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are they really needed? like when i first attempted to grow my hair in 2001, i grew it just past my chin and i never got a maintenance cut. i put gel in my hair and ripped thru it all the time yet it still grew. so why do some people say that if ur hair has spilt ends or gets damaged that it will just keep spilting and not grow any longer? if you have maintenance cuts, did you do it for looks or because u were afraid it wouldnt grow as fast or not grow at all?
Hi Ryan,
"maintenance cuts" are NOT necessary. If you want to GROW your hair, CUTTING is illogical. Cutting hair for length is like having intercourse for virginity (just avoided a four-letter word).
Situation where "maintenance cuts" are necessary are the absolute exception.
Hope that helps.
Happy growth and a happy 2007!
Hans-Uwe
I really don't think so. I have heard the same thing, but my hair is getting quite long now and I have had no maintenance cuts. At some point I will cut mine to a length that I like, but I'm not there yet. I would suggest no cuts. BTW, my hair is not exactly "high quality" to begin with and it is still growing without any trims.
small trims are only needed if you have split ends and it makes it hard to comb or makes your hair look really bad. Even then take off no more than 1/4 inch. If you have trims all the time you will never have long hair.
trims are not necessary.I would recommend a trim ONLY if you wanna even out the hair a bit,namely,to cut an inch or 2 off the back hairs so that the top hairs can catch up.you can either wait until after the awkward stage,or either get it now.it's up to you!
The word, "necessary" is all dependent upon a multitude of factors...
I, for one, trim off my own split ends every week. Not everyone gets them, --- or gets them at least very noticeably. The longer my hair has gotten, the more split ends i see. I used to go into a hair salon at least once or even twice a year for a professional maintenance trim (mostly to remove the split ends, --- but also for some degree of re-shaping). But over the last 3 years I have decided to use the "search & destroy" method of cutting off split, broken, or otherwise damaged ends myself. It's very time-consuming taking matters into your own hands that way; but, it's currently what I've chosen to do (it's a lot cheaper - lol).
If the longest your hair has ever been is chin-length, then probably split ends did not show up yet (or very many of them, at least).
There's a lot more I could say on this subject, but probably others have already covered some angles of it. Opinions vary, --- even here! Best to just do your best to take in all viewpoints, and then make up your own mind as to what will work best for YOU!!
Hope this has helped...
- Ken in San Francisco
Hi Ryan,
It will slow down the growing out process if you trim frequently, making the awkward stage longer, etc. I would say to stay away from them. I've been growing for 2 3/4 years now with no trims. (actually started 3 years ago, trimmed fairly significantly in April 2004, so I count April 2004 as my true starting point) I really want to go for the maximum length in the least time, maybe if my hair becomes really "ratty" at the ends, I might consider a slight one, but certainly not at the present time.
David
Yes, it's been nearly three and a half years and I've had only two trims. My first (and totally unnecessary) at three months because the hair dresser said it would help. Yeah, help her make some more money, that is. My second trim was at around 23 months and really helped remove some damaged hair (from highlights I got before I knew how damaging it could be). Got almost 2 inches taken off in some places.
Haven't had a trim since then, and I don't see any split ends. Last year, a young, short haired female hair dresser told me that I should get my hair cut every four weeks and that it would help it to grow faster. T'yah, whateva! I bought the shampoo from her, but certainly take her up on monthly haircuts!
My Blog
I missed a couple of words in the last sentence, it should have said "but certainly DID NOT take her up on monthly haircuts!
My Blog
Ask yourself what your goal is...
1. Long hair, no matter how it looks.
2. Long, healthy, beautiful hair.
If #1 is your goal, then the answer is no.
If #2 is your goal, then the answer is yes.
It's a maintenance TRIM, not a so much a "cut". I got mine trimmed every 12 weeks and reached waist-length in 3.5 years. I looked great during the whole growing period.
Most women get trims along the way...that's why their hair usually looks better while growing.
Hi Mike,
maybe I over-generalized a bit in my post below - but most people in fact do NOT benefit from trims every 12 weeks, especially if they don't have a stylist whom they can trust not to take off more than 1/4 inch.
I'm glad it worked out so well for you. If you reached waist length (about 30-40" or 0.75-1 meter) in 3.5 years (42 months), that's a phantastic growth rate of one inch per month - and 1/2 year ago you posted a picture (low-resolution, but, hey, it's great hair!) and some info to that effect - congratulations! Or did I miscalculate?
Only few men are blessed with a net growth of about 1 inch per month, or almost 3 inches in 12 weeks, MINUS the trim (1/4 inch? 1/2 inch?).
I dare say, most people with a more average growth rate (1/2 inch or less) are much better off limiting trims to about once a year, if trims are necessary at all. Lots of longhaired men look great without any trims ever.
The point I take from you is that generalizations do not always lead to correct conclusions, but, I dare say, that would go both ways.
So, even if your goal is #2, by far not everybody is well advised to get trims every three months.
Just a few thoughts...
All the best for 2007, and, again, congratulations to your phantastic growth rate! (Do you intend to post more pictures?)
Hans-Uwe
I have to agree, Hans has said it VERY well! Waist length in 3.5 years is a record. Ken just posted his update, and it took 6.5 years to get to that length. That's one AWESOME growth rate, twice the average rate (fastest of anyone on the board), and please post pictures soon. I also agree that those of us with slower growth rates (I'm below average, at 4-5 inches per year) find trims greatly slow down reaching our goal. We really only trim if the ends get bad.
David
i dont care how it looks i just want long hair so i guess i wont "TRIM" it.
Ryan, you never know, you may find that the natural shape of untrimmed hair is something you like about going untrimmed. There's no wrong way to go about having long hair or growing it, just a variety of tastes. Mick's hair is stunning as I have seen by photos and he knows how to keep it looking the way he wants.
In a similar way my hair is perfect for me after 19 and 14 years uncut. A trim would mess up the tapered look I love so much which has an equal neatness, mine just has two even lines instead of one. Besides, as I like to needle 'trim for health' advocates, if they kept their hair healthy they wouldn't need to trim it.
There is absolutely nothing inherently unhealthy about untrimmed hair. In fact, hairs that have grown from the scalp never cut are better protected against splitting that trimmed hairs since the protective pointed shape of each new end is lost to scissors.
I often wonder if many shorthairs who swear by the 'healthy' hair by trimming (and trims for stimulating growth) myth are the same that write off long hair as automatically dirty. Hair grows perfectly healthy without trims unless the irregular lengths come from breakage. Hair is doing what it is supposed to do as younger, faster growing hairs surge ahead of hairs slowing down as their lifespan comes to a close.
As a non-trimmer I find it entertaining that some people chase a hair ideal of blunt and thick the entire length no matter how long their hair gets. There is nothing wrong with hair that does not meet this standard, it is not supposed to, that is not how hair grows. My guess is that the prevalence of trimming comes more from grooming expectations than anything else. People with uncut hair are considered unkempt by many. There is a cultural assumption in many places that people who can afford to should get their hair trimmed, otherwise they look like they ignore their grooming.
Trims remove damage or give the style a person is after. It is not a simple matter of people only lusting for length at any cost or patiently growing while looking immaculate. Trims are a lot like dreadlocks, one person's hair nightmare is another person's goal. Neither is better, just different.
Elizabeth
Waist length @ 3.5 years is extreme to say the least, even without any trims. You must have "turbo charged" follicles:)