To Cut Or Not To Cut????

[NandiniJ]

:confused:
I have never had a haircut or trim in my life!!!!! :omy hair is pretty thin. And my hair is not of the same length. only a few strands are long. basically everything is unequal. i don't know what to do. my mother doesn't believe in cutting hair, so i've never done it....... I'd love to get your thoughts. :D

[Ephemia]

It basically depends on whether or not you're happy with how it looks. If you are, then leave it as it is. If not, then get a trim or even a bigger cut if you want to. My own hair has dramatic taper and to get a blunt hemline I'd have to cut to about classic length, but I'm not doing that. I'd feel naked. Instead I'm working on removing all my split ends and then I'll probably start microtrimming and go from there. I'm undecided about what sort of hemline I think would look best on me.

If you're happy to post a length shot, we may have a better idea of potential courses of action you might like to take, if any at all, but ultimately it's your hair and you can do with it whatever you please.

If you decide to cut it, it might be worth learning to do it yourself. Feye's method is frequently used. There are a lot of stories here about hairdressers interpreting requests like an inch trim as a much bigger cut. As much as 13 inches sometimes, as you may have seen in a recent thread.

[woodswanderer]

Well, if you want thick ends you'll need to cut and probably maintain at a length for a while. If you don't want thick ends and are satisfied with how your hair looks, then don't cut. I don't know about not trimming, but my personal experience with trimming is that you can have blunt thick ends and less tangles if you are accumulating splits at the bottom of your hair.

[lapushka]

:confused:
I have never had a haircut or trim in my life!!!!! :omy hair is pretty thin. And my hair is not of the same length. only a few strands are long. basically everything is unequal. i don't know what to do. my mother doesn't believe in cutting hair, so i've never done it....... I'd love to get your thoughts. :D

Well you're 19, so... you're old enough to decide for yourself, without help from your mom. I agree with other posters. It depends on what you want. Fairytale ends? Blunt ends? But if there's just a few hairs on longer lengths, I'd for sure consider it.

[spidermom]

You say that your mother does not believe in cutting hair. Do you live with her? How would she feel if you cut your hair? I ask because cutting may not be worth the trouble that your mother would give you.

It shows up in some hair types more than others, but every single one of us has hair of unequal lengths. This is because every single day you shed out hairs that have reached the end of their growing cycle. And every single day you grow in new hairs. Also, every single hair has its own growth rate; some hairs grow very fast and some hairs grow slowly. Since you say you have not had a hair cut ever in your life, the chances are good that your longest hairs are already the longest that they will grow. Hair length is determined by how fast a hair grows per year and how many years it grows before it falls. I remember reading somewhere that the average number of years that a hair grows before it reaches the end of its cycle is around 7 years. Of course some people have hairs that will grow for more years than that, and other people have hairs that will grow for less years.

Anyway, if cutting your hair will not cause issues with your mother, you could make the ends appear thicker by trimming your longest hairs up to the level of your next-longest hairs. There's really not much you can do to make the hairs on your head keep growing more years than they do now, but good care will keep them from breaking off at the bottom, which can be a problem for some of us.

[TheHowlingWolf]

I just cut about 10 inches off of my hair & I don't regret it! In fact, I'm really glad that I did it. The ends were so bad. It's not even how it looked, but how it made me feel. When it was time to detangle/"style" my hair, I would dread it because it would always take so long to get the tangles out and they NEVER seemed to go away. The ends were dry and split and thin and it made me feel self conscious. I could never do anything with my hair except do a lazy bun or simple 3 strand braid because it would tangle as I was styling it, even if I just detangled!
Now that I cut it, my hair seems thicker and healthier. I rarely have tangles. & when I do, it takes about 5 seconds to gently get them out. Since there are almost no tangles to deal with, I can style my hair better now. I can do better braids because the ends are always tangling up, and of course, my braids look thicker.
Bottom line: I'm sure (I HOPE!) your mom wont disown you for cutting your hair. It's your hair/body/how you feel. Plus, hair will eventually grow back.

[restless]

Do you share her beliefs regarding hair? If you dont and youre curious about trying something new, Id say go for it if thats what you want. Youre an adult and the decision is yours after all :) Besides, if it turns out you dont like it the hair will grow back eventually and then you´ll know that short(er) hair is not for you.

A lot of people on here (try to) follow a two week rule so no rash decisions are made though. It means that if its a good idea to cut the hair today, give it two more weeks to think about it so you just dont go and chop it all off in the kitchen and regret it sorely afterward. So give yourself some time to make the decision because it only takes a few seconds to cut off hair that´ll take years to grow out again. Maybe you could cut yours little by little, like a milestone at the time. That way you wont go too short too quick, but instead you´ll have time to adjust to the new length.

Hope you´ll find a solution youre happy with. Welcome to the forum :)

[NandiniJ]

this is a reply to everyone. thanks for welcoming me to the forum restless.

yes, i live with my mother. My mother is not bad, but she won't let me move out till i'm done with college. so, that's another year. :mad: i'll try the 2 week rule. but its something i have been thinking about for 3 years now. there are only a few strands that are long. most of them only reach just past my shoulders.
i'll post a pic tomorrow once i have washed my hair. i have currently oiled it, for overnight.

[flickm]

W
I just cut about 10 inches off of my hair & I don't regret it! In fact, I'm really glad that I did it. The ends were so bad. It's not even how it looked, but how it made me feel. When it was time to detangle/"style" my hair, I would dread it because it would always take so long to get the tangles out and they NEVER seemed to go away. The ends were dry and split and thin and it made me feel self conscious. I could never do anything with my hair except do a lazy bun or simple 3 strand braid because it would tangle as I was styling it, even if I just detangled!
Now that I cut it, my hair seems thicker and healthier. I rarely have tangles. & when I do, it takes about 5 seconds to gently get them out. Since there are almost no tangles to deal with, I can style my hair better now. I can do better braids because the ends are always tangling up, and of course, my braids look thicker.
Bottom line: I'm sure (I HOPE!) your mom wont disown you for cutting your hair. It's your hair/body/how you feel. Plus, hair will eventually grow back.

I remember your post when you were contemplating this. I'm so glad you made a decision and are pleased with the results x

[Vorvayne]

Remember there's lots of options - not just "cut lots" or "don't cut". With LHC care it could be that some of your shorter hairs will grow longer, and so you could cut a few inches off your longest length, maintain there, and wait for the rest to catch up.

Perhaps a small trim would upset your mother less than a drastic cut? It is, of course, your hair, but if you really want to cut and keep the peace, seeing that a small trim does not cause the world to end might ease her into it a bit.

Good luck! :flowers: