If you’ve never had your hair dusted, then it’s time to head to the salon, and start making dusting a regular part of your hair care routine. 

You’ve probably heard that having your hair trimmed regularly will prevent split ends and keep everything looking nice and neat. In fact, you’re most likely doing this already. 

While getting a trim regularly is great for the ends of your hair, what about those little bits that stick out all over. Also, if you’re trying to grow your hair, is getting a regular cut really helping your progress? 

The answer to growing your hair out and keeping the entire thing, root to tip, looking clean and polished is getting your hair dusted.

What is hair dusting?

Hair dusting is a twofold process, and you want to opt for both to get the best results. Make sure that your salon not only dusts the ends of your hair but also dusts throughout.

Hair dusting the ends is like a trim, but instead of getting an inch or so cut off, you only get about a quarter inch trimmed. It really just focuses on the very ends of your hair where the split ends are likely to begin. You really get great looking hair without sacrificing length.

Dusting throughout is also referred to as a surface cut. With this technique, the split ends and fly-aways are removed without having to cut off the length. It’s a little more involved than an end-dusting and requires bending the hair a little bit to expose the split ends and fly-aways and then snipping them off. 

Why get a surface cut and end dusting?

A surface cut and end-dusting are the best ways to deal with split ends without sacrificing length. It neatly removes the split so the hair can continue to grow and look healthy. 

The reason this is essential is that there’s no way to repair a split end, it will continue to split up the hair shaft if it’s not trimmed. Getting to a split end early in the process saves most of the hair shaft. 

Split ends start on the very ends of your hair, hence the name. But, because routine shedding causes you to lose about 50-100 hairs a day, you’ve always got hair that is growing out, and it can split anywhere in that process.

How often to dust?

Fortunately, you don’t need to dust your hair as frequently as you need to dust your house. There is a little variance in dusting frequency, based on your hair’s current condition and how prone you are to split ends. 

Expect to schedule dusting appointments every six weeks to every 10 weeks. 

Preventing split ends

It should be noted that while you can’t “fix” a split end, you can work to prevent them by keeping your hair moisturized and healthy. Eating or nourishing your body to support health and hair growth is the best option, but not everyone has the time or patience to always eat with hair growth in mind. 

In this case, a shortcut solution can be to take a 100 percent natural, high-quality supplement to promote hair health from the inside out.

Other tips for preventing split ends include the following:

♦ Use a quality conditioner every time you shower.

♦ Make sure your shampoo doesn’t include parabens or sulfates.

♦ Stop using elastic hair elastics and opt for damage-free hair ties.

♦ Use a hair mask regularly to boost moisture content.

♦ Cut back on blow drying and hot iron usage, and always use a heat protectant.

♦ Add sunscreen to your haircare routine.

♦ Use a wide-toothed comb when hair is wet.

♦ Don’t rub your hair dry with a towel, blot instead or use a microfiber towel.

While preventing split ends can help, it won’t eliminate them entirely. The longer you let split ends “live” on your head, the more damage they do, which is why dusting is so important.

Final thoughts

Dusting your hair is key if you want to grow long hair quickly and have it look amazing throughout the process. It can virtually eliminate any awkward outgrowth stages and prevent fly-aways and frizz. 

There are basically two forms of dusting, one that removes a very small amount of hair from the ends and one that focuses on split ends throughout your head. If you want to make sure your salon does both, ask for end dusting and a surface cut. 

Getting this type of haircut somewhere between every six to 10 weeks lets your hair grow longer but keeps the ends as healthy as possible. You can boost the health of your hair in several different ways by working hard to prevent split ends. With diligence and these techniques, you should be able to grow the hair you’ve always wanted.