Learning how to trim your ends can be overall beneficial to the health of your hair. By trimming your ends, you are preventing split ends from traveling up the shaft of your hair and breaking off. So if you are someone who is looking to grow out their hair with no success then you may benefit from reading this article.
The key to trimming your ends is learning how to recognize the split ends. Split ends are found at the ends of your hair and are various lengths. For example, if you have thick hair until you reach your ends and you notice how thin and uneven it is then you have split ends, and they need to be cut to prevent further damage to your hair. The best way to cut your split ends is when your hair is wet.
After you have examined the extensiveness of your split ends, then you will be more comfortable in how much you have to cut. First you need to wash and condition your hair, and then towel dry your hair. You will part your hair in four sections and comb each section until it is perfectly straight.
Once you have combed your hair thoroughly and parted it in four sections, you will take about a quarter of hair (in each section) horizontally and with a pair of sharp, hair sheers cut the split ends. Now every situation is different– you may have to cut off less than an inch and you may have to cut off more than an inch. It will become more obvious with each section of hair you handle how much you need to cut off, and I would recommend cutting about an eighth of an inch above the split ends. By cutting above the split ends you are making sure the damage is being completely removed. You will complete this process throughout your entire head until all the split ends are removed. You will repeat the trimming of your ends about every six to eight weeks.
In order to prevent future split ends, you need to make sure you trim your ends every six to eight weeks, and you need to develop a health hair regimen. What I mean by a healthy hair regimen is washing and conditioning your hair, deep conditioning your hair, and choosing hairstyles that promote growth. The frequency of washing and conditioning your hair is up to you, but I would only recommend deep conditioning your hair once or twice per month. For people with shoulder length hair, stick to hairstyles which lifts the ends of your hair off your shoulders because the friction of your hair rubbing on your shoulders will cause the ends to dry out and split.