Hipsters...Grow then trim or trim as you go?

[Kristamommyx3]

What is/was your plan for acquiring hip length? Do you have certain goals you reach before you trim, or did/do you trim as needed even if it takes longer to reach your goals? Also, is the train of thought for those of you that grow way out between trims, that the ends will always be less than perfect, so do your best to keep them nice, and get there. But at what cost does this happen? Does the damage creep up if you ignore it? If you trim while growing, how long do you go between trims and still see good progress? I'm trying to gain about four inches, but I cannot tolerate bad looking ends at all. They really drive me crazy. Maybe it's OCD. What ever. Lol. Anyway, I would really enjoy hearing everyone's opinions on this. I am about to waist and want to meet my final goal of hip asap, but without sacrificing the integrity of my baby fine hair. so..how did you get to hip?

[UltraBella]

I trim frequently and am at hip. I cut back to hip from tailbone a few months ago because I was contemplating cutting back to waist and wanted to do it gradually. My ends are doing well, I just don't know if I want to deal with this much hair. Unfortunately I can't answer many of your questions since I am trying to lose a bit of length in the long run. Sorry for being unhelpful !

[Roseate]

The last time I grew out my hair to hip length, I trimmed every 6 months. This was a good schedule for me; kept the hemline nice but still let me make progress.

This time around, I did a no-trimming year at the beginning of my growth, and didn't feel like it was an improvement; I actually got split ends, which I normally don't get, and I was really fed up with my hemline by the end of the year. The trim I got at the end of that year was as big as two normal trims, so I didn't gain any extra length. I'm back to every-6-months.

[|Xei]

I have very fine hair too.
When my hair grew out to hip, I had been trimming as needed, and that would probably have averaged out to every 4 months. I usually took off half an inch every time to eliminate dry/damaged ends without losing a noticeable amount of length. When it looked like my ends were really dry and frizzy, I'd take off a whole inch. It was a good "pace" for myself. It kept my ends looking nice, and I was able to gain a noticeable amount of length before my next trim.

The best way to keep damage at bay, I find, is by keeping up with the moisturizing treatments (once per week at least), and regularly oiling. S&Ding also helps, but I haven't done it regularly enough to really see any major improvements. Trims always get rid of the most damage for me.

[owlathena]

I'm at waist on my way to hip. I trimmed about a week ago, and now I'm going to try to resist until I get all the way to hip. It'll be about a year.

[Phexlyn]

I won't be much help as my ends are thin... I'm at tailbone and trying to thicken up by trimming every 6 weeks or so. When I grew to hip, I didn't trim at all, I just let it grow... it didn't look too bad at the time, but then my hair has always been thin past APL. I've managed to lower the point where it gets significantly thinner to low BSL by now.
What worked best for me during the time I was trimming but still wanted to gain a bit of length was trimming around 0.5 cm every other month. It still kept the ends neat but I gained enought length not to get frustrated over the whole process. I guess everyone needs to find their own balance between growing and trimming.

I'd suggest you keep a close eye on the condition of your ends, and if they start getting worse, then trim a tiny amount. If it's better, keep growing, if not, trim another tiny amount until you have found your own regimen that you're comfortable with :)

[jojo]

I have 4" until i reach hip length. I dust every 3-4 months or thats my plan anyway. Since BSL I have oiled my ends daily which appears to be helping. My next trim is due end of July but my ends are pretty good, if this continues I shall re-evaluate in August. I am hoping to reach hip early 2012.

[Mesmerise]

What is/was your plan for acquiring hip length? Do you have certain goals you reach before you trim, or did/do you trim as needed even if it takes longer to reach your goals? Also, is the train of thought for those of you that grow way out between trims, that the ends will always be less than perfect, so do your best to keep them nice, and get there. But at what cost does this happen? Does the damage creep up if you ignore it? If you trim while growing, how long do you go between trims and still see good progress? I'm trying to gain about four inches, but I cannot tolerate bad looking ends at all. They really drive me crazy. Maybe it's OCD. What ever. Lol. Anyway, I would really enjoy hearing everyone's opinions on this. I am about to waist and want to meet my final goal of hip asap, but without sacrificing the integrity of my baby fine hair. so..how did you get to hip?

I am also aiming to get to hip ultimately, but at the moment I have quite thin ends due to a lot of hair loss last year. My current goal is to grow as long as I can in 2011, and basically what I aim to do is trim about 1cm off every three months... and then next year I will maintain my length for a year to hopefully thicken up ends (well it may get a bit longer but not much). I aim to be at least solid waist at the end of the year.

What I would do if I wasn't trying to grow out thin ends, is I'd probably keep trimming off about 1cm (or a bit under 1/2" to 1/2") every three months depending on how my ends looked. That would allow my hair to continue to get longer, while still keeping the ends neat. Of course, it would depend on how good my ends looked. I have grown my hair for a looong time before without trimming (back when I had pretty healthy hair) and didn't suffer from splits or anything.

[celebriangel]

You are mentioning "less than perfect" ends here - do you mean uneven or slightly tangly ends or actual splits? If you don't have splits, there's no point in trimming. I mean, I don't see any advantage for me in keeping my hemline perfectly even. Hair grows at slightly differing speeds all over your head, so some are always going to trail ahead.

I don't know if you currently only trim for splits/damage or evenness as well, but I would try and trim only when you see damage and splits appearing all over the bottom of your hemline (but not waiting for the damage to travel upwards), rather than when you just see one or two that can be taken off easily by S&D.

Then, if your uneven ends bug you after you've reached hip, or you have some thinness on the bottom, you can maintain at hip for, say, 2-3 months to even things up. That's what I plan to do - trim only for damage, then maintain for a while at some major goal lengths to even up ends and let my thickness travel downwards.

My hair is much stronger than yours, though, so in the past I've only truly *needed* a trim every year or so. I plan to S&D if I have a handful of splits, and trim whenever they seem to be popping up more than that - so probably every 9 months or so. My hair is quite strong and healthy now (lucky me! I have cut off many inches of old dye and light heat damage from blowdrying to achieve this), so even though much of it is baby-fine to fine, it does not really split much. I think this is also because I wear my hair up every day and am obsessive about oiling my ends, as well a my hair's strength.

Note: I would say that 30% of my hairs are solid M, 50% are F but heading in the direction of M, and 20% are very very very F.

[Carolyn]

I'm at hip length for a 3rd time. The last 2 times I thought my ends were too thin and wispy. I like my hair cut straight across and not see through. I've been trimming more this time. I've been trimming 1/2" every 3-4 months and diligently S & D'ing off the splits. I am also oiling more and using leave ins on the ends. I can see the horizontal volume moving down very slowly. I'm at the point where I think my hair is too long to wear down so having it in a bun most of the time will help too. I'd love to put it in a bun and take it down and have it be sit on it length. Dream on.

[Signe]

wow celebriangel...i have the same f/m thing going on with some very very very f, too...glad to hear it's not just me! i even have a smattering of c sprinkled in on top!

[Yozhik]

I'm on my way to hip, but it'll be a while for me to get there because I have a pretty long torso.

The last time I trimmed was in February, and before that I hadn't trimmed since October 2009, so obviously I don't mind so much if my ends are less than perfect. This method has also allowed me to gain a lot of length over a relatively short amount of time (fall '09-spring '11 I've gone from just touching shoulder to waist+).

Also, I will say that my two inch trim was beneficial in giving me nice, non-crunchy ends, and no one but my bf noticed I had cut at all. I'm planning on either growing to hip with S&Ds in between, or if my ends start driving me crazy, I'll trim at my own discretion. :)

[Kristamommyx3]

I actually tried to s&d today for the first time, for over an hour ( broke down and let my son watch a Disney movie) and only found four splits on my whole head, and they were on the underneath part where my collar rubs. Not one bit of damage on my head I guess. Not very satisfying as far as the destroying goes! Lol. I guess I personally am referring to old looking ends. Not really split, just worn out looking. Do you think I should leave them alone unless they split? I would imagine you are right in saying that your hair is stronger than mine, but I was taught since childhood to baby my hair, so thankfully, I haven't experienced any real damage. Anyway, yah, like I said, not perfect ends, just worn and a little frazzled compared to the rest.










You are mentioning "less than perfect" ends here - do you mean uneven or slightly tangly ends or actual splits? If you don't have splits, there's no point in trimming. I mean, I don't see any advantage for me in keeping my hemline perfectly even. Hair grows at slightly differing speeds all over your head, so some are always going to trail ahead.

I don't know if you currently only trim for splits/damage or evenness as well, but I would try and trim only when you see damage and splits appearing all over the bottom of your hemline (but not waiting for the damage to travel upwards), rather than when you just see one or two that can be taken off easily by S&D.

Then, if your uneven ends bug you after you've reached hip, or you have some thinness on the bottom, you can maintain at hip for, say, 2-3 months to even things up. That's what I plan to do - trim only for damage, then maintain for a while at some major goal lengths to even up ends and let my thickness travel downwards.

My hair is much stronger than yours, though, so in the past I've only truly *needed* a trim every year or so. I plan to S&D if I have a handful of splits, and trim whenever they seem to be popping up more than that - so probably every 9 months or so. My hair is quite strong and healthy now (lucky me! I have cut off many inches of old dye and light heat damage from blowdrying to achieve this), so even though much of it is baby-fine to fine, it does not really split much. I think this is also because I wear my hair up every day and am obsessive about oiling my ends, as well a my hair's strength.

Note: I would say that 30% of my hairs are solid M, 50% are F but heading in the direction of M, and 20% are very very very F.

[lora410]

I trimmed as needed becuase I didn't want thin ends. I now have hip length hair and I don't feel the need to chop it becuase of thing ends, I'd rather reach the goal with the ends I want :)

[shikara]

hehe...I'd read one response and think - hey, yeah, I like that, that's right for me, then I'd read the next one and think the same thing:eyebrows: I don't like S&D, it hurts my eyes :rolleyes: Until my hair got to waist, I didn't really do either but I had been very gentle with it, and wore it secured. I like trimming but want to gain a couple more inches, so I'm microtrimming monthly.

[Heartwillfollow]

I trimmed as needed becuase I didn't want thin ends. I now have hip length hair and I don't feel the need to chop it becuase of thing ends, I'd rather reach the goal with the ends I want :)


far from hip and never been there yet :) I agree with Lora's thought.. stay strong during the journey so you don't have to back track when you get there.. Worse length for damage was just below shoulder the constant rubbing at the end of my braid really did a number on my ends to break and look thin, as they grew towards apl, didn't like it so I trimed it back and feel better.. Will trim as needed and not trim if not needed.. :)

[Avital88]

The worse my ends are the longer it takes to reach a goal. I'm at hip and wanting to reach tailbone soon so i just trimmed an inch off so hopefully my hair will grow faster to tailbone without breaking ends.
Its best to trim every 4 months a bit so you are secured of fresh hhealthy ends,without good ends growing gets harder and slower in my view..good luck!

[HintOfMint]

Whichever method works as long as you do it ironically, or before anyone else thought of it.*

Joking aside, I know what you mean about the worn out ends. They aren't necessarily damaged but they look and feel old. Regular small trims about twice a year, with S&D in between, wearing hair up regularly and SMTs with coconut oil helped me get to hip. The only reason I cut back is due to a PARTICULARLY bad winter and wearing my hair down far more often than I should have (as in, every day).

*In reference to the other kind of hipsters. No offense meant!

[spidermom]

I have to trim. My hair loves to split, and the longer I go without a trim, the more split ends I have, and the higher up my length they go. Therefore, my schedule is about every 3 months.

[xoxophelia]

Its going to depend a lot on your hairtype and how your hair grows. Some people seem to be able to grow out their hair and keep a fairly blunt hemline while others have more uneven growth and either fairytale or need to trim. My plan is to trim along the way but if I wasn't slowly getting rid of dye and damage from overuse of heat tools in the past, I would probably not be trimming.

You could also always fingure out your average growth rate and then figure out how much you are willing to trim to get to waist in xmonths or years :)

[Madora]

Definitely trim as I grow. It is a waste of time to ignore the splits or damage and expect the hair not to suffer because you don't trim it slightly to remove the damage! The splits split more and before you know it, the strands are not worth saving and you have to cut short, above the damage. Splits can easily create other splits on the same strand of hair!

I'm a firm believer in just shampooing/conditioning/rinsing..as little as possible. I use a pure boar bristle brush exclusively and a widetooth comb. My hair is always airdried and braided and kept in updos.

All these measures help conserve my precious strands and aided me in my goal of past waist length hair. The more you practice gentle hair methods - the better the end result will be.

[Kristamommyx3]

I decided to let my mother take a good look at my ends when I saw her today. She agreed that I could use about a quarter inch trim. So she did it for me, and I cannot see any difference in length, but my ends look pristine! Yay! Now I will try to make it Three months and then trim another quarter inch, and so on. I'm glad I asked her, because she always honest and would never cut more than I wanted. She wore her hair at tail bone for many years and appreciates how long it takes to grow healthy hair out.

[IcarusBride]

My very ends just hit hip when wet. I trim about 1/2 to 1/4 inch once every 3 months, or as needed. Sometimes I do it at 2 months and sometimes I push it off until 4 months. I trimmed a full inch 2 months in a row last year. For me, keeping the ends in decent shape is more important than gaining length as fast as possible. I need to do this avoid getting too frustrated and doing something rash (like chopping!)

[Mesmerise]

I decided to let my mother take a good look at my ends when I saw her today. She agreed that I could use about a quarter inch trim. So she did it for me, and I cannot see any difference in length, but my ends look pristine! Yay! Now I will try to make it Three months and then trim another quarter inch, and so on. I'm glad I asked her, because she always honest and would never cut more than I wanted. She wore her hair at tail bone for many years and appreciates how long it takes to grow healthy hair out.


This seems like the right way to go about it. If your ends are just looking a bit less even than usual, or a bit more worn, you don't need to go all out with a trim when 1/4" will do... and if you do that every three months, you'll still be growing at a good rate and your hair will look lovely when you get to your goal!

[jojo]

I'm at hip length for a 3rd time. The last 2 times I thought my ends were too thin and wispy. I like my hair cut straight across and not see through. I've been trimming more this time. I've been trimming 1/2" every 3-4 months and diligently S & D'ing off the splits. I am also oiling more and using leave ins on the ends. I can see the horizontal volume moving down very slowly. I'm at the point where I think my hair is too long to wear down so having it in a bun most of the time will help too. I'd love to put it in a bun and take it down and have it be sit on it length. Dream on.

your routine is the same as mine, now if i can get my hair as lovely as yours i will be over the moon!

[McFearless]

Splits and white dots need to go immediately. That is the type of damage that creeps up and kills your length. How often do you trim? I would cut down on trims and keep my ends protected with oil or leave in conditioner. Protective styles are the way to go!

[torrilin]

but I was taught since childhood to baby my hair, so thankfully, I haven't experienced any real damage.

No amount of babying eliminates splits for me. That said... I can easily go 3-6 months between trims, and on May 1 I did my first trim after a year of no trimming. I did take up some search and destroy during the last 3 months, and it helped keep my hair from getting as hideously tangled. The trim didn't end up making a huge difference in tangles, but it did leave my hemline looking thicker.

Right now my plan is to do a small trim roughly once a month between now and next May. My hair grows fairly quickly at about 0.75" per month, and it has grown so fast I don't quite know how to work it into my life. Hard to stuff under a bike helmet, hard to keep it from getting caught on things, just a lot of dumb noob mistakes getting in my way. So I'll basically maintain around the elbow/waist zone for a year, and see what I think after a year of practicing updos and working with the newness. If it works out well, I'll probably keep on heading towards hip.

[SheaLynne]

I'm glad you found a good plan and a good helper to do your trim.

As someone else said, if you have damaged length to gradually get rid of, it might change how you would approach the growing/trimming routine.

Since I had damaged length (semi-perm dye for 6 months and intense blowdrying and flatironing for a couple of years), I have been trimming 1/4 inch every month for the past year and a half, from about waist to tailbone. It kept me happy enough with new ends every month to refrain from just chopping a good number of inches off! But if I didn't have the damage, I probably would have trimmed less frequently.

[Annie Fulton]

I am trimming, though not too much, and trying to keep it healthy as I go along. I have fine hair also, and right now I am a little passed BSL. I am also trying to let it grow as much as possible, so I am trimming only when I really need it. Once I reach waist/hip I plan to work on thickening the ends and letting my layers catch up.

[TheBluffs]

I'm going for classic right now, but when I was at hip, I trimed as I went to aviod the 'big chop', and dispaopintment.

[Messyhair]

When I grew to hip I was trimming every 3 months just to keep the ends fresh. Plus S&D every waking moment because I was obsessed. I love snipping!

This time, I don't get much chance to trim, so it's been 5 months since my last trim, and a year and half before that was the previous trim. What can I say? A baby came along and hair trimming just didn't take priority any more. :p

[PrincessBob]

I'm at Tailbone+ right now. I trimmed as I went. I had my spouse take a little off ever 8-20 weeks (I know, that's not really specific) and went from about BSL to hip in a couple of years.

[Signe]

Whichever method works as long as you do it ironically, or before anyone else thought of it.*


This wins so much HintOfMint!

[Kristin]

I'm at hip and didn't trim much getting here. I had a bob about three years ago, then "let it grow out," but continued having it cut into various shoulder-length shag styles. Once I started really growing it, I didn't cut it at all for about 18 months. Since then, I just trim it myself when my ends feel dry or damaged- probably every 3-4 months I cut 1/4-1/2". My hair grows pretty evenly and thick, though.