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Thanks for posting this SuperGirl. I always look at my ends and feel they are split, although i have never been a victim of a SHS. I feel that I am always in need of a trim. I think I will go back to my original plan of 2 times a year, and just keep my ends moisturized as possible.

The portion you wrote at the end about airdrying is so true. My ends look a mess if they airdry but after conditioner or roller set they look fine.

Thanks again.
 
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I hardly have any split ends thanks to LHCF, but my hairdresser likes to trim with every retouch. I had a retouch a few months ago where I didn't get a trim, but I got a trim when I got my last relaxer 4 weeks ago. My hairdresser cut so much off it's like she made up for me going without a trim and then some.

I think that I can go the rest of the year without a trim thanks to things I've learned on LHCF about how to take care of my ends. I just hope that my hairdresser understands that I want to stop getting trims for a while now that my ends are a lot healthier and there's no reason to cut them.
 
Supergirl said:
Bumping--This is an extremely old thread, but I thought it might be useful to some of the newbies. :up:
Click to expand...

I'm just now reading it for the first time and I think it was on point. I haven't been to a stylist in 7 years except for the few times I just had it pressed by a different hairdresser. She never put any scissors in my hair b/c I wasn't having it.:lol:
 
:D :D :D this thread is right on time for me...

i was about to go upstairs and cut off about an inch because i was looking at my air-dried ends like "eugh!!!!!, these need to go.." and my sister, who does hair is constantly telling me to cut my ends, but i've resisted because i did not think it was necessary. Thank God for this thread! i'm about to rollerset my hair and then judge what needs to be done...i was getting so upset like "man, i do not want a setback!" who knew that i'd stumble across this thread....and i got on here with the purpose of finding some encouragement to keep going with my haircare regimen and taking care of my hair cuz i've been a little tired of it all lately!...but i thank God that i found what i was looking for. THANKS!!!!!!
 
Thank you SO MUCH for bumping this thread, SG! :up: This is some very insightful info. My former hairdresser is a SHS, and I noticed the things you spoke about, like how she'd trim my hair every couple of months (only because I compromise, because if she had it her way, it would've been every six weeks), and noticed that my hair wasn't getting much longer, then one of the things that dawned on me was because of all those trims she insisted that I'd have.

This makes me see my thin ends in a new light, too! :lol:
 
Thanks!! This thread was bumped just in time for me also! I was just about to break my no heat challenge just to even out my hair and cut dead ends. But I will be sticking to dusting to get rid of the rest of my splits!
 
Thanks for bumping this thread. It's definitely right on time. My ends aren't split, just dry and uneven... I was just thinking about lopping alot of it off just to even it up. Thanks so much.
 
Thanks for the much needed information Supergirl! Although I knew from previous threads not to let my stylist trim my hair at her whim, I didn't realize that hair will always grow uneven for the most part and trims are just temporary fixes.

I recently completed a 4 month stretch at the begining of June and let her talk me into a trim because she whined so much about my ends (they were uneven, but not split ...I always check)! She knows that I am trying for waist length hair. After my touch up she mentioned that I was a few inches past BSL, but when she finished the trim I looked in the mirror and was only approx. 1 inch past BSL (lesson learned)!

After reading Supergirl's thread I now chalk up my uneven hair growth to how our bodies are aligned in general. One foot is bigger than the other, one leg longer, one side of the face is different from the other, etc... Next time I won't give in to a trim unless there is true EVIDENCE of damage!
 
This is a very good thread and should be a sticky. SG always gives excellent tips!

I have this one bookmarked as well!
 
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So your hair naturally grows uneven huh??
But how much is natural... is like a half inch difference natural..

anyhoo, this thread is a breath of fresh air :D
 
Thank you so much for this postING THIS supergirl..this is so informative. And it a reminder for as well.. I airdry my hair in a wrap often & sometimes feel I need a trim..BUT I need to remember it not going to dry 100% smoothe like it would by blow drying..so basically when I see my end aren't smotth it doesn't mean I have split ends..which makes sense because 1) I only use heat to dc 2) I don't brush my ends & 3) I keep my ends really, really moisterized..Thanks Again
 
Thanks SG for bumping this :) I trimmed my own hair a month ago, and I was about to trim again because I thought my ends were split. Now that I know that air-dried ends look different or not as smooth, I will not pick up any scissors until I'm good and ready. I agree with the other ladies, this should be a sticky ;)
 
KhandiB said:
So your hair naturally grows uneven huh??
But how much is natural... is like a half inch difference natural..

anyhoo, this thread is a breath of fresh air :D
Click to expand...

Did I tell you that I LOVE that flyer in your signature? I wanna come. :D

My uneven sides are about 3/4 inch to 1 full inch difference. The sides have switched off during my lifetime too. Sometimes, the right side is the longer and sometimes the left side is. I've heard people say that when you sleep on one side more, then the other side is "dominant" and longer. Anyway, I don't think that everyone's hair grows uneven, but my usually does.
 
This thread is so on point! :clapping:

I know one side of my hair tends to look it longer and healthier, no biggie. And airdrying can leave ends looking like they are in desperate need of trim. Needless to say rollersetting ends does them a world of good and is a tremendous boost for hair morale. :yep:

All I know is it will be a cold day in hell when I let some scissor happy stylist come near my hair. In fact, I like the idea of doing my own touch ups too, so I don't have to worry about some SHS trying to sneak in a trim. :nono:
 
Supergirl said:
But, many times when the stylist wants to cut--the ends are not even really split. They may indeed be thinner, but I personally don't believe that they are unhealthy--just older than the rest of the hair. The thinness of the ends is just age. I am speaking of hair that has not been abused of course. If the hair is abused then the ends probably are split and/or damaged. Trimming the hair will not prevent the thinness on the ends, because the hair will always be aging. So weather or not you get a trim every 6 weeks or every 6 months--the hair that is one inch(just as an example) from the ends will be the same age whether or not you've recently had a trim or not. So instead of being fooled into thinking that your hair one inch above the ends is thin because you failed to get a trim and the thinness infected the hair above it with thinness--know that even with the trim, it would have still aged and gotten thinner.

Pictures
Album: Supergirlj
Click to expand...

After reading Supergirls advise, I am not getting my ends cut!! onward to brastrap scraggly and all.

::gets picket sign out:

"No more hair cuts"

"No more hair cuts"

"No more hair cuts"

"No more hair cuts"
 
Supergirl said:
Another thing--if you air-dry your hair, like a good girl then your ends will not look up to par most of the time. But actually, they're fine and healthy. Something about air-drying gives that pitiful looks to the ends, but after a good roller set, you can see that your ends are in great condition. So, don't make a hasty decision if your ends "look" bad one day after air-drying. If you reallly want to know, have a good conditioning and roller set (at home or salon) and then check your ends out. If they still look bad, then you might decide you'd like a trim.
Click to expand...


great insights!!!!

The bolded: I was wondering the same thing because when I got a relaxer (trim included) & rollerset, she did not use heat and my ends looked good. Then I washed my hair the next weekend and airdried and my ends were all frizzy and horrid looking. I have to smooth them with mango butter to tame them at this point. I didnt think it was damage hair because of the recent trim plus I didnt even use heat! I was thinking that it was just my overprocessed no-lye ends that slowly needed to be cut off.

I guess my next LHCF inspired adventure would be to master rollersetting at home....time to stalk some fotki's & tutorials.
 
Supergirl, you are the ISH! I've always thought about this. Like, why would my stylist wanna trim my ends every time I relaxed my hair. I would never see any progress. Like you, one side is shorter than the other and of course she felt the need to even it up.:nono: Damn shame I let her get away with it. Now I have to work xtra hard to gain all the length back.:mad:
Next time I decide to even let someone else in my hair and they tell me I need a trim, I'll tell em :eatme:

:lachen: :lachen: :lachen: :lachen:

I'm picketing with gn1g

"NO MORE TRIMS"
"NO MORE TRIMS"
 
I'm picketing too. I was just emailing one of my friends about this. I would be at APL if I hadn't cut off 3 inches earlier this year!!!

"No more hair cuts"

"No more hair cuts"

"No more hair cuts"

"No more hair cuts"

Pink-O
 
great post supergirl!
took me 3 years 2 realize this:p
my stylist was constantly trying to even out the back with the middle layer
it never caught up so everytime i would go it would be 1-3 inches shorter
even up 2 my nape or neck length:eek:
my mom would keep telling me 2 stop
but i pride myself on "clean ends" so i thought it was necessary
my hair grows in layers and i think that's beautiful
now i trim my hair myself and i'm doin a great job if i do say so myself;)
 
Supergirl said:
Hey Hair Sisters!

Just some notes that might help someone out. If you will notice that my # 1 hair care tip (in my signature) is to stay away from SHS's. (scissor happy stylists). I feel strongly about this.

The following is just my little 2 cents--well more like 2 dollars.

Well, we are often told that we should have our ends trimmed because splits will travel up the hair shaft. I have tested this theory. I actually plucked a hair from my head that had a split-end and then physically tried to further separate the two split pieces up the entire hair shaft. It didn't happen. In fact, I've never seen this happen on anyone's head of hair. Now, what did happen is that the weaker of the two split-pieces broke right off, leaving a hair end that was "half" as strong as it originally was. A tiny trim would be good just to snip off that weak end.

But, many times when the stylist wants to cut--the ends are not even really split. They may indeed be thinner, but I personally don't believe that they are unhealthy--just older than the rest of the hair. The thinness of the ends is just age. I am speaking of hair that has not been abused of course. If the hair is abused then the ends probably are split and/or damaged. Trimming the hair will not prevent the thinness on the ends, because the hair will always be aging. So weather or not you get a trim every 6 weeks or every 6 months--the hair that is one inch(just as an example) from the ends will be the same age whether or not you've recently had a trim or not. So instead of being fooled into thinking that your hair one inch above the ends is thin because you failed to get a trim and the thinness infected the hair above it with thinness--know that even with the trim, it would have still aged and gotten thinner.

Another reason your stylist may want to give you a trim is to even your hair up. If your hair is uneven, most likely it just grows that way and a "trim" will be such a temporary fix. Because in 2 more months, it will be uneven again. Will your stylist want to trim it again? Evening up the hair takes away length usually. My right side is my "weak" side right now and a stylist evened up my left side with it once (about an inch loss, plus what she trimmed on the right normally) and had the nerve to tell me that my right side broke off to a shorter length than my left, like I don't know my own hair. I was taking very good care of my hair and knew it wasn't breakage. And to further prove my point, my left side is longer and thicker than the right side now. Evening it up was done in vain.

Most trims are strictly for the appearance of the hair. But if when you wear your hair down, it has some kind of curl or bump to it--then it looks fine. The only reason you'd need a blunt trim/cut is if you wear your hair bone straight when you wear it down. (no curls, no bump)

Many times, we do not realize that we are the victim of an SHS. It took my mother pointing it out to me several times that my hair was getting shorter. And I knew it was in great condtion, so it wasn't breakage. Especially (ESPECIALLY) if you are getting your trims at re-touch time. This is the best time when a stylist can take off length and you never even know it. How? Because the re-touch straightens hair that was previously curly thus "stretching" out the length of the hair. You get up from the chair and your hair doesn't look shorter. It looks fine to you. You don't suspect anything. But after so many months, you notice that it ain't gettin' any longer. Your SHS is cutting whatever length you've gained by each re-touch
frown.gif
If your hair is not breaking--you should have gained additional length after each re-touch. If not, you may be the victim of an SHS!

I truly believe that we (black women) have to grow our hair on purpose. It's not something that we can do passively like our counter-parts from other cultures and races. It has to be done intentionally. I believe one of the important steps to intentionally growing the hair is to stay away from scissor happy stylists.

Ask any one of the ladies from this board that trims her own hair and/or does not get trims very often if it has helped or hindered her progress. I'm one of them.

If someone has damaged, abused hair, then they should get a trim and a good one and go from there, taking much better care of the hair from that point on.

I am writing this because I remember how many times as a little girl that I desired to have long hair, but would leave a salon after some woman had said "I'm going to trim your dead ends now baby" and I'd leave with 3-4 inches of hair GONE! When I got older, I said to myself the hair is already dead so there's no such thing as "dead ends." Also, even split ends are rare if you are a frequent wearer of protective styles and use very little to no heat on your hair.

Another thing--if you air-dry your hair, like a good girl then your ends will not look up to par most of the time. But actually, they're fine and healthy. Something about air-drying gives that pitiful looks to the ends, but after a good roller set, you can see that your ends are in great condition. So, don't make a hasty decision if your ends "look" bad one day after air-drying. If you reallly want to know, have a good conditioning and roller set (at home or salon) and then check your ends out. If they still look bad, then you might decide you'd like a trim.

Also, if you know that you are knowledgeable about hair care and are doing a good job with yours--don't let someone just because they are a "professional" with a "license" make you feel like you don't know didly. I've had this experience too.

I hope I have enlightened someone and always remember Supergirl's #1 hair care tip!


Pictures
Album: Supergirlj
Click to expand...



I needed to read it today thank you Supergirl:) !
 
Hi,

I agree with almost all of your post. I have to (respectfully) disagree that "non-abused" hair will also be thin on the ends by virtue of age only. Healthy hair can vary in diameter from root to tip, true. However, often what makes the hair appear thinner is actual damage (even if you don't chemically or thermally abuse the hair). The damage can be caused by wind, sun, and friction. This damages to the cuticle (the scales), causing them to ruffle up or slough off. Because the cuticle isn't smooth, the hair doesn't reflect light as it should. If the damage goes deep enough (into the cortex where all the protein (keratin) bonds are held togther and also where most of the pigment resides) the hair can appear lighter.

All this non-abuse damage can be caused by environmental factors, and there's no denying that the longer your hair is, the older the ends are. So if you have hair down to waist, those ends will have been exposed to the environment longer than, say, someone with shoulder length hair.

Also, splits WILL travel up the shaft, but are often rubbed off at a certain point, or will break off. I've had splits that are at least 2-3 inches above the ends, and splits that had splits! (Though none recently, thank you LHCF.) (For a split to travel far up the shaft it would have to be dead center to begin with.)

That being said, I wholeheartedly agree with Supergirl that you should NEVER let someone talk you into a trim without judging for yourself that you actually need one. Look at your own hair under a good light. Even better- look at it with a decent magnifying glass under a good light. You'll see whether you need a trim or not.

I NEVER get trims in the salon (come to think of it, I haven't even been to a salon in years). I do my own when I decide I need it.
 
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