Can't decide on cutting my hair...

[DancingGirl]

I'm so confused as to whether or not I should microtrim away the damage or cut off majority of it at once. My hair just reached armpit length which is the longest it's been in a long time, but it looks scraggly. For about a year I have been microtrimming because I didn't want to lose length. When I look in the mirror though I'm just so unhappy with what I see. Cutting it to shoulder or just above would get rid of most and the worst of the damage. I was at that length for so long and I really don't want to go back. Maybe I could maintain at this length, but at the same time I would love to be over and done with the damage. I'm so confused:confused: any advice would be so helpful

[SleepyTangles]

Argh, I'm not good with this kind of choices, either :(.
Are you recovering from mayor damage, or this is just regular thinning? If its damage, I'd trim just to keep it from spreading. If its regular thinning, I'd give your hair another season or even two to thicken up, to see if things get better :).

[DancingGirl]

It's a lot of old damage back from when I used to chemical dye and use heat daily. Why did I ever do all that :doh:

[CurlMonster]

I'm in a pretty similar situation to you. I have healthy hair down to about collar bone length, and the rest is damaged from bleach, dye, heat, and general abuse. I have chosen to keep my hair longer and regularly micro trim the ends until the healthy hair grows down. I know I would be unhappy if I went for a big chop. The micro trimming has been very successful, and the ends are definitely thickening up. I'm also surprised by how much better the ends feel now that they are properly moisturised - they are still damaged, but much softer and easier to detangle.

Sometimes I just long for healthier hair and wonder if I shouldn't just chop it all. What helps me when I feel like this is to think of growing long healthy hair as a journey. I could chop my hair and spend my journey with healthy but short hair until in a few years I reached my goal of healthy long hair. Alternatively, I could micro trim my hair and spend my journey with the long hair I want, watching the health gradually improve/move further down. Either way I spend the journey with one thing I want and one I don't, and the end result will be the same. :)

[SleepyTangles]

My hair was also very damaged from chemical dyes and heath...
My personal choice was to chop it just right over shoulder! I never regretted it, the blunt healthy ends felt very amazing and repaid me for all the lenght I lost (just my two cents!). However, as CurlMonster said, there are a lot of possibilities!

I'd trim if the damage is likely to travel upward, though. Have you tried oiling? It did wonders for me!

[glittergloss]

I just cut 3-4 inches off my ends. I had layers and chemical damaged hair. I started hennaing my hair and I've stoped using heat products for almost 3 yrs now and my feels much healthier now. I don't regret cutting my hair and my hair feels thicker too and better looking.

[glittergloss]

I forgot to say that I've been trimming my hair every 2-3 months. About 2-3 inches cut off instead of one big chop chop. My hair is still long.

[ErinLeigh]

How bad is the damage? Can you mask it with cones for a while or do some moisture or protein treatments to correct it?

Personally I am a cutter. I cut that damage out right away and start fresh. I love the feeling of undamaged, clean fresh hair.
..that being said..look at my hair. Its SHORT because I never had the patience to try and correct.

I actually am really really regretting my last haircut. I wish I would have trimmed while trying to get it in better condition first, instead of jumping the gun like always and going for the big chop. All the treatments I did really did help so now I know I did not need to take off as much as I did. I could have saved several inches of loss. It was really bad..but it got a lot better within a month by adding oils and some routine tweaks to bring a lot of moisture. Turns out I had protein overload and not hardcore "damage" like I thought I did. They say you cannot fix damage and that is true..but sometimes what we think is damage is merely something fixable like not enough moisture, not enough protein, a need to clarify etc etc.

Now, last year I had true damage..the kind that turned my strands into little zig zag patterns. That had to go so I did a big cut on that, so really my advice depply depends on the type of damage you really have.

I would suggest really looking at your hair and determining if it is badly damaged or just not as great as rest of hair? Can you describe the damage? Is it split, dry, frizzy etc. Is it noticeable visibly or is it more just a slight texture change?
Maybe just take of 1/2 inch so you ends feel fresher and then review and assess. I guess it really depends what hair actually looks and feels like, and how badly you want to keep the length.
If it was chemically FRIED like brittle, breaking, burned etc.yes I would cut and start fresh...if it was just a little frayed and tired then I would just do a little trim of 1/2-1 inch and then sort it out, all the while doing whatever treatments my hair needed to revive it.

Good luck to you. I hope you figure it out in a way that makes you feel good about yourself and your decision. Let us know what you decide.

[NuclearApple]

If you don't wanna lose length at the moment i consider microtrimming the best choice.
Cutting it all once would be too shocking if you are not 100 % decided,it is the best thing but not in this case,I suggest you to let it grow trimming off half of the growth you gain for example 2 cm of growth,1 cm of cut.
But do what YOU consider the best for yourself,manage the new growth twice better that you are doing now, so you can avoid other damage.
hope i've helped :)

[Aingeal]

If you are unsure in any way, step away from the big cut for now. I would wait and microgram u til you are 100% sure.

[Lyv]

I just cut mine from past BSL to a pixie to get rid of some bleach damage and I am so happy that I did! I would say if you are thinking about it you need to take a while to really decide what YOU want and what is best for your hair. I took about a month to think about my cut and to decide if losing the length is worth it and for me it was. Try microtrimming while you think about it and if you see some good progress with that it may help you come to a firm decision. I was definitely not 100% on cutting and going short when I did it but I was 100% on wanting healthy hair.

[spidermom]

I'd just cut it. I hate fighting with damage. Once you cut off the damage, you'll be able to enjoy the growing process.

But if you're really sentimental about length, best to maintain with small trims I guess.

[vindo]

Since you have been microtrimming for a while with no success I think maybe an actual trim would be best for now.

Scraggly hair at only APL is a bit unusual, so maybe it would be worth it to look into other possible causes of your hair's condition. Not just hair care issues, but possibly also health issues, hormonal imbalances, nutrient deficiencies and the like.
Especially if you don't happen to have a ton of damage from an old perm or bleach.

[Liz_park]

I had this similar problem recently, and I can tell you what I did (I am really happy with the results). So I made it to APL (yay!) but there was definitely scragglyness going on. I self-trimmed 1 inch off the bottom of the length and left the remaining layers and everything alone. I have about 1 or 2 inches of damage and layers left, but now my hemline is even and blunt rather than scraggly. It looks so much healthier and fuller. I plan to grow until April and then cut that last inch of damage off then.

If you cut to shoulder, I think it will feel too short. You will also have trouble putting it up in buns/braids. I would recommend cut 1 inch now, and then another 4 months from now. That way you are growing gradually and removing damage :) If you have more than 2 inches, just repeat the grow 4 months and trim one inch in August.

[DancingGirl]

I just cut mine from past BSL to a pixie to get rid of some bleach damage and I am so happy that I did!
I saw and it looks adorable on you! My damage is from years of chemical dye and heat. I started dying my hair light blonde in my freshman year of high school because I was tired of my natural blonde getting darker. I dyed it light blonde all the way through to my senior year. In my senior year I decided to change it and went brown, but it looked bad so I dyed it a darker brown in the same month. It still wasn't looking good so I wanted to go back to blonde and tried color oops. In the next month I dyed it light blonde three times trying to get my color back. That's where the major damage came from not to mention the fact that I was blow drying it along with flat ironing it everyday. I found LHC at the end of my senior year looking for hair advice and now I wish I had found it so much sooner. Thank you everyone for your advice right now I think I'm just going to take off an inch and see how I feel.

[MeowScat]

I was at that length for so long and I really don't want to go back.

This part of your post stood-out to me, so I'd continue microtrimming and wear it up. I went for a good two years not really liking my hair because of the damage I was growing out. I was tempted to just cut it off, for the millionth time, but I'm so happy that I didn't. I got into the habit of wearing it in buns and not looking at it. My hair grew a lot and was so much softer because of it. If you really want to cut it, do it in small increments and wait awhile in between cuts. :)

[Ms. Littlefish]

I have about chin length hair (at the sides) and was about to cut it back into a pixie to get rid of the remaining damage from my bleach, but also to get most of the non virgin hair off. I thought I would be happier at that moment to have healthy, virgin hair even if it was a few inches long. I was in the chair ready to do it and moaning about it to the stylist. She consoled me and said that my hair wasn't as damaged as I thought it was, albeit for a bit of breakage on the one side, and said that if I really want long hair that I should just let it grow. She gave me a trim instead. I think I will see her from now on. She has the power to set me straight, lol. I think most people would have just cut my hair!