Dangers of not trimming

[Vshanell]

i think more people are doing the traycee method rather than the twisting method. to me the twisting method misses too much hair and is not as thorough. traycees method does take me about a week to finish (i take days off too lol) but i get much better results.

there is a link to traycees method some where in the thread posted by poka i think.

Yeah I don't do the twisting part. It does miss too much. I think the twisting method would be of more use to me if my hair is in it's natural state. I tend to neglect S&D's and dusting when my hair is in more natural styles so the twist method would be better than nothing you know.

my other question for Pokahontas is if you do Tracyee's method, will your hair look thin throughout?

I know that's probably a dumb question because your hair and Tracyee's is gorgoeous, but I'm just wondering.

No because you're not taking off enough length off of each strand to make a difference in thickness. You would only be taking off a dusting on the ends. Hair grows in layers anyway so you'd be fine as long as you're not over doing it with the S&D's.

 

[Mz.MoMo5235]

poka... you honestly have to stop posting cause every time you do i click on your fotki link

 

[Vshanell]

poka... you honestly have to stop posting cause every time you do i click on your fotki link

Lol. I'm all up in this thread i know. I'm passionate about this topic.

 

[BellaLunie]

Poka it's okay keep it coming!

 

[hillytmj]

Poka it's okay keep it coming!

Ditto! I greatly appreciate the knowledge.

As a follow-up Pokahontas, how often should you do Tracyee's method?

 

[Vshanell]

Ditto! I greatly appreciate the knowledge.

As a follow-up Pokahontas, how often should you do Tracyee's method?

I do it as needed but i wouldn't suggest doing it anymore than every 2 to 3 months.

When I do Traycee's method I dust the good hairs too so I'm trying not to do them too often.

S&D's I think you can do whenever you want because you're only removing the split.

 

[darlingdiva]

Thanks so much for your post. I seriously thought i was starting beat a dead horse here....or whatever the phrase is. I didn't think anyone was listening, lol.

You're not beating a dead horse at all. In fact, when I was conflicted about whether I should trim, I remembered that you said your hair didn't increase in length when you refused to trim.

I don't see this thread as a "get-people-to-trim-their-hair" thread; I see it as a thread that asks people to consider other options, especially if the current options aren't working for you (and FYI: if your hair is one length and your healthy hair is another length, then the current options aren't working for you. Don't say that you're APL when your healthy hair stops at SL.).

I also see this thread as yet another affirmation that there's no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to haircare. If your hair does fine without trimming (or trimming on a scheduled basis), then stick with that. However, if you need to trim (or dust), then do it!

 

[chebaby]

this is a great thread. i have not read all of it yet but let me just say that i bc'd down to 1/2 inch back in April or May of 2009 and i have not trimmed yet. my ends are fine. but since my hair is just out of the twa stage it is basically in a ps in and of itself so it doesnt brush against my shoulders or anything.
i do not plan on getting a trim until another six months because i simply dont think i need it yet.

 

[Vshanell]

You're not beating a dead horse at all. In fact, when I was conflicted about whether I should trim, I remembered that you said your hair didn't increase in length when you refused to trim.

I don't see this thread as a "get-people-to-trim-their-hair" thread; I see it as a thread that asks people to consider other options, especially if the current options aren't working for you (and FYI: if your hair is one length and your healthy hair is another length, then the current options aren't working for you. Don't say that you're APL when your healthy hair stops at SL.).

I also see this thread as yet another affirmation that there's no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to haircare. If your hair does fine without trimming (or trimming on a scheduled basis), then stick with that. However, if you need to trim (or dust), then do it!

I agree. It's frustrating when I see people always say their ends are chewed up but they will not trim until they get to their goal. I'm like PLEASE don't do that to yourself.....you may never get to the next goal that way or it's gonna take you extra long to get there. I know because I've done it. Some people don't have to trim and that's so great but unless you know that about your hair I wouldn't attempt it.

Damaged chewed up hair will grow....to a certain length, then it's gonna stop. What that length will be is based on that individual head of hair. Mine happened to get stuck and maintain around BSL. I would NOT have gotten any longer had I not started trimming/dusting so if someone isn't worried about getting super long length then they can keep their split up damaged ends I guess *shrug*.

 

[C@ssandr@]

For the ladies who have suffered setbacks due to infrequent trimming, were you ps'ing? Did you guys moisturize and seal your ends often? I'm just curious...
I'm not against trimming, in fact i'm all for health. My testimony to my healthy ends is learning from LHCF how to keep them protected.

Anybody successfully got around this?

 

[BellaLunie]

I'm curious too Keya

 

[Spring]

Keyawarren,
I think for me the huge problem was I didn't start off with good hair care practices. Then in the late 90s I learned about protective styling and moisturing, but I was doing that on broken hair. I grew down to almost wl raggedy and see-thru because most of the length was broken not just the ends. I then cut my hair to sl and put the scissors away which was a huge mistake because what my hair needed at that point was regular trimming along with ps and moisturizing until the broken hair was replaced with healthier thicker hair.

Some might not need to trim as often, but I usually trim every 2 months (except for last year, I had to trim more because of breakage in my crown area), and I might stretch that to every 3 months this year.

For me regular trims, along with ps, moisturizing, cwcc are an important part of my regimen.

 

[Kellum]

For the ladies who have suffered setbacks due to infrequent trimming, were you ps'ing? Did you guys moisturize and seal your ends often? I'm just curious...
I'm not against trimming, in fact i'm all for health. My testimony to my healthy ends is learning from LHCF how to keep them protected.

Anybody successfully got around this?

I PS my hair for almost 8 months straight. The only time when I wasn't PSing was when I got a touch up and I wore my hair straight for a few days. I am not a big heat user. I may have used heat twice last year. When I started I was an inch past APL with fresh ends because I got a trim in April 2009. July came and I got my touch up and didn't get a trim because I was in a no trim challenge plus I was in the HYH challenge, plus my ends were in great shape. Come December that was another story. It had been 8 months since my last trim. My ends were a mess. My hair grew and was thicker but my ends were not in good shape even through all of the PSing, moisturizing, sealing, dcing.

That 8 month period of not trimming hurt me. I ended up having to get a 1 1/2" trim in Dec. I was sick, but it had to be done. I learned my lesson. I have to trim to keep my ends healthy. I will trim 1/4" every so often if that is what it take to keep me from losing a lot of length.

Some people can go without trimming, but I am not one of them.

Check out my comparison pic. It tells the story.

 

[BellaLunie]

you basically trimmed away your growth

 

[Kellum]

you basically trimmed away your growth

Exactly, its not like I wanted to but my ends were bad. So I had to do what I had to do. Like I said I learned my lesson.

 

[Spring]

I think another factor in not trimming is the effect it has on us emotionally when we reach a goal length but are not happy with wearing our hair out. It has been a lot easier on me to enjoy my hair at each level when I have a decent hemline.

 

[Kellum]

I think another factor in not trimming is the effect it has on us emotionally when we reach a goal length but are not happy with wearing our hair out. It has been a lot easier on me to enjoy my hair at each level when I have a decent hemline.

Exactly, I would really be crushed if I got to WL and had to cut off 2" because of chewed up looking ends. I want long hair, but with nice healthy ends.

 

[BellaLunie]

I relaxed and now I'm dcing under my steamer. I'm nervous but can't wait to trim. I'll keep you ladies posted!

 

[gissellr78]

IMO 1/2" trim at least twice a year is good to keep your ends looking fresh.

 

[brittanynic16]

I trimmed away all my damage from a bad chemical treatment all last year. In the last 10 months I trimmed 3 inches of hair and still retained 4 inches, and my hair is better for it. I could be scrapping MBL but it wouldn't be a pretty site. I'll still reach it this year and it will look nice all the way there. I plan to dust every 3 months and S&D regularly.

I think trimming is a great way to maintain the health of your hair and also keep it presentable.

 

[BellaLunie]

I'm back. I'm feeling some kind of way. I relaxed,wrapped, and finally trimmed. For some reason I wanted to keep trimming(wanting the eveness) lol. My hair grew but it's so much thicker. I cant lie I wanted length more but thickness will do. Overall I'm happy I did it myself. I'm in my silk night cap now.

 

[Spring]

I seem to go through periods of that too or after I've recovered from being scissor happy I start sliding over to the other side and not wanting to cut the new length..

 

[ms.blue]

I have been doing S&D but I really need a good trim which I probably do it next month by a professional. I don't all my hard work go down the drain.

 

[C@ssandr@]

Yeah, lately my hair hasn't been completely straight since i've been ps'ing in one way or another. This week after my cw session I think I'll flatiron and take a better look at my ends. Quite frankly after my DIY touchup (my very first!) I'm not sure if I'm patient enough to S&D but the idea of someone else's untrustworthy hands in my hair gets me sick. you guys know what I mean...

 

[Victorian]

Shears matter. I was using some cheapie Conair hair shears for a while and I felt the need to cut more often. Since getting my Hot Tools professional shears, I feel like the "freshness" of my ends is lasting a lot longer. My Conair shears were about $8 if I recall correctly, and my Hot Tools pair was $30. It's really worth it IMO.

As someone who has tried little-to-no trimming for an extended time, and is currently doing more frequent trims, I have to say I enjoy my hair a lot more when I trim more frequently.