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View Full Version : Trim ends or wait?



pili
August 1st, 2013, 09:23 PM
I am growing out a pixie that was severely thinned, would it be better to trim and get rid of the scraggly ends or work on getting some length first? I'm not even shoulder length yet. Any advice/suggestions are appreciated.

SerinaDaith
August 1st, 2013, 09:28 PM
I chopped for three years to keep my pixi shag in check and only now am I finally hitting APL. I do have a fairly good hemline still but none the less I lost a lot of potential length. I think it is totally up to you! Is a thick hemline important to you or do you want length more? You could always trim a bit every few months and just let it grow or decide on a length to maintain at. I kept myself at a bob till everything caught up. I do sometimes wish I had just left it alone to grow instead.

massivecnqstdr
August 1st, 2013, 10:05 PM
I am growing out a pixie and repeatedly cutting the back until the interior and front match up nicely. However, I have really fine hair, so I want the overall hair cut to get as blunt as possible. Since you said your ends are scraggly, I would say do a minor trim. If your hair is really thick you might be able to get away with the shagginess ok, though.

Leeloo
August 1st, 2013, 10:12 PM
I'm trying to decide the same thing right now (at a different length though). I'm thinking to let it grow first to a milestone length and then trim to maintain.

spidermom
August 1st, 2013, 10:24 PM
I'd let it grow until it got straggly looking, completely without style, then I'd go to my stylist and have her trim the outer edges. I went from short layers to longer layers to long layers, and finally no layers at about BSL.

pili
August 1st, 2013, 11:13 PM
Thanks for the replies! I have 3 a/b hair so the unevenness isn't my concern so much as the thinning has made my ends mess up the rest of the curl and there is a tiny bit of chemical damage too.. I also have thick hair. I measured it, but I am not sure I am doing it right and it won't all go into a ponytail anyway. I am hunting around for short hair updos that will hide/protect the ends a bit, but is that enough? Will doing coconut oil treatments and maybe starting CWC keep the damage in check enough to put off trimming. I really want some length!

CurlyCap
August 2nd, 2013, 12:46 AM
When I was growing out my pixie, I cut it about every 6 months, always sure to tell the stylist that my goal was to grow my hair out. Over about a year and a half, it morphed from a pixie into a bob, and then I grew from there.

If style matters to you, I vote that you cut your hair as your pixie grows out so you can enjoy it as it gets longer.

Soraya
August 2nd, 2013, 04:07 AM
I'm growing my hair after shaving everything off. I find that there's a middle ground to be found as well! Personally, I've cut my hair so that it's longest at one side of my neck (only cut that part once when I had some mullet related problems :D ) and it gets gradually shorter towards my ear on the other side. I find it doesn't look too bad this way, because you can see I have a planned style instead of just forgetting to get my hair cut! AND I get to keep all the length on one part of my head at least. Some people recommend just cutting the mullet part that appears every once in a while until the hair over your ears catches up and voilą, you have a bobcut.

Firefox7275
August 2nd, 2013, 06:55 AM
Thanks for the replies! I have 3 a/b hair so the unevenness isn't my concern so much as the thinning has made my ends mess up the rest of the curl and there is a tiny bit of chemical damage too.. I also have thick hair. I measured it, but I am not sure I am doing it right and it won't all go into a ponytail anyway. I am hunting around for short hair updos that will hide/protect the ends a bit, but is that enough? Will doing coconut oil treatments and maybe starting CWC keep the damage in check enough to put off trimming. I really want some length!

If you have not hit shoulder you should not need protective styling, just general caution not to get your hair rubbing on headrests or caught in things. Just protect the ends with super gentle shampoos and the right conditioning ingredients ideally in a leave in conditioner. Do you know what your hair properties are (see Live Curly Live Free site), dew points/ humidity (see free 'Curls on the Go' app) and have you considered the Curly Girl method (see Naturallycurly forums)?

Coconut oil is great for damaged or porous hair but won't really penetrate you have low porosity. Other beneficial ingredients for damaged or porous ends include hydrolysed protein (but caution if your hair is coarse), ceramides and panthenol. When you gain a bit more length you might consider a curly specialist haircut to shape it up, get rid of some of the thinned or damaged ends, bring out the curl - hopefully this will stop you getting frustrated.

jacqueline101
August 2nd, 2013, 07:15 AM
It's up to you can you stand the way it looks. If not cut it

sisi33
August 2nd, 2013, 07:56 AM
I would trim it while it's on the shorter side. I've found that as I get longer, loosing even an inch is a drastic change- when I was short, it didn't seem to matter as much. But that's just my opinion, and you should do what makes you happy!

Majormiles
August 2nd, 2013, 11:35 AM
I suppose it's all about personal preference... I chose to blunt it all off at shoulder and then start growing properly, but you could have an inch or so now and then wait a bit and have a bit more taken off, just to see how you go.

Tangle or Curl?
August 2nd, 2013, 12:27 PM
If your ends are breaking and scraggly sometimes a well judged trim can actually help you gain more length than non-trimming. Breakage can travel up the hairs causing you to loose more length than you can grow in order to keep up. Although if your ends are healthy and the scraggly look doesn't bother you as much as having short hair might then you can probably gain just as much length without loosing a little for a trim. Personally I find my hair gains length like a weed if I trim about 4mm every 2-3 months. If I don't I get so annoyed with the tangling and lack of progress I end up big chopping :O!

Tangle or Curl?
August 2nd, 2013, 12:31 PM
If it helps at all I also have 3A hair. Layers help keep tangling at bay but as I said any damage or frazzling at the ends and my hair falls completely apart and matts.

pili
August 2nd, 2013, 02:22 PM
I have been doing the Curly Girl method (sometimes strict, sometimes modified) for over ten years now. This forum has brought some new info and techniques to my attention that I want to try. I'm a bit relieved that I don't need to worry about protective styles now! My ponytail measures 5" around and that's with some pieces not quite reaching it. I'm going to have to have it MUCH longer before I can even attempt some of the beautiful braids and buns I've seen on here! The ends are not too much dryer than the rest of the hair, so I've decided to just play with some of the more natural techniques I've seen on here. In the past I was a WO wash every day person and I'd like to stretch that out a bit and not rely on product so much. I also need to change to just deal with the waster here. I moved to a new state this week and I know the hard water is going to take a toll on my hair. I have protein-hatine, course, porous curls. I can see a lot of trial and error in my future!