Latest news with #splitends
The Sun
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I tested £38 gadget to beat the salon and save my split ends – it blew my mind
MY hair used to be pampered like royalty – regular trims, glossy blow-dries and a shelf full of fancy products to keep split ends at bay. But since becoming a mum in March, all that TLC has gone out the window. These days, I'm lucky if I get five minutes to run a brush through it, let alone book a salon snip. Between 3am feeds and the endless blur of nappies, my hair's been left to fend for itself, usually shoved into a dry-shampooed topknot that's more bird's nest than 'blowout'. The result? A record-breaking ten months without a trim and therefore more split ends than a Love Island recoupling. And while I dream of a head massage and glossy finish, the reality of juggling a newborn — and hearing my baby scream mid-hair wash — isn't exactly soothing. Add in the fact that my maternity pay is disappearing into nappies, wipes and babygrows, and a pricey haircut isn't an option any more. Days at home mean it's easy enough to ignore, but with a holiday coming up, my unruly mop needs taming before it hits airport security. So, on one of my early-hours TikTok scrolls, I came across a £38 gadget that promised to rescue my dead ends from the brink — a split-end hair trimmer by Luxmend, a British beauty website. The device — which looks like a typical hair straightener, but with scary teeth — has accumulated thousands of tried-and-tested videos, attracting more than two million views. Clip after clip showed users running the device over their frazzled ends, trimming just the damaged bits and revealing smooth, shiny strands underneath — within minutes. Finally, a hair fix I could squeeze in during nap time? I was sold. According to Luxmend, the gadget only targets split ends, trimming away the frazzled bits without affecting your overall length. It works by feeding strands through a hair plate, which lifts any rogue, spiky ends and snips them off with built-in blades. The device comes with sectioning clips, a USB charger and a quick-start guide that recommends working in layers for the best results. Once charged, it powers up instantly, and to turn it off, you simply lock it shut. Easy enough. But I won't lie, I was nervous. The inner prongs look a little too aggressive for something gliding near my face. And the noise? Loud enough to make the baby stir. It doesn't exactly scream 'trust me'. So, before committing my split ends to Luxmend's blades, I did what any trend-follower would do — another TikTok deep dive. 'Unravelling rope' Cue panic. Among the glossy before-and-afters were horror stories — users showing clumps of hair inside the gadget's clear chamber, gasping as more than just their ends disappeared. Was this sleek little trimmer a miracle — or a mistake waiting to happen? Wes Sharpton, a hairstylist at haircare brand says: 'As professional stylists, we think of split ends like an unravelling rope — they travel up the strand and only a proper haircut can truly stop the damage from progressing. 'Split-end machines claim to remove frizz and damage, but in reality, they only trim the small hairs that stick out, and those hairs eventually reappear, leaving the hair still looking frizzy and uneven.' That being said, considering the current state of my locks, I was desperate — and convinced myself that if I just did the ends, I wouldn't have much to lose if it did go terribly wrong. 4 During my daughter's nap, I finally gave it a go. I started cautiously, pulling down a hidden layer of hair from underneath. That way, if it massacred my mane, I could at least cover the damage. Taking a section about an inch wide, I fed the last two to three inches through the trimmer, clamped it shut and slowly pulled it down. You can definitely feel the tension as it works — it doesn't glide like straighteners. There's a subtle resistance, like the machine is chewing through your ends — gently, I hoped. Once I reached the bottom, I flipped the gadget open and peeked through the clear chamber. Sure enough, it was filled with tiny chopped hairs — the kind that normally coat the bathroom sink when my partner trims his beard. I decided to tackle just one half of my head first, partly for damage control and partly to see if there was a real difference. It's surprisingly easy to do solo, but you can't rush it. I tried feeding in a thicker chunk of hair at one point and the device struggled to chomp through it. Working in smaller sections, I watched the clear chamber steadily fill up with little wisps of split ends. Weirdly, it became really satisfying and addictive. I didn't want to stop. The results do far? The freshly trimmed sections looked noticeably smoother, glossier and far less frizzy. Most of those pesky split ends had vanished, and with each section I got braver — thankfully without losing more than I intended. 4 Once half my head was done, the difference was obvious. One side looked sleek and fresh, the other still rocking the tumbleweed look. I was genuinely blown away that this £38 gadget managed to freshen up my frazzled ends in under 15 minutes. Sure, it's not quite the same as a salon experience, but let's be honest, neither is trying to wrangle a baby through a haircut. And in the meantime, it has bought me a few extra months of avoiding the hairdresser — and the hefty bill that comes with it. Pre-baby, I was paying as much as £150 per cut and £220 for a cut and colour, visiting the salon every four months. That's at least £400 a year, just to get it trimmed. The best bit about my new split-end saviour? You can whip it out whenever you've got a moment to yourself — even at 3am when the baby's asleep and you're wide awake. Don't mention it to your hairdresser.
The Sun
23-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Sun
My hair is the healthiest it's ever been thanks to a crucial step everyone skips – it's so thick & long with zero damage
A WOMAN has revealed the secret behind her thick and healthy hair - and chances are, you've probably never done it. We all know by now that shampooing is a must when it comes to maintaining a healthy mane - but according to one beauty buff, Claudia Silva, there's a step many of us skip. 2 While haircare experts often advise us to only shampoo our scalp, the real-life Rapunzel Claudia recently explained why she also shampoos her hair from top to bottom. To make it even more effective and ensure the hair follicles are cleansed thoroughly, Claudia also uses a brush to go over her long locks. Despite some assuming this unusual step is ''damaging'' for the tresses, Claudia recently took to TikTok where she proved everyone wrong. ''I'm giving myself so many split ends, I'm drying my hair out so much - and this is all because I like to brush shampoo through my hair. ''These are 90% of the comments that I receive daily whenever I post a hair brushing video. ''It is not true - my hair is actually the healthiest it's ever been. ''If it was damaging my hair, of course I would stop doing it,'' she told fellow beauty buffs in the video. Claudia - who reminded that it's never ''one size fits all'' - added that now her favourite thing about her tresses is how ''full and thick'' the ends are. ''I have a few pet peeves when it comes to hair and one of them is long hair with thin ends - I cannot stand that.'' 'It's made such a difference!' Since being posted online, the video has won Claudia more than 560k views in just two days, with dozens flooding to comments. 'It's one of the best I've ever tried' cries Dealz shopper over Marc Jacobs dupe - and it's a steal at €4.50 While many may have not come across this step up until now, there were plenty of those who also swore by the brushing method. One social media user claimed they've noticed epic results thanks to the easy step. ''I've started brushing shampoo after seeing your videos. It's made such a difference! How often should you be washing your hair? Anabel Kingsley, Consultant Trichologist and Brand President at Philip Kingsley spoke exclusively to Fabulous. You take your hair and scalp to the same places you take your face, and it gets just as dirty. Your scalp is also a living tissue; it sweats, produces oils and sheds skin cells. You wouldn't leave two days between washing your face, and you likely wouldn't wear the same outfit more than a few times before washing it – apply the same thinking to your hair. It is a myth that washing your hair too often causes your hair to get greasier. ''My blow dries last longer and hair is less oily and weighed down.'' Another chimed in: ''I feel like your hair smells so FRESH AND CLEAN.'' A third wrote: ''honestly ever since i tried brushing my shampoo and i never really looked back!'' ''I've been doing this for the longest time with my shampoo and conditioner, my hair has never been better,'' commented a viewer.
