Thin hair at the ends

[amuchan]

I have curly hair that looks full and thick when natural. I straightened it to see the length and the ends are very thin. I search and destroy for split ends. My hair has done this before and I've cut it all off to blunt at midback length 2 years ago. Is this breakage or did some of my hair just grow faster? Should I cut it off or let the rest of my hair catch up?

[enting]

If it doesn't bother you in its natural state you could just leave it as is and let it keep growing. If you think it could be damage, have you tried microtrimming? Hemlines can sometimes look a lot fuller with not much trimmed off.

If this has happened before and it's happening again after chopping back a lot, then I would not chop back again. Unless you know why this is happening, taking the same action may lead to the same result only you'll have lost whatever time it takes you to get back to this point again.

Edit: A lot of S&Ding can make ends look thinner because you're basically doing a selective trim which thins out the ends. This is also something that microtrimming might be able to help with. If you're needing to cut out a lot of ends with S&D you may also want to look into how to prevent the splits and damage that are happening so that you don't need to S&D quite as aggressively.

[Deborah]

I think it would look great trimmed to just above your waist. It would be much fuller and healthy looking.

[Finda]

I agree with enting's entire comment. Do you s&d a lot? Maybe hair tie?
You say your hair looks full in it's natural/curly state. So if that's how you mainly wear it, I wouldn't worry too much about how it looks in a style you never do.

[lapushka]

If you S&D a lot (split search & destroy mission), then this can happen. Not saying it is that, you will know better than me on that front, but it could also be the way your hair grows.

Just evening it out 1 to 2 inches will do a lot, you do *not* need to remove everywhere where it is thinner. Trust me! It will look a lot better just with a couple inches; if you want to go that route and love blunt ends over fairytale ends.

If you love the way it's growing, it's called fairytaling, then by all means, just leave it. If it is healthy, then why even cut it?

[foreveryours]

When you last cut it "blunt", did you cut it when straightened as it is now or when naturally curly?

If the latter, the "thinning" you see probably arises naturally from just normal variation in texture (not all strands have the same curl pattern) rather than breakage, "trimming" or variation in growth, although all 3 inevitably contribute over time.

[Jools69]

Some of it may not be breakage - it could also be shedding. So if it’s happened before and you cut it, only for it to happen again but your ends are free of splits, then I wouldn’t cut it again. Microtrim if you want to ‘neaten’ the ends.

[Kathie]

I think you've got some good advice and questions so far.

I just wanted to give you a link to a thread showing fairytale ends- hair naturally thins at the ends as it grows and some actively try and get this look. But I understand its not everyone's taste.

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...ad.php?t=40313

[Jane99]

If you want to thicken up your hemline, I give another vote for microtrimming. I also S&D but now I try to limit it to right before I microtrim (for me, every 3 months) because of the concerns about it causing too much length variation at the ends. Your hair looks great BTW!

[Kathie]

I wonder, do you plan on straightening your hair often, or keeping it curly.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel this was a one-off straightening to check your length and not something you do often?

If you plan to wear it curly and you dont see any damaged hair I vote on leaving it as is. You say you natural hair texture is thick and curly. It sounds lovely!

We can all expect some thinning towards the ends as our hair grows. Again, if you cant see any damaged hair or experienced any shedding this could simply be how your hair grows.