trim now, or wait 'til spring?

[RocketDog]

Before I get to my question, I'll give y'all a little background info. Back in June/July of '07, I dyed my virgin, ashy blonde hair black in a moment of temporary insanity. A few weeks later I used some pretty potent bleach to lift the black, and ended up going to a professional stylist to get the color tamed down.

Fast-forward to today, my then earlobe-length hair is curling at my collarbones. I wear it up almost every day because the ends are in bad shape. I recently started developing a new haircare regimen, but the ends don't seem to respond the same way that the rest of my hair does, and remain all brassy and velcro-scratchy-frizzy.

I can't decide if I want to cut an inch or so off now, eliminating the worst of the damage, or if I should wait out the winter and add a few inches of length so that, when I DO go in for a trim, I can just get ALL of the damaged hair cut off.

So, if you were in my shoes, would you trim now, or wait until spring?

[rhodochrosite]

I think I'd go for half an inch now and see how I felt about trimming the rest little by little. I like trimming little by little. When I have prickly ends, I like cutting them off.

[Elphie]

It would depend upon whether I'd be happier with a short cut and healthy hair or a longer one with some damage. If there were any important events between now and spring, I might consider that too.

[melikai]

I'd trim the inch off now - that's not that much of a cut, and you'll probably feel a lot better about your hair.
In addition, the very damaged ends could be more prone to splitting and those splits could travel up the hair shaft, causing problems with your not-as-damaged areas. Better to just be rid of them!

[RocketDog]

Thanks for the suggestions, ladies. I think I'll give myself another week or two with this new hair care regime, just to see what happens. If I still don't see any improvement, off goes an inch!

[Oskimosa]

Sure! Waiting is awesome.

Try some shea butter on your ends first, too!

[Katze]

I would trim. I'm still growing out the products of years of bleach, and feel better every time I trim. Now the bleach is only noticeable when my hair is dirty, or up...otherwise it looks like a natural color change.

Some ends can't be repaired, and I know from personal experience that trimming does give better, healthier ends...

[Carolyn]

I know it's so hard to give up hard fought for length when you want long hair and you want it now. I'd suggest waiting a couple weeks and doing everything you can to get moisture to your ends. Give the shea a try. Then if you don't see measurable improvement then get just a half inch cut off. Keep on with the extra moisture on the ends. Then in a month or two you could trim off another half inch. It always surprised me how just a tiny trim can make my ends feel so much better. Keep on wearing it up and protecting those ends.

[spidermom]

I would trim now and in the spring. Probably once in the winter too.

[danacc]

I would trim now, but only a little (1/4"-1/2"). Keep the trims very small, but frequent. I'm usually an S&D person, but damaged hair is prone to break and split and also cause damage to nearby hair. For damaged hair, I recommend small, frequent trims. Nightshade wrote a thorough article that may be of interest to you: Damage Hair: Understanding, Preventing & Rehabilitating (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79).

[spidermom]

P.S. - but only small amounts at a time, like 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

[jojo]

Id trim the bits you don't like now, then you have a clean slate to work off and you will probably notice better growth when it cut as it won't be snapping and splitting so much.

Then maybe continue to trim smaller amounts every 4 months or so.

It ultimately your choice, good luck with whatever you choose x

[freznow]

I'd trim it about to the point where it can still comfortably be put up. I don't have experience with that length, so, if an inch would make it more difficult to put up, I wouldn't do it. If it didn't really matter, I would.

[Nightshade]

I would trim now, but only a little (1/4"-1/2"). Keep the trims very small, but frequent. I'm usually an S&D person, but damaged hair is prone to break and split and also cause damage to nearby hair. For damaged hair, I recommend small, frequent trims. Nightshade wrote a thorough article that may be of interest to you: Damage Hair: Understanding, Preventing & Rehabilitating (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79).

I vote for very small trims as often as you need it as well. :flowers: