 Part II: The case for growing but never trimming FACT: Trimming doesn't grow your hair. Growth happens at the root, below your scalp. It's illogical to assume that something that affects only the outer, dead part of your hair would impact the active, vital biochemistry going on within your follicle. You may be one of the many who have grown impatient at trusting the trimming cycle after months, or even years, of no discernible increase in growth. Many women complain of scissor-happy stylists keen to cut off the progress they have made at every visit, while promising them that this is for the good of their hair. The fact of the matter is that if you cut off more hair than is growing, you're not going to get longer hair. Those of the no-trimming perspective argue that the most effective way to keep your ends in good condition is to do exactly that; focus on caring for the length of your hair so that it doesn't get damaged, rather than relying on cutting it off after the fact-once the damage has already been done. They advocate regular deep conditioning, sealing, protective styling and ultra-gentle handling as the path to greater length. But are they right? Is that enough? USE THE CHECKLIST TO DECIDE IF YOU NEED A TRIM OR NOT. . .  THE VERDICT
If your ends are in good condition and you a) are not trying to maintain a precision cut, particularly a very short one, b) don't have hair that grows in very quickly and very unevenly, or c) are not using the microtrim method to get reduce tangles and breakage, then 6-8 weekly trimming is likely to be too frequent for you. However, for most people, it is almost impossible to maintain their hair at a level where no trims will be needed. That said, you can minimise the extent and frequency of trims, thus retaining more length, even if your hair is slightly damaged at the ends. Pamper it with extra deep conditioning, moisturizing and sealing, remembering to detangle and style with the utmost care. If you are careful not to increase the damage further, you can hold onto these ends as you grow in new, more robust hair, without needing to trim right away. If, on the other hand, you are struggling to part with wispy ends that are half the size of your strand at the root, bear this in mind: Straggly ends do not look like long hair; they look like severely damaged remnants which deserves a trim. In addition to looking bad, they also put the integrity of the rest of your hair at risk. Depending on your hair type, split ends can continue to tear further and further up the strand. Knots and mats at the end of the hair make combing more difficult, requiring you to put more force into combing your hair, the strain of which spreads along the entire strand, compromising its strength. When your ends are in serious condition, the best thing you can do is part with them and increase the care you put into the rest of your hair so that you can keep trims and cuts to a minimum in the future, maximising your length. Comments are closed.
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