Hair Dusting Gets Rid of Your Damaged Split Ends—Without Sacrificing a Single Inch

Split ends are like uninvited guests that crash your party, unannounced and ready to hang for a while. One second, you're enjoying shiny blowouts and bouncy curls; and the next, you're coating your strands in smoothing oil to mask those pesky intruders. Have you ever held up your color-treated, or regularly heat-styled, hair to the sunlight about six to eight weeks post-trim? Yikes. We wish our cheekbones could catch the light as good as our split strands.

Much to our chagrin, split ends are unavoidable and can't be reversed once acquired. The only solution is snipping them off. Luckily, there's an expert hair-trimming technique that doesn't require taking off an inch or two to get healthier hair. It's called hair dusting. Here's what you need to know.

Without taking off any length, hair dusting makes sure those damaged split ends are—poof!—gone. So if you're trying to grow out your locks for summer or simply to rid damage from color treatment or heat styling, hair dusting will get you there with zero hassle, but a whole lot of flair. (The process is quite mesmerizing to watch.)

"Hair dusting is a technique in which you don't get rid of any hair length, but only the damaged hair tips. This can be done by snipping the very bottom of each hair strand. Think of it in terms of removing fuzz from clothes," Los Angeles-based stylist, Sal Salcedo, explained to Refinery29.

"The point is to get rid of hair that no longer serves you," Salcedo continued. "Hair gets damaged because of weather, coloring, bad haircuts, hot tools, and most of time, just the age of the hair."

The technique works on any hair type or texture, but for ladies with very wavy or curly hair, the stylist will need to smooth it out to see the damaged ends that need to be dusted. It won't thin out your hair either—in fact, in the long run, it does quite the opposite. By removing split ends regularly, you keep the damage from creeping up your strands. That's incredibly important for those who color treat or style their hair with heat tools regularly.

Not all stylists are masters of hair dusting though, so make sure to verify that your hairdresser can do the job properly. It goes without saying, dusting needs to be up to snuff for the outcome to be hair that looks and feels enviably healthy.

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Hair dusting is the perfect maintenance ritual for ladies who aren't leaving the house without perfectly coiffed, colored tresses. You'll still be needing a proper haircut from time to time for layers, bangs, and overall shaping; but this has you covered in the meantime.