Dangers of not trimming

[virtuenow]

I think people have to realize that hair wears and tears down like anything else in life. And even with all the care in the world, the oldest parts of your hair are bound to experience some splitting/wear, and usually, since all the strands' ends are around the same things and sort of endure the same elements, they most likely wear and tear in a pattern that is more or less common to all. The reason I think search and destroy is such a futile task is:

1. There's no way one can possibly examine the 110,000 strands of hair on the head to make sure they don't miss one;
2. Unless you're tracing your hair strands from root to ends, there's no way to tell if the "unsplit" end is truly an intact strand or one that's already split and torn away leaving a single thin end.

Let's consider the second point above. My hair after 4 months of nottrimming wasn't thin because it had split ends. If you think about it, split ends would probably just look frizzy but not thin. The thinness comes AFTER part of the split ends have actually torn away. The thin ends IMO are a sign that my hair ends not only burst open due to the cuticle tearing off and exposing the cortex but that it too is wearing away without the cuticle to protect it:

So what I would see with S&D would be half a hair that seems fine coz it's not two ends, but I suspect a microscope would tell me a whole different story and explain the thin ends. It just makes no sense to me that my hair strands can be living together on this head of mine all going through the same procedures and only a few get to split. So rather than play a game of guessing which ones are whole and which ones are not, or playing a game of inny mini miny moe where some get dusted and some get missed coz my naked eye just isn't equipped to scan each strand, I treat them all the same because prevention, IMO, is better than cure .

Actually it is possible to examine all of your hair: anyone interested in the search and destroy method should see these youtube tutorials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3C0ndGIZpg&feature=related

I find this option to be more effective than just cutting a certain amounnt, like 1/4 in or 1/2 in, for instance. Sometimes the split or bulb is higher, sometimes lower, and if you have a good preventative program, no splits at all. I'm not knocking your technique, but some people seem to be trimming their hair at the same rate the hair grows (or pretty close). Hence, the continuing pattern of hair that appears to "not grow". I'm just saying that there are ways to prevent the splits in the first place, despite the fact that hair wears-n-tears.

 

[SimpleKomplexity]

I have never seen a split end travel up the shaft. Until I do. I don't trim until I meet PAST the length I want my hair to be.

I will prolly not get another trim until I get 1 inch past BSL. Then when I get it cut I will be 1 inch to BSL at the least.

I do need a trim now. So because of that I take more care of my ends so they don't snag on stuff. I don't comb it as much. I keept it moisturized each day. I try to stay mainly in buns, and I just give it TLC until I'm ready to cut so I don't more damage and don't have to have too much cut off.

 

[Vshanell]

The dangers would be that you (well let me just say the dangers for me before somebody gets all mad) would not retain length. I did the no trim/dust thing before hair boards and my hair never MOVED in length. For me I have to frequently trim/dust in order to retain. I actually retain so much more when I keep my ends clean. I would not advise to never trim....you will really set yourself back. Now what I would advise would be to trim your hair yourself so you can control how much is cut. A stylist will most likely cut too much and that will cause you to loose progress. Be in control of your trims and your hair will do great.

 

[Vshanell]

I use heat all the time and I do not believe in "trimming". The search and destroy method, however, makes perfect sense; but I still see some encouraging others to "trim" as if it makes the hair grow! I'm not sure what heat has to do with anything unless u are overdoing it. Heat only temporarily affects the bonds of hair- but relaxing permenantlly breaks the bonds that hold hair together in one pop. So heat alone has nothing on what relaxing does to hair.

Trimming helps some people retain "grow". I think some of it has to do with the hair strand size. IMO fine hair is more prone to splitting so someone w/fine hair would have to trim/dust/S&D more to retain where as someone with thicker more durable strands could maybe go without frequent trims.

I have fine hair. I don't use direct heat. My hair still splits like mad so I gotta do what I gotta do. It still grows and retains very well.

 

[HeChangedMyName]

I have never seen a split end travel up the shaft. Until I do. I don't trim until I meet PAST the length I want my hair to be.

I will prolly not get another trim until I get 1 inch past BSL. Then when I get it cut I will be 1 inch to BSL at the least.

I do need a trim now. So because of that I take more care of my ends so they don't snag on stuff. I don't comb it as much. I keept it moisturized each day. I try to stay mainly in buns, and I just give it TLC until I'm ready to cut so I don't more damage and don't have to have too much cut off.

I have. it was rather freaky actually. I've had them split mid shaft and cause a bow effect. I have personally ripped a split up, just to seeif it actually would go up

It's possible

 

[nymane]

I have. it was rather freaky actually. I've had them split mid shaft and cause a bow effect. I have personally ripped a split up, just to seeif it actually would go up

It's possible

ITA this is what happened to me before my HHJ, my split ends traveled all the way up (especially in the nape area) and my breakage was severe...thank GOD of lhcf.

 

[HeChangedMyName]

ITA this is what happened to me before my HHJ, my split ends traveled all the way up (especially in the nape area) and my breakage was severe...thank GOD of lhcf.

mine were on the sides. it was horrible. i just had to have my hair cut do to splits. i know that they would have eventually ate themselves up the shaft leaving my hair looking a hot mess.

 

[Nonie]

Actually it is possible to examine all of your hair: anyone interested in the search and destroy method should see these youtube tutorials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3C0ndGIZpg&feature=related

I find this option to be more effective than just cutting a certain amounnt, like 1/4 in or 1/2 in, for instance. Sometimes the split or bulb is higher, sometimes lower, and if you have a good preventative program, no splits at all. I'm not knocking your technique, but some people seem to be trimming their hair at the same rate the hair grows (or pretty close). Hence, the continuing pattern of hair that appears to "not grow". I'm just saying that there are ways to prevent the splits in the first place, despite the fact that hair wears-n-tears.

My thing with this is she isn't holding a section that is flat enough to be one hair width thick (ie one layer of hairs), so there are hair buried in the section she's holding that you do not see. There's no way to examine 110,000 hairs even if you had a whole day to do it. Also all strands aren't the same length so the hairs that stick out from the middle might be new hairs growing so if she's trimming the entire length of what I saw when she twisted, then she's probably getting rid of full ends of healthy hair strands that started growing a few months ago after longer strands had shed. And after she trims those little hairs, in a few months they or others that will have grown to that length will also stick out and get trimmed. Also in between the tips she studies and halfway down the strand, I'm sure is a plethora of different strands in different stages of growth that could have splits but coz she jumps from ends to further down, she's probably missed a few. So you see the flaw in this? (BTW, I love Traycee and love her hair so this isn't a diss at all on her hair; just my opinion that there's no way the S&D is a sure way.) I think the twisting and cut method I've seen (Is that a version of S&D?) is also scary to me coz I doubt you can see split ends that way; I think you instead see shorter strands stick out and might be actually hiding the real splits in the twist.

So yes, trimming regularly doesn't get rid of the ends of the shorter hairs, but IMO it gets rid of the ends of the oldest hair on your head which usually are found on the longest strands which, naturally, due to age, are in the worst state. The shorter hairs are still babies and probably get protection by being buried in the midst of longer hairs.

Mid-shaft splits are usually caused by styling/abuse IMO but older ends split even without you doing anything to them. If you have mid shaft splits, there's nothing that can save your hair but a cut, and you would soon learn of them when you hair actually starts breaking at that point...or if you notice them while styling. But I wouldn't worry about something I haven't seen. I don't brush my hair or use heat often enough to worry about damage to the length of my hair. I do know that my not sealing does leave my ends most vulnerable and they are the most vulnerable of the entire strands and that explains my slow retention once I get to shoulder. I know it's all about retention because I saw my hair grow from about 3 inches to shoulder in 16 months after a BC I never asked for and it is this conviction that my hair grows that probably makes me so lackadaisical about doing much for it. Today I considered that wearing my braids up might help protect my ends without me having to do anything that feels like work, and so I might try it and see how long I can do it w/o HIH withdrawal taking over and making me start to twitch.

And like Pokahontas, my hair appears to grow when I'm dusting on schedule. I was more serious about keeping a regular schedule in the two years before I joined LHCF because I had discovered a regimen that echoed Wanakee on the regular trimming and was following it religiously since Brenda's hair (my then idol www.blackwomenrejoice.com) looked so full and healthy and she too had struggled to grow hair before. So I wanted to follow her directions to a T and it paid off--although I did misunderstand the part about moisturizers. Still, regular dusting got me the longest hair I'd had in my entire life before 2003; even longer than jheri curl had ever gotten me--and that jheri curl era was one of my fastest hair growth periods. Ironically, in the few months my hair thinned, I still did my own braids as before with Brenda, but besides the regular trimming, I wasn't using any leave-in at all. Logic would tell me or anyone that not moisturizing your hair was a big no-no, so I should've had more damage in those two years of Brenda. But instead I saw the best and fullest hair I ever had. So I'm a believer to the end that trimming was the secret to my success.

I think my hair grows at 1/2 an inch a month. So if I trim 1/4 inch every 2 months, then instead of gaining 6 inches a year, if I retained all I grew, I'd have 4 inches of growth. Seems I was getting about that much in the pics I posted...which again got me to the longest hair I'd ever had. So unless you're dusting huge chunks, you don't have to lose the same amount of hair you grow.

 

[Nonie]

I have never seen a split end travel up the shaft. Until I do. I don't trim until I meet PAST the length I want my hair to be.

I will prolly not get another trim until I get 1 inch past BSL. Then when I get it cut I will be 1 inch to BSL at the least.

I do need a trim now. So because of that I take more care of my ends so they don't snag on stuff. I don't comb it as much. I keept it moisturized each day. I try to stay mainly in buns, and I just give it TLC until I'm ready to cut so I don't more damage and don't have to have too much cut off.

The next time you see a split try opening it up some. It will ride up the shaft, not all the way to the base of your hair, but far up enough to leave a thinner end than the rest of the strands before tearing off. That's what I'm talking about. Enough of them do that, and you end up with see-through ends which on observation will misleadingly not appear to be split.

If splits traveled all the way to the base, we'd probably never even know we had had them coz you'd have fine hair that'd still be the same thickness from base to ends. Coz you'd just have skinnier strands that before which en masse would look the same as what you had before.

Except splits tear off before they reach the base. And thank God they do that because we'd never know when hair was damaged based on just appearance. But because they did that for me, in 2003 (August - November), I was able to "catch" the damage before it broke my hair off probably lower than where I trimmed it.

ETA: "Trimming past the length [you] want [your] hair to be" is actually cutting of more than we are talking about when we suggest dusting regularly. A trim of even 1/2 an inch would not be so obvious. Half an inch is this about long: ______ and an inch is this long ____________. I don't know if those cuts could really make a visible difference to the length of a full head of hair, unless you have an uber tiny TWA.

But say you have a shoulder bob and you trim it that much, you might have to let people know you did coz unless they were studying your hair, such a cut wouldn't make such a statement as to catch people's attention. Cuts that would be clearly described as "to change my style" are typically a little more. For instance if Pokahontas were to cut an inch off, I swear I don't think I'd know she had. But rather than wait till that's necessary, and risk the tearing off of a split, better get the end to be new and fresh ASAP, IMO.

 

[PearlyCurly]

For me if i dont use heat, i dont need to trim! Every time i use heat my ends get fried!

There are no dangers if you are taking care of your hair, ends especially! There are many women who havent trimmed in YEARS! And have hair down their back Most hair growth websites i go on, no one really trims their ends that much...

 

[RocStar]

The dangers would be that you (well let me just say the dangers for me before somebody gets all mad) would not retain length. I did the no trim/dust thing before hair boards and my hair never MOVED in length. For me I have to frequently trim/dust in order to retain. I actually retain so much more when I keep my ends clean. I would not advise to never trim....you will really set yourself back. Now what I would advise would be to trim your hair yourself so you can control how much is cut. A stylist will most likely cut too much and that will cause you to loose progress. Be in control of your trims and your hair will do great.

What she said.

 

[Spiffy]

If you ever see a plant with a few nearly dead pieces you have to try and try to nurse them back to health, but over time those few dead pieces start wilting the other healthy portions of the plant. Once you cut those few bad pieces off, the healthy parts thrive again. I think our hair is very similar.

 

[Kellum]

The dangers would be that you (well let me just say the dangers for me before somebody gets all mad) would not retain length. I did the no trim/dust thing before hair boards and my hair never MOVED in length. For me I have to frequently trim/dust in order to retain. I actually retain so much more when I keep my ends clean. I would not advise to never trim....you will really set yourself back. Now what I would advise would be to trim your hair yourself so you can control how much is cut. A stylist will most likely cut too much and that will cause you to loose progress. Be in control of your trims and your hair will do great.

Exactly, I tried the no trim thing for 8 months last year and when it came time for my touch up and trim I ended up losing 1 1/2" which could have been avoided by dusting more often. Lesson learned, I now know I am not one that can not go without trimming or dusting for a long period of a time. If I do, it will result in me losing length that I worked so hard to achieve.

 

[simplyhair]

For me, four months of not trimming took me back 2 whole inches or so. I'll try to be brief (ahem).

Trimming every 6-8 weeks (really dusting coz I was only trimming 1/4 inch which is this much __) took me from one inch to this in one year (about 5 inches total length):

And continuing that regimen, I went from that to this in another year (9-11 inches):

It was around that time that I discovered LHCF and found that some on LHCF didn't believe in trimming and so I tried it. In four months, my thick hair that had been growing nicely didn't seem to budge and my retention seemed to suffer. I think it was splitting as fast as it was growing and basically peeling away to leave thin ends whose days were numbered. Instead of intact strands, I probably had hair like what you see in the links I give at the bottom. Here's what my hair looked like after just 4 months of not trimming:

Clearly I wasn't going to have another 5 inches of growth in a year with my hair in such poor condition, so I had to trim off about 2 inches just to get the fullness I was used to from roots to ends. Below you can see the setback this caused:

And here's a comparison of the thickness of regular trimming and progress (first two pics) and what not trimming did to my hair and then where I wound up:

Notice from the second and third pics, that trying to hold onto my ends didn't make my hair appear any longer. Such a waste of time that little change of regimen was!

The article I link to below describes how the strands of your hair look different from base to ends and kinda shows you why I strongly believe in regularly dusting your hair--not waiting till you need a huge trim--but doing it regularly and then protective styling so that you can hold onto more of your length. (I didn't really protective style when I had the growth I shared. I did manipulate my hair less because it was in braids, but I'm sure if I had PS'd I'd probably be able to stretch the time between dustings.)

http://www.hair-science.com/_int/_en/topic/topic_sousrub.aspx?tc=ROOT-HAIR-SCIENCE^SO-STURDY-SO-FRAGILE^RESISTING-HOSTILE&cur=RESISTING-HOSTILE

Good info and point made! I needed to hear/read that.

 

[SimpleKomplexity]

The next time you see a split try opening it up some. It will ride up the shaft, not all the way to the base of your hair, but far up enough to leave a thinner end than the rest of the strands before tearing off. That's what I'm talking about. Enough of them do that, and you end up with see-through ends which on observation will misleadingly not appear to be split.

If splits traveled all the way to the base, we'd probably never even know we had had them coz you'd have fine hair that'd still be the same thickness from base to ends. Coz you'd just have skinnier strands that before which en masse would look the same as what you had before.

Except splits tear off before they reach the base. And thank God they do that because we'd never know when hair was damaged based on just appearance. But because they did that for me, in 2003 (August - November), I was able to "catch" the damage before it broke my hair off probably lower than where I trimmed it.

ETA: "Trimming past the length [you] want [your] hair to be" is actually cutting of more than we are talking about when we suggest dusting regularly. A trim of even 1/2 an inch would not be so obvious. Half an inch is this about long: ______ and an inch is this long ____________. I don't know if those cuts could really make a visible difference to the length of a full head of hair, unless you have an uber tiny TWA.

But say you have a shoulder bob and you trim it that much, you might have to let people know you did coz unless they were studying your hair, such a cut wouldn't make such a statement as to catch people attention. Cuts that would be clearly described as "to change my style" are typically a little more. For instance if Pokahontas was to cut an inch off, I swear I don't think I'd know she had. But rather than wait till that's necessary, and risk the tearing off of a split, better get the end to be new and fresh ASAP, IMO.

When I first joined the board I got trims every 2-4 months. Because of this, I felt like I was never going anywhere and I would get oober pissed because no matter how much I cut direct heat out and no matter how much a moisturized, my hair would get thin near the bottom. Then I'd cut againa nd be where I started. Then I just said...I'm going to leave it alone.

I think I got weave for about 2 months. Then I kept my hair in rollersets and when the summer rolled around I put kinky twists in for another 2 months. When it was time to take the twists down and get a trim, I still had that one inch of raggedy ends I had before I got the growth. Nothing more and nothing less. Instead of being at shoulder length, I was then APL so I could SEE my progress.

So what I'm saying is that instead of trimming every few months, then trimming again and again is unecessary (TO ME). I'd rather grow my hair, keep it protected until I get to a length I like and then get the hair trimmed off.

To me it's redundant because when you trim the hair, all you're doing is exposing new ends to the elements that will eventually get frizzy and uneven too with time. You might as well cut when you are at a length you can work with versus continuing to grow...cut...grow...cut...grow...cut.

It seems like it takes longer to see progress this way. I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but I know it really has helped me go from neck length to past APL in a fairly short time after I realized this.

 

[Nonie]

When I first joined the board I got trims every 2-4 months. Because of this, I felt like I was never going anywhere and I would get oober pissed because no matter how much I cut direct heat out and no matter how much a moisturized, my hair would get thin near the bottom. Then I'd cut againa nd be where I started. Then I just said...I'm going to leave it alone.

I think I got weave for about 2 months. Then I kept my hair in rollersets and when the summer rolled around I put kinky twists in for another 2 months. When it was time to take the twists down and get a trim, I still had that one inch of raggedy ends I had before I got the growth. Nothing more and nothing less. Instead of being at shoulder length, I was then APL so I could SEE my progress.

So what I'm saying is that instead of trimming every few months, then trimming again and again is unecessary (TO ME). I'd rather grow my hair, keep it protected until I get to a length I like and then get the hair trimmed off.

To me it's redundant because when you trim the hair, all you're doing is exposing new ends to the elements that will eventually get frizzy and uneven too with time. You might as well cut when you are at a length you can work with versus continuing to grow...cut...grow...cut...grow...cut.

It seems like it takes longer to see progress this way. I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but I know it really has helped me go from neck length to past APL in a fairly short time after I realized this.

Sounds like a plan except did you see my pics or read Pokahontas posts? For some of us, not trimming regularly so that you always have a "strong end" is simply a recipe for never getting to the length you want. The thin ends I was left with when I didn't trim would not have made to the next anniversary of that journey. They were so skinny, they were just a touch away from evaporating.

But I guess to each his own.

 

[Tif392002]

good thread, cuz i just did my bc in dec 15, and was thinking should i begin to trim. i have to learn how to do it myself.

 

[SimpleKomplexity]

Sounds like a plan except did you see my pics or read Pokahontas posts? For some of us, not trimming regularly so that you always have a "strong end" is simply a recipe for never getting to the length you want. The thin ends I was left with when I didn't trim would not have made to the next anniversary of that journey. They were so skinny, they were just a touch away from evaporating.

But I guess to each his own.

 

[Kellum]

To each his own. I know now what works for some doesn't work for ME at all. My comparison for 2009 tell the story about my ends.

I was on a no trim challenge, and hide your hair challenge. I pretty much hid my hair from April until December and didn't use heat at all. I protected my ends like crazy but that didn't matter. Had I taken the time and gotten a small trim or dusted in between, I wouldn't have been left with the ends I had in December. I gained length, and thickness, but my ends were horrible. For me, all the protecting in the world is not going to keep my ends healthy. I have to proactive. I refuse to get all the way to my goal and have to loose 2 to 3 inches of length because I didn't want to trim, dust my ends throughout my journey. I would be sick.

 

[back2relaxed]

I agree with the "need to trim" side of the post. I spent the past 12 months trying to stretch my trims, and I am back to NL from being APL. I moisturize, seal, protective style, stretch, etc. However this year I won't be worried about length, I'll focus on health. Healthy hair grows and the ends of healthy hair are full, not thin. Split ends snag and break all the time. My plan is to get a trim every 3-4 months. This way I shouldn't need mega trims, when I decide to grow my hair out, it should be fairly thick from root to tip.

I think some people can go without trimming for years and do no harm to their hair. Others don't mind not having blunt hair or thick ends. I however prefer my hair to be consistent throughout. To me, just because the hair is long, doesn't mean that it is healthy, see thru ends are not attractive in my opinion. I would rather stay NL if it means my hair is healthy. Just my opinion, everyone's view will be different.

 

[1god1]

thanks spelman! You and Nonie are making me rethink everything. I'm just doing to have to learn to do my own trims because I really don't trust my stylist. I wonder if the shears from Sallys are any good

Note: I haven't read the other quotes, but I use shears from Sallys and haven't had any issues...then again, I am not an expert. I don't purchase the expensive shears. I spend around $20 or so on a pair and will get a new pair when I think the old ones are dull or it's time for a change(new pair).

 

[BellaLunie]

^ okay after reading all the posts I decided to go to Sally's and get some shears. They're the Sheer Glory brand, Stainless steel(16.5cm). I put alot of thought and I figured out that I'm not afraid of trims themselves jsut my stylist if that makes sense. When I start my hhj she really really supportive and scoiffed at all I've learned. Last time I got my relaxer I told her to use the Aphogee 2 min before neutralizing and she raised Cain about it. I'm going to have my mother relax and I'm going to do my own trim this time.

Stupid question alert: those ladies who trim do you trim on wet,damp, or dry hair? TIA

 

[LaToya28]

Prior to bcing, my last trim was in August 09. By February of this year, my ends were thin and needed a trim...I was not a heat styler. I think that stretching contributed to my raggedy ends as well, but if I had gotten regular trims they would have been better off. Please don't neglect your ends. A small trim now could save you from a big one later on.

 

[crazydaze911]

I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything else because the only thing I changed on LHCF besides the not trimming is started to use moisture on my hair when I used to go bare. I started to moisturize my hair because it was preached ad nauseum on the forum (and by Cathy Howse that you had to keep your hair moisturized). So surely that shouldn't have caused my hair any damage. I was wearing it in braids as before and the pic you see of thin hair was me undoing a braid to redo and being horrified by how thin m hair felt.

I guess I can't convince you but I know myself that there isn't anything different I did except adopt the good habit of spritzing my hair with a moisturizer instead of letting it just stay bare and dry. I kept it braided so no manipulation. I just didn't trim it when I redid a braid as I always did.

When I went back to regularly trimming, even after a period of heat damage in 2004 when I had to do another major trim, my hair in 2006 was thick as it had been before:

My twist were full from base to ends:

And even my press looked really thick (and I have fine hair):

So maybe it seems hard to believe, but the proof is the pudding for me. And I usually examine all things before blaming one thing, and for me it was clear that not trimming regularly was to blame for my hair ends looking so bad. I mean, if it had been something else (products, health) surely it wouldn't just be the ends that were thin. Clearly by not trimming off the split ends, I just allowed them to continue to split further down the strand until they broke off. It's as clear as day to me.

In response to the bold, protective styling might help keep my ends from drying and splitting and might extend the time between dustings, but even those who protect will tell you that their hair splits. If you think about a strand it looks like a tube. The end is open. It's bound to lose moisture if exposed to the air even a bit, and friction against that end is just the beginning of trouble. I really think that everyone with really long full hair has to get a trim even when they protective style at one time or another. Wanakee was an advocate for this and she certainly knows what she's talking about. Those of us who don't PS just need to do it more often than not.

ETA To address the part in red: I didn't actually SEE my hair breaking, but what other explanation could there be for my ends looking thinner. They're not breaking coz clearly I still have more or less the length I had if not a touch more; they are just thinning badly to a very weak point that is obviously going to break off. Maybe the tips were breaking but not enough for me to notice any loss in length. What I did notice was how instead of having the fullness of the months before, tracing my hair from base to ends went from thick to almost invisible--something I had not witnessed on my head in 2 years. And because I'd been reading about the science of hair, I could only come up with one explanation, and I'm still 100% convinced I'm right.

doesnt cathy house not believe in trimming either?

 

[Nonie]

doesnt cathy house not believe in trimming either?

Correct, Cathy doesn't believe in trimming, and I read her book around the time I joined the forum. So it was because of her and the folks who didn't believe in trimming that I decided to give it a shot. Until I joined the forum, my dream was just to have long hair. I didn't know what was healthy or not, or couldn't tell when hair looked unhealthy. But I got wiser after hanging around the forum. I got to see people like Supergirl with really thick hair that is the same width from base to roots....no tapering due to thin ends. And comparing that to Cathy, I knew I didn't really want ends like Cathy's. Then when my hair thinned from not trimming, I further realized that Cathy has got it all wrong and that Wanakee and Brenda, both who have nice thick ends, must have the right idea: regular trimming is the way to go.

ETA Oh and the moisturize moisturize moisturize theory didn't work for me either coz I hate products on my hair touching my skin, and I hate leaving "grease" marks on everything I lean on. *shudder* I will admit I did keep Cathy's DCing method. I don't DC much with heat anymore (laziness) but I did like doing it so there is something of hers I kept.

 

[Desarae]

I self trim a half inch every 3 months and dust/S&D monthly. I retain MINIMUM 4+ GOOD inches a year and my ends always look good. That's the way I like it and I'm fine with it. I guess it depends how hard up you are for length and how u like your hair to look throughout your journey. I want my hair to l
ook good and fresh at all stages of my journey, not just when I reach my destination of MBL. (I wear my hair out and enjoy every length) I guess you can say its all about preferences.

 

[darlingdiva]

First of all, I must say that this is one of the most informative threads I've ever read on LHCF.

For quite a while, I was confused about whether I should trim or dust or not trim at all. I know that I'm always saying "listen to your hair", but I truly didn't understand my hair's signals.

I hopped on the "no-trimming" train, and it just wasn't for me. My ends just looked bad (even with regular sealing and protective styling).

Now I trim every three to four months and my ends (although they still have a long way to go from the former abuse) are doing better. I agree w/ Pokahontas about fine hair being prone to splits. Despite the moisture/protein balance, deep conditioning, sealing ends, and protective styles, my hair still splits quite a bit.

Although retaining length is one of my major focal points, having healthy hair is my primary focus.

P.S.: Nonie & Pokahontas (the knowledge-droppers): you guys are the bomb--SERIOUSLY!!!

 

[Hair2Here]

I did a search and I couldn't find anything definitive. What are the dangers of not trimming your hair besides the aesthetics? I'm due for a relaxer but I'm so scared to go in and ask for a trim also. I don;t want my hard work to go down the drain

I will never trim my hair until I reach my hair length goal. I recommend that you trim yourself but do not go to a stylist. I'v read too many horror stories that it gives me nightmares!

Enjoy your progress w/o a trim.

 

[FAMUDva]

Not trimming cost me more length than anything, but I went super extreme and did not trim my hair in over two years until this past December. As a result, my hair had to be cut back to APL.

Unfortunately, this is my experience from not trimming
I ended up loosing more hair than I would've if I would've just regularly trimmed. My natural hair would have been much longer at this point.

It was a set back that didn't have to happen, but I'm back on track now.

 

[Vshanell]

When I first joined the board I got trims every 2-4 months. Because of this, I felt like I was never going anywhere and I would get oober pissed because no matter how much I cut direct heat out and no matter how much a moisturized, my hair would get thin near the bottom. Then I'd cut againa nd be where I started. Then I just said...I'm going to leave it alone.

I think I got weave for about 2 months. Then I kept my hair in rollersets and when the summer rolled around I put kinky twists in for another 2 months. When it was time to take the twists down and get a trim, I still had that one inch of raggedy ends I had before I got the growth. Nothing more and nothing less. Instead of being at shoulder length, I was then APL so I could SEE my progress.

So what I'm saying is that instead of trimming every few months, then trimming again and again is unecessary (TO ME). I'd rather grow my hair, keep it protected until I get to a length I like and then get the hair trimmed off.

To me it's redundant because when you trim the hair, all you're doing is exposing new ends to the elements that will eventually get frizzy and uneven too with time. You might as well cut when you are at a length you can work with versus continuing to grow...cut...grow...cut...grow...cut.

It seems like it takes longer to see progress this way. I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but I know it really has helped me go from neck length to past APL in a fairly short time after I realized this.

I really understand your plan, truly I do but the problem is when holding on to those damaged/old ends you will most likely not get to that next goal. Let me try to explain.....when I was not trimming my hair stayed the same length.....never got longer. Finally I sucked it up and started lightly dusting, and i mean lightly because I was scared. Well shortly after starting this my hair started retaining!....just with that slight change. I kept it up, dusting on a regular schedule......my hair grew and grew. No longer was I scared to trim/dust, I welcomed it because I knew my hair would grow/retain more. It was great. I actually got addicted to trimming because I retained so much growth and thickness from it.

I say this because I'd hate to see you or anyone else not get the growth you desire because of the mindset that you will not trim or not trim until you get to your goal. It sounds great but it's not reality for everyone. If I had done that my hair would still be the same length it was before i started trimming. I would've NEVER reached a new goal. Trust me I wouldn't....at the time I thought that was the longest my hair would grow but I saw otherwise once I got those rusty ends off and started revealing that fresh new strong hair. When asked about hair growth advice trimming and not holding on to bad ends is something I've always spoken out about and I feel that it's one of the top 3 most important things to growing long healthy hair.

Don't look at it as exposing the new ends to the elements only to get damaged because that is not the case. When you hold onto those damaged ends they will eventually break off, taking healthy hair with it....how do you think the ends got thin at the bottom? ....Breakage.....remove the damaged ends, huge reduction in breakage.....more retention. I think you will see more as you reach longer lengths that this is important because the ends are so old.