To cut or not to cut....

[ExpectoPatronum]

Oh dear LHCers, I need your advice/opinions.

Long story short, I wasn't very kind to my hair during high school and during my first two years of college. It was all dry and dull and damaged and icky looking. When I stopped doing all the bad stuff, my hair was around shoulder length.

My hair is around BSL now. I have found a hair routine that is giving me amazing results. My hair is so soft and shiny and just looks and feels healthy.

That is until you get to the bottom 2-3 inches of my hair.

No matter how often I microtrim or S&D, I am overrun with splits and white dots within two weeks. My ends will be nice for a week after a trim, but then they'll start doing the velcro thing. They also look so thin compared to the rest of my hair. I have just around a 4 inch circumference for my ponytail, but my ends measure less than an inch...Blah. It's so annoying to have nice hair only to have your ends look and feel absolutely like crap.

Because I constantly trim to keep my hair up, my growth is getting nowhere. It's really frustrating to see an inch of growth only to have to trim off half (or more) of it because the ends are just that bad.

I'm considering cutting off three inches and have been for more than a couple of weeks now. I even made a pros and cons list.

Pros:
-No more damage! I can start fresh and grow without having to trim every month as long as I keep up my routine!
-My hemline will be dramatically thicker.
-There won't be such a huge gap between my layers and the rest of my length of hair.

Cons:
-There goes three inches worth of hair growing effort. :(
(Which, admittedly if I don't trim and keep up my healthy eating, I'll get back in three months)

I guess the pros outweigh the cons...If you were in this situation, what would you do? I guess I want to see what other people would do before I took the plunge and did the "big chop" myself.

[sarah112786]

It sounds like you would probably be happier with your hair if you cut it. It might feel like it's setting you back to cut some off but if you just keep up with your routine after trimming the ends it should be much easier to take care of without all the damage.

[ExpectoPatronum]

Even though it's only three inches, it feels like I'm setting myself back a ton...It's hard to realize that once the damage is gone, growing that back out won't take as long as it did before...If that makes sense.

[ragamuffan]

I'm in a similar situation right now, but I think the both of us should just take the plunge. It'll be worth it when your hair grows out thick and healthy instead of scraggly. Just make sure to keep up your hair routine so you don't have to do it again.

[ExpectoPatronum]

So...I did the deed...and WOW.

It looks so short...but my ends...They look amazing!

My hair...It moves! They're soft...Wow.

I'll post before and after pics when I stop admiring how much thicker my hair looks. :P

Ragamuffin...It's quite a change, but the results really do look and feel better than it was before!

[ExpectoPatronum]

Before...(Taken in August...Only finger combed)
http://oi41.tinypic.com/2s0cnxk.jpg

After!
http://i39.tinypic.com/2vt7cx0.jpg

[&rea]

I'm definitely pro-chop. I went from between BSL and MBL to a chin length bob because of heat damaged, dry, split ends. I'm regrowing now. I miss having long hair, but the damage looked terrible. I chose to do a big chop because having healthy hair is more important (to me) than having long hair. It actually seems as though my hair grows faster, but that's because my more gentle routine allows me to preserve my ends. I S&D about twice per month. I haven't had a trim since I got my big chop about 3 months ago. I don't see the need for a trim anytime in the near future. :cheese:

[&rea]

Before...(Taken in August...Only finger combed)
http://oi41.tinypic.com/2s0cnxk.jpg

After!
http://i39.tinypic.com/2vt7cx0.jpg



:D It looks much healthier!

[sarah112786]

Wow our hair looks MUCH healthier! and it all looks nice and thick too! congrats! :-)

[ExpectoPatronum]

Thank you so much guys! Despite the way shorter length, I'm absolutely loving the thickness!

[Fairlight63]

It looks really good! Your hair will grow back really quick.

[akilina]

It looks good! Honestly I'm sort of all about chopping it if it is in real true need. Micro trimming does work but I really worry about the damage just going up and up. I'm glad you're happy with your choice. It looks nice and thick!!

And....
...OH EM GEE you live in Humboldt county??!??!?!??!111one?1

[Jenny31557]

Do you cut your hair yourself? You said that you get a lot of split ends a week after a trim so it might be that your scissors aren't sharp enough. I would suggest you get good quality hair scissors if you micro trim and s+d yourself. :)
Beautiful hair by the way, it turned out great!

[ExpectoPatronum]

Fairlight63, Thanks!

Akilina, I'm the same way...If it needs to be done, I'll trim. But never more than half an inch if I can help it. And yeah! I'm living here for school. I love it so much.

Jenny31557, I bought hair scissors recently (Maybe late July?) and had been using those. :/ It honestly happened even when I would get my hair trimmed at an actual hair salon. My hair was just fried and damaged beyond help outside of just cutting it all off.

[akilina]

Sweet I live very close by.

I've had about two chops over the last 3 years...all for the better though. one of 7 to 8 inches, and then I had to do one more a year ago of about 5 inches :( it's really lame. I've been here for 4 years yet never hit bsl. I'm closer than ever today though..about one more inch :) I could have longer hair, but it would have been thin and destroyed. To me, long hair isn't worth it if it's in terrible condition like mine was.

[Lady Mary]

Oh, hey, great job. It really looks wonderful. I was going to respond with chop it but I see you already did. Just think, you won't have to deal with all those splits anymore and it will be much healthier from now on.

[bunzfan]

Personally i think you did the right thing , i'm in the same boat if i don't trim regularly have the evil white dotted hair ..it looks amazing now i bet it really grows now .

[shutterpillar]

It looks fantastic! After reading the first few posts I was going to tell you to go ahead and cut it, but I was glad to see you ended up going that way. I did something similar in January - cut off three inches because of horrible ends. I was an inch away from waist and it set me right back to the beginning of BSL again... frustrating, indeed! However, my hair felt so much better and right now I have all three inches back and then some, AND it's much healthier! :)

[AmyBeth]

For you, with hair that grows lightening speed, it makes sense to do a big chop. I would never do it, because my hair grows so very slowly. It would take about 2 years for me to make up the length.

[ExpectoPatronum]

Sweet I live very close by.

I've had about two chops over the last 3 years...all for the better though. one of 7 to 8 inches, and then I had to do one more a year ago of about 5 inches :( it's really lame. I've been here for 4 years yet never hit bsl. I'm closer than ever today though..about one more inch :) I could have longer hair, but it would have been thin and destroyed. To me, long hair isn't worth it if it's in terrible condition like mine was.

Wow...How on earth did you get up the guts to cut 7-8inches from your hair? I don't think I could ever do that. But I share the same opinion you do. Healthy hair trumps long unhealthy hair to me too.

Also thank you to everyone for the compliments! It really makes me feel better about cutting my hair when other people notice that it looks better, as superficial as it is.

[HairFaerie]

Wow! It looks like a totally different head of hair! (In a positive way!) it looks very healthy and thick now! Great job! And I think it still looks long! Strangely, it looks longer to me now than it did before. (Maybe because of the gained thickness.)
I am glad you did it and you're happy with it! Great job!

[jen5972]

It looks really healthy after the cut! And thick too!

[0xalis]

You made the right choice! I wish I had the courage to chop off the rest of my damage [leaving me at a chin-length bob]. I'm just going to cut off little by little.

[GG]

Wow. It looks like a different head of hair. Really big difference. I'm glad you're happy with it.

[Stray_mind]

Good job! Your hair looks thicker and healthier and you'll get the lenght back in no time.