Put Away the Scissors?

[leilani]

To those of you who keep saying that so emphatically, without any caveats, do you guys simply not get split ends? Even waist length hair or longer, no splits, no damage? If that's the case, and scissors are superfluous, tell me your care routine for your hair! Or lack thereof/benign neglect!
I have waist length hair that I'd love to not cut, but darn if the lower inches don't have tons of splits and even multiple splits sprouting up and down for several inches. Chopping up to armpit length to get it all is not an option, so I try to microtrim and S&D to just cut off the bits I see, but I have iii hair and it's just never going to happen that I get them all. I don't really know what to do besides trim regularly (an inch a month maybe) until I don't see split ends anymore. I guess years of highlights really cost my hair's health. Those of you who say just to step away from the scissors if you want long hair, do you guys not do anything that sacrifices your hair's health and just not get splits?

(my own personal story if you are bored and want to read: I stopped highlighting, since postpartum hairloss made these ugly short tufts of regrowth hair sprout up right along my hairline, in such a dark color, too short to highlight, and just made my roots look so horrendous that I started coating my head in layers of color conditioners (deposit only, no silicones or peroxide) the last two months, and now I have built up the overall color of my hair to match my roots, so I have ash brown hair and I can just leave the color alone and it will grow without any demarcation line. Trouble is, I hate it, it's not striking and bright and sparkly anymore. The thickness and strength and length isn't beautiful if it's not catching the light. Shall I wait three years for it all to grow out or run to henna for shine and striking color and some damage repair..... hmm)

[bte]

A lot depends on your perceptions and your hair. I am a non trimmer and about three weeks away from 20 years without a trim. I do get split ends, but they don't spread far, and having wavy hair meas that it isn't that obvious. I would suggest trying not trimming for 3 or 4 months and see how it goes!

[leilani]

Mine aren't obvious unless you get up in my hemline and search one foot from your face, I just hate seeing them myself in certain lights. They all jump out at me and I see 'hair end graveyard' and get creeped out and want them gone.

[dollyfish]

I almost never get split ends. I think that, of the time's I've S&D'd, I've found less than 10 split hairs that I can recall, ever. My hair is very tough, and the individual strands are pretty thick. More often than not, my hair is dry and frizzy and very Hermione (my sig pics are VERY carefully selected, lol). But unless I use dye/bleach and/or excessive heat, my hair doesn't split. I'm definitely very lucky.

IMO, if your hair is prone to splitting, and those splits travel and spread and reduce your growth, then S&D is still a good idea. Trimming and microdusting just for the sake of it is different from intentionally targeting individual splits, and you can still grow hair long while S&Ding. Putting away the scissors just for the sake of it is just as silly as over-trimming on principle. Nothing needs to be black-and-white here :)

[Selkie-]

My hair is fine and I have a proper salon trim of about 1.5 inch every 5 months. This keeps my hair split end free and I have a thick hemline.

I could never go trim free - it just wouldn't work with my fine hair. :)

[HintOfMint]

I'm actually firmly in the pro-scissors camp. If there's damage, it's better off leaving than staying. I believe in regular trims, just not as often as hairdressers and conventional ladymag wisdom says. I get it cut every 4 - 6 months which is a far cry from having it cut every 4 - 6 weeks. For me, the ends just get old and worn out and it's a kind of damage that S&D can't solve, and clarifying/deep treatments can't get rid of.

However, I try to not engage in practices that are damaging to my hair in the first place which lets me "stretch trims" so to speak. So, no dyeing, no heat styling, no rough detangling, prevention of tangles in the first place, always using a leave-in... etc.
When I heat-styled on a regular basis and decided to get serious about having long, undamaged hair, putting away the scissors wasn't an option for me. I chopped off all the damage (near waist to collarbone) and from then on I was able to stretch trims.

So yes, plenty of caveats with no-trimming advice. You can't fix damage once it's done, so it's up to you how you want to deal with it. Some people really are committed to the length and would microtrim periodically to slowly get rid of damage, some people would hack it off in one go. It all has to do with your own comfort level.

[SkyChild]

I always wondered this. I've never had a lot of split ends and don't understand them "travelling" so this clearly isn't an issue for me. That said, my ends feels horrible due to previous bleaching so I'm going to trim them off eventually. At the moment I'm S&Ding to try and get growth. Then I'll trim a bit. Don't know if I could ever not trim at all. BUt then, maybe when my hair's all virgin and healthy, I won't feel the need for scissors

[lapushka]

To those of you who keep saying that so emphatically, without any caveats, do you guys simply not get split ends? Even waist length hair or longer, no splits, no damage? If that's the case, and scissors are superfluous, tell me your care routine for your hair! Or lack thereof/benign neglect!

My hair is hip+ (2 inches from TBL). It gets diffused weekly (for 5 min. on warm not hot). That's my only "vice", I'd say. I don't have split ends or white dots. I used to have them back when I still had it dyed, bleached, permed, but not anymore. My hair is completely natural, and I love it now. So there really is no need anymore to have it trimmed.

[Anje]

Some people get addicted to trimming, it seems, to the point where they don't gain length. If you want to grow your hair, you need to be cutting less (preferably significantly less) than the amount it grows.

I trim and S&D occasionally. The trimming is more to keep my hemline relatively full (it's never going to be thick at these lengths, given my hair) than because I get splits there. But with gentle care and updos and growing out past damage so that I now have all healthy hair, I keep the splits down to maybe 1-2% of the hairs, tops, at tailbone length, and my hair isn't at all split-resistant.

[pinchbeck]

For people who have ash brown hair, it usually gets highlighted by the sun and gets a golden hue. My hair is ash at the top and the length is a lovely golden brown. If your hair is being covered by colour I am not sure if the sun will have an effect on your hair.

I have tons of split ends and my hair is virgin and well taken care of. Two years ago I cut it to bsl and now that it is back to wl the split ends came with it. To combat some of my splite ends I get a 1/4" taken off every three months or so or when I feel my ends look tapered. My hair is prone to splitting and is something I have to live with if I want long hair.

[Feathered]

My hair is hip+ (2 inches from TBL). It gets diffused weekly (for 5 min. on warm not hot). That's my only "vice", I'd say. I don't have split ends or white dots. I used to have them back when I still had it dyed, bleached, permed, but not anymore. My hair is completely natural, and I love it now. So there really is no need anymore to have it trimmed.

I'm wondering what "diffused" means. Would you explain, please? I've never heard of it. Thank you in advance. :)

[Nymphea]

Some people get addicted to trimming, it seems, ...

I do.

Actually, long time ago I found out that I can't commit to no-trimming hair projects since I would inevitably end with major damage and all the length gain would have to go, maybe even more. My hair just functions like that.

So I discovered small trims - they do quite a miracle for me! Also, it took me awhile to get a routine of trimming if I want to gain length - not to be stuck into the circle of gaining as much as cutting off. My, let's say, ideal measure is cutting off 0.5 inches every third month when growing. That way my hair seems to gain length pretty much fast, retaining the thick hemline.

All hair types are different - maybe you should try to see what routine suits your hair best.

[florenonite]

I don't think there's any point in saying "No scissors, no exceptions" unless you're overdoing it and trimming so much you don't gain length, or becoming obsessive about S&Ding. I almost never S&D, as I don't get splits often at all :shrug:

[YamaMaya]

I made a commitment to stop trimming because I was trimming obsessively and slowing down my growth. It's not for everyone obviously, I'm trying to kick the habit.

[Sharysa]

Some people genuinely don't get splits and thus don't need to trim, hence they can say "no scissors ever."

My hair is coarse and grows pretty fast, but it also has a fair amount of splits because it's borderline-wavy (1c/2a). And part of it is probably because I just have so MUCH hair (3-4 inch ponytail). I keep getting dozens of split ends in the last third/half after two years of taking good care of my hair, BUT the majority of them aren't even close to my hemline, so I followed the No-Trim challenge for 2013 with just trimming my split ends.

Right now I'm maintaining so the question of uneven ends is irrelevant, but I find a U-hem combined with fairy-tale wispy ends is really helpful to take weight off of my thick-ass hair.

[lapushka]

I'm wondering what "diffused" means. Would you explain, please? I've never heard of it. Thank you in advance. :)

A diffuser is just a blow dryer with a diffuser attachment on the end. Lots of wavies/curlies use these attachments.

[Weewah]

Trouble is, I hate it, it's not striking and bright and sparkly anymore. The thickness and strength and length isn't beautiful if it's not catching the light. Shall I wait three years for it all to grow out or run to henna for shine and striking color and some damage repair..... hmm)

I'm on the same boat, I love the bright sparkly highlights in my hair, but they split and break so easily. But the last time I successfully grew them out I looked like such a plain Jane, which doesn't work for me because my income relies on my ability to be eye catching. So I went and got a full head of highlights again. I hate the damage of bleaching and tanning though. So now I'm on my second round of growing out bleach, I quit tanning, and I'm on the verge of going full henna head and going for the ginger look. :cool:

As far as the putting down the scissors thing, I can't, I need to S&D regularly.

[spidermom]

My hair splits a lot, too. I definitely believe in regular trimming, but I'm talking maybe 1/2 inch every 2-3 months. I'd never trim 1 inch per month because my hair only grows about 2/3 of an inch a month. I'd be losing length!

[meteor]

To those of you who keep saying that so emphatically, without any caveats, do you guys simply not get split ends? Even waist length hair or longer, no splits, no damage? If that's the case, and scissors are superfluous, tell me your care routine for your hair! Or lack thereof/benign neglect!
I have waist length hair that I'd love to not cut, but darn if the lower inches don't have tons of splits and even multiple splits sprouting up and down for several inches. Chopping up to armpit length to get it all is not an option, so I try to microtrim and S&D to just cut off the bits I see, but I have iii hair and it's just never going to happen that I get them all. I don't really know what to do besides trim regularly (an inch a month maybe) until I don't see split ends anymore. I guess years of highlights really cost my hair's health. Those of you who say just to step away from the scissors if you want long hair, do you guys not do anything that sacrifices your hair's health and just not get splits?

(my own personal story if you are bored and want to read: I stopped highlighting, since postpartum hairloss made these ugly short tufts of regrowth hair sprout up right along my hairline, in such a dark color, too short to highlight, and just made my roots look so horrendous that I started coating my head in layers of color conditioners (deposit only, no silicones or peroxide) the last two months, and now I have built up the overall color of my hair to match my roots, so I have ash brown hair and I can just leave the color alone and it will grow without any demarcation line. Trouble is, I hate it, it's not striking and bright and sparkly anymore. The thickness and strength and length isn't beautiful if it's not catching the light. Shall I wait three years for it all to grow out or run to henna for shine and striking color and some damage repair..... hmm)

Honestly, I had way more split ends when my hair was shorter, often trimmed and I mistreated it than I do now that I treat my hair well and trim only once a year or less frequently. I trim just to get a straight hemline, and luckily, I don't see split ends.

My personal view on split ends is that, unless your hair is naturally extremely fragile or you have some health/diet issues, splits can happen only due to damage. So I'd create a list of all things that you do to hair that could potentially be damaging and see which ones could be completely stopped or limited.
Since you have highlights, that could be a culprit (I know it was for me!). By the way, those deposit-only color conditioners you mentioned tend to be drying to hair and deposit-only products usually rely on alkalinity, which could be adding to the problem. If one uses heat or rough tools, they could be adding heat damage and mechanical damage, as well. This stuff adds up over time so split ends today might be the price you are paying for damage from years before.

And yes, henna is definitely great for strengthening tresses and henna-heads often report reduction in split ends, but make sure you are 100% ready for that absolutely permanent color before you commit.

Some practical tips:
- sleeping on silk/satin/smooth materials (silk bonnet, pillowcase or scarf) to minimize mechanical damage that leads to split ends.
- using fingers and wide-tooth combs for detangling, never brushing wet hair;
- oiling ends for elasticity and emollience (you can oil your braid tassel and wrap it in a plastic wrap overnight - this is very effective for keeping ends in great shape);
- once in a while using protein conditioners (or DIY gelatin treatments) for patch-repairing lost hair protein, as protein loss can cause splits too.

[jacqueline101]

I'm trying the no trims challenge I'd say for me it's working as away to keep hair cutters like me from cutting too much. To keep splits at bay you could s&d your ends or dust them.

[jacqueline101]

I forgot I'm not real prone to splits and I'm learning to take my hair care seriously. I'm using a sleep cap, updos all the time, and I protein and deep condition my hair weekly. I daily oil my hair. I love my hair I keep it up pretty much benign neglect. I weekly wash and condition monthly clarify. I'm always looking for ways to improve my hair and routine.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I think I have only found 3 split ends since I began growing and my hair is between waist and hip. I do dye my hair, roots only, not all the hair. I do trim, but once a year maybe an inch just to even up the ends and tidy the hemline a little.

I do what I can LHC-wise to protect my hair and keep it healthy.

[Islandgrrl]

I'm not prone to split ends, so I don't other with S&D. I doubt I'd have the patience or it anyway.

I'm all about the benign neglect, and I really mean that. I clarified with actual shampoo tonight for the first time in ages - I really cannot remember the last time I shampooed. But other than that it's WO with a CO thrown in when my scalp needs more cleansing...one every couple of weeks lately. I mostly finger comb, occasionally I use a tangle teezer if I want my hair really smooth. I wear my hair up every single day. I don't use elastics ever, nor do I wear ponytails (hair is too long).

I don't feel like I have an actual hair routine, even though I've tried a few different things. I'm basically just too lazy to commit to anything but henna a few times a year.

[JadedByEntropy]

I've been scissor free for several years while I've been growing. I do get splits, but unless they're causing tangles or over a half inch I leave them be. If they need attention...I hunt down the little splitter and trim only that one back with my front teeth; that way none of the healthy ones suffer.

My hair is really dry and scissors only break them more, and this seems a more natural ;) way of dealing with them. I get to keep ALL my growth too.

[Andeee]

My hair is between hip and tbl and I don't get split ends. I have wavy hair. Some of the strands are thick and coarse, some are thin. I don't use a blowdryer or any heat--just wash and go. I wash about once a week and try to remember to use coconut oil a day before I was so it is absorbed by the time I do. I don't brush my hair except for right before I shampoo it. I use my fingers to detangle during the week and use a wide-toothed comb in the shower with conditioner to detangle.

The only damaging thing I do is colour it, at the salon and we only do the roots (I'm not ready for all the grey that is coming in yet!).

[LadyCelestina]

I search and destroy and microtrim and ignore the rest.My hair is dyed at the bottom so yes it does split quite a bit.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I have very few split ends. I try my best to keep my ends moist and oiled, secured inside a bun because i decided it's time i gain some length before trimming again.