Help! Really bad split ends. Does ANYTHING work?

[oreoaddict]

Morning!

I've got really thick, naturally curly hair, but I never leave it to dry naturally because it's in such bad condition and looks frizzy and uneven, ie, it's curly one side, wavy on the other and straightish and frizzy round the back. Attractive or what!! So I always blow dry it and go over it with the GHD's. I don't like it poker straight so I kind of just take the obvious kinks out. I always use heat protective spray and I use good conditioners and masks. I actually do get quite a few compliments on my hair because it's thick and shiny, but when they get close they can see what i'm talking about.

The main problem is my hair is littered with split ends and in certain lights I look like a scarecrow because it's so dry and brittle. I would consider getting it cut off but because my hair is so thick, it really wouldn't suit me. It would look a bit like a dark brown mushroom on my head. Nice.

So, has anyone got any "miracle" cure for this? Or is it really just a case of get them snipped? Oh and i've tried Moroccan Oil and Argan Oil and it made my hair worse. It became more brittle, which apparently is quite common if you've got really damaged hair. It has the opposite affect

Desperately need some advice please.

Thanks!

The best thing to do is have a good cut and get all those split ends removed. All other options are only smoothing things over and will not last.

If it is a temporary fix you are after then try smothering damp hair in conditioner and leaving it on for as long as possible - a few hours or most of the day, if you can. Then shampoo it out - hair will be lovely and soft.

Truly though, a good cut is what you need and then step away from the hairdryer and straighteners. Can you twist your hair and hold it with a grippy thing (sorry, can't think of name but they look like bulldog clips for hair) while it dries - it comes out universally curly when you remove it???

I go for regular trims and once a week I put on a deep conditioner such as aussie 3 minute miracle, wrap my hair in clingfilm then a towel and sit by the radiator - leave it on for as long as poss.

I have a similar problem as I am a daily babyliss big hair user.

I agree, get it cut and thinned out a bit. I have veryyyyyyy thick hair too, and curly. Mine is almost all grey so it is very course! I am very lucky that one of my best mates dyes and cuts mine about every four weeks, its been in better condition since shes been doing that than it has for years. Also I do the curly girl method, to a point. The bits i do are:

• only use conditioner to wash hair

• use micro fibre towel to wrap around afterwards
• I do use mouse and some gel after that when its still wet, i dont pay that much attention to ingredients of the conditioner or products, but to be honest, just cutting out the shampoo and not blow drying much has really improved my hair.

good luck!

The only thing that actually works is taking a pair of scissors to them.

All these 'split end cures' are a load of hooey. Once a hair is split - no shampoo in the WORLD is going to make it whole again.

Thanks everyone, but I knew really that general opinion would be just get it cut, but seriously, it would look hidious! I try to trim off the split ends I can see, you know, when you twist the hair in sections and then the split ends are exposed enough for you to snip them off. The only problem with that is once you start, you can't stop because they're are so many. I would literally keep snipping til there was nothing left! Which is probably what a hair dresser wants to do anyway

yup. It's really the only cure.

yep you will have to get a decent cut, and get trims regularly

try to lay off the processing/heat, that will make your hair look more frizzy

and regular trims/reshapes will reduce frizz anyway

how long is your hair? chin/shoulder/boobs?

If you have some cash to flash, there are 2 products you should get your hands on, though the whole set would be good.

The Kerastase Ciment Thermique, to use after you've washed it whilst its still wet, which is heat activated.

Also the Fibre archtect serum, it is really fab for smoothing and sealing.

THey do a shampoo and conditioner too which are lush for this kind of thing, also a masque, but any decent shampoo and conditioner and a treatment every now and then with hydrolised keratin or elastin would be fine.

Just to add, I have some dogey cotton wool ends from a bit too much colour processing, and I'm not willing to snip them off just yet (waiting till it grows another inch or so) and if I wash and condition with this stuff and use the cerment thermique before using GHD's then finish with the serum, it looks like healthy hair not split cotton wool hair! Then I reapply the serum each day till I wash it again. But if I don't use it it goes all crap overnight so it must be doing something!