To trim or not to trim?

[Blue Mermaid]

I am an inch and a half shy of apl. Suddenly, I have a lot of ends that are too long to tuck easily into a french twist. The extra twisting and tucking needed makes my much shorter layers flop down. So do I trim back so I can maybe do french twist styles again and give up the length, or suck it up with ponytails? I have a 4.25 ponytail right now, but not all of my layers and bangs make it into the ponytail.

i do have the triangle head thing going on, even with all the layers. So if I cut back, it will probably get worse. What would you do in my situation?

Haven't officially been hair typed but my texture is realy coarse and it's definitely got some wave/curl to it. Most days its just fluffy though. :shudder: as for ends I have a few splits in my layers (damage from over a year ago that is still growing out)


right now I can't trim off my layers because I need all my hair to go into a ponytail for work. Trimming my bottom hem should not affect that.


so what's the consensus ? Trim or let it grow?

last trimmed about 6 weeks ago, so it hasn't been very long. I had quite a bit taken off the layers then, but not much off the length.

[arr]

It looks like your goal is waist, so unless your ends are damaged I don't see why you would need to trim. To be honest, you are at a really awkward stage in the journey to long hair and we all go through it. You have to just find ways to put it up and make it through or you will never reach your goal. There are tons of hairstyle ideas everywhere on this site: French braids, pinned up braids, sectioned buns, twists, etc.

[arr]

Im sorry, just saw you are starting with a pixie. My suggestion may not work for you. Hopefully someone else will come along who has experience growing out from a pixie. I apologize.

[gthlvrmx]

Personally, I would just let it grow to waist before trimming. If it's not damaged, why trim it? If it is damaged, then I would trim the damage until it is all gone. Undamaged hair is much easier to grow out than damaged hair.
If the layers really bug you, maybe microtrimming can help. I am also closer to APL and my shorter layers don't reach into the twist or bun I make but just remember, it will grow out soon enough!

[Blue Mermaid]

Im sorry, just saw you are starting with a pixie. My suggestion may not work for you. Hopefully someone else will come along who has experience growing out from a pixie. I apologize.

No need to apologize ! You may well be right that this is just a very frustrating length. I think part of it has to do my hair is growing in even thicker since I dropped chemicals. My last bleach was february 2014.

[slynr]

I say let it grow!! If anything you may microtrim but if you trimmed 6 weeks ago I wouldn't do anything now. You have to go longer between cuts if your ever going to gain length.

For me, everything gets easier the longer it gets.

[butterflybutton]

Let it grow �� I found shoulder to Apl the worst, most awkward time. But now I'm at APL, it is much easier to put up. And I am very thankful I didn't trim at all, otherwise I'd still be just below shoulder.

The no trimming challenge threads have been a hair saviour for me.

[yahirwaO.o]

A tiny micro trim always helps a lot in the long time versus making a big cut drama mess. :)

[spidermom]

It depends on your goal. If your goal is to keep the perfect length for a french twist, then trim. If it's long hair, let it grow.

[Radiant]

I'm going to agree with everyone else and say don't trim. If you ultimately want your hair to be much longer trimming only sets you back and will prolong the time it takes to reach your goal. Since you've just recently trimmed there's no reason to need to trim again. In my opinion you should only trim when you absolutely must (to deal with damage) when trying to gain length.

If you're anything like me you'd probably end up regretting the lost length and then eventually be back in the same spot you're in now anyway. I say try to find ways to deal with your current length and keep focused on your goal.

[divinedobbie]

If you want long hair, don't trim. If you do, you'll just set yourself back and be in the awkward length stage for even longer.

[kelseyxface]

I'm in the same boat right now - some of my layers are shoulder length the rest APL. My hair is so fine though that I've mostly just been trimming up my bottom layers to meet up with my shorter layers every 2 months or so. I was actually going to trim them tonight. Then again my goal right now thanks to my hair type is to trim up the layers to add to my thickness than to my length rn. I do want length but I also more desperately want thickness. So I guess (as many others have said) it comes down to do you want them even or do you want the length?

If you decide to trim feel free to PM me or at least take solace in knowing one other LHCer is cutting about a quarter inch off tonight. (:

[Blue Mermaid]

My hair is thick so I really don't need the thickness.... I think I will hold back on trimming. Thank you for the encouragement ladies!

[cat11]

I say let it grow!! If anything you may microtrim but if you trimmed 6 weeks ago I wouldn't do anything now. You have to go longer between cuts if your ever going to gain length.

For me, everything gets easier the longer it gets.

This!! You should wait more like 6 months between trims, instead of 6 weeks :)