About the two week rule..

[PhillyGirl1978@]

Do we only need to use the two week rule for big chops or anything regarding going to the hairdresser? I wrote before in some other posts that I was looking to get rid of my layers, that my ends are really dry and that I haven't had a hair cut at the hairdresser in about over a year. Ok so I also wrote about having to save for it cause my hairdresser is organic I figured I'd wait until I had some extra money. Well thankfully that came sooner than expected ( I can do some holiday shopping, be nice to myself and save most of it) Anyway...so I'm thinking about getting about 3 inches cut off the bottom layer, straight across, and about a fraction of an inch dusted off of the shorter layer to help a little with damage and/or dryness. Is this something I should wait 2 weeks for?

[RancheroTheBee]

I would only exercise the rule if you have so little length that any trim would make a huge difference in appearance. You definitely have enough length.

[Ursula]

I suggest that you use the two-week rule for anything permanent - a big trim (for your definition of big), coloring, perming, straightening, etc.

The two-week rule is also incorporated into my "standard newbie advice" article in the pacing of changes in your routine, to familiarize yourself with one change, before trying another.

[PhillyGirl1978@]

I keep looking in the mirror at where my hair falls now. One thing I will like about getting the bottom cut straight across is I will have less taper at the ends. It's not that it makes it look thin, it's just all the hair clumps together in one curl or another and that is getting on my nerves now. Not to mention the tangles are driving me nuts and I know that the whole not trimming for about a year, has something to do with it. It will also get some of the henna off which is good beings it seems more of the color is concentrated on the ends, they are like cherry in the sunlight now. I may have to trim more in 2010 then I did in 2009, I don't want to wait a whole year to then finally get that last little bit to make it all even.

[Carolyn]

It sounds to me like you have been thinking about it a while. A trim to get rid of layers and taper is not a major style change. It's something a lot of us have to done on our way to longer hair. It's part of the adjustments that often are made along the way. It's not like you are thinking of dyeing it purple and getting a pixie.

[PhillyGirl1978@]

It sounds to me like you have been thinking about it a while. A trim to get rid of layers and taper is not a major style change. It's something a lot of us have to done on our way to longer hair. It's part of the adjustments that often are made along the way. It's not like you are thinking of dyeing it purple and getting a pixie.

Oh God no...not a pixie!! I could never part with all my curls. My hair has been growing so fast lately. I am pretty sure that after this cut it would only leave me with like two inches to grow from the shorter layer to the longest one. I could do my 3 inch cut shortly, then give it like 6 months, then maybe do 3 inches again (to get rid of some damage left on the shortest layer) and then grow healthy, all one length blunt hair that I can keep healthy and even by trimming maybe 1 inch every 6 months. I would just hate to spend the money for a hairdresser though, just for 1 inch. But I don't know that I'd ever be able to keep it even trimming myself.

[lapushka]

I'd use the two-week rule because you never know what the outcome will be. If you've saved up for this, chances are that you might be tempted into some major pampering once you get there... because well the Holidays are coming up and... why not, for once? Once you get there... often it becomes a whole other issue. You might go for something more drastic because you feel good and you feel like it. The two-week rule will help you focus on your goal, and you won't be so tempted into getting an impulsive style because you will have had two weeks to think about what you want (don't waste a year's worth of growth) from this hairdresser visit.

[spidermom]

A lot of us think about it for two weeks or more even before the tiniest trim.

[Elphie]

I've been considering something similar for about a month now (trimming a bit off my layers) but I'm trying a few other options first (cassia yesterday) to see if it makes enough of a difference first. It doesn't sound like a major cutting, especially if you've thought about it long enough to save up for it.

[Ursula]

I tend to think that if someone is unsure enough about something to ask if they should wait to do it, then they're unsure enough that they probably should wait and think about it a bit.

It can be helpful to do the two-week rule in writing. On your blog or in your journal, write that you're starting a two-week count on this idea, and then come back to the journal every day for two weeks, and write down what you think about the potential change each day.

At the end of the two weeks, go back and look at what you've written, and see if you're sure about it, or if you keep changing your mind.

For things like this, it is easy to look back and not clearly remember all the things you were thinking about it, and doing this in writing helps keep you honest with yourself about how your mind is about the matter.

[redneckprincess]

to me it sounds like you have had some time to think about this already

[Laululintu]

It sounds to me like you've had a while to think about it. I think the main idea behind the 2 week rule is to discourage permanent changes on a whim. What you're thinking of doing doesn't really sound like a whim to me, but YMMV :)

[camirra555]

I think you've been thinking about it for a while now so you're probably ok. Three inches isn't too much and since you want to even out your layers I say go for it!

[PhillyGirl1978@]

Yeah, I need to remember that it still wont be short. It probably won't be right away anyways...I mean like not tomorrow, cause I need to make an appointment and it has to be at the right time. Beings I have curls and I want it cut straight across and know how my hair tangles, I will need to condition and comb completely out, then put it a bun or something to keep it from retangling as much as possible. So I need to make the appointment on a Saturday, Sunday or a day that I am off from work so I can prep it.