Do I need a trim?

[Abacus]

Hey y'all, starting this thread because I want some input on whether I should trim or not. And also maybe this could be a thread for those who have the same question to get some assistance in figuring it out.

I haven't trimmed my hair since about this time last year. I finger detangle in the bathroom mirror, and over the past month I've been looking down and realizing there's little broken bits of hair in the sink after I've detangled. I feel like it's more than I'm used to.

About a month ago I tried a BBB for the first time, and I felt that it was pretty damaging to my ends and stopped using it. I'm wondering if this breakage now is related to that, or if it's just the normal wear and tear and sun damage and mechanical damage that happens over time and I should just do a trim? My ends feel pretty straw-like in general these days.

If anyone has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them!

Edited to add: When I look at my ends, I don't see any splits. Maybe one, occasionally, but I wouldn't say I have split ends.

[baanoo]

I would think a BBB would be very poorly suited to your beautiful curls and delicate strands! My hair doesn’t respond well to one at all and it’s merely wavy. In my opinion, I would just let it go until you feel you want a reshaping trim / your hemline is growing in unevenly and it’s on your last nerve.

[GoatLady]

Oh, to have glorious curls like yours. Just fabulous. I agree with baanoo regarding the BBB. Nope, nope, nope. What is your normal hair care routine? If I had your hair, I would only use a wide tooth comb and then only on wash day with lots and lots of conditioner. It sounds like maybe your hair needs more hydration if the ends are feeling dry. Are you using a hydrating leave-in? And some good hair oil on those ends? Sleeping in a silk cap?

[KokoroDragon]

Have you tried any conditioning treatments for your ends? I haven't trimmed since 2019 and that's what I do when my ends start to feel dry.

[lapushka]

If you have 0 splits or a couple there is no need to trim. The bits may still be from the BBB. Tightly coily hair like yours is not suited towards a BBB, at all. No way. Yikes! :shocked:

Like KokoroDragon said, a nice deep conditioning and super moisture on those ends for a couple washes at least. At least. That's what I would do.

[Lady Stardust]

Sometimes the feeling of dryness can just be build up from oils, butters, anything else that goes on your hair. It’s worth trying a clarifying wash with either a sulphate shampoo or a stronger version of a sulphate free shampoo. If you have hard water a chelating shampoo will remove mineral deposits.

If you’re seeing little bits of breakage I think it’s worth keeping an eye out for split ends but as you say you don’t see many, it’s probably fine :)

[Bat]

clarifying and Adding more moisture will definitely help!

[Abacus]

Thanks for the suggestions! Yeah, I tried the BBB for like 2 days because I wanted to try some sebum only mechanical cleansing techniques, and then never touched it again, although it did really help move sebum down my hair. But my ends hated it so I stopped. It's possible that those 2 days just weakened my ends and they're still suffering from it.
Maybe a clarifying wash could help, I do often use oils on my ends.

My current routine is basically water only rinsing every 2 weeks or so. Occasionally (Like once a month or less) I'll rinse with diluted ACV. I bun my hair during the day. At night I gently finger detangle, mist it with water, put a tiny bit of olive oil, shea butter, or jojoba on it, and put it into twists with silk scrunchies. I sleep with those twists in a satin cap. That's pretty much it!

I also just remembered that I haven't changed my shower filter in a while....I have really hard water. That may be contributing. I'll fix that and do a little clarifying and a conditioning treatment and see what happens.

Edited to add: I've been doing this routine for the past year, and haven't run into any breakage before in that time. So the routine isn't new at all.

[Stagecoach]

I would try adding moisture. Changing seasons can alter our hairs needs

[Abacus]

I would try adding moisture. Changing seasons can alter our hairs needs

That's a good point! Do you mean with a conditioner or a leave in or something like that?