12 Essential Tips for Preventing Split Ends and Hair Breakage

Although split ends are common, they’re a sign that your hair isn’t as healthy as it could be. Split ends indicate that your strands are snapping and breaking, and this damage will only worsen as time goes on.

How do you know if you have split ends? Take a look at the ends of your hair – if some of your strands have split into a ‘Y’ or ‘V’ shape, then this means that you’re dealing with split ends. They’re caused by damage, which can come from a variety of different sources. Either way, once that damage affects the ends of your hair, which happen to be the oldest and weakest section of each strand, those ends start to fray. 

The big question is…how can you stop this from happening? Read on as Nubi shares 12 essential tips for keeping the appearance of split ends at bay. 

1) Have Your Hair Trimmed Regularly

Regular trims are one of the most important steps that you can take to prevent split ends. They’re also the only way to get rid of existing split ends, meaning that an appointment at your hair salon should be your first point of call once you decide that your locks need some TLC.

Ideally, you should be having your hair trimmed every 6-8 weeks. While the other tips that we’ll share below will help you to prevent split ends for the most part, you’ll likely still end up with a few frays after a couple of months. If you don’t trim these away, they’ll travel up your hair shaft, causing even more of each strand to split and break.

2) Use Hair Care Products That Are Designed for Your Hair Type

If you want to keep your strands intact and prevent them from breaking, they need to be as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, many people unwittingly work against this, simply by using the wrong hair care products.

When it comes to choosing hair care products, your hair type, be it curly and coarse, straight and thin, color-treated, or anything else, should always be at the front of your mind. Don’t be swayed by marketing buzzwords or enticing ingredients – always put the specific needs of your hair first. After all, if you have dry hair but use a sebum-stripping shampoo designed for oily hair, or if you have oily hair but use a thick oil-infused conditioner created for dry hair, you’ll only end up causing more problems for your locks while weakening your strands. 

3) Give Your Locks Plenty of Moisture

For your hairs to not break under pressure, they need to be as strong and flexible as possible. There are a few different elements that contribute to this, with moisture being a big one. Keep your strands hydrated and they’ll be better lubricated, more elastic, and less prone to damage.

How can you hydrate your hair? A hydrating conditioner is a good place to start. Hydrating hair masks can be game-changing too while a leave-in conditioner or other leave-in treatments provide even longer-lasting moisture. 

4) Give the Ends of Your Hair Some TLC

If the ends of your hair are looking rough and brittle but you don’t have the time for a hair appointment for a while, don’t ignore the problem. Instead, give the ends of your hair some extra care and attention to keep them feeling resilient until they’re able to be trimmed away.

How? Hair serums and hair oils do this well. They smooth the hair shaft and moisturize the hair, which can potentially help to prevent split ends from forming. If your ends are already quite frayed, this intense moisture will make that damage look less noticeable. This will buy you some time until you’re able to have those brittle ends trimmed away.

5) Be Gentle When Handling Wet Hair

If you want to keep your strands safe from split ends, then this means keeping any damage to a minimum. The less damage your locks have to deal with, the less likely they’ll be to break. 

While hair damage comes from many sources, there’s a good chance that you’re causing some of this yourself. How? By being rough with your hair when it’s wet. While this may not seem like a big deal, your hair is actually in its most fragile state when it’s wet. Aggressively towel-drying it, yanking a brush through in an attempt to detangle it, or tying it up while it’s still damp will all work to weaken your strands and accelerate the onset of split ends. 

6) Don’t Over-Depend on Heated Styling Tools 

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While there’s nothing wrong with heat styling every once in a while, you’re likely aware that exposing your hair to high levels of heat is something else that will be damaging your strands. Excessive heat affects the internal structure of your hair, making it much more susceptible to snapping. If you’re someone who depends on your heated styling tools on a daily basis, it’s time to change those habits.

While we’re on the topic of heated styling tools, it’s also worth mentioning that some cause more damage than others. If you regularly heat style, make sure that your tools keep the appearance of damage to a minimum. The Nubi Soft N’ Straight 1.25” Ceramic Purple Styler, for example, comes with ceramic plates, infrared heat, negative ion technology, and an adjustable temperature. All of this will help to keep your hair feeling safe from heat damage while you heat style.

7) Always Use a Heat Protectant Before Heat Styling

One other tip to keep in mind if you plan on heat styling: heat protectant is a must. These products coat each strand so that rather than your hair receiving the full force of heat from your styling tools, the heat protectant will do so instead. This way, any burning that takes place will affect your heat protectant, rather than your hair itself.

While it’s common knowledge that a heat protectant should be used before heat styling, make an extra effort to ensure that you’ve applied the product correctly. Spend some time focusing on the ends of your hair. As we mentioned earlier, this is the weakest part of each strand. Therefore, it will be the most prone to heat damage.

8) Don’t Go Overboard With Chemical Treatments

From dyeing to perming to relaxing, chemical treatments can be an effective way to achieve a new look, yet they don’t come without any downsides. The main one is how those chemicals affect the structure of your hair. They weaken the internal bonds in each strand while also damaging the hair shaft, making the ends of your hair even more susceptible to damage and splitting.

This doesn’t mean that you have to completely stop having your hair chemically treated, although that would definitely help! Instead, try to space those treatments out a little more. This will give your hair some time to recuperate in between treatments, preventing split ends from forming quite so quickly.

9) Shield Your Strands From the Sun

The sun’s UV rays damage hair in many ways. Just like chemical treatments, they weaken each strand from within, breaking down the proteins that give your hair its structure. The sun also dries out hair in a way that makes it more brittle and prone to splitting.

What can you do about this? Start by making sure that your mane is always covered when you’re out in the sun. A hat or a scarf will do this well. There are also plenty of UV hair products out there. These would be worth considering if your hair is already experiencing a fair bit of damage. 

10) Provide Overnight Protection

Did you know that a large amount of hair damage occurs overnight while you sleep? When you consider how much people tend to toss and turn in bed, rubbing their hair against their pillow each time, this becomes less surprising. Each time your hair moves against your pillow, friction is created. This roughs up your hair cuticles, making breakages more likely.

The best way to prevent this is to swap your regular pillowcase for a silk or satin version. With both of these materials being extremely smooth, friction is kept to a minimum. They’re less absorbent than other materials too, which will allow your locks to retain more moisture overnight. 

Another option would be to tuck your hair into a silk hair wrap before hitting the sack. This will keep your strands in place, saving them from being mussed up while you sleep.

11) Protect Your Hair When You Swim

If you’re a regular swimmer, you’re likely aware of how dangerous chlorine can be for your strands. It strips away the hair’s natural oils, leaving the hair dry and brittle. It also alters the natural pH of the hair/scalp. Again, this disrupts the bonds within each strand, causing them to weaken.

Even a quick dip in a pool can have this effect. So, always make an effort to protect your hair when you swim. Rinsing it in clean water before you jump into the pool will saturate your strands and prevent them from absorbing quite so much chlorine. A swimming cap can be helpful too, as can a quick rinse once you’re done with your swim. 

12) Feed Your Hair From Within

While the hair care products you use will help to provide nutrients to your strands, nothing can compete with the nutrients that you feed your hair from within. A healthy diet will go a long way in keeping your hair feeling healthy too, so make sure that you’re eating the right foods.

A fresh and balanced diet is always best, but there are certain foods that are known for having a particularly beneficial effect on the hair. Eat plenty of proteins, fatty acids, and minerals to ensure that your locks are receiving all that they need to thrive.

Preventing Split Ends With Nubi

Split ends are never fun to deal with and can make your entire mane look frizzy and unkempt. If you’ve noticed that some of your ends have started to fray, the first step is to book yourself in for a trim. Once those split ends have been taken care of, follow the rest of our tips to ensure that they don’t return!

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