new thread
I'm new to this forum, so I took the time out to go through some of the older posts, and have found out that some are pro trim, and some arn't.
I, personally, am pro trim, and have 1cm cut off the length of my slightly longer than sholder length hair (my bangs are slightly longer than chin length) every three months.
I do this to eventually eliminate the layers and level the length out, and to keep it from splitting to much. If you're against trimming, why? I'm just curious.
By the way, I should have some new pics taken of my hair later on this week.
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JoNty
While growing out your hair, the issue is whether you want long hair as soon as possible along with a raging awkward stage preceding your arrival, or whether you want a merely obnoxious awkward stage that lasts much longer. Some men have a personal preference or social situation that makes one choice preferable over the other. Also, a man's hair type can affect which option he picks. Trims can make straight hair appear a bit neater but they hardly show on curly hair.
Once your hair gets long, trims are useful to maintain the length you want (if you don't go for terminal) and to remove splits and knots from the ends of affected strands.
A major reason longhairs are cautious concerning trims is that the person doing the trimming often takes off too much. This can prolong the awkward stage even longer.
I'm one who pulls bandaids off my hairy arm in one rapid motion to get the pain over quickly, and I approached the awkward stage with the same philosophy. The way to get through the awkward stage quickest is to not have trims.
I also left my hair when it was growing out of the bad phase (May 2002). 1cm length trims every 3 months is something I started to do in May of this year.
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JoNty
Yes, after you leave the awkward stage, trims can make your hair look a little better, especially if you have straight hair. By this time you'll look like a longhair, so people won't be harassing you over trims either, and making the decision takes on a more relaxed tone. Trims will slow you down in reaching a goal that is longer, of course, and if that goal is more important than momentary neatness, one would want to refrain.
Do keep in mind, though, that the awkward stage does not have a precise and magical end, especially if you don't plan to ponytail all the time. Hair slowly gets neater as it lengthens, up to about shoulderblade length. This is because it keeps getting heavier. (After about mid-back length, your hair can catch the wind more, and added length adds to messiness.) Thus, if you wear your hair down and you are not yet to shoulderblade length, trims will add to messiness to some degree, even if you are past what we normally think of as the awkward stage. People live with those lengths as their permanent goal though all the time, while few do so with the awkward stage, so the slight additional messiness found at those lengths is certainly at a tolerable level. The main issue then is how badly you want your hair to be even longer. :-) Does the small amoung of neatness justify the frustration you'll feel from waiting?
And as with all trims, there's the ever-present issue that you have to make sure each time that they don't take off too much, of course. When you say "centimeters", some stylists hear "feet".
...it depends on the reason you're going for the trim. If there are split ends, those should be trimmed. If, while your growing out, you want a different style, then I see nothing wrong with a trim. On the other hand, one should NOT trim if it's the story of "My hair keeps flipping out. I'm trying to get my hair to me shoulders. Should I trim?" This is because the weight of the hair will stop the hair-flipping and trimming will only prolong it.
So, sometimes it's good to trim, sometimes not.
I absolutly love the way my hair looks as is. I guess I just prefer the way hair naturally looks when it grows out over hair that's been cut to 'look neat'. As far as split ends go, I have yet to notice any. I really don't think you have to worry about them much as long as you take decent care of your hair. Those horror stories you hear about splits traveling all the way up the hair, especially if it is healthy hair, are just silly.
I've found split hairs on my head that have been several inches long. I've also seen a number of hairs with 2 or 3 splits on the same hair, one just above the other. It's amazing what splits will do in your hair if you let it. One of the problems with letting splits go is that it allows your hairs to tangle easier, something that one notices more as hair gets longer.
Mostly Nay.
If you have straight hair, you might think about a trim to avoid a mullet phase or if you are in a social/working atmosphere where hair that is not perfect will be a detrement to your personal success.
If you have curly hair, however, trims have little meaning. My hair is curly and what would look like a perfect trim one day would just look like a month back in time the best. My curls hang a new way each day. Trimming it to make it look perfect each day would require a new trim each day.
The whole split-ends arguement, well, I trim my own. I find the split strands one by one and give them a little snip right above the split. And really, unless something is seriously not going your way, split ends aren't really a factor during your first few years.
That's a scary thought!!! I would rethink the job and not the hair in a situation like that!
I've been growing mine for three years now. I get it trimmed every 12 weeks. As you can see in the picture it still grows, even though I get scheduled trims (and looks much better in my opinion).
How long was your hair when you started growing ?? I've been growing from 1" since December 2000 and my hair is nowhere near as long as yours (and if I'd had trimmed it would be shorter still).
IMHO I think that your hair is probably one of the best heads of hair seen on this site.
Thanks :-)
My hair was probably about 5-6 inches on top when I began growing in November of 2000.
That is one GREAT head of hair!
I grew mine out with trims every 3 months or so. Now I trim it about every 5 months.
I would recommend trims when you think you need them or your hair tells you it needs it.
That could be awhile for new hair growers as their hair hasn't had as much time yet to get damaged but will be more of an appearance issue which varies from person to person.
i've never thought of getting a trim and i probably ever will