Sometimes you have to do it..

[vkb247]

Since when does trimmed hair = healthy hair?

I think that the healthier your hair is than the longer your hair can be. If you really want your hair to grow than the health of your ends will be one of your highest priorities because that is the oldest part of your hair. I think that if you are extra gentle with your hair than you shouldn't need to trim. For me that means wearing my hair up 99% of the time (mostly because my hair would hit my shoulders otherwise), using no heat, and keeping my hair's moisture level up at all times, no dye, gentle detangling, minimal manipulation, etc. I think when people emphasize style over health than they would have to cut/trim more often because of the damage they are doing to their hair over time. Either way, trimming doesn't eliminate split ends because you can get splits anywhere in your hair and each hair strand has it own growth cycle so you can't really expect them to always be the exact same length.

I understand if people need to trim away damage but personally, if I felt that I needed a trim at any point, I would reevaluate the things I am doing to my hair to make trims necessary.

 

[msa]

I understand if people need to trim away damage but personally, if I felt that I needed a trim at any point, I would reevaluate the things I am doing to my hair to make trims necessary.

Exactly.

I don't trim because I don't need to trim my hair. I take care of my hair which prevents me from needing trims in the first place. That's the point of having a regimen. I seriously have to give people the side eye who are in threads extolling the virtues of the most popular technique/DC/treatment at the time but are always talking about how they had to trim their ends because they looked crazy. It just doesn't add up.

 

[Kerryann]

trimming is a must for me its a ugly site to have long hair and 3 to 4 inches of it is split ends. i love to get a nice trim it makes everything so much healthier looking and extra bouncy

 

[Ramya]

I trim for style. I don't think uneven hair is appealing. My left side/middle grows faster than my right side so I trim it up. I don't see the point in having 'long' hair if it's not aesthetically appealing. There are tons of people with long beautiful hair and just as many with long lackluster hair. I'd rather be a member of the former than the latter. *shrugs* and I'll be honest and say that I judge 'health' off of aesthetics.

 

[The Savvy Sistah]

Thanks I needed that! After getting my natural APL hair straightened last year I walked away with about 7 inches of heat damage on the left side of my head. I'm slowly cutting it off because it's bone straight and thin. I know this is LHCF but I prefer to have healthy short hair than long, thin and damaged hair. I'm trying to make BSL by the end of next month but even with the 3.5 inches of new growth I don't think it's possible. This is the first time I can say that I'm fine with that.

 

[BrooklynSouth]

I know all of are on LHCF to get that healthy long hair. Sometimes we are so obsessed with length that we forget health. I have been here since 2005 and for 2 years I mostly lurked. I have used countless products, and last year I made it 1 + inch past APL. I was jumping for joy. Then I realized that it should have been longer. I realized my hair broke a lot in those years, because I have never trimmed or cut my hair in 2.5 years.

When I started here I had color in my hair. Now I have none. Its because it broke off, all of it. So last week I'm laying in bed, I took a hand full of my hair and looked at it in the sunlight. Behold my hair was split ends central. I DC and moisturize every day like crazy. I started to S&D ( search and destroy split end). After 20 minutes of that, I grabbed the sheers and cut 3 inches off my hair. I'm now 1.5 inch above APL but happy my split ends are gone and my hair is thicker and happier.

Very good post, Tamrin. I consider myself above the length before health thing but I know I'm caught up in it too because of my slow cut and release of my relaxed hair ends. Does nothing for me except slow my progress with its tangling, stringy self. I'm working on a date for chopping that mess off and I know it'll be soon.
Thanks again. Darned THANKS button better find its way back here already! NIKOS..WHERE ARE YOU, WHAT'S UP WITH THE BUTTON????????