Blogging from A to Z challenge: D is for Dusting

 

Damaged hair can't be fixed or mended, only have the damage smoothed over. But the damage still remains, and will catch and tangle healthy hair around it, which leads to even more damage developing. Not to mention that the damaged hair itself will keep splitting as the damage develops further due to friction and environmental factors.

My understanding is that dusting is called dusting, because you leave so little leftovers from the snipping that it, well, looks like dust on the floor.

The difference between search and destroy and dusting, is that for S&D you look for damage, find the damage and then strategically snip off the damaged part you saw. For dusting, you cut off less of the length, but snip indiscriminately to make all ends fresh, no matter if they are damaged or not.

Both methods have pro's and con's.
For S&D the pro is that you only get rid of the damage you find, and get rid of all the length where you see damage. The con is that you can't always spot all the damage, since it depends on light conditions and angles.
For dusting the pro is that you freshen up all the ends, and get rid of damage that you haven't even spotted. The con is that you might not cut off enough length, for instance if the damage is a little further up the hair strand.
Neither method should affect your overall length though. If it does, your hair needs a normal trim instead since the length is too damaged.

There are many ways to do a dusting. You can bend hair around your fingers and snip off all the ends that pop up. Ends automatically pop out of a day-old braid which makes them easy to see and get rid of.

It's always a good thing to have your ends fresh and healthy. Unhealthy ends have more resistance and will tangle up the rest of your healthy hair.

Personally, I like to combine the methods. I look for damage, but will indiscriminately snip any ends.
I like keeping it with my pencils near my monitor, so when I have some moments where I'm thinking or waiting for something, I can use the contrast from the monitor to snip off damage.