cut my hair, thought i'd share! (pics, woooo)

[cheystar]

i flat ironed my hair last month for dbf's birthday and thought i should trim it while it's straight. my hair has had a ton of split ends from former daily heat styling that i've been too stubborn to get rid of for several years and last week i just went for it. i did it myself since i don't have much money and don't trust anyone else to handle it.
but let's get to the good stuff - the pictures!

this was taken in mid-november. just me checking up on my length and wave/curl pattern 'cause it's bipolar. ha.
http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y434/cheeyyy/before_zps0f4deca2.png


early december. ooooh, it's such a treat for me to have silky straight locks. dbf and i couldn't stop touching it. :o
alas, that's what caused my split ends in the first place. it was the only time i straightened it all year, though.
http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y434/cheeyyy/before2_zps529759ac.png


by washing my scalp every 5-6 days, i maintained having straight hair for 3 weeks. and then one morning, i split my hair in half, pulled the halves in front, made a ponytail, slid the tie down as straight as i could to just above the bulk of the split ends and ...!
http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y434/cheeyyy/after_zps2670cd7e.png


it was a nice feeling to have a thicker hemline. although, i'm still not sure if i actually prefer it over a more tapered V hem/fairytale ends especially since i welcomed my wurls back, which is giving me a harder time getting used to my new thick hemline! also, THE SHRINKAGE! WHY?! :boohoo:
http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y434/cheeyyy/after1_zps66cc6606.png


i miss being slightly overwhelmed by my longer length! if that makes sense, ha. i hope others understand what i mean and have felt this way as well. i feel sad that i stop braiding higher than i used to and detangling/brushing feels really different... the ends don't brush my calves anymore... i know it's still considered very long, but i still shed a tear... i haven't had such a drastic trim since i decided to grow in mid 2006.
i measured my thin, little ponytail that i cut off, and it's about 7 inches long. i decided to keep it in a baggie near my shelf of hair products. i hope this is also understood and has been done by others, haha. :o there are still more split ends to get rid of, but i refuse to lose any more length. in a few year's time, i hope to get rid of all my past heat damage and just maintain around knee length by doing much less drastic trims and S&Ding.

back to lurking. :)

[Ambrielle]

you have one of the most gorgeous manes i have seen cheystar! :flower:

aww :grouphug: i think i can understand how you feel even though i am not anywhere close to that length, my hair feels like another limb to me :).

i personally prefer the look of the new hair length because i am a fan of thicker hemlines but with your hair type fairy tales look great too in my opinion, it's just unfortunate us wavies and curlies get so much shrinkage.

I think it's cute you kept the little ponytail, i had an undercut in 2005/2006 which resulted in half of my head being shave off, my hair was past waist back then already, it was a strange feeling but at the time i did not regret it, plus i realized a shaved head really suited me :D. I kept that hair in a souvenir box, it's braided, still have it. I used to have my mom's 40 inches long braids too, she cut thenm off when she was my age, not sure what happened to those.

[lapushka]

I love the last picture; it's as if your curls came back to life! Amazing. Congrats on having the courage to trim. It looks great.

[wilderwein]

I am officialy in love with your hair, and I want knee hair length

[hennalonghair]

Oh my ....... :thud:
Gorgeous!

[Kina]

Wow, it looks great!

We share a hair type. It's officially been a year since my last trim and I've been thinking about what I should do. I haven't decided whether to trim, keep it the same, etc. I was thinking that my hair would not look good at longer lengths and be too unmanageable.

Long winded way of saying your hair looks fabulous and is inspiring!

[Begemot]

Your hair looks great when straightened but your curls are to die for, just stunning :thud: Good luck getting to knee!

[spidermom]

Oh how pretty! Good call on the trim; the results are to die for.

[Komao]

cheystar, Magnifico! I love all of the above pictures. Although I have never had hair any of your lengths, YET, I seem to understand missing and feeling sad. I must have had extreme length in another life.
I think you will enjoy the change and your hair is extraordinary. :o

[LongCurlyTress]

Your hair is more gorgeous now than ever! It was the right thing to do. I totally know how you feel with how your hair used to feel on the backs of your calves, etc. Don't worry! It will grow back! There is always a sadness with any amount of hair I trim off. It's all relative. Guess this is natural for those of us who love our hair long. We cherish every eighth of an inch! Anyways, your hair looks really pretty now and it will grow back if you want it to! ;) In the meantime, it is very healthy and you have a beautiful hemline! ;) I am also a curlygirl, 3b so I totally get the frustration with length shrinkage. Just put it up in your favorite bun and forget you did this. Before you know it, in 6 months you will already have 3 inches back of the 7 you trimmed. Not to worry! ;):blossom:

[Hootenanny]

All I can say is :thud::thud::thud::thudpile:

Your hair is beyond gorgeous. I have no words! Annnnd I'm gonna have to change my goal length to thigh.

[truepeacenik]

I think your wurls are worth the cut.

I recently cut mid thigh to tbl, only half expecting to go that short, and I was in utter love with the ends for a month.

My buns are trickier. I often notice a tail popping out. But to have more than 70 percent of the splits gone all at once? I can live with that.

I'm not sold on maintaining the ends as blunt. I might let them be.
I'm thinking of picking a point on the thigh and seeing if they need evening up by then.

I have joked that my end length will be terminal minus two inches.
And looking at your shots, I really hope that's somewere on calf.

[Jorja]

When I first opened this thread and saw your first photo, I thought 'oh no, I don't want to scroll down and see your hair all gone', then great relief to see it's still really long! It looks so pretty, you should be proud of your achievement :)

[LauraLongLocks]

Whoa. Here I was preparing myself for another big new year's chop, thinking someone had cut a drastic amount of hair off and restarted their long hair journey from a short bob. When I clicked on the thread I was delighted to see this stunning mane! Wow, your hair is beyond beautiful. I think the trim was the right call, though I can understand missing the length. Seven inches is a lot, even when your hair is exceptionally long.

I'm going to end my post by adding my :thud: to the :thudpile: .

[Johannah]

You may have shrinkage now, but gosh those curls in the last picture are AMAZING!!!

[Chocowalnut]

Your hair is so pretty.. I hope mine is as pretty when I reach longer lengths.

[yogagirl]

Oh my, your hair is gorgeous both straight and curly! So thick, too. It seems like your curls really loved the trim! I'd say you did everything right! I'm sure getting rid of the splits will help you so much in regards to combing and maintaining your hemline.

[gthlvrmx]

Thud worthy hair! Oh my god it's beautiful!

[summergreen]

Oh my goodness. Your hair is absolutely beautiful, before and after. It's proper fairy tale hair!

[Flowerness]

It looks like hair straight out of a Disney movie! You have such remarkable curls!

[schnibbles]

S t u n n i n g !

[SwordWomanRiona]

Wow, your hair breathtaking! Stunningly gorgeous :inlove: :thudpile: I love your wurls and the new hemline looks great!

[meteor]

:thudpile:

Awesome hair! And great call on the trim: your curls somehow look even better and bouncier now! :applause

[winship2]

Alright, my New Year's Resolution is now officially to have beautiful black 2c hair!

[TurtleFlo]

Wow, straight or curly it looks amazing! I bet you feel like a million bucks. :)

I have a friend who also has dark, extremely curly hair who's been growing her hair out for almost a year now. She's said that she's not sure how long she wants it, though. I may need to show her these pictures!

[AdaClare]

Oh my GOSH you're hair looks fantastic!! :agape:

[TrapperCreekD]

Count me as being another expecting a huge chop. So shiny! The wurls really pop in the after photo. :thudpile:

[ashke50]

So beautiful! Your wurls are georgeous and they look fantastic in that last post-chop picture!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Oh my goodness! Your hair, your hair....so stunning (swoon).............

[Caraid♫]

your hair is inspiring! It was beautiful before and after, but the hemline looks really freshened up and it's still so incredibly long!!

[aspartame gram]

Total fairy tale hair! The cut was well worth it! Look at your curls! :)