How to Manage Hair Breakage and Split Ends

Split ends and hair breakage are common for a lot of people – even for those with ‘healthy’ hair that hasn’t been exposed to chemicals or hot styling tools. It’s likely that everyone’s hair will experience some damage at some point for reasons beyond our control, and it’s more common for those who want to keep their hair long. Unfortunately, once broken the strands can’t be fixed, however, there are prevention and caring techniques we can follow to help keep our hair looking and feeling healthy. 

Continue reading to find out everything you need to know about what causes hair breakage, how to prevent it from happening, and how to best care for hair if it becomes damaged.

Hair breakage and split ends can have several causes, such as daily wear and tear (like brushing), heat damage, and exposure to chemicals during colouring process. Let’s explore some of these common causes:

Styling your hair with hot tools or blow-drying it regularly on a high temperature can damage the hair’s keratin. This weakens the elasticity of the hair and makes it more prone to breakage. Combine this with daily brushing and ‘wear and tear’ throughout the day from weather, UV sun rays and pollution and there’s a chance that you’ll experience some split ends or hair breakage.

If you colour or perm your hair regularly, then it’s likely that you’ve experienced hair breakage at some point. The chemicals used during these processes break down the bonds in the hair, causing them to weaken. This could damage the hair and make it more fragile to breakage. It’s therefore important that you follow the right aftercare advice from your stylist to not only keep your hair colour looking vibrant, but to also keep it strong and healthy.

Unfortunately, split ends cannot be fixed once broken, so the best thing you can do to maintain healthy hair is to get rid of them permanently by chopping them off. However, there are some steps you can take to help prevent the breakage from happening in the first place and ensuring that you’re doing everything you can to nourish those dry ends.

Hair is most fragile when wet, so it’s super important to be gentle when detangling it when you’ve just jumped out of the shower. Try brushing your strands from the ends and gradually move upwards to avoid putting too much strain on the hair. You can also use a detangling product to help manage the knots. Our Detangler Spray is great for gently nourishing the hair and conditioning any split ends. It also works well to combat frizzy hair, helping with its manageability.

Using the correct care products for your hair type is important to make sure your strands are getting the best treatment they can, to prevent it from breaking. If you have very fine hair, then using products that are ‘too rich’ might weigh your hair down, while using hair products that are ‘too light’ might not be enough to care for coarser or more damaged hair types.

If you have coarse and damaged hair, include the Rich & Repair into your routine once a week to deeply nourish your locks and help to combat any frizz. If you have fine but damaged hair, try the Light & Soft Hair Mask to give your hair intense moisture without weighing your hair down. And finally, if you have normal and damaged hair, the Moisture & Shine Hair Mask is perfect at providing softness and shine for your hair while improving its manageability.

Keeping your locks hydrated and moisturised will help to nourish and maintain its cuticles. This makes it easier to manage, enhance shine and ensure it’s less prone to breakage. It’s therefore a good idea to add a conditioning treatment into your routine. The Nourishing Night Cream is a good option if you have damaged strands and want to use a special overnight treatment. It deeply nourishes and repairs the hair, leaving it smooth and protects it against breakage.

If your hair is healthy (i.e. not coloured and you don’t use heat styling tools), you can use leave-in products such as the Detangle Spray and Moisturising Day Cream to help manage and hydrate the hair. The Moisturising Day cream can also be doubled up as a hand cream to keep your hands soft and hydrated!

You can also add extra protection to your ends by applying a dab of our Protect Balm – it will help conceal any split ends and prevent healthy ones from getting damaged. A little goes a long way!

We’ve already mentioned that the hair is most fragile when wet, so it’s important to bare this in mind when blow drying and styling it. Start by drying your locks with a medium heat, instead of using the hair dryer on its maximum setting straight away. It’s also a good idea to avoid pulling wet hair with your hair brush. Instead, roughly dry the hair using your fingers to gently separate the strands and only use a brush when the hair is 80% dry. This will prevent the hair from snapping when it’s in its most fragile state.

When using hot tools like straighteners and curling irons, make sure to only use them on entirely dry hair. Dry hair can take heat well, but if the hair is still slightly damp it can be damaging to the strands. Once you have finished styling, nourish the ends of your hair with our Natural Oil or Protect Balm to hydrate the dry ends and prevent them from splitting.

Just like our skin, UV rays from the sun can also have a damaging effect on our hair. This can weaken the strands and make it more vulnerable to breakage and split ends. To help avoid this, use a sun protecting hair spray or wear a hat when in direct sunlight to keep your locks covered.

If you’re struggling to know where to start with your hair care routine or which products you should be using, check out our hair quiz and we’ll advise you on which vegan hair products will best suit your hair type and hair concerns. Additionally, discover more tips and advice for all types of hair concerns on our weBlog.

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