Nobody wants split ends, and split ends are somewhat difficult to avoid entirely. Caused by sun damage, hair dryers, curling irons, and other hair tools, split ends occur along the hair shaft and create hair that is frizzy, dry, and hair that breaks easily. Hair treatment products, such as shampoos and conditioners and even leave-in products like gels, promise to repair split ends and place hair back into its original state of luxury. But do split end hair treatments even work?

Well, yes and no. Split end hair treatments generally work by coating the hair with a very fine layer of oils (or uses oxygenization) that close the hair shaft and make the hair appear smoother to the look and touch. Split end hair treatments may place a bandage over the split ends, but won't repair them entirely.

The plus side to split end hair treatments is that they do protect the hair from the impending damage you will cause to your hair in the form of combing, styling, blow drying and other tools you will be using. Since the treatments act like an adhesive to seal the hair for a time, split end treatments do work to temporarily protect the hair shaft from further damage. However, simply rinsing your hair in cold water will do basically the same thing.

So, what really works to treat split ends? Simply put, trimming them off is the only thing that will really work to treat split ends. If you are in between hair cuts and you have split end issues now, you can successfully use split end treatments, but this can be spendy. Your better (and cheaper) bet is to just rinse your hair in cool or cold water before you style it. Cold water closes your hair shaft, making your split ends less noticeable, less susceptible to damage, and makes your hair shiny- for free!