I've been fighting against split ends for over a week now. Every day I have dutifully trimmed at least 30 split hairs, on some days even a hundred. To conclude, I've trimmed hundreds of them until today. And there's no end in sight! I know this is the first time ever when I've trimmed this way. And I have lots of very fine hair, of which most hadn't splitted even when I begun this project. In general, my hair looks like it is in a good shape until the ends. But still. Hundreds of split hairs is bad, I think.  :(

The only thing that keeps me from making appointment to my hairstylist is, that my problem aren't only split ends. Some hairs have splitted from, like 10 centimeters (about 4 inches, I think) from the end, so trimming the ends would not save me.  :'(

Other than split ends, my hair has also static. I've tried to reduce it by oiling the hair a little with jojoba oil every day, but it doesn't seem to take the problem away. I also tried to use aloe vera gel instead of my regular hairspray, but though I have been able to reduce the amount of hairspray I use, I cannot get rid of it completely. Aloe vera gel is somewhat powerless with my hair.  :'(

What can I do to make my hair nice and friendly again?

In short: HEEEEEELP! Please, help!

i am a bit afraid only scissors wil help  :-/
if you really don't want to trim then dusting till you have them all is the only other option i see. even if it takes you weeks. i would oil a lot during that time, and only finger comb not to make the damage travel more up.  and i would consider at least a little trim to get rid off already a good part of them. (i admit cutting off 10 cm is very very painful!)

now go hunt them all down!!!   :-*

Have you had a significant change in your shampoo or conditioner?  It could be that previous product was hiding the splits by "gluing" them together.  Silicone products are designed to do this.  When you quit using the silicone, then all the splits become evident.

But for repair, I'm afraid trimming/dusting is the best solution.  Make sure the scizzors is very sharp and you are cutting straight across the hair - not at an angle. You don't want to start new splits!

Thanks for you both for quick answers. :)

I don't think my split ends have magically increased lately- I haven't been "hair aware" for long, and my hair is blonde and fine so it takes a bit try to notice splits.
So I guess I just haven't noticed them before.  :-[

I used to use Body Shop's nut shampoo and conditioner until they stopped making them a few months ago. Then I changed to Body Shop's olive oil shampoo and Honey conditioner. Not a big change there. I've thought they are "safe". I just checked the ingredient list of both my shampoo and conditioner and spotted total of two cones in lists.

I bought new hair scissors just for this project. :) I guess my only choice is to continue. My hair is only a bit past shoulder-length, so I can't afford cutting 10 cm off unless there is absolutely no other choice.

they have specific hair cutting scissors that are better for the job rather than the normal craft/household scissors.
what you might want to try is taking a small section of hair and twisting it then running yoru fingers up it to bring out the split ends. Then burn off the split ends by running the hair over a candle. Of course not too close or you'll burn your hair. I haven't actually tried this myself but my cousin (a hair stylist) suggested it.

I've found that if I neglect split end control for a few months, by the time I notice, there seem to be millions of them.  :o

Dusting doesn't do anything for me. I do search and destroy for an hour a day for a while, and finally it starts to look better. Then all of a sudden you realize they're getting hard to find.

Then neglect for months again. Repeat.  :P

Split end control through search and destroy will keep your hair looking healthy. As your ends get thinner, you can decide when and how much to trim to thicken them up, rather than feeling locked in by some need to remove all the damaged sections.

Trimming (or cutting :-X) to remove split ends is like burning down a forest to remove a few diseased trees.

At the moment there are very few splits in my hair, so things have improved a lot.  ;D

I still keep regular dusting sessions, about twice a week (or when I remember  ::) ). But often anyways- otherwise I'm in trouble. I don't go through all my hair, just take a random section and check it.

I also treat my hair with care and try to be as gentle with it as I can. I think this has improved its overall condition.

I agree with eKatherine- trimming isn't a solution to splits. My hair is far from one length- single hairs can be any length, and not all of them are split from the end. So after trimming I would just have less length and still splits. Not good. I plan to trim my hair a bit more often for a few months after it gets to BSL in hopes to make the ends thicker.

i never found split ends at the very ends cuze i just trim too often for that. i usually had them mostly in my neck hair since it's finer. now i find moslty white dots in my untrimmed layers and bangs. waiting with patience the day i'll be able to trim off those parts!!

I find white dots too! what are they?

White dots are broken hair that have not yet separated.  Once the hair breaks off at that point, it could look like a split end.

Causes of the white dots can be chemical processing, use of heated appliances (did you know that if you apply too much heat you can boil the moisture in your hair??!!), and abrasion from brushes and/or combs.

Since a white dot is damaged hair, it is recommended that you trim the hair just above the dot so that the damage does not continue up the hair shaft.

oh, thankyou.

Ugh!  Those dam*ed white dots!  Sometimes it seems like every hair in the front and on the sides is broken.  When I first started snipping splits I was ignoring the dots and then I'd find a TON of splits.  So, now they all get the chop!  Hiyyyyyyaaaahh!