Opinions on a 8 Inch Hair Cut

[CLynn]

Hi Everybody!


I am a really confused with what I should do with my hair, I am thinking about cutting it. Not because I want short hair now, but because I want it all one length. Both of my options have drawbacks. Cut it to shoulder length then just let it grow, or weight till I reach waist and cut it back to bsl. I love the length but I cant even do any of the styles i want to do because all of my layers stick out. I want to grow ultra healthy hair, but cant really protect it at the length I would be cutting to.


So I am just looking for all of your opinions or what you would do in my place. I have bsl hair that is gradually layered starting from my shoulders. If I cut I would probably cut it to my shoulders or a bit longer than that.

[wintersun99]

If you are eventually going to cut it anyway, I would guess that it would be less painful to cut now, while it is on the shorter side, rather than put in all the years to get to WL.

APL cut to SL is much more palatable than WL cut to MBL. Additionally, I would not want to spend years disliking my hair and counting down the time until I cut it. That's just me though and what I would do.

ETA: Now that I think about it, I would probably cut half the amt. (the 4") and see if in 6 months I wanted to cut the additional (4").

[freznow]

I would trim my growth (or half of it) each month until it catches up. I wouldn't like losing so much length.

Also, you'd be surprised at how much difference an inch or two makes. Try a smaller cut, wear it around for a week or so, and then decide if you want to trim another inch or two. (This works best if you self trim/have a loved one do it, rather than going to the salon each time.)

[Labs*R*Us]

I know this might sound a little nuts, but can you try to put yourself in both situations emotionally, as in pretending that you've done this one, then that one, and see which one would provide the most satisfaction with the least frustration? Or how about the middle of the road, and just take off a bit? Have you tried some do's that might hide the layers while growing out, and slicking the stick-outs with aloe? I think most here would agree, don't do anything drastic. When in doubt, don't.

[curls2grow]

Can you do an in-between option, like going for regular trims of 1/4"-1/2" every few months, to let you keep the length while evening things up? That's what I did when I grew out layers from my short cut.

[CLynn]

If you are eventually going to cut it anyway, I would guess that it would be less painful to cut now, while it is on the shorter side, rather than put in all the years to get to WL.

APL cut to SL is much more palatable than WL cut to MBL. Additionally, I would not want to spend years disliking my hair and counting down the time until I cut it. That's just me though and what I would do.

No, I agree. Thats probably what Im going to do. Thank You!!

[wintersun99]

Oh, I added an ETA... what do you think of cutting only half the amt. the first time?

[CLynn]

I would trim my growth (or half of it) each month until it catches up. I wouldn't like losing so much length.

Also, you'd be surprised at how much difference an inch or two makes. Try a smaller cut, wear it around for a week or so, and then decide if you want to trim another inch or two. (This works best if you self trim/have a loved one do it, rather than going to the salon each time.)

Yeah. I would like to do that but the way my hair is cut, it would look realy awkward after a few cuts. Thank You though http://www.hairfinder.com/hair/layeringlonghair.gif

[HairColoredHair]

You could always do little trims... one inch here, one inch there... It will slow your growth down, but you'll eventually have a blunt hemline and you won't have to do a huge chop.

ETA: Well, criminy, I'm slow...

What if you did slow progressive cuts AND kept your hair up/confined so it wouldn't look 'bad'?

[Speckla]

I want my hair to be all one length too. I waited until my shortest layer was shoulder length. I won't go shorter than shoulder and it was a little painful to cut now but it would have been harder if I had waited until my hair was much longer. I'd say cut only if you really know you won't regret it and leave your hair long enough to put up.

[CLynn]

I not really afraid of regretting it. Summer is coming in a few weeks, so I would have a nice easy cut I wouldn’t have to worry about too much. Its just I was counting down the months till I hit waist length and it wasn’t all that long away. I would defiantly hit it before I graduate high school next year. If I cut it I add about a year and a half almost two years to that.

Thank you everybody for your help!

[GoddesJourney]

If you are eventually going to cut it anyway, I would guess that it would be less painful to cut now, while it is on the shorter side, rather than put in all the years to get to WL.

APL cut to SL is much more palatable than WL cut to MBL. Additionally, I would not want to spend years disliking my hair and counting down the time until I cut it. That's just me though and what I would do.

ETA: Now that I think about it, I would probably cut half the amt. (the 4") and see if in 6 months I wanted to cut the additional (4").

I second that.

[Deborah]

I'd cut off the layers and start over. You are very young, so your hair will most likely grow in fast and furious after a good cut. It's not like you need to whack it all off or shave it off. You'd still have relatively long hair after the cut, and good quality long hair very soon. :)

[Natalia]

Personally i would wait it out and grow. Thats just me though having short hair all one length would drive me crazier than having layers. Im growing out layers at about 5 different lengths and there are certain styles i cant do but id rather let my hair do its thing and trim when i need it. Just an opinion though :) you know your life and prefeances much better than any of us.

[spidermom]

Just keep growing it. You will always have hairs of every length because every single day a hair (or more) sheds out, and every single day a new hair starts growing. My hair is "ALL ONE LENGTH", but I've got bits sticking out everywhere, from 1/2" long to 39" long. That's just the way that hair is. I know that layers make this even more so, but your hair will sort itself out over the years. Eventually there will be no difference between your hair and hair that was blunt cut before allowed to grow out.

[enfys]

I wouldn't cut yet, I haven't myself!

A blunt cut might be harder to grow out anyway; blunt ends can be a nightmare to get into buns and things because they can stick out like a brush.

Cutting so much at once when you may possibly not like the result, or get the results you need, could be ultra frustrating.

[Tap Dancer]

If you are eventually going to cut it anyway, I would guess that it would be less painful to cut now, while it is on the shorter side, rather than put in all the years to get to WL.

That's how I look at it. But it depends on if you feel like you can wait or not. Are you happy with microtrims? Or will those layers keep driving you crazy?

[embee]

Heh. What spidermom said.... It's *never* all one length, unless you have shaved it off and are at maybe 1/2 inch now.

My hair has been growing without a trim since I joined LHC (2005?) and it's all different lengths. That's how hair is.

[EllisGurl]

I haven't read anyone else's posts so forgive me if I repeat...

This is what Nightshade told me a looong time ago when I was contemplating chopping off all the damaged hair:Trim on a regular basis but only trim off half or less of the growth you achieved since the last trim. For instance, if you choose to trim once a month and you get 1/2 inch of growth, trim 1/4 of an inch. That way you will be getting rid of layers but still gaining length.

[melrose1985]

I would only do small trims. Right now i'm a tiny bit pass collar bone and i hate this length so i'm wait a bit longer anyways before i trim the old ends. For me though i think i will always have layers because i like them.

[marialena]

Just keep growing it. You will always have hairs of every length because every single day a hair (or more) sheds out, and every single day a new hair starts growing. My hair is "ALL ONE LENGTH", but I've got bits sticking out everywhere, from 1/2" long to 39" long. That's just the way that hair is. I know that layers make this even more so, but your hair will sort itself out over the years. Eventually there will be no difference between your hair and hair that was blunt cut before allowed to grow out.

Spidermom is right. Hair don't grow evenly even if you cut them all at the same length. I believe that growing hair longer after this haircut will not make much difference from the hair that you have now.
In your place I would do every two months a micro trimming and I would cut more only if I saw that my ends needed that.

[Anje]

As others have said, it won't ever be "all one length," but your main issue is to try to get rid of the layers. In your position, what I'd probably do is cut off maybe 2 inches now, wait a few months til the hair's feeling long enough again, and cut a couple more inches. It's a little more erratic than the "trim half your growth monthly" method that lots of people do to gain both length and get rid of damage, but it seems effective and requires less measuring and fewer trims (I'm lazy about trims), without losing a lot of length.

[redneckprincess]

give small trims, here and there till it catches up, its less painful that way ♥

[jivete]

I'm going to echo Anje's statement and also agree with Spidermom. Cut a little here and there. What if your hair doesn't grow evenly? Then you'd have a nice blunt cut at SL but by the time it's at BSL it's uneven again. I know my hair grows this way. Trying to keep the ends super blunt is pretty much impossible if I want to see any growth at any length, including just past shoulder.

[Ursula]

I'd say to look up the self-trimming techniques, and try a variation on the two-week rule.

Self-trim about an inch, then wait two weeks, then self-trim another inch, and continue in this way until you reach a length you like, with or without layers. I've often seen that layers which are heavy and ragged to begin with wind up being more managable for the person wearing them when they're partially trimmed to a blunter hemline - so that only 1/4 of the length is layered, say, rather than 1/2.

You know you don't want layers eventually, but there may be a happy spot in-between where things work best for you now. If you trim it all at once, you miss the chance of finding the happy-spot. If you trim very slowly, you may be unhappy with your layers for a long time. I think this scheme may be a way to optimize your trim results.