Growing long hair and trims

[dahllia]

I have been confused on this for a very long time

. I hope someone can help me. If you wear a bun or any kind of style to keep your ends out of the air every day, and you moisturize your hair and end faithfully plus condition wash and rinse on damnnear a daily basis, How often and how much should you trim your ends if you are trying to grow your hair very long? I havent had a trim in 2 years up until yesterday,and 3/4 to an inch was cut. I know that more needs to be done but i dont know how to go about it and I dont trust stylists. I appreciate anyone who can give me a basic idea. Just to let you know, I think I was one of those people who liked to hold on to damaged ends for the sake of keeping long hair, but I am trying to change that senseless mindset. Please help. *nervous laughter*

 

[Tracy]

Dahllia,

The thing to remember most is that it isn't a science. Trust yourself. YOU know your hair best. Don't think just because you haven't had a trim in 2 years that you "needed" 4 inches hacked off. This is going to sound weird - but if you're new to this your first real task is getting to know your hair. First things first? FEEL IT. Feel the difference between your new growth, your midshaft and your ends. Do it after a fresh wash and set (not an aridry - it'll be harder to tell, unless your natural then it's fine) and notice the difference between the textures and the relative smoothness of all three....Look at it too, notice shade variances, dullness and shininess gradations...check it all out. Really get to know your hair.

Why do this? My hair when it's healthy and does not need to be cut feels completely different than many friends of mine with hair similar in length. Our textures are different and our hair feels different when it's healthy, as well as when it's not. So first you need to know what unhealthy ends on YOU feels like.

When you get to the place in the strand where the hair feels wooly, is slightly lighter than the rest, doesn't shine as much as the rest - THAT'S most likely hair that needs to be cut. So at that point, you can cut it if you want, OR you can cut as much as you can stand and increase the frequency of the trims so you don't traumatize yourself

and eventually those ends will come off. The secret is, they come off as new hair is coming in and it's not as upsetting.

Once your ends are healthy, if you wear it in protective styles (again it DEPENDS on YOUR hair) it MAY not need trimming as often. Keep feeling it, keep watching it, keep paying attention. Some people wear protective styles and trim once a year, if that. Some wear them and still trim with every relaxer. Some every other.

My hair doesn't have trimmable splits more often than every 6 months - and it's good thing because my hair grows like a snail on thorazine.

I rarely wear my hair up. But I do airdry often and maybe that matters. But you really have to get to know your hair to truly see what works. Good luck to you.

 

[AngieK]

<font color="brown">My suggestion . . .

If your hair is not breaking on the ends, I would get a little trimmed with each relaxer, or every 8 weeks. Your hair won't get noticeably longer by doing this, but it won't get any shorter either.

Then, once you have trimmed all of the bad ends, you can go to trimming every OTHER relaxer - maybe only 1/2 inch. If you are relaxing every 2 months, that would mean that you are only getting trimmed every 4 months (or 3 times per year). Keep in mind that if you are heat styling (blowdrying, flatiron, etc.), you may have to trim more often in order to keep dry, split, and thinning ends under control.

AngieK

P.S. If your hair IS breaking and thinning on the ends, I would just bite the bullet and get a major trim. That way you can start with a clean slate and not have to worry about it anymore. </font>

 

[Supergirl]

Even with protective styling and taking great care of the hair, the ends will eventually need to be trimmed just because the hair ages and erodes. However, I am not an advocate of trimming hair just for the sake of it. I also KNOW how hard it is to find someone else that will do your trims without hacking off alot more than is really necessary.

I am one of the few on the board that thinks that daily washing/conditioning is harmful to our hair. Not so much because of putting the conditioner on daily but more so because of wetting the hair everyday. Our hair is weaker and more susceptible to damage when it is wet.

 

[Victorian]

snail on thorazine

Girl, you are too crazy!

dahllia, I agree with what the other girls have said. Only YOU can prevent scraggly ends (lol). Trim when you see splits but there's no need to trim just for the sake of trimming. And I also like the idea of trimming some of the more damaged hair in stages so it's not like one big 3-inch deal. It make take longer to reach your length goal, but when you do you'll have full, healthy ends!

 

[Tracy]

[ QUOTE ]


I am one of the few on the board that thinks that daily washing/conditioning is harmful to our hair.

[/ QUOTE ]

Girl I know you workout often. I need your help on the scared of fall and winter thread.

Thanks!

 

[dahllia]

[ QUOTE ]
Dahllia,

The thing to remember most is that it isn't a science. Trust yourself. YOU know your hair best. Don't think just because you haven't had a trim in 2 years that you "needed" 4 inches hacked off. This is going to sound weird - but if you're new to this your first real task is getting to know your hair. First things first? FEEL IT. Feel the difference between your new growth, your midshaft and your ends. Do it after a fresh wash and set (not an aridry - it'll be harder to tell, unless your natural then it's fine) and notice the difference between the textures and the relative smoothness of all three....Look at it too, notice shade variances, dullness and shininess gradations...check it all out. Really get to know your hair.

Why do this? My hair when it's healthy and does not need to be cut feels completely different than many friends of mine with hair similar in length. Our textures are different and our hair feels different when it's healthy, as well as when it's not. So first you need to know what unhealthy ends on YOU feels like.

When you get to the place in the strand where the hair feels wooly, is slightly lighter than the rest, doesn't shine as much as the rest - THAT'S most likely hair that needs to be cut. So at that point, you can cut it if you want, OR you can cut as much as you can stand and increase the frequency of the trims so you don't traumatize yourself

and eventually those ends will come off. The secret is, they come off as new hair is coming in and it's not as upsetting.

Once your ends are healthy, if you wear it in protective styles (again it DEPENDS on YOUR hair) it MAY not need trimming as often. Keep feeling it, keep watching it, keep paying attention. Some people wear protective styles and trim once a year, if that. Some wear them and still trim with every relaxer. Some every other.

My hair doesn't have trimmable splits more often than every 6 months - and it's good thing because my hair grows like a snail on thorazine.

I rarely wear my hair up. But I do airdry often and maybe that matters. But you really have to get to know your hair to truly see what works. Good luck to you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanx Tracy, this was great advice!!!

I am in the process of getting to know my hair thoroughly.

 

[dahllia]

[ QUOTE ]
<font color="brown">Keep in mind that if you are heat styling (blowdrying, flatiron, etc.), you may have to trim more often in order to keep dry, split, and thinning ends under control.

AngieK

P.S. If your hair IS breaking and thinning on the ends, I would just bite the bullet and get a major trim. That way you can start with a clean slate and not have to worry about it anymore. </font>

[/ QUOTE ]

I dont heat style flat iron or anything like that. I just wash or rinse, moisturize and bun or french roll it... I dont have that (heat) to worry about. But my ends were quite thin so even though I miss feeling my hair creeping down my brastrap, Im glad I got rid of at least some of the damage for now. Thanx AngieK

 

[dahllia]

[ QUOTE ]
Even with protective styling and taking great care of the hair, the ends will eventually need to be trimmed just because the hair ages and erodes.

[/ QUOTE ]

I suspect this too, I just figured that if I do all the things I am doing, maybe trims wouldnt have to be as frequent. Thanx Supergirl

 

[dahllia]

[ QUOTE ]
And I also like the idea of trimming some of the more damaged hair in stages so it's not like one big 3-inch deal. It make take longer to reach your length goal , but when you do you'll have full, healthy ends!

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah the amount of time it will take bothers me, but I know it's worth the effort to have healthy, full hair, thanx BlackCardinal

 

[Supergirl]

[ QUOTE ]
Quote:
Even with protective styling and taking great care of the hair, the ends will eventually need to be trimmed just because the hair ages and erodes.



I suspect this too, I just figured that if I do all the things I am doing, maybe trims wouldnt have to be as frequent. Thanx Supergirl


[/ QUOTE ]

You are correct. They shouldn't have to be done as frequently, nor should alot have to be taken off.