From tailbone to BSL?

[julliams]

Anyone done this? How was the change to your hair?
I'm about an inch from tailbone and I've been talking about going shorter for quite a while. Sometimes I feel like my hair is just a little too long for me. I seem to have lost most of my wurl at this length, it only waves up near the crown now with only some light waving through the length. I've tried clarifying but it doesn't seem to make a difference for me.

I'm packing up my house to move in three days and came across an album of myself at 25. Maybe what I'm liking, is how young I look, but my hair was at BSL (and straightened) and it looks really nice and luscious. Now I just feel frizzy and unstyled.

So I'm asking if anyone has made such a change (like tailbone to bsl) and if they noticed their hair changed in texture at all, as in - you got your wurls back, or it just "sat better".

[HintOfMint]

As a longtime admirer of your hair in all aspects (color, length, texture), I'll admit, the loss of so much length (and the introduction of a straightener) makes me a little sad.

Your wurls are absolutely gorgeous though, so if the length is tugging them out, how about trimming up to waist? With the curls, that should put you around BSL, maybe a bit lower than that.

ETA: This is the longest my hair has been, so no real experience that I can remember in texture changing with a cut, but I remember reintroducing layers to my hair after growing them mostly out and my waves looked so much better to me.

[Ticky]

I haven't, but I am thinking about it lately, so I'll be watching this thread! It has started to feel too long for me...

[Cupofmilk]

I've done it. I think it was an average 15 inch cut on me. That's a lot of hair. I got a lot of bounce and movement back and my waves were massive.
However i decided the length was too short for me and i have just about grown it back in two and a half years.

[juliaxena]

It seems many members are considering it these days but I have yet to see one actually do it and report about it. I am curisous though because I won't be doing it myself to see which feels better. Waist is as far as I am going, probably less though. What puzzles me though is why don't people stop at hip or waist? Why consider going to BSL, when obviously waist and hip didn't feel too long?

[MeowScat]

Ugh, yes. My last big chop a few years ago, I cut off over a foot! I liked it for, maybe, a month. Then I really started to grieve the loss of length.

I've been growing it back ever since. I should have done it in one to two inch increments. It was way too drastic for me. I'd hate to hear that you regret such a big step that would take a year (maybe more?) time to regrow if you missed your length.

Learn from my fail...tiny increments over a few months is the way to go.

[auburntressed]

With a iii thickness, you might find it more difficult to do certain updos any longer. I'm not sure if you did updos when your hair was at BSL before or if you are into doing them now.

The last time I was at BSL, I was 20. Girl was supposed to trim an inch off and took off over a foot of length instead. I'd been somewhere around hip to tailbone before that. I couldn't give the exact, because I didn't think of hair in relation to body parts back then. :D But it was a lot of hair lost, and I was majorly ticked off.

The most noticeable difference right away was the fact that I could no longer bun my hair. I had to switch to French braids across the board from that point on out until my hair was longer again.

Same thing as the time for me before that. When I was a teenager, I'd had hair somewhere around hip to tailbone. When I was 16, I had my friend cut it back to BSL for me. Couldn't bun it anymore and had to switch to braids. Then summer ended, and I moved back in with my mom (I'd been staying with that friend for the summer). I had to find a way to hide it so she didn't go freak out on me. So I started doing that HORRID thing where you make a pony tail, and on the last pass you don't pull it all the way through. So it's a loop on top of your head. YEACH, that was a killer. But it was all I could come up with to hide my length because I couldn't get it to stay in a bun at that length. Aaaaaaaand, it wasn't worth it because she found out about my hair eventually and freaked out on me.

I think if I lost hair up to BSL again, I'd be able to do more with it now than I could back then. I know more now, and I've learned more tricks. But it would still be harder for me to make my hair look presentable and professional than it is at this length.

[bunzfan]

In the last 6 months i had thought about cutting back but realised i only had a problem with how my hair looked when its up from the front because i have a long thin face and it made me look washed out so i decided to grow my fringe out and its made such a difference to how i look from the front.

I have also lost a lot of my waves but i found just recently if i put gel or mouse in my hair i can encourage a lot of the waves you actually make me feel better saying you've also lost a lot of your waves . It really depends how you wear it more if you wear it down mostly how about waist that should help with the waves as there wouldn't be so much weight pulling the waves out if you wear it down a lot you could get it heavily layered like ultra bella .

[PolarCathy]

I never did this (for obvious reasons - I never had tailbone length hair...) but the updo issue is a valid problem. I can't do practically anything with my hair yet at this length and I'm close to waist. Can't do a full knot, let alone some figure-8 thing, nothing. If you are into updos, that reason alone may deter you from chopping :)

[xoxophelia]

Could you try out using a diffuser on low heat to help get more lift and curl at the roots? My mom is a 3a/b and had that done by a stylist.. it made a world of difference. Maybe something to consider for the days you want to wear it down at its best.

I have cut my hair before also from about.. hip+ to just under shoulder length and then had thermal reconditioning down in JPN. It was fun while it lasted but I do think the long hair was more "special"... Just think it over and maybe consider different styling methods first before cutting.

[Madora]

Back in 2000 I cut from a trifle below waist to shoulder. Didn't notice any difference in texture. My hair still had a slight wave. Short hair was fun...for a while..but I missed being able to create updos so started growing again.

I'm sure your beautiful hair will look lovely even when it's shorter, Julliams!

[lapushka]

You might not remember that well, at TBL, how exactly your hair was when you had to handle it at BSL. It might just be a little too poofy compared to now at TBL, esp. if you have waves, wurls. That's why I'd go slow in trimming, take it back to hip or waist first before making such a drastic change.

[Lostsoule77]

I've cut it from bcl to waist with bsl layers. It looked good, but no differance in my waves. If I use something in my hair they are there and defined. If I don't I have a frizzy mass that gets put up. Both times this was done it was the hair dressers idea. It was ok, but too short for me. Why don't you cut to waist and see if that helps. If it does great and if not you can always cut more. :D

[MsBubbles]

What puzzles me though is why don't people stop at hip or waist? Why consider going to BSL, when obviously waist and hip didn't feel too long?

Interesting question. I suppose people don't stop at waist because they are in the growing-long-hair process, mostly for the first time ever at such lengths, and probably want to know what hip-length feels like.

I imagine BSL for those with plenty of wavy hair, is a good manageable length.

I agree with the poster who pointed out that cutting to waist might translate to BSL, once the OP's wavy hair has had its say!

[Silverbrumby]

I think taking off two inches, see the results, another 2 inches, check again is a good middle ground. Two inches grows back in 4 months or so. Going back to BSL in small steps might help you find the perfect lenght more easily. Beware the hairdresser 2 inches which in fact is 4. Maybe ask for a firm 1 and you'll get 2 lol.

[missmelaniem]

Rather than chopping I would go with 2 or 3 inches and use a straightening serum, shampoo & condish. Then see how you like it. Its not a commitment that can't be undone in a few months and if you want to go shorter you can.

For product I would rec tresemme smoothing shampoo and condish and paul mitchell skinny serum (he makes a skinny shampoo and conditioner too, but its $$)

If you need more body at the crown I would switch to shampoo bars and then just a regular conditioner on the ends. Ive never had body like I did when I used poo bars.

[cindy58]

I did it last summer, before and after (post #9) are in this thread:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=74473

It was more difficult to bun with the thick blunt ends, but you adjust. I've had it trimmed a couple of times since. Last trim in April. Now waist length. She did just a bit of a long face framing layer -- that little difference made it easier to bun than all blunt. I don't mind fluctuating in length between long BSL and TBL. I didn't notice a difference in texture.

[lundmir]

I did exactly this last year at least a month before I chopped to pixie. Went from TBL to BSL, and although I missed the length, it still looked long to most people.

Updos I loved weren't working anymore, though, and that's one of the many reasons I decided to start all over.

[dollyfish]

Definitely follow the wait-2-weeks rule! Just in case!! It sounds like maybe you're associating BSL hair with how you were at 25. Though if your hair is feeling a bit too long for you then definitely feel free to make the cut. It's your hair after all, and you can always grow it longer.

[lapushka]

This reminds me of when I was a young teen and had classic length. It went slightly beyond that and suddenly it got to be annoying (always sitting on it, etc.), so annoying that after a few weeks of it, I suddenly ended up with a chin length cut (pageboy style). I could have cut off a few inches and been a lot happier. I regretted the short cut the next day.

[julliams]

Hi everyone, thanks for your comments. I think I got my length wrong - it's actually closer to BCL than tailbone. I think tailbone is about halfway down the butt right? Mine is a little a way from BCL.

I guess with selling our house and everything I haven't been paying much attention to my hair. I do the same updos that I've been doing since my hair was shorter than BSL. Nothing has changed there. Sounds weird I know, but basically I do a cinnabun or a chopstick bun. If I do a messy bun, I find it more damaging the longer it gets.

Lately I have been waking up with so much volume at my roots it's crazy. I look like I've been backcombing it all night. I am also having trouble sleeping. I sometimes wonder if I do have curlier hair than I think and that maybe by brushing it out as I do, I'm encouraging the frizz look. I've always worn my hair curly on day 1, then brushed it out and worn it wavy on day 2 and 3. I find my hair getting very tangly lately and getting trims doesn't seem to help. I have clarified several times. I think the issue is that it's long and getting tangled due to the splits that go with long hair for me.

Yes I think I was relating the shorter hair with my youth. I can get the shorter hair back but the youth..... not so much.

Maybe I need to watch some of Torrin's videos again and have fun with those. She makes them look so easy. I guess it takes practice.

I think it's probably dangerous for me to go to the hairdresser right now. The last time I went she told me she would want to take it to BSL if it was all up to her but she saw that I wasn't ready for that and refused to cut anything less than an inch. I could probably be convinced to cut much shorter if someone talked me into it enough.

I think with the change of moving house, I am probably wanting some kind of change in myself? We sold our house with the idea of buying a bigger one, but haven't found the right place yet. So we are moving into a rental that was left in a dirty state and I'm not thrilled about moving in there although it's happening in two days.

Anyway, maybe I'll keep going as I am and once we are settled in, I'll go and have a 2 inch trim and see if that helps with my ends.

To those asking why not go to waist? I guess because I've been fluctuating between hip and waist for what seems like ages now. I get to hip, trim to waist and grow to hip again. This time I've gone further and well, it seems a little long now. The difference between hip and waist is only a couple of inches for me and then only another coupe for BCL so for me, there isn't much difference there at all.

Maybe I need to go and do a treatment and start loving my hair again...

[lapushka]

Well, whatever you do, don't make rash decisions, especially not now with selling your house and moving into a place you're not entirely comfortable with. That's stressful enough right there.

[julliams]

Yes I agree. Thanks for your advice.