Pro's and Con's

[jennescence]

I am genuinely thinking of doing a fairly big chop. The reason being, is that when s and d'ing I realized some of my splits come way above a one inch trim but there are too many to sit and chop each one off. If you have ever done a big chop I would like to hear some pro's and con's. Maybe it will help me with trying to decide.

[lulana]

When i start growing long i never had a big chop but before i was aware of wanting long hair i had a big chop about waist long to collarbone lenght. I remember that if felt sooo much lighter around my head and i loved
the feeling of fresh cut hair brushes against my face. I felt comfortable with it till i realized that i miss the feeling of my hair on my back
it was a feeling of loosing a familiar fella, a warm cloak which you were used to so i always would advice to make a big chop in little steps about 1-2 Inches and have a week inbetween so that you can get used to your new lenght.

Good Luck with your Decision i hope you will keep us up to date :)

[Arien]

Pros:

It makes your hair feel lovely and healthy!
Your ends look thicker
You can try new styles
Hair grows back! :)

Cons:

The only cons that arrive are with your own personal feelings... You will either be thrilled or you will hate it.

Maybe chop it in stages, just 2-3 inches as a time.. Then it's less of a shock to the system and if you decide you don't like it, it won't take so long to grow back :).

[jennescence]

LOL a big chop to me is 4 inches or less lol. I was thinking about 3 inches. That would take me back to BSL. I'm just so worried I will hate myself. On the other hand I know If I chop it and keep treating it the way I do now (which is a lot better than it used to be), it will be prettier in the long run. I keep telling myself, What is the point of having long hair if it is damaged and ugly?

[jennescence]

I Decided that right now I just can't:(

[Arien]

LOL a big chop to me is 4 inches or less lol.

Lol awwww! That's just a little trim! :P ;).... I suppose if you are really trying hard to grow your hair it could seem like a lot though!


You could always maintain it at the length you have for a 6 months or so to try and get rid of those splits.

I'm glad you've come to a decision anyways! :)

[leslissocool]

I recently chopped 6 inches. I hated how short it was, but boy am I loving it now!

Pro: better health, thick hemline, getting rid of damage also means less tangles, it gave me more volume.

Cons: shorter hair

The pros heavily outweighed the cons in my case. I'm now micro trimming I had 1/2 an inch taken off tonight.

[Tini'sNewHair]

ive never done a big chop because of split ends so i cant tell you from that view

the dramatic chop i did was because i felt like my hair was in desperate need to get back to normality - my hair was half healthy and half ruined by crazy layers, dyes and terrible split ends from all the frying i did to it with heating styles - My hair before the cut was half way down my back and after the cut, it was to my chin. i HATED how short it was, i hadnt had it that short since i was 6 years old?! BUT i needed the cut so i took deep breaths and focused on how healthy it was and how long it will grow from then on with great care - its now been a lil over a year since then, and my hair is to bra strap... i noticed a few split ends but its looking great so i'm happy. ive had it up for all this time and ive only just started leaving it down again because its a bit longer now but i cant wait to have it all the way down my back - i miss it sooooooooooooo much!!!!!

best of wishes to you

[VixenWolfMare]

If it really bothers you but you still want better hair i would take small amounts off(1 inch every 4 weeks). you might not get any grolth but you don't have to cope with the uhg whyyyyy did i do this again feelings. in the mean time sit in the sun and cut split ends indavidually.

[Tota]

A big chop for me is cutting long hair to a bob or shorter. I went from BSL to a pixie a few years ago and the only pro was to get rid of overprocessed fried hair and have the chance to start from the beginning - I always knew that my ultimate goal was to have long hair ;) Now that my hair is mostly healthy (thank you LHC) I would never do that again, ever! I choose microtrimming and occassional S&D anytime. Now, 4 inches is A LOT, too. It takes me at least 8 months to grow that long so I don't think I would be ready to cut it away with a single chop. If your goal is to grow your hair longer I would advise you stick to microtrimming and babying your hair. It works miracles when you stick with it ;)

[Coolcombination]

I would s and d regularly and maintain at this length for a while, trimming an inch every 2 months

[sarahthegemini]

Personally I'd rather have healthy short(er) hair and wait for it to grow out than have damaged straggley long hair.

[jennescence]

I like the idea of s&d, but I like blunt ends more than fairy tale ends (not that anything is wrong with that) Someone told me that s&d gives you fairy tale ends. I think maintaining for a while sounds like a good idea. Especially since my job requires me to wear my hair completely up every day, so I won't notice much of a difference. I was just really set on having long healthy hair by Christmas :( I thought I had healthy hair until I stripped all the cones from my hair. Now I see my hair how it truly is and I think the shock of it is scaring me a bit.

[Leeloo]

With a big chop you’ll get rid of all the splits but might develop new ones while growing out. Also hair grows at different speeds so you’ll have uneven ends. But if you do S&D and maintain the length you’ll keep the length (timming an inch every couple of months) and get rid of old and new splits slowly without the need to change your everyday hair styles to accommodate the shorter length.

[AmyBeth]

I chopped from TBL to just above shoulders because that's what older women are "supposed to do". I was 35 years old for Pete's sake- what was I thinking LOL! I guess I fell for the old "You'll look better without all that hair weighing your face down." I just looked like me with short hair. I'll never cut it again. I regretted it immediately and if my hair was terribly damaged, I'd baby it, wear it up, microtrim and have patience. I am a long hair to the core and always have been.

[Vampyria]

I cut my hair from almost waist to collarbone (not in one step though). These are mine, so I'm afraid that some don't really apply to you since you're considering cutting to BSL not shoulder.

Pros
- really suits my face (more volume)
- healthy, softer hair
- less tangles
- nice thick ends
- no more back pain while washing upside down

Cons
- looking at people with long hair and wishing you had it
- can't do a bun, braid or anything to enhance my waves
- not having long hair ;)

[jlb]

I cut several inches off a couple months ago. I'd been slowly trimming trying to save length while dumping layers & honestly it was driving me crazy. I'm so happy I did this, my hair looks so much better & for a short while I got to wear high pony tails again. It all depends on what you want, I wanted a blunt hem & better looking braids. You have to have fun wear you find it yes? :)

[lapushka]

I like the idea of s&d, but I like blunt ends more than fairy tale ends (not that anything is wrong with that) Someone told me that s&d gives you fairy tale ends. I think maintaining for a while sounds like a good idea. Especially since my job requires me to wear my hair completely up every day, so I won't notice much of a difference. I was just really set on having long healthy hair by Christmas :( I thought I had healthy hair until I stripped all the cones from my hair. Now I see my hair how it truly is and I think the shock of it is scaring me a bit.

Surely not *all* your hair is split. For fairy tale ends at least half your hair would have to be split and S&D'd off quite majorly.

[pili]

I am a long hair to the core and always have been.

So. Much. This. My last big chop was waist to pixie. It was necessary as I had huge bleached out chunks that had been dyed purple. I too am, ahem, "older" (38). I am now nineteen months into regrowth and starting to brush my shoulders. I'm headed for tailbone. I'm glad I did it because of the health of my hair, but you have to really want the change to put up with the grow out phase.

[Glass Spires]

I'm glad you decided not to rush into anything. I remember getting my hair cut to SL several years ago without really considering how it would look later, only that I wanted a change. All the rest of the day, I had a vaguely uneasy feeling, and I distinctly remember looking into a mirror and thinking, "Oh, that's why I've been feeling bad. It's because it looks horrible. It's going to take forever to grow back."
Of course, cuts are good for some people, but it's always good to take your time and really think it over. :)

[leslissocool]

Why don't you just micro trim? Take 2 cm every 2 months, dust them and I think for December your hair will look great.

FYI some people just do better with cones, I went cone free ad my hair went crazy. My hair is no longer damaged, but cones are a must and I still use them, along with oils. It's like my hair needs the slip or else it breaks.

[Panth]

I like the idea of s&d, but I like blunt ends more than fairy tale ends (not that anything is wrong with that) Someone told me that s&d gives you fairy tale ends. I think maintaining for a while sounds like a good idea. Especially since my job requires me to wear my hair completely up every day, so I won't notice much of a difference. I was just really set on having long healthy hair by Christmas :( I thought I had healthy hair until I stripped all the cones from my hair. Now I see my hair how it truly is and I think the shock of it is scaring me a bit.

1) S&D does not cause fairy tale ends. What it does do is not remove them. So, if you naturally have some hairs that grow faster than others over time this will result in fairy tale ends. Also, just the process of growing long hair (particularly very long hair) naturally has to involve fairy tale ends (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G4RyJMKtTc). As S&D does not trim any hair to a length in relation to any other hair, it will not eliminate this. However, regular trims or microtrims obviously cut hair into a specific shape, actively creating blunt ends.

2) Splits do not necessarily mean you can't have long, healthy hair. Some people's hair just splits. I think Spidermom is a very good example. In some people, splits travel up the hair, split again, cause tangles, which causes damage when detangling, resulting in more splits ... resulting in a downward spiral in hair health. In other people, the tips just split a little and they stay like that. In that case, just leaving them be is fine.

[Warda]

I have always grown my hair to midback and then cut to shoulder I think I have done that so many time.

Pros
Healthy hair!!!
Short hair looks good ( I dont like the awkward stages in the middle)
You have a good start because a) you know better and b) you know what your hair likes now

Cons
Hair is shorter
Feelings of missing long hair
Difficult to put your hair up

I think microtrimming seems like a good idea. So you get rid of the damage without losing length

Whatever you do I hope you are happy with it :) good luck!

[jacqueline101]

It will thicken up your hair and make it feel better. If you're going to regret it don't do it.

[chen bao jun]

While you are thinking about it, keep your hair up and baby it. I was thinking I needed to chop but when I kept my hair up the condition improved a lot. i did a lot of SMTS.

[spidermom]

I've done that in the past - cut 4 to 7 inches off because of so many split ends, but by the time I grew the length back, I had just as many split ends as before. For the past year (until May), I've been getting 1 inch cut off every 8-10 weeks so that I can keep the length, thicken the ends, and slowly get rid of split ends.

Guess what? I still have split ends, but in general my hair is in pretty good condition, not too tangly. I'm back to growing and cutting off what split ends I can see sticking out of my braids about once per week to once per month. Oh, and getting or giving myself a little trim about every 3 months to keep my ends from getting too thin.

[jennescence]

Idk how to explain this feeling I have. I DO NOT want to cut it. I just have no idea what real unheated unprocessed hair is supposed to be like. I obsess over everything. Like every time I comb my hair no matter how gentle I am, I hear snaps. Then I look at the ends and barely any are "Split" Mostly just at a hard right angle. Like the strand is bent. My hair is very thick, but each individual hair is baby fine. I know there are more important things to worry about in life, but this is really depressing me. If you have read my previous threads you will know I have been having problems with my hair for a while. I hardly ever think it looks good. Idk if something is wrong with it or if this is just how my hair is. Sorry to rant but it is really quite depressing.

[leslissocool]

Maybe you need clarifying and a deep oil treatment. Have you taken any pictures recently? Would you mind posting them?

[jennescence]

I do not have a good quality camera right now, but i will soon. I feel like an idiot right now. The only time the "split" bent ends agravate me is at the end of the day when I take my bun down. Do you think my bun is just bending my hair weird, and It's not really damaged?

[jennescence]

Also I have to use a safe rubberband. No hair sticks for me at work:(

[leslissocool]

It really might be, and you might have product build up.

I'd really try to just do a hot oil pre-wash treatment, on damp hair before washing it.

They sell rubber bands that are safe, the little ones for small braids. I use them daily, I get them in Walmart or the dollar store, you can only use them once but they snap before my hair does. Can you wear a braid?

[jennescence]

No:( All hair must be above the shoulders. Which sucks because my bun is so heavy it gives me migraines sometimes. I don't think it is a clarifying thing. I just clarified before going cone free a couple weeks ago.