I've been reading up a bit on dusting split ends and I tried to do it today, but I'm not sure I'm doing it right.  I know I'm supposed to cut just the split ends, but how far up do I cut?  Is there any system to make sure I get most of them?  If it were just my longest ends, it would be easier, but I have shorter pieces all over (probably due to past damage) and I can't figure out how to find and seperate them all so I can cut them.

On a related note, these shorter hairs (not layers, just broken hairs), do you guys have them?  Does everyone have them?  When your hair gets to your maintainance length, do you eventually cut off the shorter pieces and have hair that is truly one length?

You will always have some hair shorter than your length.  This is because each time a hair falls out, a new one will start to grow.  Just because it is shorter does not necessarily mean it is a broken hair.  It could be a new hair reaching for its new limits!

When I do a dusting, I take small sections of my hair and twist them into a rope.  This will cause all the ends to stick out.  I then look at the ends, checking for splits and white dots (breaks that are not yet complete).  I then use a sharp scissors to cut just above the split or dot.

Hope this helps!

Thanks bikerbraid, I had been a bit confuzed with all the shorter hairs, but your explanation of new growth hairs makes sense.  When I tried to dust my ends, I found some split ends, but the majority of those shorter hairs were ok. I wondered if I should cut them anyways, beacuse I thought they had all broken off, but now I know to just cut the splits.  Maybe the new growth is why my hair has felt thicker this past year!  I've noticed that the part close to my scalp (where I put a ponytail holder) is thicker than it used to be.

Do you dust your ends yourself or do you get someone to help?  I found it hard to get more than the last 6" or so.  I guess that's ok, since probably most of the split ends would be near the bottom anyways, right?

I do my own dusting and I have my hubby due my annual trims.  I seldom have splits on the new growth, so the technique I described works fine for me.  What I can't get to, doesn't need trimming.

Try to not cut anything that doesn't need it.  Virgin ends (ends that have never been cut), are less prone to splits than ends that have been trimmed.