Looking for opinions on trims and a few questions

[biogirl87]

Hello all. After my hiatus from LHC this spring, I got back here earlier this week and am thinking that I'll probably be hanging around here more, maybe just not as actively as I did before. Anyway with the middle of summer approaching, I'm coming up on six months after my last trim at the beginning of January. Normally, this would be time when I would trim my hair but when I told my mom that I'm thinking of trimming in July, she didn't think my hair needed it. However, I know she likes to keep her hair short and so may not be seeing the importance of me having my hair trimmed. And as I'm seeing my hair 24/7, I wanted to come on here and ask you ladies (and possibly guys) for a more objective opinion. This is a pic of how my hair looks from the back.
I also wanted to include a pic of it from the front to show the possible taper? resulting from my layers:
Do you think this is normal taper with the layers I have in my hair and do you think I might be approaching my terminal length (current length is probably an inch and a half from BSL)? During these past nearly six months I've seen only split end in my hair, but again with the layers I could just be missing them. Also, those of you who have fine or medium hair, do you find trims at regular intervals necessary or am I starting to get paranoid? With all this in mind, I I want opinions of those who have fresh set of eyes when it comes to my hair and so I'm asking all of you for opinions. Any thoughts as well comments on my hair and its condition would be greatly appreciated and are very much welcomed.

[teela1978]

I don't think you're anywhere near terminal length, the taper you're seeing is from your layers and the fact that all your hairs grow at different rates. Whether you go to get a trim I think depends on if you want to keep the layers or not. If not, I'd start self-trimming, feye's v method is probably feasible on your hair now and would follow the u/v shape you have already from previous cuts. Microtrims every few months would be fine. If you want to keep the layers... I've not yet seen a really good/reliable at-home method, so going to get it cut is probably the best plan. It's hard to find a stylist that will just cut a little bit, but possible. Make sure they know you're trying to grow it long and that you only want X amount (showing with your fingers) off the ends.

[MidnightMoon]

Your hair looks good to me. I have fine hair and used to do a lot of damaging things to it which contributed to it looking worse, thinner, losing more hair, etc. Now I don't know which of these you do but until you change your routine and follow it for a couple of years there's no way of telling whether you've reached your terminal length or not, however, I highly doubt BSL is anyone's terminal length, specially because of your hair type (the only people I've seen with such a terminal length are people with extremely coarse/curly/afro hair, and even they, with proper care could grow it longer I believe).

If you want to achieve greater length I'd consider letting your bangs grow, as you will have a fuller hemline and more hair growing over all, so it will look thicker, I'd wear my hair up more often, no heat, no dyes, etc. There's a lot of things you can do to keep it in better condition so it grows longer.

I trim about twice a year, around 1-1.5 inches each time because I'm growing out bleach and straightening damage, however, I've gone a whole year without trimming too, so it all depends on how ou wear your hair daily, and how fast you want it to to reach your goal, if you prefer a thicker hemline, etc.

[lapushka]

It looks good to me, nothing out of the ordinary. If you don't have damage (splits, white dots) there really is no need for a trim, unless you feel like one is necessary. I have F hair, and I once didn't have it trimmed for 2,5 years, and this was even me growing out a perm.

[Victorious]

You have beautiful hair. I believe you can have waist length hair. Try to find a conditioner and some fun protective hair styles that you like. Then stay away from heated hair tools. Oh, and you don't need a trim. IMHO

[biogirl87]

Thank you ladies for your replies.

Teela, you were right if you thought I'd want to get rid of my layers as I've been thinking of that for a while and been considering the self-trimming as the best way to get rid of them faster. Thing is that I've never trimmed my hair myself (mom was the one who did in my teenage years and in the last two years I've always had it done at a salon), so I'm a little cautious as self-trimming is new territory for me. I know that with self-trimming, sharp hair-only scissors are crucial. What would be some good places to get them?

Luna, I do want to at least try to achieve greater length (waist length would be dream goal if my hair could grow that long) and yes, even now, I'm thinking of making changes to my routine. I know you mention considering growing out my bangs and that's one thing I wanted to do about a month or two after getting them. I know that they will increase my hair thickness once they grow out. One thing you're doing more than me is wearing your hair up more but it's something I'm going to start doing as this would cut down on the damage I'm causing my hair.

[teela1978]

I use a cheapie pair of hair scissors from walmart. I think they were $7? Feye's method is how I've always self-trimmed. There are a few versions, the V shape has worked well and was easy for me. I was able to self-trim this way around armpit length or so, and unless your hair is very thick (which the ends probably aren't) it's a very doable method for trimming. Though if you're a complete perfectionist you might have problems cutting off more to even out the sides (I've never had this problem ).

[biogirl87]

Lapushka, thank you for your comments. Truth to be told, I didn't know you could go 2.5 years without trimming with fine hair.

Victorious, thank you. I'm still on the lookout for the conditioner I like and my hair likes. I haven't found many conditioners that I don't like but am still not sure if my hair prefers conditioners with protein or without. What I know so far is that it definitely gets weighed down easily by heavy conditioners. I try to stay far, far away from any heat tools (only used them/had them used on my hair about three or four times in the past 1.5 years). I think for me the challenge with protective styles is finding hair toys that will actually stay in my hair as currently I can't get sticks to hold my buns well (maybe I just haven't mastered them yet though).

[Carolyn]

I would suggest finding a nice moisturizing conditioner to use most of the time. Save the protein one for occasional use. Protein overload can cause damage.

Do you still trust your mom to trim off the ends of your longest layers? That might be an option if you don't want to self trim. It's possible to find a stylist who will only cut what you ask and not get creative. I've found Aveda stylists have good training and seem to to what I ask.

[biogirl87]

Carolyn, thank you for your reply. I still trust my mom to trim my hair. However, it's been about two and a half years since she and my brother have moved to California and the last two times I've gotten a trim there mom preferred to have me get it done at the salon rather than it herself since she wanted my hair to have a nice shape to it. While to me shape of my hair isn't as important as length and hair health. I think with time I could easily get used to trimming my hair myself, especially if I start slowly (not cutting off more quarter of an inch).