What causes Fairy Tale ends?

[buttercupmcgee]

It seems a common occurrence is for the hair to thin out at the ends after going for a while without a trim. I'm not talking about reaching our terminal length, here. I'm speaking more about the thin/fairy tale ends that often come from a year or more of no trims.

I'm sure there are a few lucky individuals out there who don't experience this after a prolonged trimming hiatus, but it seems a lot do.

It seems these thin ends are inevitable even if we S & D, avoid heat, wear in protective styles, and oil. These ends are not the result of damage or splits per se, but of something else.

Why would our hair not grow out uniformly thick if we take good care of it and destroy splits? Why instead does this thinning out occur?

:confused::confused::confused:

[buttercupmcgee]

It seems a common occurrence is for the hair to thin out at the ends after going for a while without a trim. I'm not talking about reaching our terminal length, here. I'm speaking more about the thin/fairy tale ends that often come from a year or more of no trims.

I'm sure there are a few lucky individuals out there who don't experience this after a prolonged trimming hiatus, but it seems a lot do.

It seems these thin ends are inevitable even if we S & D, avoid heat, wear in protective styles, and oil. These ends are not the result of damage or splits per se, but of something else.

Why would our hair not grow out uniformly thick if we take good care of it and destroy splits? Why instead does this thinning out occur?

:confused::confused::confused:

ETA: I don't mean to indicate that Fairy Tale cannot be lovely--I've seen some truly gorgeous examples here on the forums, that would make a princess swoon. But I am striving for a thick hemline on myself, and would like to avoid the thinning that time with no trims seems to bring, so that's where my question comes from. :)

[islandboo]

I don't know but if I were to guess, I might think it would be because not all hairs make it to the very end. I shed hairs that are shorter than my full length (they aren't broken hairs, they have the shed bulb) and it would be sort of like a marathon that has runners drop out - the field at the finish line is thinner than the starting field. Purely speculation on my part, though...

[Misti]

I have always assumed (though bit is truly just a guess) that hair doesn't all grow at the same rate and that it's the faster haits that end up being the fairytale ends.

[cowgirllong]

Just a few days ago, I read that what Misti said is correct. Some hair grows faster than the rest. I think fairy tale ends are very pretty if they aren't too thin.

[ashke50]

I would imagine that doing S&D will increase chances of Fairy Tale Ends as well, as you are cutting some hairs shorter than others.

[Firefox7275]

Some hairs grow faster than others, some get pulled out early even if we try to be careful, S&D will change the length of some and breakage others, some follicles have a better blood supply than others. Skin is no more uniform than hair is, different textures and colours on different parts of the body, some may get a freckle or mole and others do not. It's also been however many years since all of your skin cells and hair cells were identical (in the womb), every time a cell divides to grow the genetic material can change slightly from the blueprint - that is part of how cancer forms.

[torrilin]

Also, our heads are not exactly a flat surface. A hair that is growing from up around your forehead would look rather shorter than a hair growing near the nape of your neck, even if they grew at precisely the same rate.

[spidermom]

It's a combination of things. Some hairs get broken off, others get trimmed off in an S&D (if you do that), some hairs grow faster than others, other hairs grow for a shorter period of time. What I've read is that each and every follicle on your head has it's own growth schedule. One hair might grow 1/2 inch per month for 36 months, the hair right next to it might grow 3/4 inch per month for 120 months.

The only way to keep ends on the thick side is to do regular small trims. Even with that, the number of hairs that grow for the longest periods of time (and thus become your longest hairs) might be relatively few when compared with the majority.

[Nymphea]

I suppose also that you have to have a hair type and quality (for example, not prone to splits and damage) to be able to grow fairy tale ends. I've always wanted to have them, but I'd always end up with a lot of splits, so a blunt hemline is only option for me, it seems.

Personally I find it very, very sophisticated. It's a shame I can not have them.

[squiggyflop]

yup.. not all hair grows the same.. lol my hair grows in layers. my canopy grows half as fast as the underside so i constantly look like i got a layered cut if i dont trim off the ends of the underside.

[Panth]

What everyone above has said. Hair most certainly does not all grow at a uniform rate or to a uniform terminal length - this is best demonstrated by the few (can't think of the LHC members off the top of my head) whose left side grows faster than their right (or vice versa).

[GALISH]

I think the main reason is shed -the normal one :)-

[christine1989]

I think the main reason is shed -the normal one :)-

Agreed! I used to shed more than normal and had very noticable fairy tale ends but now that I shed less my hemline has become much more even.