Split Ends/Trimming Natural Hair
Natural hair, much like relaxed hair, requires trims and regular maintenance to ensure its health. Split ends can cause major issues to your hair if they are not taken care of before permanent damage is done. Split ends are caused when the cortex (the inside of the hair) split at the ends and continue to move up the hair shaft. There is nothing that will repair split ends other than a good trim.
Split ends can be caused by a number of things: excessive heat (heat damage), stress on the hair (tugging, pulling, combing, etc), drying hair products that contain alcohol, failure to seal the ends of your hair, and friction from coats and scarves. Your hair is extremely fragile so treat it gently.
With all of the ways split ends can occur, there are numerous ways to avoid them before they get bad. Avoiding heat is the first sure way to combat bat split ends. Limit your heat usage and never apply it directly to your hair. Sealing the ends of your hair with coconut or jojoba oil will protect it from excessive drying and splitting. Be sure to seal ends nightly or every other day. Deep conditioning will add much needed moisture to your hair. Give your hair a deep conditioning treatment every time you wash it. Wearing protective styles that keep your hands out of your hair also help. Your hands can remove the natural oils from your hair, thus, making it very dry.Now that you know the causes of split ends, how you do you trim your hair? There is no surefire way to do this but that are several variations that work.
- Twist and trim (my preferred method): While hair is soaking wet (or completely dry) twist sections of your hair into midsized twists and trim the ends at an angle. I prefer to do it wet so that my curls maintain. I find that I don’t have to trim as much when I do it this way and I am able to see just how my split ends go up the hair shaft.
- Straighten and trim: After straighten hair, trim the ends as needed. This method does require the use of heat, as you want your hair to be really straight to ensure that you are trimming as much as you need. Be sure to use a hair protectant (coconut oil is good) to make sure heat damage does not occur.
- Eyeballing it: Without twists or straighten your hair, simply trim curls where it appears the split ends. This method is risky but some people have no problem with it.
