Cutting point to achieve thick ends

[BuddingRapunzel]

Hi all,
As mentioned in my post wondering about mustard oil for low porosity hair, I am posting pictures of my hair. (Tried embedding, but didn't work, so links instead)

IMG 1: https://ibb.co/imKDCy
IMG 2: https://ibb.co/jO3vQJ

I have 3 different levels of thickness in my hair as IMG 2 illustrates. As in, upto section 1, the hair is the same thickness when plaited. Section 1 to Section 2 is thinner, and beyond section 2 is thinner still. Also a small portion of hair on my left seems to stop growing after section 1, and another portion again on the left seems to stop growing halfway after section 2.

Now, my hair was a lot worse off last August end, when my mother cut off my hair a little below section 1 because she thought it looked like a rat's tail :-| 6 months later, I cut my hair half-way after section 2, and have been micro-trimming at the ends every month since. I am happy with that rate of growth, so I'm not overly worried about trimming/cutting.

My question is, to have an even thickness all over, do I continue micro-trimming every month? Could it be that there are split-ends at section 1 or 2 that I am avoiding, and so they will never catch up, and so I might as well go cut at Section 1 and start over?

Would appreciate any advice, thank you all :)

[leayellena]

don't worry, that's just uneven growth. you can trim step by step (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=75468) or you can cut it back to mid-back (the distance between waist and hip). I have the same problem from a long pixie 4 years ago, but it will grow long and healthy in few years with microtrims.
as for lower thickness the longer it gets, that's taper. it's normal. it's natural damage. here's an article about taper: http://longhairedatheart.blogspot.de/2010/03/even-hemline-without-loosing-length.html

[lapushka]

My question is, to have an even thickness all over, do I continue micro-trimming every month? Could it be that there are split-ends at section 1 or 2 that I am avoiding, and so they will never catch up, and so I might as well go cut at Section 1 and start over?

Would appreciate any advice, thank you all :)

I think those are gorgeous fairytale ends and I wouldn't touch them at all. You are going to have to cut a huge chunk off if you want even thickness. I wouldn't do it!

Maybe just stick to microtrimming. The thread is around here somewhere!

[BuddingRapunzel]

@leayellena : Thank you for the info! Will take a look at the links, I clearly have much to learn :)

@lapushka : Thank you for the compliment! I think yours looks healthier though with a natural V-ish shape. Where I come from, fairytale ends aren't usually appreciated unfortunately, because most people have thick hair maybe. I didn't used to be so bothered while I was abroad for studies because nobody cared about the ends there. There seems to be ways to trim without loosing too much length based on leayellena's links above, so I'll see how it goes.

[MidnightMoon]

I think having the same thickness near your nape and your ends is something very rare. Often in pictures it looks like it's the same, but it's not (you can see it better when people braid their hair, for example). My own hair is like this. Because of waves, dryer ends, and how it seems to "open" towards the ends it looks like it has a uniform thickness, but it doesn't. Your pictures are a bit blurry, so I can't tell for sure, but I'd just guess you'd always have this tapering going on whether you like it or not. Where it begins to be more noticeable will depend on how well you manage to avoid breakage, but how far some hairs will grow before they fall and how evenly or not they grow is something we can't control. Focus on what you eat, protective styles, and some small trims here and there and see how it goes. As for your last question, I honestly don't think a few splits you don't trim will make any difference. Those hairs don't stay forever on your head anyway, break off on their own, but can be replaced by new splits any time because our hair is dead anyway :p
If you cut a bunch now you'll have thicker ends for a while, but it will do it's thing and in one or two years you will have the same dilemma (granted, maybe less of a drastic decrease in thickness, but present nevertheless).

[BuddingRapunzel]

Hi MidnightMoon :)
Where I come from, it is not rare at all. There might be some rarely perceptible tapering, but that is it. My own used to be like that, before I had a terrible hair-fall episode few years back. Had to cut it short couple times since then, but until 2-3 years back, I never cared about hair care. Wouldn't trim for years, wasn't gentle with it, would always leave it open even while sleeping etc. So I'm quite optimistic I can get that back with some proper care and trimming :)

[MidnightMoon]

Well, if you're so sure about it then it should make no difference whether you make a big chop or microtrim (since you assume you'll manage to preserve your thickness intact), so it only depends on your preference for shorter thick hair or long with thinner ends for a while. Good luck :)