Balance between trimming and growing

[CostaRita]

So for the past 2 years since I've been growing my hair, I've gotten trims pretty much every 10-12 weeks, about .5 inches at each trim. I read somewhere that this was infrequent enough to still allow length to be obtained.

My ends do get dry, so having them trimmed every so often makes my hair feel very nice and fresh. I also have layers, so reshaping them can give my hair some life when my hair starts to look a bit scraggly.

Would you say that .5 inches every 10-12 weeks is too much?

Btw, I'd like to go from APL to BSL, so a few more inches. What would you say a good balance is?

[FallingDarkness]

If you do deep conditioning treatments and put coconut oil on your ends, I think you'd have better success with your growth.
I haven't gotten a trim since October and have obtained around 5 inches of growth because of that. I also keep my hair up a lot of the time so that my ends don't get split.
It's up to you when you want your hair trimmed and how much off at a time, but I'd maybe only take off 1/4 of an inch instead of 1/2 if you want to reach your goal length faster.
There are other ways to keep your ends healthy without having to get trims so often :P

[CostaRita]

ok thanks!

[memeow]

I am very curious to see answers to this. I spent a few years trimming very infrequently/not at all, and I think my ends are so damaged they started breaking off, preventing me from gaining length at all. Now I am cutting about .25 inches every month, aiming to keep .25 inches of growth. I think this works out as only slightly more trimming than you're doing.

If I didn't already have damage (white dots and splits), I would probably let my hair go between trims until these problems started showing up. There are a lot of methods on these boards for treating dry ends, but if your layers start bugging you after 12 weeks its probably worth getting the trims. I don't think there's a universal "too much", it's just trimming more obviously slows down when you'll reach your goal length. But it might be more important to you that your hair looks freshly maintained even while you grow it!

[CurlMonster]

I like to do very frequent trims because my hair is damaged and layered, and without trimming it has a tendency to look scraggly and get riddled with split ends. However, your hair might stand up to not being trimmed so often just fine, in which case you are losing a lot of growth for no reason. You could give stretching out your trims a try and see how your hair reacts. Also, as others suggested, looking into moisturising your ends and protecting them with updos would probably allow you to stretch your trims farther. :)

[shutterpillar]

I trim every 3 months, usually 1/2 inch taken off. It makes for a slower growth rate, but the quality of my ends has been drastically improving since I began this trimming schedule. I have zero splits, and have not had the need to S&D for quite some time. My hemline is also much thicker since I began trimming regularly.

So to answer your question, you should be seeing some growth with your current trimming schedule, but it will make for a lengthier time before you meet your goals (this is based on my personal experience - my growth rate is around 1/2 inch per month, so if I trim 1/2 inch off every 3 months then I get about an inch of growth between trims. My hair is also fine, so the regular trims are vital to keeping my hemline as blunt as possible and my ends split-free.) I think you'll just have to figure out what works for you. :) If you want to try to stretch out the trims or cut off a lesser amount and see what happens, then give it a shot!

[CostaRita]

ok thanks guys!

[meteor]

Trimming, just like cleansing, is pretty individual: just trim when your hair needs it (and/or when you want your hair to be shorter).
If the ends are splitting, you are seeing white dots or other damage, trimming can really help. But if you are experiencing dry, tangly ends, oiling and clarifying are a good option.
Try to sleep on silk satin or other smooth material and keep hair bunned or otherwise contained to protect your ends from wear and tear.

[kganihanova]

I microtrim every four weeks and because of this I'm able to retain every bit of my 1 inch a month. But YMMV

[Johannah]

If you treat your hair the best way you can, you can go without trims for a long period of time. Wear your hair up, don't wash it too often, don't use heat, use a comb to detangle, do deep conditioning treatments and/or heavy oilings, S&D, ...

But off course: quality above quantity. If you think you need to trim, go for it. Better wait a couple of months longer before you reach your goal with healthy hair, than reach your goal soon with damaged hair.