Hair growing question

[Angeletti]

hello all, I'm just curious for those of you who have extremely long hair if it's common to go through an intermediate phase where your ends don't look too great due to trying to grow it to a desired length. I'm currently experiencing this right now and plan to trim regularly once it gets to my butt, but in the mean time I have been searching for split ends myself rather than visiting the salon for a complete trim because I feel like my purpose of growing it gets lost when I have inches cut off every couple months. What are your thoughts on this? I'm not sure if my ends look so bad simply because my hair is fine or if I need to suck it up and cut a couple inches off...

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/genazollner/hair3.jpg

[ravensinger13]

I don't think the ends look bad, but if it bothers you that the ends are a little thinner, you could trim a bit to thicken them up. Completely up to you, but I would just leave it as is until you get to your goal. Very beautiful hair, btw, and welcome to LHC!

[spidermom]

I've been trimming my ends throughout my hair-growth journey to keep them on the thick side. My standard has been to get a trim of about 1/2-inch every 3 months. I've seen it happen that people get to goal length with about 50 longest hairs, which would have to be trimmed back 4+ inches to get to thicker hair, which of course you can do a little bit at a time.

What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that there are a lot of options, so do what feels right to you. It looks to me like you have a few longest hairs in the center and to the right of center that would need to be cut back about 2 inches to line up with the next-longest hairs.

[chopandchange]

I think there are two possible motivating factors when considering a trim. Number one is the hair's condition, and number two is the hair's appearance. It all depends on what type of hemline you have a personal preference for.

If you like a neat, blunt hemline, then I would definitely suggest you trim it about three or four inches to get it looking thick again, because it does look very wispy. However, if you like the wispy look, and you are satisfied that your ends are healthy, then there's absolutely no reason for you to trim.

If your ends are healthy and you just want to reach your goal before trimming again, then keep going!

It's up to you! :)

Edit: oops, I forgot to say hello, as I see it's your first post here!

Hello!

Your hair is really, really lovely, by the way! :)

[jackiesjottings]

I am at the same sort of stage as you, going for classic (about 4 inches to go) then planning on stopping there for at least a while. So I have let my ends go a bit, because I can work on evening them out gradually once I have hit target. I do little trims, just the very ends of the longest part, about every 3 months.

[Loreley]

I think your ends are not bad.
I don't have extremely long hair, but I do the same. My ends are thin but I don't want to cut much till I reach my goal. I cut 0.4 inch every 3 months and when I'm a bit closer to it, around 48", I'll cut 0.4" every 2 months. Then I'm going to cut the same amount in every month if I won't want it longer. :)

[jera]

I think your hair looks really nice. You could always do a dusting on the ends if you want a neater fuller hemline. No need to lop off two inches all at once. :)

[Angeletti]

thanks for feedback I appreciate it :)

[julliams]

I'm not 100% positive but don't you have what is termed fairytale ends? I think it looks lovely, myself.

[Capybara]

Hello and welcome! :flower:

I'm sort of in the same boat as well, I want to keep the length but my ends aren't the thickness I'd like them to be. I've decided to hold out though :)

Personally, I think your hair looks great! And there are some advantages to thinner ends - buns are much easier, for one thing.

I'll echo the previous, that if you can't live with it or it's damaged, maybe a small trim is in order. But, if you're happy with it, I see no need.

[Honestwitness]

Hi, Angeletti! Welcome to LHC! I think your hair is BEAUTIFUL! I LOVE your fairy tale ends.

Today, I was out shopping and I saw a young girl with APL hair that was wavy and very healthy-looking. However, it had been cut so that the ends were very thick and blunt. I had a revelation in that I realized I felt like something was missing. Her hair looked like it had been stymied from expressing it's true beauty, because the lovely, natural-looking ends were missing.

When I first came to LHC a little over a year ago, I was definitely a blunt-end lover. But, after spending all this time immersing myself in the LHC culture, I now realize I prefer the fairy tale look.

Your ends are the prettiest fairy-tale ends I have ever seen. They remind me of the mane or the tail of a beautiful horse. Just think what a pity it would be to see a wild stallion thundering across the plains with mane and tail flying and the ends had all been cut off.