I get asked questions about dry and split ends so often. “My hair is so dry at the ends, it’s like straw. Nothing I do helps!” or “I’ve tried everything to mend my split ends but they just won’t go away.” I have three words for you if you are suffering with rubbish hair ends, and they are:

CUT THEM OFF.

There is no point hanging on to dead, damaged hair. It’s fruitless. Yes, your hair will “look longer” but it will also “look like part of a hedge”. Cut off the ends, up to where they start becoming straggly and split and enjoy your nice new shiny, swishy hair. You have to trust me on this one; I’m a model. My hair has seen every type of torturous appliance and experienced every kind of chemical. It has been backcombed by first-year hairdressing students and bleached by international colour “experts”. There is only one way of mending broken hair, and that goes like this: chop-choppety-chop-chop…chop-chop.

There are serums and magic potions that can help the appearance of split ends or add shine to dry, lifeless hair – most of these contain silicones to smooth over the surface. They’re a good short-term fix until you can get to a hairdresser; I think that the  KMS one is really nice. (At FeelUnique here.) If your ends are a little dry and split but not anything too drastic, then there are some nice masks out there to give your hair a weekly treat. Some of my faves are the SEAH Cashmere Mask, the Goldwell 60 Second repair (least expensive) and Joico’s K-Pak.

Hope that helps.

(On a sidenote: some of you might be saying, “but my split ends and dryness goes all the way up to the top! I can’t cut it ALL off!” That’s a fair point. But you have to still cut some off. Cut a bit off and have a long, hard look at the way you’re treating your hair. Are you bleaching it every few weeks? Are you using heated appliances every day? Re-evaluate and change your hair routine; keep trimming regularly until your hair starts to look shiny and well-conditioned. It might take a year or so, but it’s worth it in the end!)