Repair products treat the consequence. Worth spending a moment on the cause, because otherwise you will be buying this indefinitely.
What damage actually is
The outer cuticle of a hair is made of overlapping scales. Damaged hair has scales that are lifted, chipped or missing.
That produces everything people complain about:
- Tangling — rough surfaces catch on each other
- Breakage — the strand is weaker and snaps under tension
- Dullness — a rough surface scatters light instead of reflecting it
- Frizz — the strand takes on moisture unevenly
- Splitting — the final stage, where the strand separates
Where it comes from
In rough order of impact:
- Bleaching, particularly repeated. The most damaging thing done to hair
- Heat styling, especially straighteners on dry, unprotected hair
- Colouring
- Brushing wet hair, which stretches and snaps it
- Terry towels, which roughen the cuticle every time
- Tight styles worn constantly
- Age of the hair — on long hair the ends are years old
What a mask does about it
Fills and smooths the cuticle temporarily, reduces friction and breakage, improves elasticity while it remains. Genuinely useful, and it lasts until the next wash — hence weekly rather than one-off.
It does not rebuild the strand, and it does not repair split ends. Only cutting removes those.
The habits that matter more
- Lower the heat, use protection every single time, and take heat-free days
- Never brush wet hair. Detangle with conditioner in, wide-toothed comb, ends upward
- Squeeze with a cotton t-shirt, not a terry towel
- Trim 1 cm every 10–12 weeks, even while growing hair out. Splits travel upward if left
- Space out bleaching
Doing these plus a weekly mask produces visible improvement. Doing the mask alone does not.
Using it
Damp hair, lengths and ends only, combed through, stated time, rinsed thoroughly. Once or twice weekly, instead of conditioner.
The full composition is in the Faberlic catalogue. For split ends specifically, see the haircare section.