SPLIT ENDS....

[Diya]

well, the count down is on!! i'm going to get a trim in about 4 days!! we'll see how it turns out. my ends really need it and i think i'll feel better about my hair. the last time i had a trim was in february

Honey-- do you have an update on your trim?? I also haven't trimmed since feb and was going to hold out until my next relaxer in Oct or Nov sometime. My ends aren't 'raggedy', but they aren't at all even so I think I could use a good trim. After waiting so long, they didn't take too much off, did they??

 

[honeybadgirl]

Honey-- do you have an update on your trim?? I also haven't trimmed since feb and was going to hold out until my next relaxer in Oct or Nov sometime. My ends aren't 'raggedy', but they aren't at all even so I think I could use a good trim. After waiting so long, they didn't take too much off, did they??

oh boy was there an update!! i did a thread about me being down about it. she cut my apl to the just past my shoulders. its where it was when i started lhcf. i have accepted it and got used to it now. it does feel better and look better. i'm determined to be apl again, hopefully by xmas or new year....(really hoping sooner!!!)

 

[HAIRapy]

whats the story with them??? i hear ladies on this site that says they dont get trims for months, even years. why do we need trims if, like many here, still grow long hair? will the split ends really split all the way up to the root, then what happens when it does? i have also heard other women, not from this site but in "real life", pretty much dismiss length on a woman if her ends are "raggedy". they'll say, "yeah her hair is long but look at those ends" as if the length doesnt count because the ends are not blunt or even. how do you we keep our hair healthy, retain length and have split ends? is it truely possible??

I voted when I feel like it- I felt rude voting that It's really that I trim only as needed. Currently, my ends are uneven, but not split. I only trim the split ends. I will trim to even the ends out once the shortest hair reaches APL.

 

[honeybadgirl]

I voted when I feel like it- I felt rude voting that It's really that I trim only as needed. Currently, my ends are uneven, but not split. I only trim the split ends. I will trim to even the ends out once the shortest hair reaches APL.

dont feel rude girl!!
i got my hair trimmed in september and they still look pretty good. i could use a little trim just to make it look totally even when i hold it up, in sections, but i figure i'm not even wearing my hair down. i'm sporting a wig right now so i think i'm going to hold out until january/february
i'm crossing my fingers hoping i wont have to get it chopped up!!

 

[girlyprincess23]

A lot of people that are protective styling and baggying can hold off on trimming. Their ends aren't being exposed to the elements, clothing, etc, so why should they trim? Those people take care of their ends and can afford to not trim. If you are using heat and wearing you hair down a lot, you may have to trim, that's just the nature of the game. But the faithful baggiers/protective stylers have been taking precautions so they DON'T have to trim.

I have not worn my hair down or used heat for going on six months this May. When I relax, do you think I am going to trim? Hell no (unless I there has been some breakage during my stretch that I didn't see). I worked hard keeping those ends protected and moisturized. I am not going to put myself on a schedule just cause it seems like the thing I should do. I am trying to go a whole year without trimming. We will see how it goes....

It is VERY possible for people who take care of their ends.

DITTO!!!!!

 

[fivetimestwo]

I use the seek-and-destroy method usually. I "examine parts of my hair and if I see a split, I trim it. I very rarely trim my head all over, maybe twice a year and it's never much when I do. I think proper moisture/protein balance has kept my ends from being raggedy....

I agree that raggedy ends can take away from the beauty of someone's hair. I'd rather see it shorter and healthy than long and a H.A.M.

 

[ReddTweetyB]

I trim about every six weeks. My hair seems to look alot healthier after a trim. I never trim off no more than 1/4 of an inch at a time.

 

[honeybadgirl]

how do you keep that balance of protein/moisture?? what is that test where you put a strand in water? what are you looking for to happen?? i heard that a couple of times mentioned. if it floats, what does that mean, if it sinks, what does that mean??

 

[almondjoi85]

Its more like whenever I feel like I need to... but my hair grows in pretty even and the ends don't split too too much. i trim about twice a year if that.

 

[Suerte]

Split ends are my middle name.

Maybe my first name.

I can't even claim BSL until probably 6 months from now because I know I am going to have to wave goodbye to about 2 inches of messy ends.

I am gonna have to leave the heat and hair dye and wearing it down all the time alone.

I need to get back on the program.

I am going to start protective styling again and trimming annually.

 

[stormy07]

I put whenever I feel like it, although my weird thing is that I don't think I actually get split ends. I look very carefully and I know I need a trim when the ends are puffy no matter what I do. They aren't split just poofy as all get out.... but I get away with a trim about every 4-6 months....I just trimmed when I took my braids out last week....lost about an inch and a half....and it's uneven....I don't really care about that but it's annoying as hell when you're trying to plait the hair and you got little mini curls sticking out on every other spot....

 

[Cloud06]

I trim whenever I feel like it. Split ends dont bother me since I keep my hair up mostly. But when I wear it down I will even it out not cutting much just to even it. Split ends from my xperience dont split all the way up the shaft usually mine just break off or peel away from the main hair shaft. Doing protein helps seal those ends and the point where they break. But sometimes if you let them overrun your hair you may end up cutting more good hair.

 

[DayStar]

i trimmed the left side of my hair a couple months ago, because i didnt like the way it looked ( look at my siggy, it has definetly catched up to the rest of my hair). For the most part i dust whenever i feel like it. I havent had a professional trim in almost 2 years.

 

[morehairplease]

What she said! Even ends/healthy ends are definitely more important than length to me! It seems to me my hair always grows more after a good trim.

this is definately the case with my hair.

 

[writtenthought]

i dunno whats up with my hair. but the front of my hair always has splits. i havent used heat since 8 months ago so i dont know what the culprit is.

ME TOO. I'M NATURAL I'M THINKING MAYBE IF I STRAIGHTING MORE OFTEN IT MAY HELP. SINCE I GET TANGLES AND SINGLE STRAND KNOTS.

 

[honeybadgirl]

ME TOO. I'M NATURAL I'M THINKING MAYBE IF I STRAIGHTING MORE OFTEN IT MAY HELP. SINCE I GET TANGLES AND SINGLE STRAND KNOTS.

yeah, when i was natural it worked out better for my hair just to wear it str8!!

 

[LiberianGirl]

I was only trimming my ends every two months or longer but I decided to go back to trimming every month. I have less tangle and can retain more length that way.

 

[pisceschica]

whats the story with them??? i hear ladies on this site that says they dont get trims for months, even years. why do we need trims if, like many here, still grow long hair? will the split ends really split all the way up to the root, then what happens when it does? i have also heard other women, not from this site but in "real life", pretty much dismiss length on a woman if her ends are "raggedy". they'll say, "yeah her hair is long but look at those ends" as if the length doesnt count because the ends are not blunt or even. how do you we keep our hair healthy, retain length and have split ends? is it truely possible??

I am one of those that doesn't trim very often maybe once every three months. . hey I don't keep track.

But to address the bold I don't think that is possible. If you have a several split ends here and ther its not that serious but if you're just split city with damaged thin ends it doesn't look nice. I am also one of those women that kind of "dismisses" the length if the ends look chewed up. I mean I'm sure you have seen plenty of women black white asian etc with long hair that looked like crap because they didn't want to cut off the split ends.
It doesn't look nice to have straight hair with massive split ends every where. Its even worse with thicker coarser hair type b/c they tend to be more obvious and the ends tend to be thin. Long thin split ends doens't look as nice as short clean even ends. But thats just me.

I feel that you can retain length with split ends but not if your most of your hair is split probably not. . or at the very best you have long hair that looks like the ends have gone through a shredder.

 

[KhandiB]

I will cut when I dont like the way my hair looks when I flat iron

which i right now I am also noticing my hair thickening back up and my ends to me are looking a little frail, so Im gonna cut like an inch or an inch and a half , .. maybe ... LOL

I use heat regularly and will never stop, so I will need to trim more often than your average woman. Doesnt bother me too much though , would rather have hot sexy hair than raggedy hair.

 

[JustKiya]

I don't trim, at all. I don't wear my hair straight, so I figure, why bother? I know I still get split ends - I can see that in my shed hairs - but most of the time, the split ISN'T at the bottom of the strand, so even if I did trim, I would be missing most of the split ends.

When my ends start to get rough, that's usually a sign that I need to pH balance my hair, and then they tend to smooth down pretty nicely.

I suspect my trims will be on the every 3 years kinda schedule....

 

[Browndilocks]

I trim whenever necessary and for me, it's definitely necessary. No longer WL - just cut off 4-5 inches and why? Because I took too long to trim. It can feel like a blow but your hair looks and feels much better when your ends are on point.

 

[LaShanne]

Ever since I got serious about moisturizing/sealing my ends I haven't needed to trim. Thank goodness the woman who does my touch up isn't scissor-happy. It been almost 5 months.

 

[nappy85]

I just trimmed my hair for the first time since I've been natural (4 years in June)!!! At first I didn't trim my ends because I had a small case of "scissor-phobia" since I went from shoulder length to about 1" of hair after my BC. Then, I just didn't see the need for it. I only could tell I needed a trim when I straightened my hair, which is only 4-5 times per year. I had some split ends, but more little knots at the ends. Since I feel I have a good amount of hair on my head, I am comfortable getting trims again. I just cut off about 1" yesterday, but eventually I want to cut off about another 2" to get my hair the way I want it to be. I will probably trim my ends about 1-2" per year if that much.

 

[BlondeByDesire]

Does anyone trim their own ends?

 

[KaramelDiva1978]

I too was able to go more than a year without a trim b/c my ends were so very well protected. Since my hair was really short through end of 2006, I did tons of phony ponies. I kept my hair covered in baggies with Profectiv Healthy Ends on it. I think the only reason the woman trimmed my hair last year was to make it more even since my layers are growing out. Besides then, my stylist says they look good. So definitely showing them some TLC is what works.

 

[nappy85]

Does anyone trim their own ends?

I trim my own ends now (I first tried yesterday). I think I did okay for the first time (even though I still need to trim about 2" more). I used this guide I found:

http://community.livejournal.com/feyeselftrim

 

[anon123]

I just gave myself a trim recently and don't know why I did it. Because I guess I feel that I should. But it is possible not to have split ends. I don't have them. Since I've been paying attention to such things, so about half a year, I've only seen 2 splits. One that was about 1/10th of an inch long on the end and one that had two prongs jetting out of the middle of the strand. That was really interesting. Anyway, my point is that I think it is possible to not need trims if your routine is really good. Not saying mine is that good (I don't think it is, yet), but at least my routine is not one that gives me split ends.

 

[bbdgirl]

Does anyone trim their own ends?

I have been trimming my own ends for a few years now, cuz I really don't trust stylist. I have had a few bad experiences; where I am lucky is whenever I go to the Dominican salons they never take off too much from my hair. I really try to keep my ends moisturized and I find that rollersetting really preserves my ends.
I trimmed last month and that was after 5 mo. I took off about 1/4 inch just to give me hair a fresh look. But the scissors weren't sharp enough so I think that I did more harm than good, cuz now a few ends are starting to look raggedy and split.

 

[MD_Lady]

whats the story with them??? i hear ladies on this site that says they dont get trims for months, even years. why do we need trims if, like many here, still grow long hair? will the split ends really split all the way up to the root, then what happens when it does? i have also heard other women, not from this site but in "real life", pretty much dismiss length on a woman if her ends are "raggedy". they'll say, "yeah her hair is long but look at those ends" as if the length doesnt count because the ends are not blunt or even. how do you we keep our hair healthy, retain length and have split ends? is it truely possible??

I do it when it needs to be done. I'm all about having length, but not at the cost of shabby ends. If someone is truly trimming their ends, I'd think they should be able to do so with compromising too much length. Sometimes people have to even their hair out because different sections grow at different rates, but I think that's another issue.

 

[n_vizion]

Whenever I trim, my hair thanks me. I know that I need a trim when my breakage is consistent and the hairs are around the same length. When my hair just wont look right, I also know that means a trim is in order.

Once I do, my hair thrives, the breakage stops almost immediately and the length is retained. By next relaxer, I my hair is longer and stronger than before the trim.