I'm several years into growing my long hair for the second time. My hair is almost to my beltline. The first time I grew it long I made the bad decision to dye it, which caused damage, made it impossible to go back to my natural color, and was a lot of work that I didn't want to continue to do. So I cut it off and went to a military-style flattop like I had when I was enlisted. I've been growing it out since then, and as a result all my hair is the same length, at least theoretically. The bad part about that is the hair in front took over a year to reach the back, while the back grew down past my shoulders. Now all my hair is a different length at the bottom, which seems to by the main cause of tangling and breakage. I'm tempted to get it trimmed so that all the hair is the same length at the ends. I've been considering that for a long time, but I'm not convinced the results would be less tangling or breakage.
Any words of wisdom on this point?
Hi,
I don't think the tangles come from an uneven length, but rather from split ends or damaged ends. You can trim your hair without modifying the global shape; this way you'll get a V-shape. Or you can cut straight (my advice is to wait a little bit if the front strand are not past the shoulder, though). In my opinion, it is but a matter of style. ;-)
Vivien
I'm actually well beyond the shoulder length stage. I was just explaining how it got uneven to start with. My ends don't seem to have too many splits or other damage. I've been working to improve the health of my hair for sometime now. I've switched to water only washing except for once per week when I use a hydrating shampoo, I tie my hair with multiple hair ties at night to minimize tangling, and usually wear it in a ponytail during the day at work. I hesitate to do a full trim. The only thing that seemed to be beyond my control is the uneven growth, but since the only reply I got seems to say it isn't the case, I'll keep it as is and keep growing it. It should be below my belt line by the end of the year.
Keep your hair in a braided tail when doing any activity that might cause tangling. I tend to keep mine braided most of the time now. It makes it truly care free.
I've tried that, but I can't seem to figure out how to braid my own hair. I can braid other people's hair, but not my own. I don't know why.