A question about hair growth?

I have about shoulder length hair (a little shorter) but I have so much layering it looks about chin length. Also it's pretty curly so it looks chin length unless I flat Iron it. I got it cut back in August, but I've been trying to grow it out. My hair seems really silky and soft and pretty straight until one point, then it's dry and poofy and very curly-poofy. Are these split ends I'll have to cut off? Or is it just my natural hair texture? It doesn't look dry, just feels like it. It would make my hair A LOT shorter, which I really don't want! Can I just not cut all of the dry part off?