Familiar topic w/pic - How often should you trim?

[hillytmj]

Hello everyone,
I know this is an old, familiar topic full of debate, but when do you think it's the best time to trim? I, like many of you, have suffered setback after setback with retention due to scissor-happy stylists. I found a great person to trim my hair at a Supercuts type place; but, unfortunately she quit. My last major trim was May 30, 2008, and I experienced lots of growth.

Fast forward to last week. I went to the salon to get a deep conditioner/protein treatment. My stylist used a setting lotion that made my hair hard and dry. I knew this, but my ends looked dry to me. I normally moisturize and seal daily so me ends always look good because they are coated in oil. So I started thinking, maybe I need a trim. Looking back, I should have just re-washed my hair, DC'd and then evaluated.

Long story short - when I went back to the Supercuts place with a different lady, I refused to let her cut an inch (like she recommended) and I refused to let her cut a half inch. She cut less than that, but I feel that she wanted to make my hair even (it's layered). It's not drastically shorter, but I want to retain every centimeter of my hair so I can reach my BSL goal by the end of the year.

I only use direct heat like once a year and have done this for three years now, I DC, moisturize, the whole nine, so I'm wondering, how often do I really need to trim my hair if I'm not abusing it all the time? How can you be sure you're not putting off a necessary trim that will eventually lead to a setback?

Any thoughts?

PS - I took this photo Friday with my friend's nephew prior to the trim, and I'm looking at the photo thinking, why on earth did I trim my hair, rather than wash and deep condition to get rid of all of that dang setting lotion!

 

[dlewis]

I trim as I see it's needed. This year has been a year of trims, I'm going for a blunt cut.

If you have split ends you NEED to trim, if not the split ends only continue to travel up the length of the hair. So what's the point of not cutting?

 

[hillytmj]

I trim as I see it's needed. This year has been a year of trims, I'm going for a blunt cut.

If you have split ends you NEED to trim, if not the split ends only continue to travel up the length of the hair. So what's the point of not cutting?

If you don't have splits, do you still think you would trim. I'm not sure if I had any major splits, but why would anyone have split ends if they aren't using heat, lots of manipulation, etc.

 

[chebaby]

i dont know if you had splits or not but i you low mani. and deep condition frequently and protect your ends and they feel raggidy then yes i would do a very small trim.

 

[TexturedTresses]

Hello everyone,

How can you be sure you're not putting off a necessary trim that will eventually lead to a setback?

Any thoughts?

This is what I wonder about.

 

[taj]

I trim only as needed. To maintain healthy ends I may dust occasionally, avoiding setbacks in the future. However, If I need a trim I will not hesitate to do so. I :heart2:for my ends to be healthy.

 

[~CurlyNikki~]

I do micro trims quite often, due to left over heat and color damage on my ends. I generally do search and destroys twice a month, but these have decreased lately, because it seems that most of the damage is growing out!!!!!!!! I don't plan on getting a 'salon' trim in the near future. My hair is probably ridiculously uneven, but it doesn't matter because I never wear it straight. I'm interested in trimming with the phases of the moon...but I've never done the research.

 

[hillytmj]

How can you be sure you're not putting off a necessary trim that will eventually lead to a setback?

This is what I wonder about.

Ok ladies, you have two people wondering the same thing. I don't know Sandy Rabbit personally, but I bet she's suffered a setback before like me by waiting too long to clip, and doesn't want to repeat it.

Any responses out there???

 

[NYAmicas]

I dont trim, to each their own.

 

[Noir]

I trim only as needed. To maintain healthy ends I may dust occasionally, avoiding setbacks in the future. However, If I need a trim I will not hesitate to do so. I :heart2:for my ends to be healthy.

This is me also.

I really think that helps to find a stylist that you can TRUST. My salon is excellent. They will do very light dusting and a trim when needed.

OT. That baby is adorable!

 

[RabiaElaine]

Sistaslick's article on thinning ends has a great explaination fo why keep the hairline (at the ends that is) even is a good thing:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/ar...ses_thinning_hair_ends_and.html?page=4&cat=69

However, uneven ends, even healthy ones, can affect the rest of your hair mainly through tangling and extra stress on the longest strands. Think about a stretch of hair that contains strands of varying lengths (A). How do you think that would compare to a stretch of hair with a more uniform length (B)?

This: (A)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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or this, (B)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first scenario is more of an "every man for himself" type of deal. Each hair on the end takes the full brunt of the trauma/manipulation. So, while those thin ends might not be damaged one bit, they are more fragile/weaker overall because they are out there fending for themselves against whatever you throw at them. Imagine sliding a flatiron down that first piece! The longest strands are going to take the biggest hit.

The one with a uniform length resists mechanical breakage easier because as the comb travels toward the ends, the hair maintains its "strength in numbers" and the force of manipulation is shared. Tangling is greatly reduced in this situation.

I was thinking this myself for a while now, and now that I've read this article by sistaslick it has confirmed my thoughts. When we go long times without a trim often our once blunt ends, while longer, tend to thin out and look more and more wispy. Sistaslick's "each man for himself" analogy is the best explaination I've heard so far for this. For the past 2 years I've avoided trims as much as possible because of our well known fact that trimming doesn't help the hair to grow. But I honestly believe that I missed out on retaining lots of length and thickness if I had maintained my hair with regular trims (or even mini trims).

It's definitely a personal thing, but I believe my hair looks best and also behaves best when my ends are more blunt and have been trimmed.

 

[SEMO]

I went to Great Clips for a trim about a year and a half ago. The trim turned into a cut, but I wasn't that mad b/c I wanted to get rid of some bad ends. But I haven't felt the need to trim since then. I keep my ends in good shape and since I wear my hair mostly curly I don't concern myself with it too much.


P.S.
Curlynikki, I LOVE your hair. So pretty.

 

[CHECKMATE!]

I don't trim at all! just dust/ S&D b4 a relaxer or when I'm bored