To cut or not to cut, pros and cons

[Wingspan]

I know how it is when you get the "itch" to cut (or color or whatever), usually you can't get it out of your head until you finally do it.. But If this is the case with you, I would also first cut to waist, since you do have a lot of doubts. Waist-to-hip is not that long to grow.

I have had severe regrets after chopping off my hair, and I have done for pretty drastic cuts. Like someone said, it felt great for about a day and then the regret set in. It was like I got to enjoy the newness and change, and then I was over it super fast, and realised that oh drat, whaddyaknow, going back won't happen as fast but it will take years!

When I had a pixie and really wanted long hair, I would have dreams where my hair was long and I could pull it all back in a pony and it felt so nice.. and then I woke up and was sad.

I had a severe shed in 2020, and I kept my hair shorter for a while because of that, and also I didn't really care about how long my hair was at that point. But since my hair used to be very thick, it just felt off to me being so thin. I still have some of that thinness at my ends, but I'm slowly trimming it off. Also because I have some damage. But since my hair is now at hip length and longer than ever since childhood, I'm no longer in a hurry to have it grow long. Because it already feels like proper long hair. The distance between waist and hip is quite short for me and it pretty much went by unnoticed. I just realised that hey, I'm at solid hip length! I find that happens when I don't obsess over it.

I definitely do notice that it gets caught more in places and I try to move it out of the way so as not to cause damage. I need to start wearing it top more, seriously! I just bought two silk pillowcases that I'm waiting for, and I'm trying to make myself wear it braided or burned on top of my head for sleeping. With shorter hair I would not have to worry about this kind of thing at all, but there is no going back for me. I always wanted to have very long hair when I'm old, and I feel like I'm past the point of experimenting and whatnot.

I also know exactly what was said about short hair making one feel like the head is disproportionately small to the body. I'm not exactly overweight but definitely curvy rather than slim, and I have always felt that in my skinny times I could rock shorter hair (I even shaved it off once!!) but would feel ugly and weirdly small headed in my heavier weight times.

Also, I have a reason that comes from my faith, that long hair is a woman's glory. Though I don't push this idea on to anyone else. My sister wears her hair in a short bob to shoulder length and never feels like herself in longer hair, which she has never had in her life despite trying to grow it out a few times. My daughter, who is on the autism spectrum (and has sensory issues with long hair, and with tangles etc.), used to wear a bob to shoulder length hair but wanted to cut her hair short during her pre teen years, and has kept it short since, but we found a cool, cute hairstyle that doesn't make her look like a boy. Boy-cuts are okay too, but she was constantly mistaken for a boy. Well, she has since developed her style to be more feminine too, but in her cargo pants or sweatpants and hoodies she would still look like a boy without her current cut. I cut her hair and it took a while to find this style.

I just think that well-kept, healthy very long hair is special (and it is, as it is quite rare). There was a Finnish singer who had a very long, natural dark blonde hair, and I thought she was pretty and cool, and that without the long hair she would just be quite average looking. And the fact that it was natural dark blonde, made it special too, as most people with that color dye or lighten their hair. So that has been one of my inspirations for growing and keeping long hair.
I may get older, can't help that, but at least I can have long hair!

[luxurioushair]

I would cut off 1-2 inches, wait a couple months and see if I want to cut off any more. The couple of inches will still make a difference.

[Lightningfury]

I'm at calf length again after cutting back to knee last year. I reached floor length sometime during covid and I THINK that might have been term length for me. I don't know I was pretty depressed and it was pretty straggly at the time. I cut it back to calf then doing small trims every day just to get rid of the damage ending up at calf length. On one hand you don't think you'd notice when it's already that long but then you run your hand down it and those missing inches are jarring for a few days.

I've toyed for a few years now with doing a BIG cut. Maybe cutting it back to hip length. But that's such a BIG chop and I'm nervous about doing it myself but I don't know if I trust a hair stylist to do it.

[Priska]

Didn't cut yet. Thank you all for your tips! Yes it's true that shorter hair would be easier to style, but. Would I do it? Probably never. I just don't get that done. Washing, conditioning and dyeing the roots is enough work for me, good if I get that done. And in case that I don't style my hair with heat, I think it looks better as HL. It's better controlled this way.

One or two inches I probably should cut, when I just find someone to do that...