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Meg66
October 29th, 2018, 10:45 AM
So there was a slight miscommunication when my Mum cut my hair, and it is now halfway down my shoulder blades. I was a bit upset by this, but then it occurred to me - my hair isn't dry at the ends! it is all the same thickness! This is a great opportunity!

So. Give me all your tips and tricks for keeping your hair smooth and thick and hydrated please! Also any tips for excessively greasy hair would also be welcome...

:D

lottiealice
October 29th, 2018, 02:33 PM
It's wonderful that despite your initial distress, you could see the good side of this cut!

Personally, I don't deal with greasy hair but I do love Aloe Vera gel and olive oil for moisture - they make my ends so soft!

lithostoic
October 29th, 2018, 03:13 PM
Microtrimming! You trim off just a tiiiny bit rather often. A common one is 1/4 inch per month. Helps keep the ends looking thick.

lapushka
October 29th, 2018, 03:19 PM
So there was a slight miscommunication when my Mum cut my hair, and it is now halfway down my shoulder blades. I was a bit upset by this, but then it occurred to me - my hair isn't dry at the ends! it is all the same thickness! This is a great opportunity!

So. Give me all your tips and tricks for keeping your hair smooth and thick and hydrated please! Also any tips for excessively greasy hair would also be welcome...

:D

Hair usually does not keep the same thickness as it grows. The best way to combat this is by microtrimming, but you will at least halve your growth for the year that way, as opposed to not trimming for the year at all, and just letting it grow.

Choose your poison. ;)

Welcome to the forum, BTW. :D

Ylva
October 29th, 2018, 03:37 PM
A part of me wishes the same happened to me. That way I could get rid of my damaged ends without contemplation. I know I would never end up doing it voluntarily. :D I second what others have said before me - microtrimming is the key to keeping your ends thick while still gaining length.

MusicalSpoons
October 29th, 2018, 04:09 PM
Welcome, and it's great you're taking a positive attitude to what must have been initially quite a shock!

Microtrimming is often recommended for keeping the hemline thick, but it doesn't have to halve your growth rate. A microtrim can be as small as a couple of mm or a small fraction of an inch (commonly referred to as a 'dusting' because the hair that's trimmed off is so short it looks like a pile of dust rather than cut hair). Or you could decide to trim 1/4" every two or three months, or however you want to do it. There are all sorts of ways to go about it :)

The biggest factor is probably to prevent damage, so protect the ends. Usually this means putting the hair up using something genuinely hair-friendly, in a style that actually does protect your hair (for instance, probably not a ponytail at your length, to be honest - it's only protective for shorter hair). Make sure you detangle gently in whatever state is best for your hair; usually straighter hair prefers to be detangled dry and curly hair does better being detangled when full of conditioner, but those are generalisations. Find what works best for your hair - and the same goes for most other advice you'll find here, to be honest! Though two universal rules for happy hair are: no piling hair on top of your head and scrubbing hard when you shampoo, and: don't rip through knots when combing/brushing. Any hair type will thank you for avoiding those :wink:

There's a lot of info on the site so reading the stickied posts at the top of the forum is a great place to get more ideas :)

Edit: the level of oil production that is normal for your body is determined biologically. Sometimes people can help reduce oil production down to their body's minimum by using less stripping shampoos, stretching washes, co-washing, improving diet, etc., but there comes a point when we can do no more and we just have to work with our scalps the way they are. So you can go down different experimental paths if greasiness is really bothering you, but scalp health should not be sacrificed for perceived hair health because ultimately a happy scalp will produce the best quality hair. An unhappy scalp will have problems producing healthy hair.

One way a lot of us get around the issue of needing to wash without having to wash the lengths too often is to do scalp-only washes, when we wash only the scalp and hair nearest the scalp but keeping the rest of the hair dry. (Some people refer to scalp washing as only shampooing the scalp and just letting the suds run down the lengths, but for a lot of us that just describes the shampooing part of a normal wash ;) the whole point of a scalp wash as I understand is to keep the lengths dry, thus reducing the potential mechanical damage to the majority of the hair. When you wash your scalp three times a week and the lengths only once each week, 52 times each year and your ends are 5+ years old, the protection all adds up!)

lucid
October 29th, 2018, 04:30 PM
Microtrimming! You trim off just a tiiiny bit rather often. A common one is 1/4 inch per month. Helps keep the ends looking thick.

That's a lot though, isn't it? If the hair has an average growth that would mean cutting half of the growth each month.

Dark40
October 29th, 2018, 07:55 PM
I agree with lucid. That does sound like a lot lithostoic. If I was microtrimming often I would only trim off 1cm at a time more often then 1/4 inch per month.

Ylva
October 29th, 2018, 08:08 PM
I agree with lucid. That does sound like a lot lithostoic. If I was microtrimming often I would only trim off 1cm at a time more often then 1/4 inch per month.

I am confused by your post. 1 cm is more than 1/4 in, which is approximately 0.65 cm.

shaluwm_agape
October 29th, 2018, 08:45 PM
To combat greasy hair I use diluted white vinegar 1 cap of vinegar to 1 cup of water and spray massage rinse & condition

Milkchocolate
October 29th, 2018, 09:51 PM
How nice that you’re positive about your haircut :) l too recommend micro-trimming, but also oiling the ends so they don’t dry up. You should add the Hask Argan oil or keratin oil tubes into your aresenal, because they are wonderful and helped me tremendously with my dead ends 110% ❤️

school of fish
October 30th, 2018, 09:14 AM
Excellent attitude!! You're right - since you can't sew it back on, may as well embrace the silver lining ;) :D

I'm one of those people for whom frequent microtrimming has done very well to both maintain a hemline and gain length as well. When I was in 'grow' mode, I would remove anything between a bare dusting to 1/4", every month without fail. More recently I've been in 'maintain' mode, taking 1/2" every month and keeping my length measurement consistent.

I think the perception of 1/4" per month may seem like a lot depending upon an person's goals and individual growth pattern. For me it worked brilliantly because a) I was never aiming for super long lengths, b) I prefer on *my* hair a blunt hemline over a fairytaled one, c) my straight/straivey texture shows its length & progress easily, and d) my growth rate is very consistently 1/2" per month. In my case 1/4" felt moderate - if any or all of my a) b) c) d) factors were different, it might have felt excessive. Guess it's one of those personal preference things :)

Congrats on the fresh ends! So glad you're finding a way to enjoy the 'surprise' :D

ArabellaRose
October 30th, 2018, 10:37 AM
I messed up a microtrim today and taken myself back up to waist, however I'm surprisingly not too bummed about this as my hemline looks better and my ends look so much healthier. Fixing it has also allowed me to figure out a way to microtrim without this happening again. Sure I miss being near hip but I'll be back there before I know it and my hair will be in better shape.

M3DUS4
October 30th, 2018, 02:15 PM
For hydration, in my experience NOTHING beats a good deep conditioner... leave it on for a nice long time while you're shaving, exfoliating, doing whatever in the shower, and your hair will come out wonderfully soft and manageable. (Although some of the cheaper ones might make you lose volume at the cost of softness, so it's important to do your research! If not, keep a good volumizing dry spray on hand.)

As for greasiness, make sure that you are using products that suit your hair type (if your hair is fine and easily weighed down, seek out products that other fine-haired folk recommend) and not too much. Nothing with oil, nothing meant for dry hair. If you are applying conditioner or deep conditioner to your roots, STOP. Only do the midlengths and the ends.