Hair dusting: the cut technique that saves split ends

Hair Dusting Is The Technique You’ve Never Heard Of, But Need To Try

Hands up whose hair is looking a little dry and – dare we say it – on the damaged side since we all started getting balayage. As much as we love them, those dye jobs aren’t doing our tresses any favours – but that doesn’t mean you need to stop.

Introducing hair dusting: the old-school technique that had pretty much been forgotten by hairdressers across the globe – until now. Lauded LA stylist Sal Salcedo (his Instagram is like an A-Z of cool girl cuts) is bringing hair dusting back, and with, he says, good reason.

“Hair dusting is a technique in which you don’t get rid of any hair length, but only the damaged hair tips,” Salcedo tells Refinery29. “Think of it in terms of removing fuzz from clothes.”

So if you’re trying to grow your lob out but are in desperate need of a tidy up, dusting could be for you. It works by snipping off the frazzled flyaways along the hair shaft. “You want to smooth the hair out the best you can first, because you need to allow the bad hair to pop up,” Salcedo says.

Here’s a demo:

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Just don't try this at home: Salcedo cautions it takes a trained hand and the amount of hair you take off is crucial to a polished or patchy end result. Let's watch one again:

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Strangely mesmerising, don't you think?

Anna McClelland

Anna is marie claire and InStyle's assistant digital content manager, reporting on everything from sell-out skincare to Meghan Markle's messy bun. Her work has taken her to tea with Miranda Kerr, the red carpet with Margot Robbie and New York with Jason Wu. Her words can also be found on Vogue, Body & Soul and Buro 24/7.