What is wrong with my hair? How did I get split ends?

I have so many split ends. Is there a way to get rid of them without cutting my hair? Listen up: Split ends are your hair strands talking to you.

You're killing them with kindness, probably from heat styling, using rubber bands, or from yanking on them with the wrong kind of brush. Battered and tattered ends are common, especially in hair that's shoulder-length or longer. As it grows (and ages), hair loses its ability to hold moisture and it gets brittle, breaks, and splits.

LindaMarie Stella, hair-care genius, suggests this simple solution: Take small sections of your hair and twist it tightly; the split ends should pop right out and you can cut them off with a good, sharp pair of scissors. You may want to have a friend help you with the back sections. To keep your hair healthy in the future, make sure you're protecting it from heat styling with a good leave-in conditioner like Redmond's Aussie Hair Insurance, which packs your hair with rich multivitamins without making it greasy (a major plus).

Stella also recommends applying the conditioner on wet hair, then using a comb instead of a brush to blend through (a comb is gentler on your wet hair). Try to avoid overstyling. Curling irons, rollers, and blow-dryers all wreak havoc on your hair, making it more susceptible to split ends.

And last but not least, make sure you're trimming your hair on a regular basis; once every six weeks should be plenty. Here's to much happier endings.