Cut it? Or leave it alone?

[D.Lisha]

So I Recently ended a 20-week stretch that was sort of disastrous. It was my first time ever stretching that long and things didnt go 100% as planned. I did accumulate alot of new growth, however my stylist showed me where my ends started to split

 

[Lucie]

Shave it off.

 

[AutumnDreams]

Are you sure you have split ends? How does your hair typically grow? Do your sides grow longer than the middle? Or vice versa? I ask bc my hair doesnt grow evenly at all, no matter how much its blunt cut it will grow out unevenly. If i were to trim back my hair every time one side out paces the other i wouldnt make any progress. This is the main reason i stopped going to stylists bc they dont understand my hair.

 

[NIN4eva]

If the ends are split, why would you leave them alone? They're not going to get better. The photos are too dark and I can't make any other judgements based on those. But in my experience, hanging on to damaged ends just leads to less than manageable hair daily and in the long run having to cut more than you want to...

 

[D.Lisha]

Are you sure you have split ends? How does your hair typically grow? Do your sides grow longer than the middle? Or vice versa? I ask bc my hair doesnt grow evenly at all, no matter how much its blunt cut it will grow out unevenly. If i were to trim back my hair every time one side out paces the other i wouldnt make any progress. This is the main reason i stopped going to stylists bc they dont understand my hair.

You know what AutumnDreams now that I think about it, this is my second time reaching this length and both times I have noticed that my hair started to grow unevenly...maybe this IS actually how it's growing on it's on.
I'm not exactly sure..all I know is if I end up cutting it again I may end up terminating this hair journey altogether!

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[D.Lisha]

If the ends are split, why would you leave them alone? They're not going to get better. The photos are too dark and I can't make any other judgements based on those. But in my experience, hanging on to damaged ends just leads to less than manageable hair daily and in the long run having to cut more than you want to...

Well I guess I should have worded the question better...NIN4eva..
Something more like "Do I CONTINUE to cut it, or Stop where I'm at?"
Since the relaxer my stylist DID do a small trim on it, and today I plan on going over my entire head with the split-Ender.

I guess what i'm trying to ask is "Would the two trims be significant enough to stop the splits while I attempt to repair the damage they've caused with the Jamaican black castor oil and growth mix?"

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[NIN4eva]

@D.Lisha

Are the split ends gone? Or is the problem that you can't see them? I mean, if the split ends have been trimmed off there shouldn't be anything else to worry about at this point aside from keeping the overall length strong and moisturized. If you can still see splits they should be cut off. A trim is insignificant if you're not trimming off the splits.

If the issue is uneven length, then that's just more of a personal preference and the question would then be; Is the uneven length making your hair less manageable? Or, do you just hate the way uneven length looks?

Edited to add: You cannot stop split ends, they need to be removed.

 

[Meritamen]

If you have split ends then trim off. No need to chop off hair for that. Don't expect that your hemline will always be blunt when you are trying to grow out your hair. Most people's hair doesn't grow in that way. Get a simple trim and let it grow.

 

[cynd]

If you don't dust already, you may want to incorporate that into your routine. Since I started dusting regularly, I haven't had a problem with split ends.

 

[AutumnDreams]

D.Lisha, i would ask the stylist to show you the spilt ends first to verify you have them. I just dont trust stylists. Alot of times they want to cut / trim your hair because its easier for them to work with and looks better when they style it, and to add costs to your visit, not necessarily bc you need it. If you do have them, i would dust my ends myself or if u trust her not to cut all of your progress off, let her do it, but make her show you first.

I havent been to a stylist in almost 2.5 yrs now, i trimmed my ends at the beginning of my hair journey 2.5 yr journey and i hadnt trimmed again til a month ago. My hair has thrived, but not everyone agrees with the no trim route. From just above apl to bsl. I know my hair- it grows like crazy in the middle, and slower on the sides, then the sides will start filling in, and then the middle out paces the sides.

To a stylist though, it was automatically assumed that my sides had split ends bc it was always shorter. But now i know better. I purposely didnt trim bc of that, and i knew if i let my hair do its thing it would fill in and even out on its own. When i was going to a stylist, my hair never made it past apl bc the stylist always wanted to trim that middle back to the side lengths. It was so frustrating. Looking back now, i didnt have breakage or very little split ends. The stylist was cutting my ends to make the style cleaner looking, not bc it was needed. I went every 8 weeks for touchups, never used heat at home, and mostly wore it clipped up or in a pony, and wrapped it at night in satin bonnet. I wasnt doing anything damaging to my hair. And yet could never get my length back to my childhood length of mid back / almost waist length.

I know as a child my mother never put scissors to my hair, and it was healthy then. People would stop me and comment on why my hair was so much shorter, why i was cutting it. In fact, when i took a break before from a stylist and let my mom handle my touch ups, my hair got very close mid back length. Then back to the stylist i went, and back to apl i was cut. Now i am on my way, without the "help" of any stylists btw.

Dont get discouraged. If your ends are really split just trim only what needs to be trimmed, and be extra diligent about your ends for the next stretch. Good luck!

 

[havilland]

If you have split ends then trim off. No need to chop off hair for that. Don't expect that your hemline will always be blunt when you are trying to grow out your hair. Most people's hair doesn't grow in that way. Get a simple trim and let it grow.

^^^^^THIS!

I say, trim your ends yourself. do not let the stylist do it.

my hair grows uneven too.

 

[grownwomanaz]

Do you know what caused the splits? Were you using a lot of heat dealing with two different textures? I see you have a slight w. When I had the w it was because my nape was breaking due to improper relaxer application and removal/neutralization. For me, health and appearance is more important so I would figure out the cause, eliminate it, and cut or gradually trim away the uneveness. Don't give up though because your hair is still gorg.

 

[divachyk]

If you have split ends -- cut
If your hair is growing unevenly and you're ok with that -- hang on until it evens out
If the uneven hairs are annoying and you prefer an even hemline -- cut it

I have an uneven hemline at the present and it annoys me something serious. I will give it a few months to even out or my decision will be to cut it because I like uniformity.

 

[D.Lisha]

Ok so tonight after using my split-ender I took a few more pictures to help everyone see these ends alittle better...

 

[D.Lisha]

Thank you ladies for the input, I'm definitely considering everything you all are telling me, especially the part where "the stylist automatically assumes that hair is split just b/c different areas are growing at a different pace". In all honesty the only thing I've done differently was add black tea-rinses to my regimen to reduce shedding, and I also stretched for 20-weeks (longest stretch ever). I never used direct heat, and only utilized in-direct heat for DC purposes ONLY.

It's 5:08 a.m. and I'm sitting here rattling my brain to figure out what I did "wrong" if anything?

*sigh*

 

[Lilmama1011]

Are you sure you have split ends? How does your hair typically grow? Do your sides grow longer than the middle? Or vice versa? I ask bc my hair doesnt grow evenly at all, no matter how much its blunt cut it will grow out unevenly. If i were to trim back my hair every time one side out paces the other i wouldnt make any progress. This is the main reason i stopped going to stylists bc they dont understand my hair.

In that case they don't understand hair period, nobody's hair grow 100% even

 

[havilland]

Your hair looks fine to me.

You may want to trim to even it up. But I don't think you did anything wrong except let that stylist get into your mind. Your hair looks fine.

 

[Aireen]

Your stylist gave you a trim, right? I think you're good. If you're worried, go over with the Split-Ender and just monitor and baby your ends. From the picture, your ends don't look too bad, I've seen worse with longer hair.

EDIT: Just saw your photos after using the Split-Ender. Girl, you're good, you hair looks lovely.

 

[NIN4eva]

Your ends look nice in the after splitender photos. If you're cool with the uneven length I would let it ride.

 

[Lucia]

AutumnDreams
D.Lisha

What you're doing, trimming the splits you find or S&D is the way to get to longer length goals. Don't trust a stylist to show you anything, keep learning to care for your won hair yourself, also If you keep chasing blunt hemline you'll never reach your goals. HTH

 

[nrock]

Your ends are fine.

 

[D.Lisha]

Thanks for the reassurance, ladies! As of now I'm going to let it be and baby up these ends with JBCO. I guess we'll see what happens from here

Sent from my iPod touch using LHCF

 

[EnExitStageLeft]

D.Lisha

You hair looks good to me. I think your hairstylist wanted you ends to be uniform and blunt, but hair doesn't usually grow that way.

 

[Lucie]

BTW, OP I was just kidding with telling you to shave it off. I tell everyone that. I BCed twice and it is something I enjoy. I am sure your hair will be just fine and our hair does not grow in uniformly as many have already said. My sides grow in longer than the back.

HTH!

 

[Lucia]

D.Lisha

KL inspiration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R6q0rSha6o