Should I cut off 3 inches off?

[SleepyJean]

I have nape length hair. It's neck length in some places but not all over. As I've said to a few members, I have overprocessed ends which are noticeable to me. I see the brown on my naturally black hair, and I see the frizz on my ends. The ratio of healthy relaxed hair to op hair is 2.75:3. The earliest I will do this will be May 2008. It has been worrying me lately. I will apporoximately have 4.38 inches of healthy relaxed hair. It is a scary situation, because I haven't had hair that short in a long time nor have I had that much healthy relaxed black hair. My major concern is that my hair won't grow back. My hair has never grown past a certain length, and I'm afraid that may happen with that length. I really would like to have healthy hair, though.

 

[sonce]

Discoloration might not be from damage. My hair is dark red/light brown at the ends because it gets lightened by the summer sun.

 

[hopeful]

Don't be scared. If you have a good regimen now, you will get to a nice length. I was stuck at neck length and shorter for YEARS--everytime I got to neck it broke off in the nape area--since LHCF I have finally kissed neck length good bye for good. Trust me, your hair will surprise you.

 

[locabouthair]

i think you should gradually trim them. i have about 4 or 5 inches to cut off and im going to do it gradually.

 

[Supergirl]

Will you feel relieved if you go ahead and cut it all now?

 

[ravenmerlita]

Don't be scared. If you have a good regimen now, you will get to a nice length. I was stuck at neck length and shorter for YEARS--everytime I got to neck it broke off in the nape area--since LHCF I have finally kissed neck length good bye for good. Trust me, your hair will surprise you.

ITA. I couldn't get my hair past my chin in front and neck/shoulders in back. Now my hair is longer than it has been in years. Keep taking care of your hair and babying your ends and you will make progress.

3 inches seems like a lot to trim at one time to me. Perhaps you can do gradual trims like Locabouthair suggests.

 

[SleepyJean]

Will you feel relieved if you go ahead and cut it all now?

It's a double-edged sword. I would feel relieved to cut it, but I know I will be frustrated at my length.

 

[SleepyJean]

i think you should gradually trim them. i have about 4 or 5 inches to cut off and im going to do it gradually.

Have you been getting breakage? How do you prevent it?

 

[SmartyPants]

If you want to avoid a cut, you can always wear your hair curly to mask the differences in length. My hair on the right side broke off back in July. As a result the left side is about two inches longer. I am just going to roller set it on smaller rollers and wear it curly until I reach shoulder length on the right side. Then I will get it cut even.

 

[kiesha8185]

I was in the same situation last year. I realized that cutting my hair shorter would have made managing my hair harder to manage, and would also caused me to manipulate my hair more (since it would take more time/patience to style).

First things first. Do you think your ends are causing any damage to the rest of your hair? Do you have excessive breakage or a lot of split ends? If so, then cut it. You can possibly be causing more harm than good to the overall health of your hair by holding on to damaged ends. Personally, I'd cut it all of one time, then wear kinky twists until I got my hair back to my desired length (this also helps with regaining thickness, too ).

But if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If the sole purpose of cutting off the ends are for aethesic purposes ONLY (meaning holding on the ends is not sacrificing the health of your hair) then I say keep them. If it's not doing any harm, then there's no reason to get rid of the length.

The next thing to do would be to blend your ends with the rest of your hair. What I did was first henna/indigo my hair. This made my hair all one color. Also black hair seems to have more shine to it to me).

What I did to improve the health of my ends were to: stop using heat, never wore my hair down, and baggied my hair (only dry hair, not wet hair) every night with a roller on the ends or in a braid.

Find out your protein/moisture balance and give your hair what it needs. You may be pleasantly surprised to realize you may not have to trim/cut your ends after all.

Hope this helps!

 

[SleepyJean]

I was in the same situation last year. I realized that cutting my hair shorter would have made managing my hair harder to manage, and would also caused me to manipulate my hair more (since it would take more time/patience to style).

First things first. Do you think your ends are causing any damage to the rest of your hair? Do you have excessive breakage or a lot of split ends? If so, then cut it. You can possibly be causing more harm than good to the overall health of your hair by holding on to damaged ends. Personally, I'd cut it all of one time, then wear kinky twists until I got my hair back to my desired length (this also helps with regaining thickness, too ).

But if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If the sole purpose of cutting off the ends are for aethesic purposes ONLY (meaning holding on the ends is not sacrificing the health of your hair) then I say keep them. If it's not doing any harm, then there's no reason to get rid of the length.

The next thing to do would be to blend your ends with the rest of your hair. What I did was first henna/indigo my hair. This made my hair all one color. Also black hair seems to have more shine to it to me).

What I did to improve the health of my ends were to: stop using heat, never wore my hair down, and baggied my hair (only dry hair, not wet hair) every night with a roller on the ends or in a braid.

Find out your protein/moisture balance and give your hair what it needs. You may be pleasantly surprised to realize you may not have to trim/cut your ends after all.

Hope this helps!

I might cut off my hair, and wear cornrows until it grows back. I appreciate your advice.

 

[glamazon386]

I would go ahead and cut it. It'll grow back before you know it. When I was younger I had this problem more than once and it seemed like when I held onto those ends and trimmed little by little, it caused more harm than good.

 

[Moroni]

i think you should gradually trim them. i have about 4 or 5 inches to cut off and im going to do it gradually.

ITA. In fact, if you take a look at my fotki, you'll see all damage that goes all the way up to my ear on the right. There's NO WAY I'm cutting that much. I'll gradually dust the ends until I reach 3 inches past my goal, then blunt cut.

 

[SleepyJean]

I would go ahead and cut it. It'll grow back before you know it. When I was younger I had this problem more than once and it seemed like when I held onto those ends and trimmed little by little, it caused more harm than good.

How did it hurt you?