemical or hard water build up and then recommend the best treatment plan for your hair.
