what is this urge to chop when the ends get a bit straggly?

[flickm]

I did it in April (and now hugely regret it and don't intend to do it again).My daughter just dropped my granddaughter off for the day and tells me she's about to get her bra strap length hair cut because it's getting straggly and she hasn't got time for it. This is exactly what I have tended to do over recent years, never letting it grow past waist length, cutting to APL or even shoulder (as I did in April), telling myself it was getting straggly and needed more fullness and body. Her hair is stunning, thick, blonde, gorgeous, and the ends look even and not straggly at all. Of course, I'm not going to persuade her otherwise: it's her hair and she has a perfect right to wear it however she wants, and she always lands up with it longer again, and she does look beautiful with it shorter. But I wonder if that same attitude is why there are so many women with longer hair, but no longer than BSL.

Of course, since joining this forum, i know about looking after my hair so it doesn't get out of condition. i don't think my regime of hot blow drying (though not brushing at the same time), brisk brushing and wearing elastics in the bath exactly helped - and she's doing all that still.

[Ephemia]

Maybe most people feel their hair looks 'straggly' when it simply no longer looks freshly cut?

[flickm]

Maybe most people feel their hair looks 'straggly' when it simply no longer looks freshly cut?

Maybe :) It takes me months to feel like that though . . .

[Jo Ann]

Sometimes I've gotten mine cut when the ends haven't looked as full as the hair above it. That was before I discovered fairy tale ends and that some things, like thinner hair at the bottom, are par for the course without proper conditioning and care.

I am happy to say I've gotten better with caring for my hair...only wish I'd thought of wearing it up to protect it long ago. I'm gradually learning to embrace my Dumbo ears, but it's hard...around the house is one thing, but showing them off in public? *shudder* I'm getting better, though, about it.

[memeow]

Part of it could be that she's more sensitive to perceived imperfections in her hair than you are, part of it could be that longer hair just lies differently than shorter hair, and some people prefer the look of shoulder or BSL hair to waist or hip length. So even if the ends are fairly even, she might feel like it's straggly just because it's not the length she prefers. For whatever reason, I've seen all kinds of fashion articles saying long hair shouldn't be longer than BSL (because it ages you, makes your face look long, etc...all sounds kind of made up). I think part of why many women don't grow longer than BSL is that current trends tend more towards that length for long hair.

[Sunny_side_up]

My sis has pretty, wavy hair that's nearly mid back. She's dyed it quite alot, its green/blue with about 4months root growth at the mo.
Recently she was saying she's planning on getting it to Bum length. Though today noticed on her facebk mentioning either treating herself to perfume or going to the hairdresser!
So i asked why. Basically to have a re style she says and get rid of damage.. i said hope they're not too scissor happy!! Usually she asks mum to do a small trim. So i guess she wants a bit of what she feels is a treat for herself and freshening up her look.
Last year introduced CO washin to her which she has stuck to, the girl has some tough hair compared to mine and has been to a good few hairdressers over the years and her hair has been through alot (bleach,dye, thinning sheers,heat,colour stripping). Its her hair. And she wants it to look nice for a trip away. I have a wedding to go to in a couple months and i just wanna keep scissors at bay for time being. Everyones different. :)

[spidermom]

I had the same problem in the past. While I was growing out from pixie, it did get straggly-looking pretty fast, and I got into the habit of getting it cut about every 8 weeks. Once it had grown out to about BSL, I joined LHC and decided to get my hair trimmed less often. It was hard at first because I would notice that some hairs grew faster than other hairs, and my hem lost that perfectly even look pretty fast. I think that's what straggly is to most of us - the ends are not perfectly even and holding the shape we prefer.

I'm used to uneven ends now, especially since I got a layered, steep-U shape to my haircut. I get trims two or three times a year these days.

[M-L-E]

Hairdressers always told me that my fine hair needed to be kept short with choppy layers in order to have any "movement" and "body". I believed them, and perceived my hair to be "straggly" when it got to a certain length, although looking back at pictures it really wasn't that bad! I think some people see fairy tale ends as straggly and thin, whilst freshly trimmed blunt ends are seen as healthier, even though that isn't necessarily the case... :)

[flickm]

Thanks everybody, I think there's a lot of truth in what you all say, without pulling out individual posts. I had my last cut to get rid of damage and thicken up the ends, but I realise now that I could have nursed my hair along, and what looked straggly halfway down my back would have looked really pretty at waist or hip once it reached there. Now I'm concentrating on getting my hair back in top condition and looking after it.

[moontree]

I used to do the same thing, get it to about BSL and then chop it all off... now I've learned that I actually really like the way fairytale ends look, so while I might trim for damage, I'm looking forward to just letting my hair do what it wants to while I continue to figure out how to care for it. It's all about personal preference I imagine. What I think is pretty, I'm sure others would say is gross or scraggly.