Let me begin by stating that I am deathly afraid of a pair of shears! Since childhood I have been obsessed with hair length. Frankly, I never got trims regularly, but I still achieved a good length of hair. On the other hand, I did always experience breakage. Looking back now, my lack of trimming could be the reason for the breakage. In December 2010, before I started this experiment, I sat in front of my mirror, and gave my hair what I called at the time a trim. To be honest I cut so little, (not even a 1/2 inch) I wouldn't call it a trim. The other week when I shared my set back with you all, I saw ONE strand, that was split. So on top of the breakage, that has me losing sleep, I now also have to fret about split ends. Because come one, since I found one, more than likely there are thirty more in there some where. My take on trimming is this, we all should trim (not on a schedule), but trimming just to be trimming is nonsense.
Here I am five months later, and it's probably time to sit down and search my strands to find every split. Once I find a split strand, I will cut, but now the question is how far up must I cut. I can just imagine how many hours it is going to take to "search and destroy". Before, I figure out how far up I must cut. I want to share that over the past 5 months, I searched in vain for a natural hair guru who never trims her hair. Don't get me wrong, I did stumble upon a handful of ladies with long hair, whom don't trim. However, I believe them to be the exception, not the rule. Plus, most of these women "search and destroy", they just don't call it a trim. Now, on to finding out how much hair I am supposed to cut off, if I see a split. I found this figure below, It's the only one I was able to find, everyone else just suggest we "eye ball" it.
Here I am five months later, and it's probably time to sit down and search my strands to find every split. Once I find a split strand, I will cut, but now the question is how far up must I cut. I can just imagine how many hours it is going to take to "search and destroy". Before, I figure out how far up I must cut. I want to share that over the past 5 months, I searched in vain for a natural hair guru who never trims her hair. Don't get me wrong, I did stumble upon a handful of ladies with long hair, whom don't trim. However, I believe them to be the exception, not the rule. Plus, most of these women "search and destroy", they just don't call it a trim. Now, on to finding out how much hair I am supposed to cut off, if I see a split. I found this figure below, It's the only one I was able to find, everyone else just suggest we "eye ball" it.
I've read about women buying top of the line shears, but I will stick to the regular ones in my closet.
I will trim my hair when it's dry, not wet. My plan is to search and destroy this Saturday. Again if I don't see a split, I am not cutting it. Although this plan may leave my ends very uneven, if there are many. Ladies how often do you trim your hair? Do you search and destroy, or do you just trim everything all at once?
5 comments:
Interesting post... I plan on doing my first trim after being natural 1.5 yrs. At this point its only due to necessity, my hair tangles entirely too much and i'm hoping a trim can help with that. I assumed split ends did not happen to naturals... glad i see different now. Hope my upcoming trim will fix that also... Just scared of losing length and being unable to do my cute pony puff style.
I trim (1/4-1/2 inch) twice a year. I trim while my hair is in snall/medium twists or fully stretched after a series of braid outs.
This works for me because of my low manipulation regimen and the fact that I don't obsess over splits or ssks.
I have been reading through your blog all day, bookmarking posts and taking notes lol. So much helpful information, thank you!!
A question about trimming -- do you use regular scissors or hairdressing shears? As a new natural, I wonder if I should go ahead an invest in a good pair now, or just keep at it with my dollar store scissors.
Hi Sharice, glad you found my little blog. I use plain scissors, I just can't find money to spend on top notch shears.
Also not sure if you've gotten to that post yet, but I don't trim my hair any more. I do search and destroy. I pretty much check my strands on a regular basis.
I dust the back and crown area.......
Thanks for responding so quickly.
The main reason I wanted to/just did trim was that my ends were dang near a different texture from the rest of my hair.
I wash and go nearly every day and don't protective style (twa blues, lol)so they were seriously neglected.
I'm making a pledge to do better all around; can't wait to hit your length!
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