Tyra's hairdresser Oscar James...

[AJamericanDiva]

I've been reading numerous threads on Tyra's recent reveal and how possibly her hair's health was due to her hairdresser's care... here's his advice and take on it.

http://tyrabanks.com/view/story_05ABOUT_FACE

 

[naturalmanenyc]

If I listened to him, I would achieve hardly any growth. My hair only grows about 1/4 inch per month and he thinks women should trim 1/4 inch each 6 - 8 weeks?

I guess he presumes that everyone is heat styling often and that they have damaged ends every 6 - 8 weeks?





Hi, I’m Oscar James, Tyra’s longtime hair stylist. She was only 19-years-old the first time we worked together in a tiny little NYC apartment. We've both come a long way since then, but honey, if there's anybody who knows this woman's hair it's me. I've done the whole gamut with her; I've done it natural, put in clip-ins, weaves and styled her wigs.

Even though Tyra has worn extensions for years, we've always been mindful to take care of her real hair. We don’t compromise it for any look; it's her real hair that is most important.

Underneath those wigs, her hair has grown so much and it’s in great shape. (I’m really proud of it!) But if I could share one Golden Rule about hair with you that I’ve always reminded Ty-Ty, it’s this: "If you want it to grow, you got to let it go!" In other words, trims are a M-U-S-T.

We've been letting Tyra's real hair—and the color— grow out a long time; it grew really long, but in order to get it nice and blunt, and in order to get rid of most of the color, we had to cut almost three inches off! Baby, you should've seen her squealing! (Well, you really can on the Tyra Show; we cut it on camera.)

Listen, whether or not you wear faux hair, and no matter what your real hair texture, keeping it trimmed is a major part of helping hair grow longer and stronger. Tyra is proof!



How can I tell when it’s time for a trim?

OJ: When your hair gets tangled easily and is hard to comb straight through, or when you can see clear through the ends, it’s time. Checking your ends regularly is definitely a good habit to develop. If you have just removed any type of hair extensions, check them as soon as you take the added hair out.



How often should I get a trim?

OJ: In general, every 6-8 weeks.



Approximately how much should be cut off?

OJ: It depends on how damaged your hair is, but usually about 1/4 inch.



What does a trim really do for my hair? I don’t want my hair shorter.

OJ: What doesn’t it do? A good trim makes hair easier to comb and style, and always it makes it look much fuller. Although a trim can seem like a mini-haircut, don’t worry about your hair being shorter, trims actually help your hair grow.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

"If you want it to grow, you got to let it go!" In other words, trims are a M-U-S-T."

I'm thru yall.......I'm thru​

 

[KBA]

I think he assumes frequent heat usage to trim that often...and for the average person this may be ok. For many of us on the hair boards we know a lot of styles and techniques to preserve our ends and trim less...

 

[mscocoface]

We've been letting Tyra's real hair—and the color— grow out a long time; it grew really long, but in order to get it nice and blunt, and in order to get rid of most of the color, we had to cut almost three inches off! Baby, you should've seen her squealing!

NOT in this lifetime. I am with you NTB I would never show any growth at all if I had that much cut and that often and being natural with 99% shrinkage........just throw me over the cliff....OKAY?!?!?!?!?

Oh and I would not have been squealing because I would have grabbed his arm like the GI Joe with the Kung Fu grip.

NOT HAPPENING MAN!!!!!

 

[msa]

at trims make your hair grow. Blatant lie.

Anyway, if your hair is getting tangled easily, is hard to comb through, and you want it to be easier to comb and style, and look fuller I think a good DC is in order, not a trim.

Tyra's stylist or not, he wouldn't be getting anywhere near my head. Dumb fool .

 

[SunySydeofLyfe]

I think her hair is beautiful....but she has a professional stylist and that is all the hair she has with over 15 years of his care....FIRED!!!!

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

at trims make your hair grow. Blatant lie.

Anyway, if your hair is getting tangled easily, is hard to comb through, and you want it to be easier to comb and style, and look fuller I think a good DC is in order, not a trim.

Tyra's stylist or not, he wouldn't be getting anywhere near my head. Dumb fool .

^^^ O-KAY?!?!?! They'd have to pay me Tyra's Salary for me to let him get next to me wit all that ignant mess.

Damn we need a international re-education when it comes to our hair...word up what a HAM

 

[AllAboutMoi]

I thought I heard him say her ends were damaged if that's the case no sense in holding on to them.

 

[TeeWhyAre]

Um... No thnx, Oscar. I'll keep listening to my waist length & beyond LHCF sisters. Thnx anyway, though.

 

[luckiestdestiny]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If you want it to grow, you got to let it go!" In other words, trims are a M-U-S-T."---Oscar James


Interesting.

 

[glamazon386]

I think he assumes frequent heat usage to trim that often...and for the average person this may be ok. For many of us on the hair boards we know a lot of styles and techniques to preserve our ends and trim less...

I think this is a normal routine for the average relaxed BW. If you are relaxed and heat style frequently you will need to trim more often. This was my routine when I was relaxed and went to the salon every two weeks. I relaxed and trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks and my hair grew fine. I rarely had direct heat applied to my hair though. My stylist wet set probably 99% of the time. Most BW out in the real world do not have regimens like we do on this board. And IMO a lot of the regimens on this board are too much.

 

[glamazon386]

I thought I heard him say her ends were damaged if that's the case no sense in holding on to them.

He did say that. And damaged ends do need to be cut off in order for your hair to appear to be growing. But we call that retention around these parts. IDK why everybody is crucifying the man for the saying the same thing black stylists have been saying to us for years. The premise makes sense. It just wasn't worded properly.

But also everything isn't for everybody. I know my hair needs to be trimmed more often if I wear it out or down and manipulate it or not. Less often if it's in protective styles. If not, it will get caught/snag when I'm trying to comb it. I also get tangling and one strand knots when it's close to trim time.

 

[msa]

He did say that. And damaged ends do need to be cut off in order for your hair to appear to be growing. But we call that retention around these parts. IDK why everybody is crucifying the man for the saying the same thing black stylists have been saying to us for years. The premise makes sense. It just wasn't worded properly.

Trimming off damaged ends does make sense. Trimming hair to make it even and aesthetically pleasing even makes sense to some people.

But what's he's saying and what he means is that trims make your hair grow. That does not make sense at all. And there's nowhere to give him the benefit of the doubt, IMO, because he keeps saying the same thing and his explanations are the same.

To be honest, Tyra's hair looks good to me and her stylist obviously has some knowledge. But he has some erroneous information mixed in there that people are going to take as gospel. Then again, I said the same thing about that article featuring Ted Gibson on essence.com. Stylists are pretty much all the same.

 

[Brownie518]

"If you want it to grow, you got to let it go!" In other words, trims are a M-U-S-T."​

I'm thru yall.......I'm thru​

Every stylist I have ever gone to has told me the same thing. erplexed More people than you realize actually believe this.
Strange, though. Now that I no longer go to stylists, my hair is longer than it has ever been.

 

[AllAboutMoi]

He did say that. And damaged ends do need to be cut off in order for your hair to appear to be growing. But we call that retention around these parts. IDK why everybody is crucifying the man for the saying the same thing black stylists have been saying to us for years. The premise makes sense. It just wasn't worded properly.

But also everything isn't for everybody. I know my hair needs to be trimmed more often if I wear it out or down and manipulate it or not. Less often if it's in protective styles. If not, it will get caught/snag when I'm trying to comb it. I also get tangling and one strand knots when it's close to trim time.

I think you are right in that he did not word it properly.

 

[glamazon386]

Trimming off damaged ends does make sense. Trimming hair to make it even and aesthetically pleasing even makes sense to some people.

But what's he's saying and what he means is that trims make your hair grow. That does not make sense at all. And there's nowhere to give him the benefit of the doubt, IMO, because he keeps saying the same thing and his explanations are the same.

To be honest, Tyra's hair looks good to me and her stylist obviously has some knowledge. But he has some erroneous information mixed in there that people are going to take as gospel. Then again, I said the same thing about that article featuring Ted Gibson on essence.com. Stylists are pretty much all the same.

But that's what he talked about on the show. Did you watch it? He talked about why he trimmed her ends - because they were damaged and see through. They needed to go. And looking at the video they did need to go. He didn't just say you have to trim your hair to make it grow. He didn't even say it in those exact words. Given the context of the conversation and what was said he didn't just trim for aesthetic purposes. Of course the fact that your hair looks better after a trim is an added bonus but it's not the reason for the trim unless you just want a hair cut.

The only stylists that just trim for the hell of it are scissor happy. I understand what you're saying because the whole "you have to cut your hair to make it grow" comment explained in those terms is a myth. We know that. But trimming bad ends off does make you retain more hair over time even though you're cutting. Nobody ever explains the retention part. Hair will grow out of your scalp regardless. If it didn't relaxed heads would never need to retouch.

 

[MonPetite]

at trims make your hair grow. Blatant lie.

Anyway, if your hair is getting tangled easily, is hard to comb through, and you want it to be easier to comb and style, and look fuller I think a good DC is in order, not a trim.

Tyra's stylist or not, he wouldn't be getting anywhere near my head. Dumb fool .

CO to the SIGN.

 

[AJamericanDiva]

This "Must trim if you want it to grow" mantra was very common when I was in the hair salon circuit. That's just how they were taught... even when I first got enthusiastic about growing out my own hair and jumped on the Wanakee bandwagon... she too advised that hair should get regular trims of about 1/4" every 6-8 weeks or so... and she had LONG hair, so I believed it. It wasn't until coming to this board in 2003 that I learned differently and actually attained length....

I wouldn't crucify Oscar in that he is only practicing what he knows... I think most beauty schools teach this... be it geared towards our hair or other ethnicities....

 

[msa]

But that's what he talked about on the show. Did you watch it?

Nah, I didn't watch it. I can't stand Tyra .

But, I see what you're saying. I was just going by what was written in that story. I hope he did mean something different and explained it better on the show. By that written word, he sounds ridiculous.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

Every stylist I have ever gone to has told me the same thing. erplexed More people than you realize actually believe this.
Strange, though. Now that I no longer go to stylists, my hair is longer than it has ever been.

Yep! Aint nothin strange about it, you cut out the factor that was keeping you from attaining length, I've had the SAME experience

 

[glamazon386]

Nah, I didn't watch it. I can't stand Tyra .

But, I see what you're saying. I was just going by what was written in that story. I hope he did mean something different and explained it better on the show. By that written word, he sounds ridiculous.

He wouldn't be the first stylist to sound ridiculous nor the last. Think about all the bad advice out there. But he talked about color, not doing a double process, growing the color out, etc. The rest of the advice he gave was correct.

And with dye you have to be careful. It can slowly eat away your hair which is going to lead to more trims. When I had dye every time I got my hair straightened the ends looked raggedy even if I had just gotten a trim a few weeks ago. And it didn't look good or lay right when it was straight. The ends got caught in the comb. It just wasn't a good look. The dye was slowly chewing my hair up even though I was dcing and protective styling. My hair just couldn't take it. I got tired and just got all the dyed hair cut off a little at a time. That looks like what he's doing with her hair. She probably wears protective styles for a few months or so then takes it down, gets a trim and puts it back up/away.

You can get away with less trims that way too. You're not manipulating as often which means less wear and tear. Less wear and tear means your ends stay clean longer. I think I trimmed once last year and was in PS the majority of the time. I didn't really need one the last time but it fell better straight with a fresh cut. I'll probably trim one more time before the year is out.

 

[nymane]

I think it's kind of embarrassing since he's a big time professional hair stylist; I mean to say things like 'trims help hair grow' & 'Everyone should trim 6-8' weeks...

I really believe many professionals hair stylists are just that..."Stylists," NOT Hair Care professionals.

I wish I could see a live debate between Oscar and an informed hair care professional because I think many women believe the same nonsense...I did (before LHCF)

 

[Esq.2B]

How often should I get a trim?

OJ: In general, every 6-8 weeks.

That was such a ridiculous answer. He should not have given the "general" answer without including the exceptions. If he meant that he was speaking generally about women who use chemicals, or women who sustain heat damage, or women who don't deep condition, or whatever, then he should have also specified that those women are the women who need to trim every 6 to 8 weeks. Otherwise, he'll have women relying on his foolishness and wondering why they don't see progress as fast as they could/should be.

Approximately how much should be cut off?

OJ: It depends on how damaged your hair is, but usually about 1/4 inch.

Find me a stylist who only cuts 1/4 inches when you ask for a trim.

 

[TeeWhyAre]

I really believe many professionals hair stylists are just that..."Stylists," NOT Hair Care professionals.

I wish I could see a live debate between Oscar and an informed hair care professional because I think many women believe the same nonsense...I did (before LHCF)

I wanna see him debate any long time lurker or regular on LHCF or NP, even. I wanna see him debate Sylver2 or Sera25 or FlowerHair.

 

[Nonie]

I might be the odd one out here, but while I don't remember clearly but when my hair grew its best was when I was following Brenda's regimen (www.blackwomenrejoice.com) and I seem to recall trimming 1/4 inch or so every 6-8 weeks was the norm. I didn't know of hair forums then but my hair grew so well. I have never stuck to that schedule after finding LHCF coz I'm too much of a scatterbrain nowadays plus I spend way too much time online to focus on doing my hair but I think Wanakee might've had a similar schedule.

I swear I'm not kidding, trimming regularly (I call it dusting now that my vocab has increased thanks to LHCF coz I took off so little with the sharpest scissors I could find) led to growth I was so proud of.

I'm sorry y'all but I love this progress so much that I post it all the time:

August 2002

August 2003, after following the regular trimming regimen

 

[nymane]

I wanna see him debate any long time lurker or regular on LHCF or NP, even. I wanna see him debate Sylver2 or Sera25 or FlowerHair.

haha you're so right...

 

[lilsparkle825]

That was such a ridiculous answer. He should not have given the "general" answer without including the exceptions. If he meant that he was speaking generally about women who use chemicals, or women who sustain heat damage, or women who don't deep condition, or whatever, then he should have also specified that those women are the women who need to trim every 6 to 8 weeks. Otherwise, he'll have women relying on his foolishness and wondering why they don't see progress as fast as they could/should be.




Find me a stylist who only cuts 1/4 inches when you ask for a trim.

had to thank you twice. the part about taking down extensions and checking for a trim boggled my mind...if he is talking about women who heat-style on a regular basis (although i didn't see that specification), then why would hair that has been weaved up need to be trimmed?

i am looking for that stylist who only cuts 1/4". i hope he/she is in VA this week.

 

[luckiestdestiny]

I might be the odd one out here, but while I don't remember clearly but when my hair grew its best was when I was following Brenda's regimen (www.blackwomenrejoice.com) and I seem to recall trimming 1/4 inch or so every 6-8 weeks was the norm. I didn't know of hair forums then but my hair grew so well. I have never stuck to that schedule after finding LHCF coz I'm too much of a scatterbrain nowadays plus I spend way too much time online to focus on doing my hair but I think Wanakee might've had a similar schedule.

I swear I'm not kidding, trimming regularly (I call it dusting now that my vocab has increased thanks to LHCF coz I took off so little with the sharpest scissors I could find) led to growth I was so proud of.

I'm sorry y'all but I love this progress so much that I post it all the time:

August 2002

August 2003, after following the regular trimming regimen

I just checked out the website and the growth she got was from Seven years 1997-2004 and was from neck length to less then apl? I'm glad it worked for you but it seems that cutting that often is why it takes so long to get as far as you need to go. I do think that cutting off dead ends (split) is a necessity but then I think that Search and destroys and occasional trims go further in gaining more length faster. I think of dusting as 1/8th an inch and only when necessary, or more depending on if I have splits. Basically chopping just above any splits.

 

[vkb247]

I don't care if stylists are taught this in school. Hair grows from the roots. How could cutting the ends affect your roots? Stylist need to stop and think about what they are being taught. Stylists need to recognize the difference between hair care and hair styling.