Keeping hair healthy can be tricky when you’re trying to grow it out.

If you’re thinking about getting a trim but are wary to lose length, try asking your hairdresser to “dust” your hair.

“Hair dusting” is a hair cutting technique that is not new, but rarely done and therefore not widely known about. As Los Angeles hairstylist Sal Salcedo explained to Refinery29:

“Hair dusting is a technique in which you don’t get rid of any hair length, butonlythe damaged hairtips. This can be done by snipping the very bottom of each hair strand.”

When you see it in action, it seems completely brilliant:

Salcedo explained further:

“Think of it in terms of removing fuzz from clothes. You want to smooth the hair out the best you can first, because you need to allow the bad hair to pop up. That’s what you will be getting rid of.”

So why don’t salons just do this all the time? According to Salcedo, it’s because the process is really time consuming. Most stylists see it as more of a grooming technique, and will typically only do it if a client requests it.

“Dusting” can also be done on any hair texture or type.

And if the salon is out of your current budget, tons of beauty bloggers offer instructions for at-home hair dusting. Hair-care platform Naturally Curly has the following advice:

Whether you’re going to the salon for your dusting or DIY-ing it, this re-discovery begs the question: What other techniques do stylists have under their belts that aren’t of common knowledge?

H/t: Refinery 29

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