10 Reasons You Have Split Ends (and How to Stop Them)

Split ends happen when the protective outer layer of your hair wears away at the tips, usually from dryness, friction, heat or rough handling. Here is the honest part most articles skip: once a hair has split, it cannot be repaired. It can only be trimmed away. So preventing them in the first place is everything. Here are the ten most common reasons you get split ends, and the simple change that helps with each.

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1. Your diet

Healthy hair starts from within. If your diet is low in the nutrients your body needs, your hair often shows it first, looking dull, brittle and prone to breaking. A balanced diet with enough protein, healthy fats and vitamins gives your hair the best foundation. If your hair feels fragile, dry or you are worried about hair loss, it is always worth speaking to a doctor or trichologist, as it can point to something that needs proper attention.

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2. Not drinking enough water

Hydration matters for your hair as much as your skin. When you are dehydrated, your scalp and strands struggle to stay supple, and dry hair splits more easily. Aim for a couple of litres a day and you give your hair a better chance of staying strong and elastic.

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3. Washing your hair too often

Shampoo is brilliant at lifting dirt and grease, but it also strips the natural oils that keep your ends conditioned. Wash too often and hair turns dry and coarse, which leads to breakage and split ends. Try to keep it to one or two washes a week, and on the days in between, brush your natural oils from root to tip or pop your hair up. Our Waver Bun really helps here.

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Wrapping your hair up neatly into the Waver Bun keeps your hands out of your hair to avoid making your hair feeling greasy faster. We even ran a little experiment at Cordina Hair, comparing how greasy hair gets when you leave it alone versus when you keep touching it, and the difference was clear. The Waver Bun holds your hair up neatly, leaving no dents or messy hair after removing it (just heatless waves!), and its satin lining keeps the hair tangle-free and frizz-free while it adds soft waves, so you can comfortably stretch out the time between washes.

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4. Hair ties, updos and tight styles

Every hair tie creates some tightness at the scalp and pulls on your roots so use sporadically. Certain hair ties however can get easily tangled in your hair causing breakage, so always choose silky materials over grippy ones. Tight styles are the bigger problem, as the constant tension stresses the hair and, over time, can even make it fall out prematurely. The healthiest swap is our Waver Bun. It replaces hair ties and updos completely: wear it any time you need your hair up, with no elastic, no tightness at the roots, and none of the scalp tension or headaches that come from wearing your hair up. Because it is made from satin, your hair slides free easily when you take it out. If you would like to try it, here is our guide to swapping your everyday bun for the Waver Bun.

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5. Friction while you sleep

Rubbing against a cotton pillowcase all night is one of the biggest hidden causes of dry, splitting ends. Sleep on a silk or satin pillowcase to cut that friction right down. Both of our tools help here too. The Waver Bun even comes with a satin bun bonnet, which is perfect for overnight and adds another layer of protection against friction and damage. And our Flower Curl is made from a silky material that protects your hair while it gently curls it, so you can roll from side to side and wake up to waves or curls with far less overnight wear.  Some customers even like to cover the flower Curl overnight with a sleep bonnet for further protection.

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6. Touching your hair too much

Constantly running your fingers through your hair, or picking at the ends, quietly dries it out and makes your roots greasy at the same time. It is a hard habit to break. If this sounds like you, our most popular article on hands-in-hair syndrome is well worth a read. One of the simplest fixes is the Waver Bun, because once your hair is wrapped up into it, it is genuinely difficult to get your hands back in, which quietly breaks the habit for you.

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7. Heat and colour

Hot tools and chemical colour are two of the fastest ways to damage your ends. Heat draws the moisture out, and colouring or lightening changes the structure of the strand for good. Once the inner cortex is damaged, there is no undoing it, so give your hair regular breaks from heat. Heatless styling is the gentlest way to keep your waves and curls without the cost to your hair.

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8. Brushing your hair when it is wet

Wet hair is far more fragile, because the bonds that hold it together soften with water. Dragging a brush through it stretches and deforms the strand, and splits follow. Let your hair dry, or nearly dry, before you brush, and use a gentle detangling brush that eases through knots rather than pulling. We always recommend to apply a bit of hair oil to wet hair, this helps detangle the hair and makes brushing damp hair much easier with less tugging and pulling which leads to less breakage.

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9. Skipping masks and oils

You would not leave your skin without moisturiser for weeks, and your hair is no different. A weekly mask, or a little hair oil through the mid-lengths and ends, locks in moisture and seals the cuticle, which is exactly what keeps split ends at bay. Our vegan, silicone-free hair oil is made for this, smoothing the ends without weighing them down.

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10. Harsh weather

Sun, cold and indoor heating all pull moisture from your hair. In summer, sun exposure weakens the proteins in the strand. In winter, cold air and central heating leave it dry and brittle. Protect your ends with a hair oil through the seasons, and keep your weekly mask going all year. The Waver Bun helps in both hot and cold weather too, keeping your hair wrapped up neatly and secured in satin, protected in its style against the sun, wind and dry indoor heat.

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How to prevent split ends

• Wash one to two times a week, not daily.

• Sleep on silk or satin or wear a satin bonnet.

• Cut back on heat and colour.

• Brush gently, and never when your hair is soaking wet.

• Use a weekly mask or a little hair oil on your ends.

• Swap tight updos and elastic ties for a gentler option like the Waver Bun.

• Get a small trim every couple of months, before a split travels up the strand.

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Frequently asked questions

Can you repair split ends? Honestly, no. Once a hair splits, nothing seals it back together for good. Products can smooth and disguise them for a while, but the only real fix is to trim them off. Everything else is about preventing the next ones.

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Do split ends go away on their own? No. Left alone, a split end tends to travel further up the strand, so it is best to trim it before it spreads.

How often should I trim to keep split ends away? Every eight to twelve weeks suits most people, though it depends on your hair and how much wear it faces.

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What is the difference between split ends and breakage? Split ends are when the tip of the hair frays or splits in two. Breakage is when the strand snaps along its length. Both come from the same things: dryness, friction, heat and rough handling.

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Does trimming split ends make your hair grow faster? Not directly, as growth happens at the scalp. But trimming stops split ends travelling up and snapping off, so your hair looks healthier and holds its length far better.

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Gentler habits are what keep your ends healthy. Give your hair a break from heat with our heatless Flower Curl and Waver Bun, seal your ends with our vegan hair oil, and join our mailing list for more simple, honest hair tips.