Your hair can be one of your greatest assets. And also one of your worst nightmares! Especially when you have to deal with those pesky, unbelievably annoying and completely unsexy split ends. And I have long curly hair so you can trust me when I say I know what I am talking about! Unfortunately, once you have a split end there is no way to ‘heal’ it and you have to snip it off. BUT there are many ways to prevent them from happening!
Now the best way to prevent split ends is to keep your hair as moisturized as possible and there are plenty of hair products that you can buy that promise the deepest moisturizing treatment ever. Some of them can be fairly expensive but with Kohl’s coupons the expense is more than worthwhile. An important tip is to avoid shampoos with sulfates or parabens as they are designed to strip your hair of all natural moisture and completely negate any moisturizing treatments you may use!
Another thing to do is to deep condition your hair at least once a week. As I said before, there are loads of products that you can buy to do this but I have always found that my grandmother’s home remedy works best! What I do is first rinse my hair in a weak apple cider vinegar solution to neutralize the chlorine buildup that occurs from swimming and even just plain old water.
Then I combine equal parts olive oil and coconut oil and brush that through my hair before wrapping in plastic. If I have time I leave it for an hour or more but a half hour does the trick. And the best part? I can use both olive oil and pure coconut oil in the kitchen as they are good for cholesterol and diabetic friendly! I’m not fond of the smell of either oil so I also add a few drops of an essential oil like lavender, mint or citrus blossoms.
Another trick my gran taught me for getting rid of split ends without having to chop of whole bunches of my hair is what she called the ‘Twist and Clip’. You have to use a pair of very sharp hairdressing sheers though because plain old scissors just cause more damage! Now divide your hair into small sections and twist them tightly. You’ll see that there are single hairs that stick out randomly and these are dry, damaged hairs that you can clip off. Also trim off the very ends of the twist, especially if they are very jagged and uneven. Depending on how much hair you have this can be pretty time consuming so be prepared!
And there you have it, the budget friendly version of dealing with split ends. Of course these are not foolproof and you may find that a trip to the hairdresser is in order but there many who offer some kind of special discount on certain dates or times. Sometimes just skipping the blowdry makes the trip far more affordable so keep that in mind if you ever decide to spoil yourself with a professional cut.
