Repair split ends with these essential tips and achieve great-looking, healthy hair.

Split ends aren’t just unsightly and unruly. When left untreated, split ends will continue to split up the hair shaft, leading to serious damage to your hair. You want to make sure you stop split ends in their tracks as soon as possible and prevent future damage.

You may be surprised to learn that much of the maintenance you do to create great-looking hair - blow-drying, straightening, coloring and curling – contribute heavily to split ends. That’s because these treatments break down your cuticles causing your hair strands literally to split. And these maintenance methods can remove the moisture that is necessary for maintaining strong hair that resists split ends.

But with a few preventative measures, you can repair split ends and still have great looking hair. Trimming your hair regularly (every six to eight weeks) will help you repair split ends. But here are some other measures you can take:

1. Shampoo your hair in warm water. Warm water will open the cuticles of your hair so that when you add conditioner, the conditioner will go right into your hair shaft and begin moisturizing right away. This will help strengthen your hair shaft and prevent split ends from occurring. Additionally, make sure you rinse out your conditioner with cool water. Cool water will close the cuticles so the moisturizing and conditioning agents remain sealed in your hair. You will have greater control over your hair and avoid split end damage in the future.
2. Keep your hair moisturized to control split ends by conditioning your hair properly. After shampooing, add a good moisturizing conditioner to your hair and leave it in for 3 – 5 minutes. If possible, wrap your hair with a towel, and let the conditioner sink in for 15 minutes. This extra conditioning of your hair will establish a good moisture level that will help prevent split ends.
3. Make sure to deep condition your hair often - at least once a month. This will help repair damage and moisturize the hair properly to prevent split end damage.
4. Relax in between relaxing treatments. Your hair needs a rest after harsh chemical treatments. So if you do chemical treatments like relaxing or coloring, wait at least four weeks between applications. And never relax and color at the same time!
5. If you comb your hair when it is wet, do so gently with a wide-tooth comb. And spritz your wet hair first with Simply Stylin’ Light Silk Spray which is a pure silicone product that contains no alcohol. The silicone will help your hair detangle gently while preventing damage that might lead to split ends.
6. On dry hair, use a soft-bristled brush. Soft-bristled brushes are gentler on the hair. Using one will minimize split end damage that can result from harsh treatment by brushing.
7. Get an ionic blow-dryer; it locks in the moisture that helps prevent split ends. That’s because well-moisturized hair reduces the breaking-down of your cuticles – a main cause of split ends.
8. When styling your hair, use silicone-based styling products like Simply Stylin' Silk which is made of pure silicone without fillers. Pure silicone products smooth split ends.