trims: how often, how much

[x0h_bother]

The title says it all..I know there are non-trimmers out there but if you trim, how often do you and how much do you? Also, how much do you typically grow per month? What is your net growth after trims?

e.g. I trim .5" every 2 months, I grow .8" in 2 months, so my net is .3 inches every 2 months, 1.8" per year.

..I know, it's sad. I'm trying to trim less now that I don't use heat. So I'd like suggestions based on what you guys do. :)

[spidermom]

My standard has been a trim every 3 months. I've also gone for a year without trimming, and this year I hope I can afford to see my stylist once or twice - tough economic times!

[TinaDenali]

Over the last year and a half I've trimmed three times. I've gone from chin length to just below BSL. I don't know how much my hair grows per month, but I've sworn off trimming for now until I get to my goal.

How come you're trimming so often and so much? Do you have a lot of damage?

[Sunny_side_up]

im holding off trimming, i dont use heat tools, my hair is heavily layered so keeping an eye out for any high up splits, though i have yet to do a S&D just yet, last time i did one was a 1min job ages and ages ago! There is more sun getting on my hair now, so im being conscious of it being exposed to more heat while sitting outside at lunchtime while at work. I do regular oiling of my ends which seems to keep em happy :D

[Longlocks3]

I trim maybe .5 inches every 6 months or so. I don't have a perfect timetable for it though, since it's more of when I feel like it.

I grow slightly less than .5 inches a month. That means I net around 5 inches of grow a year.

[Loreley]

I've trimmed 0.4-0.8" every 3 months so far. I started trimming my hair about a year ago and before that I didn't trim it for five years! So my ends are thin and I don't like that. I'll trim 1cm every two months from now on. My usual growth is 0.4-0.8".
It's so painful, losing length when I'm pretty close to my goal but I don't want my goal length with fairytale ends.
When I'll reach 50" I will have to trim all the growth for at least a year to thicken my ends. I'm looking forward to it because I love trimming my hair. :D

[HintOfMint]

half an inch every six months, and a bang trim every six weeks. I S&D every week though. Basically, once I worked out the causes of my splits and damage--and it's often different causes for different people--and got rid of the damage, I could go long periods of time without a trim. However, even with preventing splits and having relatively healthy hair, I still find a trim makes a HUGE difference in how my hair feels, so I don't think I could ever be one of those people who never trims and only does S&D.

Oh and I don't know how much my hair grows in a month, but that's probably a good thing. Less to obsess over.

[janeytilllie]

I trim once a year and trim off 0.5". My hair growth varies from 0.5" to 1" a month.

[Arctic_Mama]

I haven't trimmed in several years, but I am considering beginning to move in on my damaged ends at half an inch to an inch per year, in once-yearly trims. The ends aren't splitting or breaking in any way I have observed, but thanks to dye, highlights, and some flat ironing back when my hair was above my shoulders, the ends are more poky and dry than I'd like.

They have been making it just fine without trims, but I keep wondering if I'd get less snarls in my ends as I comb if they were trimmed. They're pretty Velcro for not being visibly damaged.

[kelly-j]

Normally, I trim about 0.8 inches every six months.
But not I havent trimmed since September 2008 and my next trim is going to be in January 2011!. After that I think I will go on trimming every six months.

[ancilla]

I am sort of maintaining at the moment, trimming 1/2" every month (sometimes less) to thicken up my hemline. My hair was layered pretty heavily and I had a big shed a couple of months ago, so the last 1/3 of my hair is much thinner than the rest of my hair. I am making lots of progress though!

Anyway, if I wasn't doing this thickening up project, I would probably trim 1/2" every two months.

[SpeakingEZ]

I've been cutting off all my new growth since I stopped dyeing/straightening early December. I went a month without damaging my hair and saw no growth so I figured, "well, if it's going to break off this much anyway, I might as well trim it so it's a clean cut." It was breaking at the same rate of growth, about half an inch a month.

So I cut off half an inch. It grew back. I cut it again. It grew back, etc. I collectively cut off 2.5". This month, though, I'm experimenting by not trimming. I'm going to see how long I can go without and see what grew versus what grew out of my head to see what broke off . . . or if perhaps 30" is terminal for me right now.

As I'm figuring that out, I will be trimming .5" every 6 months to get rid of my damage. I have a long way to go.

[redneckprincess]

I have only trimmed 1 inch in the past 14 months...I get about 6 inches a year or so...I need to trim off more but am trying to get to my next goal of BSL before I trim again...though it DESPRATLY needs it NOW!!!

[lilalong]

I'm trimming approx. 1 inch every 3 to 4 months.
At least I think it's 1 inch, but when I measure it's usually a bit more.

[Carolyn]

I take on a month to month basis. I know I grow a steady half inch per month pretty much no matter what. At this time I'm trimming 1/2" every 3 months and my ends are fairly decent. So I should gain 4" in a year. We'll see next fall when it's been a year. The year before I trimmed off a lot more. I do lots of S & D. The little half inch trims are to keep the hemline neat.

[windinherhair]

I used to go to a hair stylist every 3 months but my hair never seemed to grow longer. I must have been getting too much cut off. On average my hair grows about 0.8 inch a month. I went 6 months last year without trimming. But I have never trimmed more then 0.4 inch off at a time which is half my growth for a month. I was planning on doing that monthly so I could grow out my layers and get a more even hemline. Right now I am just trimming when I see the need to (when my hemline is getting uneven).

[jivete]

I was maintaining for a while, but now I'm back to growing. My plan is to trim 1/4" to 1/2" every three months. That should put me at my goal of waist in about a year and from there I'll be maintaining. I'm actually looking forward to it. I love thick, freshly trimmed ends.

[moominhapa]

I just watch my ends and trim when I feel like it's necessary. I just got a trim for the first time in 6 months, which is a long time for me. My hair grows sort of fast-ish though, so I don't worry about trimming. If it needs it, it needs it!

[spidermom]

I prefer to have trims on a regular basis because I don't want my ends to get too thin. I think that trims make my hair look more well-cared-for, which makes me feel well-cared-for. I'm lousy at doing it myself, unfortunately, and my stylist - who is wonderful! - isn't cheap.

[Aditi]

I usually trim my hair when i start to see split ends that makes twice in a year and i trim 1 inch or 2 inches maximum. I don't measure my growth rate as it varies every month.

[x0h_bother]

How come you're trimming so often and so much? Do you have a lot of damage?

Yes, I have lots of heat damage only. Daily use of straightener for years. :mad:


I prefer to have trims on a regular basis because I don't want my ends to get too thin. I think that trims make my hair look more well-cared-for, which makes me feel well-cared-for. I'm lousy at doing it myself, unfortunately, and my stylist - who is wonderful! - isn't cheap.

My stylist is wonderful and not cheap too, which is one reason why I don't want to leave her but I also want to grow.

Thank you all for your help. I have decided that I will stretch my trims to 3 and possibly 4 months cutting 1/2 inch off now that I am not using heat and now that I am growing my bangs out (they are now tucked way behind ear.)
I am excited not to have to trim as often! :D

[LaurelSpring]

When I first started at LHC I had been going to a salon about 2-3 times a year but I wasnt getting anywhere because they always cut off my growth and I was always back to square 1.

When I got to LHC I didnt trim for almost a year. From that point on I decided no salons because I wanted control over how much got taken off. Although I think that going no trim for almost a year was absolutely what I needed to do to get some length, now I am dusting every 3 months. The ends got really straggly when I wasnt trimming and I like having it more even now. I think it grows about the average half inch a month.

[freckles]

when I joined, I hadn't had a trim in over two years. I went to a stylist and had around 2 inches taken off, which neatened it up and got rid of the worst of the splits. After that I decided to S&D and to next trim when it 'felt like it needed it'. That turned out to be 6 months later (last month) so I self-trimmed around half an inch. I'm planning on keeping doing it this way, self-trimming around every six months. But I will adjust as I feel is needed.

[frizzalot]

I grow about about an inch a month, i've only trimmed twice (2 x 2inches) in the last year to get rid of my layers and very deep v cut. I'm hoping not to trim unless my ends start to look seethru.

i don't use any heat and rarely comb. After washing I finger comb.

[LadyMydnytMoon]

I still have layers in my hair so Im trimming 1/2" or so every 3-4 months. I might do it more often to get rid of my layers faster, but after that I plan on trimming my hair 2x a year.

[EtherealOde]

Because I still have about 9 inches of damaged hair from a lot of bleaching and dye/highlight jobs, I trim off half of my growth every month or two. It keeps my ends fresh and slowly removes the damage without the need for me to do it all at once. It lets me continue to gain length too, even though it is a lot slower than if I didn't trim. I also do S&D sessions every few days looking for any big, obvious splits. When all the damage is gone, I will likely only trim about a half inch every 3-4 months or as my hair seems to need it. I like thick ends, so for me trimming more is worth the slower gain to make my hair look thicker and healthy.

[deko]

I try to get damaged lenght (4" left) off at the same time as I try to reach waist so I trim 1/2" every two months and hope that the hair will eventually be healthy and long.

By the end of this year I will have all the damaged parts gone!

[Mutinous]

I trim about every 6-8 weeks at the moment. My hair generally grows pretty fast, about 0.8 inches a month or so I would guess. I'm trying to even up my hair and grow the layers out, so I go in, whack about half an inch of the back to even my hair up a bit.

[Capybara]

I don't trim on a regular schedule, I just trim when I need to (which is probably now...:rolleyes: ) My last visit to the salon was june (I think?) 2009, and I did a microtrim in February. I S&D occasionally though.

[adiapalic]

I have been trimming somewhere between 1/2" to 1" about every 6 months--just depends on if I need it or not.