Trim-phobic

[Tangles]

Since I am just barely at APL, I am scared to get the 1/4" trim I think I need. I am seeing taper already (when I take a photo from the back... my ends are see thru already). But I am scared to death of a stylist hacking off this growth. Anyone who can relate?

[lora410]

I do my trims myself. Id rather be the culprit of a screw up then a stylist. I just did a 1/4 incher last night.

[suicides_eve]

oh i can so relate, i worked so hard to get this length, but my ends are so uneven and choppy looking from growing out layers. It needs a trim soooo bad but it's hard to trust ppl- ya know? one bad trip did it for me.

I might have to have my bf do it i think i trust him the most plus i know he likes my long growing hair so he isn't going to pull any surprises while he is back there.

[Silver & Gold]

I can relate as well. We have such a long way to go to get to any kind of length at all that it is really difficult to loose even a fraction of an inch.
I do self-trims with my husband to assist me with the center of the back when I need. But the longer my hair gets the less I need his help. I suggest experimenting with the tiniest of microtrims. This way you won't lose much hair at all but you will be amazed at how much better the ends can feel by removing of just a touch of the rough ends. I liken it to filing my nails when they start to become ragged.

[manderly]

I can totally relate. I got around trims as much as possible with microtrims too, but I finally sucked it up and just did a little feye's self-trim. I was happy with it, and really if I lost any length it was completely un-noticeable.

[jojo]

Yes me too, i especially found this at your length but I did dustings and its a lot better now. I had, well still do have a few layers which made it worse, im sure once thee are gone It will look better.

I remember putting the same post up last year and wa given a tip of dipping my ends in olive oil and it really helped not only with splits but seemed to stop ratty ends. I do this once a month now and either bun or leave it overnight.

[rhodochrosite]

I was just dealing with this feeling today. I am scared to lose any length, but I do not want my ends to get crunchy now that they're in better shape. Hmmn. I just cut off some of the split ends that I could see, and if my ends feel crunchy at the end of the month, I'll do a tiny micro trim myself.

[FrannyG]

18 months ago, I would have related completely. However, I've been so happy with my quarterly trims that I would never look back. In all honesty, I have not noticed that my growth is much less per year than it was before I began getting regular trims.

I do recommend learning to trim yourself, or going to a stylist who really knows what a quarter of an inch is. Take a measuring tape with you to show the stylist what you mean by a quarter of an inch. Sometimes people forget just how little that is.

I wish you the best. :blossom:

[Tangles]

My hair is healthy with very few splits. I am just dealing with taper here. I think I'll stick to self micro trims.

[littlebabywulf]

I can't relate. I've always been one of those people who is fairly confident my hair will grow back. So when I went to get my hair cut last week, I didn't have any issues with her cutting of the last 8 inches of my hair that had been colored making the rest of my hair virgin hair.

But I'm probably not normal that way. :)

[Tangles]

ha, ha. i love how you say "fairly confident my hair will grow back"

[DecafJane]

I can very much relate! I have gone one year without trims, and it is going so well that I am tempted to sign up for another year of no trims!
I am thinking of starting to dip the ends in olive oil once a month, as suggested by jojo. :)

[xrosiex]

I'm always nervous before a dusting.:rolleyes: My hairstylist is great she knows how to do a dusting. But I always feel alittle sad when I lose ANY length.

[EdG]

I too recommend Feye's self-trim (http://community.livejournal.com/feyeselftrim). I did self-trims for years before letting my hair grow to terminal length.
Ed

[willowcandra]

It's better to trim that weeny bit now than try to gain length with the damage that will accumulate. In the end the chop would need to be much bigger.

[Katze]

Tangles, it sounds like you might me dealing with normal taper, now that I think about it...

When my hair was shoulder to APL the ends were thin and see through. As it grew (and as I trimmed) the thickness moved down, so that I have similar taper (but less thinness) from just above BSL to just below, as I once had from shoulder to APL, if that makes sense. I am also growing out layers, but I think some of it is natural.

It feels like my hair thickens as it grows down, though it is still thin when all compressed together - I will never have those wrist-thick braids I see on Indian and Turkish ladies. When my hair is down, I can see how much thicker it is around my ears than it used to be.

Since our hair type is similar I would suspect that your taper is also natural...especially since you didn't have a layered cut and your hair is otherwise healthy and in good shape...

[Arctic_Mama]

My FINAL hairdresser trim is tomorrow, actually! I am afraid she's going to think I'm crazy for having her S&D and only trim the parts with damage. This appointment was on the books before I decided to truly grow it out again and I figure I need her to shape my fringe once more before I start maintaining on my own. I am having MAJOR anxiety that she's going to chop off a ton, since my hair is in really good shape but dry from some past dye jobs I don't want her to interpret that as 'damage' enough to cut off. We'll see how it goes, but I am with the other ladies, I'd much rather trim it myself or have a trusted friend do it so not too much is taken off.

[spidermom]

No phobia here. I guess I'm a good communicator because I can only remember two bad experiences with hair stylists. Otherwise they always do what I ask. I'm not all that picky, though. If I ask for 1 inch and someone cuts 2, it doesn't get me down. I often get growth spurts after a trim, so I know that length will be back.

[jel]

Hmmm, I can relate to some of your feelings, but not all.

Ever since I joined LHC I've wanted to reach my ultimate goal, tailbone (from shoulder length) as soon as possible, and that's why I developed a kind of trim-phobia. Well, a trim-embargo, rather. See the no-trimming club link in my siggy for more info.

However, I don't have a problem at all with my taper, which is quite pronounced as the bottom of my hair still has old layers and the hemline is V-shaped.

[LaurelSpring]

I have found that I get stuck at plateaus when I get regular trims at the salon. I never get anywhere. The only way that I can get anywhere and control how much is taken off is to self microtrim. This morning I got so excited because I could finally feel my hair below my BS! This would not have happened if I was still getting trims.

[WaimeaWahine]

About a month ago I nervously contemplated a Feye's trim... The more I had previously snipped off the more uneven it was and my ends are always wispy see thru.

But the instructions were good and the trim came out perfect. A stylist said to me, "We see women with long hair and we tend to think of a blank canvas."

[mjm4]

i can so relate to you. i was surprised at the amount of pro-trimming advise given by the articles at LHC, but they did say it differs from one person to another, and that at the end of the day it depends on you.

i chose NOT to trim, despite knowing that my hair is virtually dead!!! but the CO washes are sooo good that my hair feels alive again, bouncy, volumised (is it a word?!) shiny and growing :cheese:. although i must say the routine must NEVER be broken if you want it to continue to be alive... which i find a major hassle (i don't always have the time for it!) :o

[ladyshannonanne]

I'm almost at APL, and I haven't trimmed the hemline in 11 months. It isn't scraggly, but it's super uneven and could really use a trim. But I'm so excited to have long hair, I just tie it up everyday and think, "Maybe next week I'll get a trim." I've been thinking that since May.

[mjm4]

is that the longest your hair has been, ladyshannonanne? where was it before 11 mths?

[spidermom]

I have found that I get stuck at plateaus when I get regular trims at the salon. I never get anywhere. The only way that I can get anywhere and control how much is taken off is to self microtrim. This morning I got so excited because I could finally feel my hair below my BS! This would not have happened if I was still getting trims.

That depends on the stylist. For the first 4-5 years that I was officially growing my hair, I had it trimmed every 6-8 weeks, and my hair grew 24 inches in that time, which works out to about 4-3/4 inches of length increase per year. Right now I'm 3 months into one year of growing without trimming out of curiosity as to how much length I will gain and what it will look like.

[mjm4]

are you not worried that your hair may react badly to this routine, spidermom, since it was used to the regular trims?

[spidermom]

are you not worried that your hair may react badly to this routine, spidermom, since it was used to the regular trims?

I am, kind of. So far my curiosity is winning out. I figure the worst that can happen is that I'll end up cutting back to where I was in July when I started this because my ends are too thin and look bad. Or I'll cave on my resolution and get it trimmed sooner than one year.