Trimming& Hair Cutting vs Growth & Length Retention

[UrbainChic]

I just took off a bunch of hair in the bathroom because I could not take it anymore! My ends were out of control!

I know some women get duped into cutting off healthy ends more often than they need to but some of us (eg.ME) have gotten duped into thinking its cool to skip trims all but once a year. Well in the last 12 months I learned some of us (eg.ME) need to trim regularly!!!!

All last year, I only had my hair trimmed once, in the spring. My hair went through summer sun, outdoors, saltwater, swimming, highlight touch up, flat ironing, and you name it and no trims. Well fast forward to today and my ends were a mess! The only real difference in my hair routine is not trimming.

I feel like my hair growth has been not only stagnant but my ends have been looking all kinds of crispy scraggly and not as fabulous as they usually do, and I really think its due to not trimming. Luckily whatever damage was happening to my ends was not faster than the rate my hair growth or I would have had shorter hair, not just slow/no change length hair.

The year before I self trimmed a half inch here and there, several times a year, had great thick lush ends, retained a ton of length. I thought I was doing myself a disservice with all that cutting but after a stand still i can say NOPE! Pass me the scissors!

Remember ladies, split ends can travel up the hair shaft and eat away your progress, and cause breakage if they are not eliminated. I was on some "no trims" kick and let me tell you it has not helped me. I gain more length with regular trims. I am that person that needs to trim a few times a year. I think I still retained growth with trims like 5 x a year. Seriously.

Unfortunately I had to take a few inches off tonight instead of a more reasonable/ conservative dusting, but I learned what does and does not work for me. I need regular trims. I am going back to regular trims. I cannot with the crispy ends!!!!

Look at your ends, learn the difference between lead hairs, and split ends and chewed up ends and find what works for you! Trimming or cutting your hair more often may do you some good if your ends are looking suspect!

Okay. Done. Was just sharing, in case anyone else also tried to cut back on trims and cuts and faced slow to no progress or even setbacks.

 

[LexaKing]

I did the same last night and went and had an inch taken off ( it had been 4 months ). I usually would get a trim every 2 months but I tried to not trim as well. My hair feels soooo much healthier now! I think it's important to trim regularly even if your only cutting 1/4 to 1/2 an inch. I want long HEALTHY hair not just long hair. Plus having a good trim is an awesome starting point for your journey. It allows you to grow evenly, and protect, moisturize, and seal good ends.

 

[LexaKing]

I also found myself losing more hair the longer I didn't trim... It would just break. So to retain length we need to trim off the bad and protect the good hair .

 

[KurlyNinja]

I havent trimmed since July. I've been on the whole no trim kick too, but my ends are starting to feel a little rough to me. Fortunately I think its only the last 1/2" - 1" of my ends. But I'll definetly be trimming within the next few weeks.

 

[prospurr4]

Excellent post OP! Thanks for sharing.

For a year, I had been on the "no trimming kick," too, as I strived to retain only 2" that I needed to make WL...I never made it. And the ends that were grazing WL were thin and scraggly. I hated the way my hair looked when it was straightened.

So on 9/30/2011, I trimmed 1" to 1-1/4" off my ends, and on 12/31/2011, trimmed/dusted about 1/4" off my ends all throughout my hair. All that trimming left me about 2" away from WL again, but this time my ends were healthy. I have also been on a personal 100% PSing challenge for a year, until 9/30/2012.

Today, almost 2 months since my last trim/dust, I stretched out a section of hair, and yes, I am almost WL and my ends are still thick! Need another 1/2" to officially claim it.

I've learned my lesson. My hair needs regular trimming/dusting, about every 3 months. Like @UrbainChic, I want HEALTHY and LONG hair.

 

[temfash]

My hair is fine, so trimming regularly is a must I dust/trim my ends every 3/4 months.

 

[Charla]

Yep! One of the best pieces of advice I learned on this site is to trim BEFORE you see or feel damage. So that would lead you to trim as a preventive measure rather than for damage control.

 

[PopLife]

Funny you started this thread because my last trim was April '11 and last night I just couldn't take it anymore and hacked away. My hair looks 10x better and healthier. The more I get into taking care of my hair I value health over length and ends are a big factor!

 

[divachyk]

I also tried the no trim kick and it hasn't worked out that great. I don't self-trim, thus I will have a master cutter trim about 1 inch on my next TU and slowly dust away the remaining unhealthy ends as needed until I'm back at thick/lush ends.

 

[winona]

Wow this is interesting that you post this thread now. I can't wait until my next trim I have adjusted my regimen to once every 3 months for this reason. I was reaching my goals but with whack ends.

 

[Vshanell]

My hair is fine, so trimming regularly is a must I dust/trim my ends every 3/4 months.

My hair is fine too and I have to trim/dust/S&D regularly or I will not retain length.

Before hair boards my hair would not grow any longer and it was all because I wouldn't trim so don't neglect those trims ladies. Even if they are just dustings it will help. Trimming was the most important thing that got me to waist length and beyond.

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[thecurlycamshow]

I wasn't keeping up with my hair and recently had a lot of shedding and scraggly ends. I realized I had not trimmed in months. I've dusted my ends but barely. I rather of healthy hair than to keep those nasty ends.

 

[Seamonster]

Last year I trimmed every two weeks for three months, and my hair still grew. This year, I have been in the hide your hair, and no heat challenges so I find that I haven't trimmed yet this year.

I am thinking I might try to get a wet trim in some time this week end. Just got to get back into the trim of things. My hair responds well to trimming.

 

[brittle_hair]

I haven't trimmed since my bc last May. I know I need a trim but I like to think I can get away with it because I have been braiding back to back and have only taken a 3 week break. In those 3 weeks I did quite a bit of blow drying cos my shrinkage was overwhelming, also flat ironed and pressed my hair once.

I put off trimming last time I took my braids out, but something tells me that even with braiding, I still need regular trims, especially when the hairdresser insists on ripping through my hair with a fine tooth comb, my ends were definitely weaker last time compared to when I took the first install down after the bc...

Plan was to wait till APL to trim (i'm 1 and half inches away) but doesn't sound like i'll make it if I don't trim - Thanks for the reminder OP

 

[BillsBackerz67]

Im obsessed with trimming...I still see good length progress just not as much as ladies who dont trim often like I do.

 

[UrbainChic]

For the record my hair feels amazing today. Smooth and NO TANGLES. Those crispy split ends catch on each other too!

Sent from my iPhone

 

[LiftedUp]

I realized that I'm one of those people that need regular trims. In the long run, I have to hack off a lot because no matter the protective styling, moisturizing etc. my ends are not looking up to my standard, and in the long run I have to cut off much more than necessary.

Last September/October I agreed to have my hair cut to APL because of this very issue. Some people can do it and some can't, everyone's hair is different.

 

[sunnieb]

Cut! Cut! Cut!

My silly self joined a "No Trimming" challenge when I first got here...

Now I self-trim with every relaxer (3-4x a year), and my hair thanks me for it!

It may take me longer to get to TL, but that's ok. I'd rather have the thickest ends possible at that length than hold on to some crispity crunchy ends talmbout my huuurrrr is sooo loooonnnnggg!

 

[Poohbear]

I'm starting to feel the same way. My last trim was back in March 2011. I planned on doing a two-strand twists regimen but after 3 months, I flat-ironed my hair. I did retain length for those 3 months but I did not go back to the two-strand twists regimen. So My hair began to stay the same length as I kept using heat and manipulating it alot. This Saturday, I will be getting my hair trimmed/cut to get rid of these unsightly splits!

 

[niqu92]

yeah when i first joined LHCF i read all this stuff about how you really dont need to trim tht much as long as you keep your ends moisturized and ppl claiming tht they only trimmed once a year blahbleh frikin blah lol.so i was like ooh ok im not gonna trim anymore maybe
ummm yeah that was a horrible mistake.i went from luscious ends to scraggly wispy crispy ends and it also effected my growth a lot. needless to say now i make sure i trim every 3months lol

 

[CurlsBazillion]

I am with you on this, I need to trim more regularly before it becomes a bc. I just cut off 2 inches of raggedy ends and I'm almost sure I won't make it to BSL by the end of the year. I won't avoid cutting when I know I need it ever again. I refuse to be stuck between SL and APL forever.

 

[ItsMeFre]

The ladies that say they are trimming regularly, are you trimming or dusting?

 

[Chaosbutterfly]

Yesss this is exactly what happened to me. I came here, and everyone was like scissors is the debil, so I decided not to trim for an entire year.
I made it from SL to BSL in that year, which was good for me, but my ends were so horrible and thin that I never wanted to wear it out. When I did, it formed this severe V that I hated, so I ended up spending the next year trying to undo all that.
It was such a waste of time and energy, and I really feel that had I been trimming regularly from the get-go, I'd be WL by now.

There are some people who can do the no-trim thing, because their hair is built for that. But I think that if you have fine or fragile hair (especially if you relax as well) you need to trim as a part of your regimen. Long hair is useless if your ends look like cats been chewing on them.

 

[LexaKing]

Yesss this is exactly what happened to me. I came here, and everyone was like scissors is the debil, so I decided not to trim for an entire year.
I made it from SL to BSL in that year, which was good for me, but my ends were so horrible and thin that I never wanted to wear it out. When I did, it formed this severe V that I hated, so I ended up spending the next year trying to undo all that.
It was such a waste of time and energy, and I really feel that had I been trimming regularly from the get-go, I'd be WL by now.

There are some people who can do the no-trim thing, because their hair is built for that. But I think that if you have fine or fragile hair (especially if you relax as well) you need to trim as a part of your regimen. Long hair is useless if your ends look like cats been chewing on them.

I agree. I tried not to trim and my ends were long, straggly, and uneven... I had to take off an inch when I got a trim, but my hair feels 100% better! I think it's better to do regular trims of 1/4 to 1/2 an inch to retain length and protect your hair.

 

[FroFab]

I need to trim too. My fine strands start splitting and I think it's more painful to look at a strand that had 3-4 feather like splits on it than look at .25-.5 in of trimmed hair.

 

[prospurr4]

The ladies that say they are trimming regularly, are you trimming or dusting?

@ItsMeFre, I am actually trimming about 1/4", about every 3 months.

 

[baladi0822]

I agree that everyone's hair is different. I put more emphasis on staying away from heat and protective styling to preserve my ends, and so I don't have to trim as much... I trim once-twice a year. I think they've held up pretty well considering my ends are relaxed and severely heat abused (from the days before my HHJ).

 

[Dove56]

I usually trim (more like cut) about 6-7 times a year to maintain my BSL length. Now that I am growing my hair back to WL I will trim every 4 months and do light dustings S&D in between. My hair is medium, 3b/c and very strong so I have to really play in excessive heat and chemicals to get splits.

 

[katblack]

Honestly, if it wasn't for knots, I would rarely trim my hair. I don't really believe split ends can travel all the way up your strands, they would snap off before they got too far, but I also do know trims can be productive. Everyone should know how much is enough and actively evaluate benefits, if there are any when they do trim.

 

[RegaLady]

I am suffering now greatly because I haven't trimmed in a year. My ends are busted. Part of me wants to give up and cut it into a style because the splits have traveled so far up the shaft. I'm in a sew in now, but when I take it down, I will have to trim. I feel all my efforts of PS were in vain.