To cut, or to not cut?

[Kayto]

Hello my fellow longhairs, I'm in need of some help (yet again).
Today I met a girl who's hair is probably mid-thigh length. I told her how obsessed I am with hair and asked her how she got it that long.
She said she's only ever cut her hair twice in her entire life (she is in her twenties)
I S&D frequently, trying to get rid of my split ends.
I don't have many anymore, they're just white dots at the end now.
Her saying she never cuts makes me think: well, if her hair looks that nice and she's only cut twice, why can't I?
So tell me, do I continue s&ding, or just stop and let it grow on it's own? :confused:

[spidermom]

It really depends on your hair. My hair breaks and splits easily. I've tried going a year without cutting it and ended up with about 7 inches worth of rough, dry Velcro ends that were a nightmare to try to comb, even though I had good hair-care habits. But I've seen other people with very smooth, silky hair longer than mine who rarely trimmed.

[GrowingOut]

I haven't trimmed in 3 years and my ends are fine, but you'd have to baby them A LOT.

[JadedByEntropy]

I have just about the same hair stats as yours, and I rarely cut mine. I do however take pocket knife scissors to the individual splits sometimes when I'm bored. they're all on the tips as well. As long as they aren't causing tangles, I don't see why a full scale trim would be helpful. I let mine grow until there is a style-required haircut, or a few weeks after I bleach to make sure I get them all.
But like I said, if its just a few or random, and not a plague, go at them with tiny shears instead. :)

[Colourful]

I agree - it really depends on your hair. My hair, too, is quite "fragile". I have taken extra good care of my hair in the past year so I haven't had any big need to trim it, but there is no doubt in my mind that I will have to do it in near time future. It's feeling a bit rough at ends. Meanwhile, I have a college mate who has super long hair and when I asked her what's her secret, she told me that she doesn't really do anything for her hair and hasn't cut it for years and meanwhile she still has super healthy looking hair... I can't imagine what my hair would look like then!

[Madora]

Hello my fellow longhairs, I'm in need of some help (yet again).
Today I met a girl who's hair is probably mid-thigh length. I told her how obsessed I am with hair and asked her how she got it that long.
She said she's only ever cut her hair twice in her entire life (she is in her twenties)
I S&D frequently, trying to get rid of my split ends.
I don't have many anymore, they're just white dots at the end now.
Her saying she never cuts makes me think: well, if her hair looks that nice and she's only cut twice, why can't I?
So tell me, do I continue s&ding, or just stop and let it grow on it's own? :confused:

[COLOR="#A52A2A"]I'[m a bit of a skeptic regarding the "nice" quality of her hair. Hair that hasn't been touched with scissors for that length of time can grow to thigh length (genes permitting) but how healthy it is is another thing. Also, she might use something with cones in it, that gives the illusion of "healthy" hair. Speaking personally, I've gone over one year without trimming and only S and Ding once a week...and while my hair has grown it could do with a trim (which it is getting in May).

Bottom line: just letting it grow is fine...but you have to do more than let it just grow to achieve nice hair. So yes, continue with your S and Ding A(with sharp scissors!) and get rid of as many splits AND white dots as you can. Good luck!

[bunzfan]

Hmm at one time i would of said you would need to cut it at some point so it continued to look nice as Madora said what's the point of long hair if its in terrible condition, she may just be very lucky that her hair doesn't split much. I'm currently almost into my 4th no trim month of a full year without any trimming i'm just do minimal s and d every three months ..i have found de tangling very gentle has made a huge impact i used to hair hair covered in dots and splits and now i have very few and last went through my hair back in feb.

Ultimately though if my hair was in just awful condition and a coney conditioner wasn't helping i would rather cut back to a healthy length than have really long splitty hair.

[AmyBeth]

I know that my hair grows just under 1/2 inch a month, because I use hendigo, and I can see my roots. But if I don't at least microtrim, I don't realize much, if any, of the length. I baby my hair and protect it, and I can't see any splits or white dots, but apparently there must be some damage, because my growth will stall if I go very long between trims. I really don't like to have to sacrifice any length at all, but I must if I want to continue to grow, even at a snail's pace.

[HazelBug]

I'm not very prone to splits. I like to s&d. It keeps everything very nice. But I don't get many splits at all. So sometimes if feels like a waste of time. My splits are also usually onlu about 1 mm as well. So when I do get them they are not much to take care of. I could probably go a year or 2 without any maintenance. But I like the maintenance. It's the process I enjoy.

[swearnsue]

When she says she only cut her hair twice that may mean a real cut, but doesn't count trims and s&ds. Everyone is different, so if you need to trim a little now and then, do it.

[chen bao jun]

it sounds like you need to trim, I don't know whether the girl you met does or not. There are some people who don't need it, usually very coarse hair.
I'm always aware that someone I just met that I asked about their hair care may not tell me every detail and/or may exagerrate how little care it needs. Many people have a need to tell others that their hare is completely natural and that they don't do anything whether this is actually true or not. I have had people tell me that their obviously relaxed hair was natural, that they were natural blondes (while I was looking at dark roots) and my dear mother in law used to insist that she didn't dye her greys (because using that little brush in the bathroom didn't count, she would only have called it dyeing if she went to a salon). so yes, 'I never trim' might mean a lot of different things.

[two_wheels]

I think being reactive is better than having a fixed plan- so would monitor and if you have split ends, s&d or trim, and if they go velcro-y, definitely trim. When I'm growing my hair I snip split ends and trim about once a year- but it's not a rule, I'd definitely get it cut sooner if I saw trouble.

Some people have very tough hair, some people don't mind velcro ends, some have other reasons not to trim, and that's all fine, but for me, monitoring is good.