new thread
Hello All!
I am a hairdresser and have a few tips for those who have or want to have long locks...
1. Trim....Every 6-8 weeks
2. Brushes...NEVER brush wet hair...It will pull it out
3. Products...Don't over treat it..Stay away from those containing
alchohol..
4. Patience...It takes on average of 5-6 years to have hair to the
middle of your back..Figure 6" per year..Depending
on your age and health..This of course may vary from
person to person.
5. Accessories...They are great...Keep the ponytails and braids
slightly loose and stick with scrunchies or
barrettes..They are much more gentle...
Good luck and happy growing!!!! I welcome any other
questions... :-)
thank you for you advice. for the most part, i have no problem with what you wrote.
i do have a lingering question...
you suggest a trim every 6-8 weeks. human hair growth averages ½ inch per month... how much do you suggest we trim off? bear in mind that many hairdressers aren't as sympathetic as you profess to be... they will happily shear away 2-3 inches against explicit instructions. even taking as little as ¼ inch every 6 weeks will yield an average of 4 inches new growth per year. how much do you think we should trim off?
John,
Usually when i get a customer who is growing out...I only trim off damaged ends...Nothing more so I guess it depends on how well it is taken care of to determine how much comes off...I am very sympathetic i once had mid back hair and foolishly cut it off so i know what it is like to get scalped!! Dan
If your hair is long enough, look at the ends.. Split ends are very easy to see.. If the hair it isnt, look at them in a mirror.. My hair is almost black so I bring it round to my eyes and look at the ends against a white surface..(Blonde hair may be harder to see) Lay the ends flat and slowly roll them.. You should see any splits.. Use a magnifier if your hair is real fine... I get a trim bout every 12 weeks.. Some hair can split to the scalp, so check every two weeks or so..
RVE..
ICQ 9162854
I've grown my hair for six years now and have seen a hairdresser in
total of 16 times. She has trimmed from 0.5 cm to 5 cm, always
according to my precise instructions. The longer trims have been
because I like my hair to be even at the back, instead of just
"withering away". You see, when I begun growing my hair, it had been cut with a normal guy cut (=layered), and it takes time until all the layers catch up. But everyone picks what he likes.
Despite the trimmings, I still have some hair left ;-)
(5.5. fistfuls, or somewhere around 50 cm = 20 inches).
See the picture, too.
This is why I have picked a regular hairdresser and told her right
from the beginning that I intend to grow my hair. She obviously
knows how to handle people who are growing their hair. Probably also
that I have the longest hair of her male clientele makes her give me
special attention. (Come to think of it, she probably does not have
even many female customers with longer hair, these days. :-)
Why do it every six weeks? I have been getting it, on the average,
every 4.5 months. On the other hand, I have been very careful
not to subject it to stress when washing, brushing or drying.
As a result I have never seen many split hairs at all, and just now
I could not find a single example (it's been 6 weeks since I last
visited my hairdresser).
So, trim according to what seems to be needed and what the customer
wants.
And a hairgrowing tip: analyze everything that you do to your hair,
and whenever you feel tension in your head or hear snapping, change
your habits. It is easy enough to ruin 6 years' work for a single
strand, and if you do it often enough, the results accumulate quite
soon.
It takes years to grow long hair - it may also take years to learn
to take care of it. At least for me it took about two years.
Fortunately I did not make any irreversible mistakes while learning,
and I begun really from the bottom up (combing it out wet, not using
any conditioners, etc).
Just throw away all your male prejudices and heed to what longhaired
ladies tell you. (Well, maybe throw away their superstitions, but
keep all the knowledge. ;-) You just cannot grow long hair with the
advice that (shorthaired) males give you.
Remember, you may have hair growth worth several years, whereas most
other males have only worth of 1-3 months! The latter seems to be
virtually indestructible by ordinary means, but your isn't. So don't
let their advice or even scorning change your mind.
Tehanu - a devoted hairfarmer
I usually get my hair trimmed about one-eighth ince every three months with no problems. One important factor is that I almost never let it blow in the wind, etc. I keep it in braids most of the time, and almost never in a regular ponytail. Hair that gets whipped around too much will be more likely to split, and consequently needs to be cut more often.
Also, make sure you don't go much more than three months! The last trim I got was six months' worth, and she had to cut off 3 inches of damaged hair -- all the growth I had earned in that time period!
If hair gets split and nasty on the ends, it's no longer a good thing. Don't wait years between cuts. Long hair is only good if it's kept in good condition. If you're not going to take good care of it, cut it. I'd rather have 10 inches of beautiful hair than 20 of nasty hair.
Matt
