The Difference In Split Ends & Splitting Ends

   Split ends, who wants them around away?!  Unfortunately, to healthy hair care lovers they are a fact of life. Hair gets old, days when it goes through  manipulation, therefore hair  becomes damaged. When the hair has experienced a great amount of trauma or has reached a certain cycle, these little "healthy hair wreckers" crop up and can destroy our healthy hair dreams . While our hair will never be totally free of split ends, there are certain measures that can taken to ensure that they don't take over what we have worked so hard to maintain!!

Where do they come from?
        Split ends are caused by many types of hair trauma, but are typically the result of a low moisture balance within the hair strand. When hair is allowed to remain dry, brittle, and under-moisturized for extended periods of time, the cuticle begins to crack and unravel, exposing the cortex of the hair.        Okay, so from what I've learned is that there is a difference from split ends and splitting ends. Splitting ends can be anywhere along the hair shaft where the cuticle is actively breaking apart and the cortex of the hair is exposed. This splitting can occur at any point along the hair shaft, but are the most likely to be near the ends of the hair shaft. Some say that splitting ends that are not "searched & destroyed" will continue to split up the entire shaft, however this is not always the case. Depending on the angle of the split, the tear can reach fairly high up the hair shaft, but a majority of splits simply peel away or break off not far from or right where they start.
      On the other hand, split ends are ends where the main split has already peeled away from the rest of the hair shaft. Therefore these ends are no longer splitting, they have already split and broken off.  These are the ends that we see so many of us trying to hold onto, those thin "see through" ends. Split ends can become splitting ends if not "searched & destroyed with a sharp pair of shears.
      Other types of "split" ends are small breaks in the hair shaft known as trichorrexis nodosa. These are areas where the actual hair cortex has swollen and exploded within the shaft (now that's scary). You can tell these types of splits by the white dot or node, commonly at the very end of the hair shaft. They can also occur mid-shaft where they will appear as a hairs that bend in hard, unnatural 90 degree angles-- ready to break fully away.

 How can I know if I have split or splitting ends?
The best way to check for split ends is by thoroughly inspecting the hair shaft. Most splits occur along the lower half to 1/3 of the hair shaft with a majority being along the  ends Other ways you can tell you tell if you may have split ends are :

*  hair that is lifeless (no swang)
* tangles easily
* just cant seem to hold a curl nor does it straighten well with heat
* varies in length throughout the head
* shows clear areas of dullness or thinness (transparency).
* excessive breakage
*  redder near the ends
       Anytime a hair is split, the end that is left behind has more chances  of becoming a new splitting end because most hairs do not break cleanly when they break off on their own. This is why it is best to trim split ends with sharp hair shears before they have the chance to break off by themselves. 
           Split ends are caused by many types of hair trauma, but are typically the result of a low moisture balance within the hair strand. When hair is allowed to remain dry, brittle, and under-moisturized for extended periods of time, the cuticle begins to crack and unravel, exposing the cortex of the hair.