13 months without trimming (pics) + considering a self trim

[xladolcevitax]

I finally reached waist! I have not trimmed for 13 months now. I have gone from above BSL to waist in that time.

15th April 2010 (just after my last trim)
http://i964.photobucket.com/albums/ae130/xladolcevitax/lhcnew2.jpg

Today (14th May 2011)

http://i964.photobucket.com/albums/ae130/xladolcevitax/lhcnew.jpg

I'm really happy about the length, but my ends are so thin and damaged and I have lots of splits. Its starting to annoy me and im feeling the urge to trim :(

I had vowed to not cut it at all in 2011, but im seriously considering it now, even if its just a micro trim.

I know my hair would look better if I just cut it back to BSL to get rid of my layers once and for all (ive been growing out layers for an eternity!) but it will feel so short and I dont want to lose any serious length as its only just starting to actually feel long to me.

What do you guys think? Should I do a small trim and see how that looks or should i go with my original plan to put up with my thin ends for the rest of the year then trim when i have a few more inches of length?

[caiti42]

I recommend trimming the split ends off. If you already have damaged ends you run the risk of splitting them further and then when you do finally trim you will have to get more cut off to get rid off all splits.

Lovely colour by the way :)

[tgagurl27]

I think a micro trim every month would be less traumatic then cutting all of it. Also if you dye it and straighten it try not to as much as you can, my hair is similar to yours (besides mines where yours was at last year bsl) and I always regret straightening it as I tend to notice more splits and dry ends after.

[xladolcevitax]

I think I will do some micro-trimming like you suggest. Hopefully that will thicken up my hemline a bit. I never straighten or blow dry it but it has been damaged from highlighting which i am no longer doing (I have about 3 inches of virgin roots now yay!). So It will not get any more damaged than it already is now.

[Mesmerise]

I've always found that when it gets to a stage when my hair REALLY needs a trim, I feel better after it's done. My advice is to get a small trim now just to tidy those ends, as it will make you feel better about the condition of your hair, and you won't lose much length at all. Don't cut it back too far, or you'll regret it, but 1/2" or so isn't much.

Maybe also do an S&D to get rid of some of the shorter splits that you might miss with your trim?

[phoepha]

I would recommend a 1/2 inch trim: you won't lose much length, but will definitely get a thicker hemline and get rid of the damaged ends.

[xladolcevitax]

Maybe also do an S&D to get rid of some of the shorter splits that you might miss with your trim?

I really need to do a s&d session as it has been a long time since I did it (I was a bit obsessed about doing it before then just couldnt be bothered with doing it anymore)

[Kathie]

I agree, even a small trim can make a huge difference to the way your hair looks and feels.
But most of all, congrats on reaching waist!

[xladolcevitax]

Thanks for the replies everyone I will definately do a half inch trim using feye's method (I havent tried it yet) for a u-shaped hemline and will also do a BIG s&d session!

[xladolcevitax]

I agree, even a small trim can make a huge difference to the way your hair looks and feels.
But most of all, congrats on reaching waist!

Thanks I still cant believe I reached waist, I guess I wont feel like its really waist length until ALL my hair is that length. Damn you layers!

[CrystalStar]

Maybe you could maintain at waist length, and just trim half an inch off every month until you're happy with it? :)

[xladolcevitax]

Maybe you could maintain at waist length, and just trim half an inch off every month until you're happy with it? :)

I think I might do that actually, as it was my original plan before I decided to grow it to hip length. After a year or so of trimming and maintaining at waist it will be all one length and then I can grow it to hip :o

[Qadupae]

Awesome growth! You're at my goal length ^_^

[hime_daruma_88]

Congrats for the growth, it's a big difference. :)Sigh, I'm at the same length now as your starting length in the 2010 picture..

[spitfire511]

Congrats on the growth - let us know how it comes out if you do the Feye's trim!

[Loreley]

I think you are actually a bit past waist length. Congratulations! :D

[jojo]

My hair got thinner at the ends once I reached waist too. I am just doing 3-4 monthly microtrims with s&ding in-between; id recommend the same to you. your has come a long way!

[LaurelSpring]

I am in the exact same boat. I love my length now but the bottom 2 inches is white dot city old layers. I just cant bring myself to do more than minimal dusting. Im in total denial.

[NouvelleNymphe2]

Congrats on reaching waist, it looks great! I agree that trimming a bit and S&Ding will make your hair look lovely!! And you'll be right back to waist in a month or so. Pics please if you have time. :)

[lw8666]

I actually have gone 13 months without a real trim. Just a couple microtrims. I made an appointment with my hair stylist today only because I feel sad about my hair looking so thin on the bottom. Id rather go on with my hair journey while it looks good in a nice style, that way I feel good about myself.

Do what you think will make you happiest. Maybe do a small trim and see how that feels. Then you can decide on cutting more later.

[ooo]

Congrats on the growth, but I'd start microtrimming too :)

[SpeakingEZ]

You hair is very much like mine (only blonde!). At first, when I saw your layers, I thought it was taper, in which case I would have said just S+D. But since you said something about growing out the layers, I think a trim wouldn't be a bad idea. You've gone over a year without, you can afford a small trim.

Since your damage is probably not just at the bottom section, a small trim wouldn't help to get rid of it. I suggest that you spend a lazy afternoon watching a movie and S+D every split end and white dot you can find. Once you can't find any more, trim off an inch. If you trim before you S+D, you'll end up with an uneven hemline. I can live with an uneven hemline normally, but if I'm trimming anyway, I want a pretty line!

And don't forget to S+D regularly! I probably take off 3 splits/ white dots a day. I have my hair scissors right by my computer for when I spot one.

ETA: Your hair has come a long way, btw! Great job!

[jojo]

I actually have gone 13 months without a real trim. Just a couple microtrims. I made an appointment with my hair stylist today only because I feel sad about my hair looking so thin on the bottom. Id rather go on with my hair journey while it looks good in a nice style, that way I feel good about myself.

Do what you think will make you happiest. Maybe do a small trim and see how that feels. Then you can decide on cutting more later.

I wouldnt get more than an inch off to be honest and then do regular dustings. Try a little EVOO on the ends too.

[growingpains]

I think it looks great. It doesn't look bad at the ends at all:)

I'd trim half an inch per month. If you go an inch a month you may lose length.

[NotInPortland]

I was a similar same position as you a while ago and I'd gone 16 months without trimming, I recommend getting a trim if you feel you could do with one. I got one recently and cut my hair from just below waist back to a bit below bsl and it's made the world of difference for me. I missed the length at first but to me it looks so much better and I'm getting closer to growing my layers out for good too :) I mean you could just do a microtrim and a few s&d sessions but for me at the end it was just easier to get a big trim to get rid of most of the splits in one go because there were too many and a few had started travelling up the hair shaft (eek!!) So if you're lazy like me I'd say just get a trim and get it all over with in one quick session haha :)

[xladolcevitax]

I was a similar same position as you a while ago and I'd gone 16 months without trimming, I recommend getting a trim if you feel you could do with one. I got one recently and cut my hair from just below waist back to a bit below bsl and it's made the world of difference for me. I missed the length at first but to me it looks so much better and I'm getting closer to growing my layers out for good too :) I mean you could just do a microtrim and a few s&d sessions but for me at the end it was just easier to get a big trim to get rid of most of the splits in one go because there were too many and a few had started travelling up the hair shaft (eek!!) So if you're lazy like me I'd say just get a trim and get it all over with in one quick session haha :)

I wish i was brave enough to do this but im too scared it will look and feel so short! Then again I would be rid of my layers for good which would be amazing.

I think I will trim an inch or so first then if i want to cut more and get rid of my layers for good I will do that.

[Mesmerise]

I think I might do that actually, as it was my original plan before I decided to grow it to hip length. After a year or so of trimming and maintaining at waist it will be all one length and then I can grow it to hip :o

This is what I am going to do. I'm not at waist length yet, but should get there within the next few months. My goal is to grow it during 2011 (so it should be waist without stretching by then... it will be waist with stretching probably in 2-3 months), but in 2012 I'll maintain it for a year to thicken up my ends, and then I'll go for hip length, which is my ultimate goal.

I estimate that it will grow a little in 2012 if I cut off 1cm a month (as my hair grows a bit more than that), but it won't grow very much (I mean it grows about 1.4cm or so a month, so if I let it grow 0.4cm a month it will be almost 5cm longer at the end of the year).

Maybe you could do something similar and just cut off a bit less than your monthly growth each month, so you still get a bit of growth over the year, but in all you're still cutting off your layers and evening up your ends a bit.

[NotInPortland]

I wish i was brave enough to do this but im too scared it will look and feel so short! Then again I would be rid of my layers for good which would be amazing.

I think I will trim an inch or so first then if i want to cut more and get rid of my layers for good I will do that.

Sounds like a good plan if that's what you're comfortable with! :) And then as you say once you cut an inch, if you still feel like you'd be okay with cutting a bit more off you could continue or leave it at an inch if that's all you are comfortable with. Although I will say I thought I'd really miss my length too and would be upset until it grew back to where it was I but I got over it surprisingly fast because overall my hair looks and feels much better to me so it was worth losing length for so that I could be happier with it overall. The ends were split, dried out fast after every wash and were really wispy no matter what I did and it made me not want to ever wear my hair down (which I like to do now and again). And hopefully now I will reach waist again with healthier ends and eventually with layers grown out completely. I just decided to do it all in one fell swoop because as I said, I'm lazy, the S&D sessions would have been never ending :p

Oh and I forgot to mention, seeing as your hair is a similar type to mine and you've gone quite a while without a trim too if you do just trim the inch make sure to do a good S&D session after in case there are still big splits there. I had a few splits that had travelled way up my hair, around 2 inches with some of them I couldn't believe it!! Sometimes they were hard to spot because the split would be higher up where you aren't looking and sometimes the already split end would split again! If anything not trimming for 16 months made me realise with my hair I can't get away with such infrequent trimmings unfortunately no matter how much I baby my ends.

[alyanna]

First off, a BIG congrats on reaching waist! Woohoo! :cheer:

Secondly, your hair looks pretty darn good for having gone 13 months without a trim! Yes your ends are a bit damaged, but honestly, I've seen much worse right here on the boards. You're better off than a lot of people, so DON'T DESPAIR :p

Having said that, I would say you need no more than an inch, but you probably want to do an S&D or maybe use Jemoiselle's twisty trim method. She just posted the video a couple of days ago and it seems like a *really* good idea. Check out the Shoulder to APL thread (poor us, still at shoulder).

Don't cut too much off at first. I don't think you need it. But now that you're at waist, be diligent about regular dusting so you can get that thickness at the ends.

Good luck! You look great!

[xladolcevitax]

I did it! Using feyes slight U shape trim method which was so easy to do.
I will put a pic in a new thread on this forum.

I trimmed about an inch and a half-2 inches which was more than i had intended but it looks fine and although my layers are still not gone, they are only an inch or 2 away from to being gone now.

I miss being waist length already but im happier with the way it looks now.

Will do a huge s&d session when i get the chance as i do have splits all over.

Not sure where to go from here...i think i will grow it to waist again then maintain there until the layers are gone, then grow to hip. I should be back at waist by around october.

[xladolcevitax]

here is a pic of the result
http://i964.photobucket.com/albums/ae130/xladolcevitax/lhcnew3.jpg
http://http://i964.photobucket.com/albums/ae130/xladolcevitax/lhcnew.jpg

[SpeakingEZ]

Very good job! It looks much more tidy. I'm sure you'll do well growing it out from there.

[Barbie Diamond]

Very good growth and very pretty!

[Phexlyn]

Looking at your hair type and your picture, I'd say go for a trim and get rid of the split ends. I have tried to grow my hair the same way and it ended up looking really thin and damaged. I'm currently thickening up the hemline by trimming off the growth every six weeks or so. A little trim usually goes a long way, and it doesn't make sense to wait longer if your hair is already damaged and you're not happy with it.

Try trimming off a little bit first, then wait for two weeks, and if you still don't like it, trim a little more. I usually work by a system of mini/micro-trims and re-assessing the state of my hair constantly. If the ends start to bug me, I trim. If they don't, I grow. Good luck with your hair journey! :flower:

ETA: I just saw you decided to trim! Your hair looks very neat and pretty now, great job! :D