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View Full Version : Undercut to get rid of damage?? - should I?



GettingThere
January 2nd, 2012, 09:39 AM
Ok, so I've been giving this alot of thought recently. It seems like the majority of the damage I have left in my hair is in the "underlayer". Basically the lower 1-2 inches at the nape. If I separate out this hair and follow it down it is filled with splits, fairy knots and is just coarser and more "damaged" than the rest. I am not sure why...I wear my hair up in buns most of the time and when it is down I am mostly wearing regular collar t-shirts (nothing with edges or tags that should catch the hair). I detangle gently, rarely brush, oil the ends before washing and do CWC. The damage if in the lower 6 inches or so of this layer of hair.

I am thinking about having an undercut done to basically completely remove this layer and start over. I just am having a hard time committing to this as I know I am looking at several years to get the underlayer back to the length of the rest of my hair (which is healthy and barely has any splits, etc). I know the undercut would look fine when fresh but I am also concerned about how how it would look as it grew out with my regular styles (usually a figure 8 bun). I am pretty much talking about having a line from ear to ear about 2 inches up from the nape shaved (or clipped super short).

Any advice or personal experience would be appreciated:)

Yozhik
January 2nd, 2012, 10:50 AM
You say that your underlayer is damaged for the last 6 inches or so -- why not cut off to that point rather than get a full undercut? That way you should still be able to put your hair up, and the underlayer hair shouldn't be that much shorter than the rest of your hair and will take not as long to grow out.

I find my underlayer splits more easily, too, and I think it's related to texture -- for whatever reason I have finer hair there, so damage from everyday wear seems to affect it more.

EDIT: Oops, I just realized that your siggie picture is not currently representative of your length, since you're at 24.5 inches (unless that needs to be updated). Well, I still think that you could cut off 6 inches of the underlayer, rather and do and undercut, if you wanted. :)

HintOfMint
January 2nd, 2012, 11:03 AM
I've always had the majority of my damage in the same place, while my canopy was relatively intact.

Aggressive S&D helped in a big way, it was essentially a glorified trim.

I also re-evaluated my products/shampoo/conditioner. I found that, while cones made it really easy to detangle in the shower right after the shower when it was wet, my hair tangled easier on cones when it was dry. A cone-free, oil/shea butter routine really limited tangles in my underlayer, and so, less splitting.

As for the cause of damage, even if the fabric is soft, it's still not silky and so the hair can still rub. Also leaning against a chair with your hair trapped against your back, or backpack straps can cause damage. Or your hair could just be more damage prone as a result of its structure. These are just conjectures and guesses.

spidermom
January 2nd, 2012, 11:22 AM
I don't think this would solve your problem long-term. If you under-cut the current problem area, the next layer of hair will become the bottom-most layer and will be subject to the same wear and tear that damaged the previous bottom-most layer.

My canopy and that nape layer always incur the most damage; canopy is exposed to the elements and nape is exposed to friction. The hairs between the two are in pretty good shape.

turtlelover
January 2nd, 2012, 11:39 AM
This is a personal preference, but I don't think too many people can pull off undercuts well. In general, I think they are rather ugly, though they could look trendy or cool on a young punk type. Otherwise they just look weird.

GettingThere
January 2nd, 2012, 12:10 PM
Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I've done some S&D lately but it seems that to really get rid of alot of the damage I am cutting off inches (that is where I got the 6" estimate for where the damage extends). I haven't updated my measurements in awhile but I am longer than 24.5 now...I may just continue to do the S&D route for now. I am not 100% sure about the undercut thing and if I've learned one thing here on TLHC it is that I need to be 100% sure before I do anything drastic (LOL:D) or I really regret it!