Will my coarse 2b/c hair ever have a straight hemline?

[Moonfall]

My dream hair goal has always been growing it as long as it can get, and have a beautiful straight hemline. Now that my hair is growing past BSL, I really notice how uneven my ends tend to get. I do trim them every now and then, but in order to get the straight hemline I want, I would need to get back to at least BSL. I really don't want that. So I was wondering, are there people with the same(ish) hair type that do have a hemline like I wish to have? Or do I need to change my mindset and embrace fairytale ends instead?

[Nique1202]

DevaCurl hairstyling techniques involve taking every individual curl at its curliest, and trimming them to get an even look. The same should apply to wavy hair. So, you could have someone cut your hair when it's dry without stretching it. If you let your hair dry how you normally do, and when it's dry have someone cut across your back at the level you like, you should get a hemline that looks pretty darn near blunt all the time since it's cut with the natural wave shrinkage already taken care of. However, if you ever straighten your hair or wear it loose after, say, braiding or bunning for a long period (which often changes the wave pattern), it will probably look at least a little uneven when you do that.

Hair grows unevenly, and a blunt hemline often doesn't stay that way for long because if one section of hair grows an extra, say, 1 or 2 mm a month it's gonna stand out against the rest in a very short time. So, if you want a blunt hemline, it's going to require some trimming to get there and stay there.

[lapushka]

DevaCurl hairstyling techniques involve taking every individual curl at its curliest, and trimming them to get an even look. The same should apply to wavy hair. So, you could have someone cut your hair when it's dry without stretching it. If you let your hair dry how you normally do, and when it's dry have someone cut across your back at the level you like, you should get a hemline that looks pretty darn near blunt all the time since it's cut with the natural wave shrinkage already taken care of. However, if you ever straighten your hair or wear it loose after, say, braiding or bunning for a long period (which often changes the wave pattern), it will probably look at least a little uneven when you do that.

Hair grows unevenly, and a blunt hemline often doesn't stay that way for long because if one section of hair grows an extra, say, 1 or 2 mm a month it's gonna stand out against the rest in a very short time. So, if you want a blunt hemline, it's going to require some trimming to get there and stay there.

That somehow doesn't work on my hair. I think you need to at least be 3a for that to work. Does it work on your hair? :)

[Moonfall]

Nique1202, thank you for your comment :) Like I said, I really don't want to get back to BSL, so do you think I could first grow it to a certain length I like, TBL for instance, and then maintain at that length?

Lapuska, I also wonder if it would work on mine. I really don't want to risk losing more length than necessary. Also... that means I'd have to visit a salon, right? :run:

[lapushka]

Lapuska, I also wonder if it would work on mine. I really don't want to risk losing more length than necessary. Also... that means I'd have to visit a salon, right? :run:

Yes and they might take more length than you like in order to "shape it". They will for sure try to put layers in for that, because it's part of a devacut in essence.

[Nique1202]

That somehow doesn't work on my hair. I think you need to at least be 3a for that to work. Does it work on your hair? :)

I haven't tried on mine, I admit. I have too many leftover layers and I don't want to chop back far enough to test it just yet. But, if the wave is fairly consistent then it should still look more blunt over time than a wet cut or a stretched cut.


Nique1202, thank you for your comment :) Like I said, I really don't want to get back to BSL, so do you think I could first grow it to a certain length I like, TBL for instance, and then maintain at that length?

Lapuska, I also wonder if it would work on mine. I really don't want to risk losing more length than necessary. Also... that means I'd have to visit a salon, right? :run:

Whether you get it blunt now and keep it there as you grow, or you grow first (and potentially deal with the fairytaling and unevenness until then) and then microtrim it blunt again is entirely up to you (and your potential terminal). But, if you have a pair of sharp hair shears and someone you trust to cut evenly, you shouldn't need to go to a salon at all. A friend, a parent, a sibling, a partner, anyone who you trust to judge a straight line across your back.

[Cg]

But, if you have a pair of sharp hair shears and someone you trust to cut evenly, you shouldn't need to go to a salon at all. A friend, a parent, a sibling, a partner, anyone who you trust to judge a straight line across your back.

I trim a friend's 2b hair regularly so she can keep her straight hemline, generally about every 6-8 weeks. I should say microtrim, because I rarely have to take much off to give an even hemline. Always I cut it dry, and always after no styling to change its natural fall.

[Arctic]

Do you mean by straight hemline the thinnes/fullness/growing unevenly/fairytailing factor OR the wave factor, i.e. that the ends bend which ever way?

ETA: Gosh I had a déjà vu, that I have written this exact same post before :D

[Anya15]

The problem with waves, especially 2b/2cs and full 2cs, is that the waves never lay the same after every wash. So according to me there will always be some uneven-ness. :/

[sumidha]

Yeah, my question is basically the same as Arctic's... Do you want an actual straight hem line or the appearance of one?

IMO a straight hem line (as in, all of the hairs are the same length and end at the same length) is something that just takes time, waiting for all the hairs of different lengths to catch up to one goal length. Cinnamon Hair has a pretty inspiring blog where you can see her progress to a thick, even hemline at I think knee length- but it takes years of maintaining to get there.

If it's any consolation, you're totally not alone with the taper issue. I hate how much taper my hair has, but to get rid of the majority of it I'd have to cut up to about BSL, which I don't want to do. Instead, I'm planning on maintaining at classic to FTL for a long time. Like, realistically, to get all of my hair to that length without taper I'm looking at about ten years of maintaining...

[lapushka]

The problem with waves, especially 2b/2cs and full 2cs, is that the waves never lay the same after every wash. So according to me there will always be some uneven-ness. :/

Yes my issue as well, which is why I never cut wave by wave with full-on texture, and have my mom just even it up with totally brushed out waves (on dry hair).

[Moonfall]

Lapuska and Nique1202, I'm afraid the devacut isn't for me then. I don't want any layers at all. Like Nique suggested, my partner trims my hair every now and then. She uses a CreaClip to do that, so it should be fairly straight. Still I have a lot of taper :(

Actic, I mean the first one :) My hemline can't seem to be able to be thick past BSL somehow.

Sumidha, it seems like we're in the same boat. I think my hair looks a bit more dry than yours, but I guess that shouldn't make much of a difference for a straight hemline. It is good to know I'm not the only one finding it a challenge to get a straight hemline. So many people (especially here on TLHC) seem to have no problems getting there! If it takes ten years to get there, I'll just have to be more patient :)

[sumidha]

Yeah, with a pony tail at the nape of my neck I'm a solid iii but that tapers down into basically nothing by the end. It's only in the past year or two that I've started being able to trim an actual visible hem line into my hair, instead of cutting off like, an inch at my hem that's actually only the 20 longest hairs, lol.

One good question that I forgot to ask is, are your shorter hairs split, or broken off at the ends, or healthy looking but just many different lengths? If you have some type of damage that's causing hairs to break off, that could be addressed to help the tapering.

[Moonfall]

Sumidha, they are mostly healthy. When I s&d, I do find some splits at the ends, but I find just as many at the higher parts. It really motivates me to know you are now able to actually notice your hem, though! I'm still at the part where it's only the 20 longest hairs I cut, haha!

[BroomHilda]

Not everyone is meant to have a straight hemline at great lengths. Unfortunately some individual hairs never grow past a certain length (apl, bsl, you name it).

Look for short, naturally tappered- uncut hair in the hair you shed everyday. If you notice a lot of them, there is a good chance that you won't have a super thick straight hemline.
Nothing wrong with that of course.