Dating back from my teens, when I had nothing to do with my hands or was bored in class, I used to annoy teachers endlessly by searching for split ends, one by one, and chopping them off, one by one. Yep, I was the weird, awkward red head with scissors in her pencil case.

There is, however, a slightly less tedious and time consuming alternative called dusting. With dusting, one basically trims the ends of the more damaged hairs, methodically ‘dusting’ section per section (hey, better than strand per strand).

Since hair isn’t the same length all over (new hair won’t be equally long, old hair will break off, etc.), trimming only the ends isn’t enough. Chopping off damaged hair at all lengths is without a doubt the best way to keep hair healthy without losing length.

• If you have blonde hair, start by sitting over a dark background for increased contrast and visibility

• Make sure to use only razor sharp sheers, since blunt ones will only have your hair split further.

• Section the hair into small pieces, and twist each piece tightly. Cut the hairs sticking out. Odds are big that these hairs sticking out broke off at some point and are consequently damaged .

• Twist the section of hair in the opposite direction and cut again, until you’re done.

• Or section your hair making small loops from each section, chopping off any hairs that escape the loop.

• Another method is holding each section between 3 fingers, putting the strand under the index finger, over the middel finger, and under the ring finger, cutting away the excess whilst sliding your fingers down.

• This vlogger explains it beautifully:

• Also see my articles on Frizzy hair and Coconut Oil Treatments to help prevent split ends!
• Happy chopping!