Hmm,if your hair is still dry,you could try to do something against it being dry-for example do a deep conditioning treatment more often(I like L ´Oreal Kerastase deep conditioner a lot,or the Biolage conditioning balm).So you could prevent new splits.As for the split ends being there already,this might sound silly-but maybe you could just ignore them for a while?  If you put your hair up,handle(comb/wash) it less often and give your hair a chance to grow longer,and THEN trim the splits.This strategy has helped my hair a lot-my hair is fine and just loves to split!Gentle products,updos and not thinking about it too much  and nowadays I have hardly any splits.One more thing:I don´t cut off individual split ends,but trim off a few mm every 2-3 months from the total length.

Let´s see-
1.my favourite updo is a braided bun held with hairsticks
2.a figure eight bun  with one hairstick
3.I make a regular ponytail,tie it off at the nape,divide it in 4 sections.I twist them tightly,arrange them around the base of the ponytail,secured with small claw-clips.
4.Sometimes just a regular bun with hairsticks or pins-with ends either tucked under the bun or sticking out. But you shouldn´t worry too much about your hair-it sounds like you have really nice hair!

I hope I can explain this one properly:I start by making a regular bun(not a flat bun,but one that does stick out,by wrapping each new coil UNDER the previous one),then I sort of peel off the top-layer of the bun and lay it flat against the head.Then I secure the whole thing with a hairstick(I insert the stick through the top first,but with the jeweled end of the stick showing in the direction of the floor,then I flip the stick over-jeweled end showing in the direction of the ceiling- then push the stick through the whole bun.(Close to the scalp and coming out on the bottom of the bun)Oh well,I´m not sure if this makes sense ???I´m not good at explaining at all !!

It´s an upright 8 ,vertical,I guess!