Accidentally cut off too much

[Arwenlily]

For the past couple of weeks I have been so frustrated with my damaged, dry, and straggly ends. My hair was nearing MBL before I decided to attempt to give myself a trim. I'm not sure why I keep thinking I will do a good job when I cut my own hair when every time I do it, I completely mess it up. I had promised myself I would wait until September to trim my hair, so that I could get some growth before I cut again. Well, I was feeling bad yesterday and was really frustrated with my hair and decided to do a trim (I know this was a stupid idea). At first it was only about a 1/2 inch but then I noticed unevenness so I cut more. By the time I was done, I must have cut off a good 3 inches. Which means that when curly, it's a lot more.

The problem is .... My hair is curly and the curls vary in shape. So what may have looked even when wet was not even dry, and I messed it up. I don't like to go to the salon because of many reasons I'm sure you all can agree with, so ideally I'd like to cut my own hair. But wow ... I'm awful at it. Now I'm extremely sad and my hair is so short. It was finally long for once ...

[Arctic]

Sorry to hear this happened to you. Many recommend curly hair to be trimmed when dry.

[lapushka]

Never go berserk with scissors when it's emotional, you know... well, *now* you know. I'm so sorry. :flower: It will grow back, you'll just have to be patient. Can you wear it up yet? I see you're ii/iii so wearing it up in a bun might not be possible yet.

[LongCurlyTress]

AWWWW!! I feel so badly for you but it will grow back!! You can probably just use a medium sized claw clip with a peacock fanning out on the top, some side bangs to get you through~ hide those scissors too! I also have curly hair 3b and have done what you just did. Yes, it will be short, but hair grows on average 3 inches every 6 months, so just don't cut it for at least 6 months. Just put it up and forgetaboutit. Benign neglect works!! :flowers:

[DizzyGinger]

Bummer!! I have a friend whose hair I trim. I'm no expert but it can be easier with a friend you trust than yourself

[georgia_peach]

I'm so sorry. Try not to be too hard on yourself, though. I bet a lot of long hairs have done something similar in their long hair journey. I know I've done it more times than I care to remember. Hugs!:grouphug:

[Angelica]

Three inches will grow back in no time at all if you just forget about it now. I'm sure your hair looks lovely and may be even thanking you for its trim :)

[Arwenlily]

Arctic Thanks :) I should definitely cut when dry now, it makes more sense. I asked my husband to even my hemline a little when my hair was dry, so at least there is that.
Lapushka Before I did the criminal act, I knew that I shouldn't do while emotional. But then, when I felt bad I did anyway. So dumb! I can wear my hair up actually. I might not have cut off as much as I realized but also I need to update that I believe I'm no longer ii/iii and more like ii because I've lost a lot of hair.
LongCurlyTress It is so good to hear from someone with similar hair that has been in the same situation. And thanks for the encouragement! Hopefully three inches won't feel too far away.
DizzyGinger Actually, my husband could probably do it for me from now on. He helped me even out my hemline after the screw up :o
georgia_peach Thanks so much, that really helps :) I love this community, the girls on here are so supportive and they are the first ones I thought of when this happened.
Angelica Thank you! My hair definitely did need a trim and overall, this trim was majorly helpful. I just wish my hemline was more blunt and I miss the length!

[lapushka]

I'm so sorry to hear of your hair loss, and then your cut. It's terrible. But I'm meant to cheer you up, not bring you down. It'll get better, promise! Just let it grow from now on and hide those *darn* scissors, or let someone hide them for you. Next time you feel bad, you will not get tempted and won't even be able to get to them.

[MINAKO]

Sorry to hear that you are sad about your trim, but dont worry too much about it. Before the beginning of last year i frequently trimmed 2-3 inches, because i simple thought thats how much you have to cut off for ends to be healthy (now i know better). I did that like twice a year, or every 8 months lets say, and as soon as i stopped my hair became super long in no time and a plus was a very even growth, because alot of newgrowth had a chance to catch up already.

I did never cut wavy hair dry, and also not wet either. I always straightened and then oiled it for maximum control. Nowaday i do trim wet because i dont have as many waves anymore.

[slynr]

That stinks!! Thing of it I think that is a lesson many of us here learn the hard way at one time or another when beginning to self trim. There are a couple of rules I try to stick by after that happened to me which are 1) trim by a schedule. I can trim less frequently but not more. That keeps me from emotionally cutting or losing
track of time and cutting more often than I intended 2) decide before how much I intend to cut and only trim that amount. Never more 3) if I mess up and it's uneven I still stop. I do not attempt to even it up. That's when I have chopped way more than I wanted. That has to wait until my next trim 4) don't obsess with it because I wear it up all the time. I just put it up and forget it.

I know that doesn't take,away the sadness of cutting more than you wanted but remember long hair is a Loooong journey for most of us. I mean years and years. This is just a baby bump in the road:)

[Arwenlily]

Lapushka I just had my husband hide my scissors. First step! Thank you for the kind words and encouragement :blossom:
MINAKO I definitely trim way too often ... I need to stop that for sure. I just keep looking at my damaged ends and think, if I just cut them off my hair will look so much better. But I still have a good four inches of damaged hair and that bothers me. How much and how often do you cut your hair?
slynr Yes, I'm definitely still sad but your rules will be so helpful. In the long run, my hair will be healthy and after some time when my hair is longer, I won't even think about this anymore.

[Arctic]

Good to hear your hair is now even. I forgot to say in my previous post, that I have done same thing many times, and my hair isn't even that curly, it only became wave some years ago!

[Arwenlily]

Good to hear your hair is now even. I forgot to say in my previous post, that I have done same thing many times, and my hair isn't even that curly, it only became wave some years ago!

It's relatively even, for the most part :whistle: I looked in the mirror this morning and found one chunk of hair that was about an inch shorter than the rest and almost flipped out. Then I thought about all the advice everyone has given me and tried to relax. Luckily it worked!

Do you enjoy the wave that is now in your hair?

[Arctic]

It did get some used to, having had straight hair for about 30 years! In the very beginning I was excited, then I started to feel resentment and miss my old hair, but finally I got used to it, and started to see good qualities of my new hairtype. The whole mental process took several years, lol. My hair now is also such, that I can relatively easily wear it straight (just little bit of blowdrying with mild tension and warm to cool heat) or naturally wavy. I can also coach it to be quite curly if I use gel, plopping and diffuse drying. It also takes curls very well from heatless curling methods. Very versatile! What I like probably the most is the additional volume!