One Hair Expert’s Split Ends Hack Is Going To Change How You Treat Your Hair

Split ends are the one thing stopping your inner hair goddess from shining through.

There you are, thinking you’re rocking long luscious locks like Selena, until you catch sight of your hair close up, or in bright light. Split ends! Hundreds of them! Is there anything worse?

If you’ve been trying in vain to heal your hair’s strands, you need to listen to what hair expert Eric Spengler has to say. Speaking to Cosmopolitan, Eric – who is a research and development head at haircare brand Living Proof – revealed that the key to correctly treating split ends is to identify which type of split end you’ve been cursed with.

Yep, there are six different kinds of split end, and each requires a slightly different kind of care. So take a look at your damaged strands up close, and find out which ones you’re working with.

1. The Basic Split

What it is: This is an early stage split end, according to Eric. “In these cases, cortical cells are still held together but large sections are beginning to separate,” he says.
What you can do: Keep nourishing your strands using a hydrating or healing shampoo and conditioner.

2. The Mini

What it is: Another early stage split end, where the hair strand is still mainly intact
What you can do: Nourish, nourish, nourish. It’s not too late to save your hair by upping your conditioner game.

3. The Tree

What it is: If you notice several small ends splitting off in one direction from the hair when you hold it taut, you’ve got yourself a tree.
What you can do: It’s time to hit the hairdressers. This is damage that will just keep worsening if you don’t get those ends chopped.

4. The Fork In The Road

What it is: Consider this an earlier version of The Tree, where some significant damage has already occured to the hair fibre.
What you can do: If you’re not keen on a haircut, get yourself some hair masks and deep conditioning treatments, stat.

5. The Candle

What it is: While the hair ‘s outer cuticle has been weakened by brushing and heat damage, the hair has not yet split
What you can do: Go for nourishing argan oil or a once-a-week deep condition, and get yourself some heat damage protection spray too.

6. The Knot

What it is: If you have curly hair, you’ll be well used to these tiny tangles, where the hair has knotted itself and will most likely break off if brushed or combed too hard.
What you can do: Condition well to detangle – you may wish to apply conditioner to dry hair before hitting the shower. Carefully comb out your hair afterwards using a wide-tooth comb, and don’t pull.

• hair damage
• split ends
• treating split ends