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Ok. I have seen alot of questions about maintenance trims on this board in my time here. Alot of guys grow out their hair and think it looks bad when it is in the awkward stage, which it probably will for a while, that's just how it goes. But of course you probably dont want it to look like a mullet, nothing wrong if you do but must dont. So the question is, "How do I let my hair grow as fast as it can without looking like I have a mullet?" I developed a system where you get 3 cuts during you journey from when you start to shoulder length hair. Because it focuses on the back of your hair it really won't slow down the growth in other places. This, to me, is the best way to go about growing shoulder length hair. The only other cuts you would need after it gets to shoulder length is trimming dead ends which you can do on your own. So here is the Kat3Step (that's what I named it).
1: You will reach a point in going through the awkward stage where it begins to look a bit mullet-like, this is where you get the first back trim.
2: The next trim you will get will be to catch the back up with the sides. You will want your hair to be about 2-4 inches below the ear on the sides depending on your face type. Try to get the 1st trim at half the time between when you begin your growing out process and when you do this 2nd one.
3: The last and final trim you should get will be to even up the bangs with the back and sides. Your bangs should be about shoulder length when you do this.
One thing to watch out for though, make sure you're only taking length off the back. Not getting it layered or shaped. That is useless and WILL set you back in the growing process. Also make sure that you completely trust the hair stylist. Some will scalp you. After these cuts you'll want to basicly avoid salons. There are alot of people that would love to take off your beautiful hair. Happy growing and good luck. ^.^
I agree with you. Most people on this board is against any trim through the whole process of growing, but the truth is that trimming the back while growing works better for some people.
And I would add that this is not only good to avois the mullet-like look. Depending on your hair type you can even look neat trough the whole process, no "awkward stages" at all. And this is someting important with some kind of jobs.
The only problem is that you must be a little more patient (as you said, you don't have to lose real lenght if you want evened hair, but it will take more time to "look long"), and you must get it trimmed by someone that you can really trust, and that knows well what must be done.
Cliche response or not it's true! You really do not need to trim.
I've been growing for 16 months & haven't had any trims. As for the "mullet" phase thats pretty early on in the awkward phase & very short lived (at least for me anyway)
There again my decided length is lower back/waist, so I'm going to trim once every 2 years.
In the world of growing long hair (if the Devil were in fact real) trims would be the Devil.
Zac
Replace the word "trims" with "split-ends" and i think that pretty much sums it up nicely. Spiltz are the devil and trims are what we have to go through to get rid of them. BTW, i would only trim my hair to remove splits and no other reason.
All those interested in keeping your beautiful hair please beware of the dreaded maintenace trim. I believe this is a myth stylist use to keep clients. If you take good care of your hair, wash and condition it using good products, use minimal heat (air drying is best) you shouldn't have split ends. I love when they say trimming to keep it healthy. Hello, hair is dead. I was growing my hair out. It was really short, not even an inch all over. Somehow I let it grow. After eight months I just had the ends trimmed. I would go back every so often and have this done. Then I made the dreaded mistake of getting a perm which led to layers. The perm dried out my hair and the layers would need to be redone every so often. This led to a stylist taking a razor to "thin" out my thick coarse hair. Not a good idea. Needless to say I cut off the damage and I'm now back to square one, trying to grow my hair out again. It's hard because it was almost two years of growing when this happened. Like it was said find a trusted stylist who knows your goals for any trims you may need. Stay away from chemicals and don't ever let someone do something to your head that you know in your gut is bad. I now have to go through those awkward awful stages. Believe me this is very hard on a female. People say I can wear my hair like this. I am petite with an oval-shaped head and large blue eyes. Able to wear it and wanting to are two different things. I know my hair will look different in two months. I went through this before. It's just so hard now because I had my hair and now it's gone. I know its superficial but it was mine. My lesson is to just let it grow and leave it alone. Any other advice is greatly appreciated.
Avoid? But there are just so many styles and variations out there that no one even seems to know about. Would not you consider this to be among the most brillante and classic ways of wearing long hair? What an ingenious variation from the 70's-80's.
I didn't express properly what I wanted to say. I personaly LOVE the mullets (most of the variations at least), and I also love the "mullet-like" look when a man grows his hair the natural way. But some men just hate it (my boyfriend amongst them :( ), and many bosses are a lot more tolerant with "neater" styles while growing.
I don't always express things properly myself. Don't think any of us do. Think you rather hit the nail on the head with the above.
Am pretty sure the style I used to illustrate was(is) called "The Rocker." An almost impressionistic vague off-shoot of the so called common Mullet. It was popular with the Rock Bands of really not so long ago. Fashions are always changing and no doubt this "look" will appear again at some point.
This is what I have to show for not a single trims in 3-1/2 years. The ONLY time in growing out my hair that anything was ever "cut" was merely individual hairs that had Split-Ends, and that was done around the 2nd year. I myself do not understand all of this trimming, even-out reasoning. Just let nature do it for you. It is really so easy and always seems to look the best of all.
justin is completely right !
trims are nothing more than taking away length and increasing the time 'til u get ur desired length ...
i had 4-5 trims (about every 1/2 yr, each between 1-2 cm) within my 3 yrs of grow (so u can say that 0.5-1yr of grow was completely for nothing/lost) and i don't think that my hair looks better than without trims ...
for example justin is growin his hair only 1/2 yr longer than me but his is alot longer than mine ...
my opinion is that u should only get a trim if detangling your hair takes alot of time (e.g. i currently need less than 5 mins for that -> imho i have very few/no split ends now) ...
and i think this search & destroy method is way better than a trim cos u lose less length (it's more expensive but in my opinion your hair should be worth it) ...
and i also agree with justin that a natural v- or u-shape looks alot better than this 'even-all-out' look ...
hope u choose the right decision for your hair (i unfortunately didnt *g*) - keep growin',
ALH
approx 17 month, zero trims, except for minor split end cuts.
I don't believe i have a mullet or looked like i ever did.
Do whatever you please but i don't think trimming is necessary. What is your goal length?
approx 17 month, zero trims, except for minor split end cuts.
I don't believe i have a mullet or looked like i ever did.
Do whatever you please but i don't think trimming is necessary. What is your goal length?
My goal length is terminal. :)
I agree with you on point one. I like the all-one-length look. I know others don't so I guess it's a matter of personal preference.
I think that's a pretty good idea, for guys who want the back to look the same length as the front.
I've had the back of my hair cut shorter than the front (it still looks just a little longer), and find that I like the way it looks a lot better. It's a matter of personal preference really. Justin looks great with long, untrimmed hair, and Jason's "shaped" hair is pretty great-looking too.
