new thread
A couple of days ago I posted as to weather I should get a maintenance trim or not and the overwhelming response was NO!
True to the form of any wannabe longhair I completely ignored the advice of my peers regarding my hair and went along and got a trim ;-)
There seems to be a great deal of skepticism about getting trims, yet every stylist I have ever spoken to will encourage anyone to get a trim every 8-12 weeks whilst growing out, And every 12-16 weeks for people who already have really long hair? Do we honestly believe they are just trying to keep themselves in a job or is there something more to it?
I asked my stylist about this and it seems to be that they can offer a very good argument on many levels for getting regular trims here's a list of reasons she came up with:
1) Damaged ends, (OK unless you've got chemical damage or bad brushing technique, split ends only seem to naturally occur after 6-12 months plus good conditioning seems to prevent it anyway, not much of a case for 3 monthly trims.)
2) Confidence - How many people hate their hair when its in the arkward stage and give up growing - not everyone has the benefit of a support community like this so regular trims can inspire confidence and help wannabe longhairs become longhairs. (Good reason.)
3) Style - I guarantee neatly styled hair with go far with the women or men you are trying to attract or impress regardless of its length.
Travis Fimmel (see http://the-light.com/mens/messages/55683.html) will not ever be passed over at a job interview becasue he has long hair.
4) It seems to work - all the girls I know with great looking long hair get trims every 3-4 months. They seem to know what they're doing their hair looks great.
5) My stylist acknowledged that she doesn't always heed her own advice because she doesn't trust anyone she works with to cut her hair. (Apparently going to another salon is a sackable offence.) She had gone 6 months and commented that her ends looked like a dog had chewed them... I didn't like to agree with her but she was right!
6) It balances out in the long run anyway. Sooner or later most people even their hair out so it all falls to one length, why not do that gradually and maintain style rather than take 6 inches off your hair after 2 years of agonising growing? (Its the length on top which ultimately has to grow right?)
Apologies for the long post but I had to get all this down and I though it was worth typing, your thoughts?
- Sorted -
But unless your hair is already long, trimming it every 2 - 3 months
will take it that much longer to get it LONG...
I know someone who has been growing out his hair for two years with no trims at all...
and there are no split ends whatsoever.
Everyone is different, of course, so maybe yours is the kind that damages more easily.
OR, maybe you are not in such a rush to get it really long.
Some guys around here cannot wait to reach their own personal goals
of long hair...
so to get trims every 3 months (unless the hair is already damaged)
seems counterproductive.
Good Luck!
My opinion about trims is two-fold. While going through the awkard stage of growing your hair out, and this of course depends on your length goal, is to not get a trim during this stage. Here is the reason: The average head of hair grows about 1/2" a month. If I am smack middle in an awkard stage and 8 weeks go by, which means my hair would have grown only 1". Stylists have a tendacy to take that 1" right back off your head, and thus you got nowhere in terms of coming closer to get out of the awkard stage. I am sure there are stylists out there that can be trusted to say, take off a 1/4" or even a 1/2", but your progress is still slowed and thus you stay in the awkard stage longer. What does a 1/4" buy you anyway, while your in the awkard stage? Not a whole lot and most likely your hair would be right where it was 2 weeks ago. After you are out of the awkard stage and close to or just beyond your goal length, then I agree about getting trims. My wife is a stylist and a few months ago she wanted to trim my hair, because I was in the awkard stage. Today, she has a different opinion and is beginning to like my hair and how it looks on me. I still plan to have her trim it up once my bangs and sides are a little beyond shoulder length. Then I plan to have all my hair evened up at the shoulder, just like Travis Fimmel. Who is to say what he did during his hair growth. He may have done what I am doing now, or trimmed his hair every 8 to 10 weeks, which took longer to get where he is now.
Hopefully that makes logical sense.
not against them, mearly careful of them. ;)
trims are, i daresay, mandatory for healthy long hair. but there are many horror stories where people just ask for a couple inches, and they take of the entire lot! it only takes one snip of the scissors for years and years of growth to dissapear, so it's not an issue of wether or not trims are bad, but wether or not you trust the person behind you with a pair of shears.
Salena B, I feel, is correct. Though maintanence trims aren't inherintly evil, the person behind the sheers may have their own agenda, or they simply weren't convinced that you know what you REALLY want and therefore, take creative liberties with your hair. I play it safe and avoid the salon, until i reach a little beyond my goal length, then they can chop up a good inch or two to even everything up. Also what Luckskind said is very true. Most people just don't need them, their hair 'magically' stays healthy needing no trims. Also for us curly hairs, as Dan pointed out: for us thicker heads of curly hair, split ends are nearly impossible to locate. (for me, very impossible)I believe curly haired people NEED THE LENGTH at all costs! Go into the awkward stage and emerge 2 years later with hopefully a decent head of hair, then get it neatened up. For curly haired people, I suggest avoiding maintanence cuts at all costs. But if i had straight hair, I probably wouldn't hesitate to get them every 3 or 4 months.
your hair only grows 1/2 inch a month, if you get one inch trimmed off every 3 months, what could be 1.5 inches of growth is only .5 inch, which doesnt really make sense, and IMO is wasting money.
Today's my 16 month anaversery and I have not had one trim. For the first year, I took horrible care of my hair. Too much forced heat, not good shampoo or conditioning routines, etc. Now I am doing everything to preserve those strands. In any case, after 16 months I only have a few split ends. Since my hair is not all one length, getting a trim to remove the split ends (which don't occur on only the longest hairs) would be quite a loss. It's a lot easier to take an hour every month to single a few out and cut them off myself.
Regular trims can prolong the awquard stage and keep one in the 'wannabe' stage for longer than necessary. That's how I see it.
This may be partially true, but then again, most women (or men) who will be as trite as to point out that your hair isn't perfectly even, they might as well be in the same group with those who won't date longhairs.
That's because their tips are much older than awquard stage tips, which do require more care, and they aren't trying to grow their hair long from short.
Then she must really be doing something strange to her hair.
People are anxious to have long hair.
Hair stylists will always advocate getting trims because they earn nothing if you stay away.
Trims are OK if you don't mind your hair taking longer to get long, even if it looks neater during the journey.
Most hair 'trimemrs' will take off much more than you want, and than can lead to never reaching your goal. That's why so many on this board are against trims, myself included.
What's more important to you? Length at any cost or having healthy, well-maintained hair at any length?
To me, it was always having perfectly-trimmed hair because I thought that I would have split ends and other damage if I didn't have those things fixed.
In the end, I'm coming to the conclusion that I should've just let it grow. With my hair type (fairly curly) and thickness (very thick), length really helps, and due to the curly texture, I don't really get a lot of noticable split ends the way staright-haired people do.
Now, I'm coming up on my two year mark, and while I'm happy with my length progress, I can't help thinking how much more length (probably 3-5") I'd have without those three maintainence trims.
Food for thought.
Here are my thoughts point by point.
1) Damaged ends- Can be solved by individual trimming or "dusting" only the hair that are split. This is more practical for longer lengths though. Trimming actually opens the way for more splitting when all the hairs are cut, including the new ones still with their pointed tips that resist splitting. Once again this is a concern more for those at longer lengths.
2) Confidence- I am biased toward finding attractiveness anywhere so as one who does not see the problem of the "awkward stage" appearance I don't see a reason for someone to not be confident.
3) Style- Uncut ends are a style too, especially when left alone for some time. The natural taper that develops can be quite neat in a different way.
4) It seems to work- Trimming only "works" if that is the look a person is after.
5)"She had gone 6 months and commented that her ends looked like a dog had chewed them... I didn't like to agree with her but she was right!"- Given time that ragged line would neaten into a taper. At this point her growing out blunt cut could go either way, be renewed or become something just as beautiful.
There are fans of every style out there. Some see only a recent cut as the way to have neat hair while others see a fresh cut as looking hacked off, it is just opinions either way. Best thing is to go with your own rather than what others feel is right.
6) It balances out in the long run anyway.- Only for those wanting a straight line and not all do. Also, there is that desire to get a ponytail length sooner rather than later for some.
My take on the whole issue of trimming is that people should decide what they are after. For some, a specific look maintained throughout the time they grow will make trims the right choice for them. It is important for someone to feel good about the way they look so I am all for it. However, there does not have to be a strict either/or choice of look good and gain length slowly versus grow fast as possible then "fix" it to look good later. As one who can appreciate both a neat cut and a neat untouched taper, they are each attractive though in different ways.
As for professional opinions, it depends on what kind of stylist you are asking. Those working exclusively with long hair suggest trims of six months to a year.
Elizabeth
I agree with everything your stylist said.
So many men who grow their hair only want length. They could give two cares what it looks like (or maybe they just need glasses ;-) ) I like your point about women with nice looking long hair....they always get scheduled trims.
Your hair will probably reach a healthy, long length sooner by taking off very small amounts during maintenance trims. If you never trim, then spit-ends can just continue to split the hair right up the hair shaft, causing you to cut many inches to acheive healthy looking hair. Some men just don't understand that logic (and they never will........)
I've always had regular trims during my growing process. I began almost three years ago. You can see I've acheived some length over those three years, along with keeping it fairly healthy.
My advise: Keep that stylist you've found!!! She sounds like a keeper. I don't know what I would do without my stylist....
She's the only person I've found who I'll trust with my hair, so I'm certainly hanging on!
Its true,
Trims are essential for keeping hair tidy and healthy. I mean seriously, is a few milimetres of hair going to make that much difference?
I usually go to get mine trimmed every 3 months and it is well worth it. Id rather have neat tidy hair than long scruffy untidy hair.
The choice is of course yours
at the start of growing these trims are not that nessesary tho.
I agree with everything except your last comment about the start of growing, (well maybe not the start after 4-6 months months defo!) I think its most necessary then, unless your going with the "grunge" look which is a good option.
You look at your most untidiest at this time, because without trims all you have is hair roughly the same length growing out in rough layers. This is where (generally speaking) you are going to take the most grief about your hair and feel most unhappy about it.
I say trim the nonessential parts keep things in check during this time and you'll feel better about it in the long run.
Other than that totally with you KiwiDan.
- Sorted -
In former times I ignored trims and let the hair grow but it never was longer than shoulder length (max 30cm length for the single hair -now it has reached almost the double length)
I could see the split ends with my eyes, they growed up and the lower part of the hair looked almost unvisible, and I had a lot of breakage using a male plastic comb.
After using a rinse and a wide toothed comb and starting new from a short cut I couldn't see split ends, not with a magnifying glass and only some damaged hairs with a microscope, and this over 1 - 2 years growing.
Now split ends are present, and maybe it is better to cut them off, probably individually and with a high quality scissor, but I fear self cutting can cause damages at the ends, and I do not like going to a salon, I remember when I had short hair while cutting they pulled hairs off.
The thing about which I have to think over, the woman's hair looks often much better than the males hair (if it is not damaged through bleaching or perms), and maybe this has something to do with trimming, but it could also be result of other aspects of hair care.
I remember I didn't detangle the hair and forced the comb through knots, and the comb was full of hair afterwards (ouuuch).
wolfgang
Now Wolfgang,
If I remember correcty you are taking vitamins for your hair. Is it possible that vitamins are part of the cause of your additional growth and not the trims alone? There a lot of factors that go into hair growth including hair care so I am always suspicious when someone attributes a single factor to a dramatic length increase.
From this woman's perspective, I tend to see male hair that catches my eye more often than on a female. It could just be your perspective, though I know I certainly don't have much judgement about hair quality. For me there is something to appreciate in everything.
Elizabeth
Elzabeth,
you are right, I use Ultra Hair Plus, Biotin and "Haut, Haare, Nägel" (hair, skin and nails). It seems so that it has an influence on length growth, but I am also sure that breakage reduced my hair length formerly. Now my hair is much longer than my sister's hair ever was growing, although she told me she tried it, and she didn't use hair vitamins.
That is interesting. I have seen very beautiful and very long male hair several times, but for me it seemed to be the exception. It may also depend from the estimation what is "beauty", I am sure we have a different view in some details.
Besite beauty, I always perceive if hair is long, independent from gender, age, I am really a long hair searcher.
with kind regards
wolfgang
If you stick it out, eventually your hair will get to lengths where you aren't consumed with trying to get enough growth to make it through the awkward stage. Then as your hair gets longer and longer...and older, you may find that you become intrested in keeping that older hair looking good.
In my case I have long hair now and even though I am going for maximum length I don't have reason to be in a panic to get it long (never really was anyway) so I'll make sure that it is well cared for and looks neat while it keeps growing longer.
Some people don't want it to go past a certain length so for them it's a bit easier to keep things healthy and neat once they have reached their goal length. Most people aren't into extreme hair growth so setting a goal (which can be changed) and thinking long-term (patience + care) can really help.
Sounds like a good plan
I agree - I've set a goal of reaching my shoulder blades, I'll worry about the rest when I get that far, but I'm in no hurry either, the length is not the be all and end all to me!