Trimming- Natural Hair

[Loves Harmony]

Hello Ladies!
Yesterday i decided to have my ends trim and i realize that i get my hair trim to much . Ive been going every 3 months and my hair is staying at sl. I was wondering how often do you ladys trim? Do you get your hair trim even if you dont have split ends? How much do you cut off?

 

[WyrdWay]

I am only S&D-ing until I reach waist length and then I was get a nice trim to even things up a bit. But until then. if it is healthy I'm going to try and keep it

 

[Loves Harmony]

Thanks alot for responding. I dont know why i feel the need to have my ends cut so often. Im going to hold out to every 6 months and keep my hair in twist, twist out, or braid outs. Also leaving the heat alone.

 

[makeupvixen]

I just dust my ends, no more trimming for me. I search and destroy the jacked up strands and that's all I do

 

[Nonie]

Hello Ladies!
Yesterday i decided to have my ends trim and i realize that i get my hair trim to much . Ive been going every 3 months and my hair is staying at sl.

I was wondering how often do you ladys trim?

Ideally, I dust every 6-8 weeks. Sometimes I do drop that ball and do it later, but I would love to do it on that schedule. I call it dusting because I only trim off 1/4 inch (about this much __) when I do it.

Do you get your hair trim even if you don't have split ends?

I do not wait to see split ends. I trim regularly because I doubt there's anyway to know for sure that you don't have split ends. Splitting starts at such a microscopic level that if you are waiting to see the splits before trimming, you're waiting too long. I once took a photo of my hair to show how absence of a split doesn't mean your hair is intact. The split is already far gone and torn off...but had I been looking for splits, I'd swear I didn't have one, when the hair is already in bad shape.

For those who cannot guess how big a scale you're looking at so that you can see how tiny a split section you're observing, here's a pic showing the size of my coils against a tape, and so you're basically zooming in on one of those coils to see the tip of my hair shown in the pic above, which I doubt those who do S&D can afford to do for every strand on their hair. So imagine how much that futile tasks misses! Also note from that tape that a 1/4 inch is two partitions on the tape, which is a few coils of my hair, and not just that tiny tip you see in the magnified pic above. So while it is a small section I snip off, it is big enough to sort of ensure I remove enough of my hair to cover any tears that might have happened--but only if I do it regularly, and seal and protect. I need to really work on the last two points for this regular trimming to actually amount to good retention.


Trimming regularly just makes sure that your ends stay nice and full. Check out Spring's and Pokahontas' hair and you'll see how beautiful regularly trimmed hair appears.

How much do you cut off?

Approximately 1/4 inch. I'm sure I cut a bit more coz it's not easy to grip that, but it can't be that much more. I usually have my hair in twists and I hold the end of each stretch and snip, trying to keep the amount I cut the same in all of them.

 

[WyrdWay]

I use the twist method for checking my ends Tracie used it in one of her videos. That way it's easier for me to see all of those ends. But I also snip if it is tapered due to splits, bent and a 90 degree angel or has a white dot on it. I do it at least once a week while watching tv or youtube. I won't have to do it as much after I chop off my bleach damage. ( I have up to 5inches of bleach damaged hair in some spots)

@Nonie thanks for that picture, I used to think that hairs should naturally taper, but after reading and researching I learned that it is just damage.

 

[sheba1]

When I get my split ender I will trim quarterly. I like the thought of cutting every hair on my head by 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch to rid split ends, fairy knots, etc. For now my hair is just braided up and tucked away. Haven't seen scissors in a while.

 

[Nonie]

I use the twist method for checking my ends Tracie used it in one of her videos. That way it's easier for me to see all of those ends. But I also snip if it is tapered due to splits, bent and a 90 degree angel or has a white dot on it. I do it at least once a week while watching tv or youtube. I won't have to do it as much after I chop off my bleach damage. ( I have up to 5inches of bleach damaged hair in some spots)

@Nonie thanks for that picture, I used to think that hairs should naturally taper, but after reading and researching I learned that it is just damage.

You're welcome.

BTW, I don't think the twisting method is really a good method either. You have hairs that are a little shorter than others, and if you twist, those hairs will stick out coz they are shorter. Also if you consider that a split can be so small as I showed in my pic, how will you see that stick out? What's more, if you twist, some hairs are hidden in the bunch that is twisted...so how can it be only split ends stick out?

Every time people show photos of rugged ends and call them split ends, it usually is hair left behind by splits that tore off. A split looks like a y or a W or fan. What they look at are skinny ends. When you twist, you don't see splits. I bet if you were to grab one of the hairs that sticks out of the twist and looked at it closely, you probably would not see a thin end or split. Splits aren't that ready to volunteer themselves.

 

[BillsBackerz67]

I do S&D and leave the actual trims to my stylist.

 

[FroFab]

I trim once every 3 months and S&D about once every two weeks. I ALWAYS have something to trim...not real splits until recently but SSKs definitely.