I haven't had my hair cut or trimmed since I started growing it out in November 2007. Thanksgiving 2007, to be exact. Then bf pulled out the clippers with the 1/2 inch guard, and cut my hair for me. I had chopped it all off in September 2007, and at that point I felt like I just wanted to keep it short. Then, I realized my best friend was getting married in August 2008, and it would be good to have some hair to style. So, I started growing it out.
Fast forward to this month. I had to come to the realization that I'm NOT a person who can go for long periods of time without getting my ends trimmed. Reason? Hand in Fro disease. I love playing in my hair. I love doing different styles. I love twisting it and then untwisting it for a curly twist out. If I can go a week without doing something to my hair, that is a LONG time to me.
Hand in Fro disease means lots of manipulation. Manipulation can cause damage. While I was conditioning, deep conditioning, and using Ayurvedic products, my ends could not be saved. Not to mention, I had some old color hanging onto those ends. Color can dry out your hair as well.
Last night, I washed and deep conditioned my hair. I parted it into 4 sections, and put it in little mini-buns that I pinned with bobby pins. I let it dry overnight under my scarf. This afternoon, it was mostly dry, and I proceeded to flat iron. Usually I would blow dry and then flat iron, but I decided to save my hair some heat exposure. After flat ironing, I pulled out the trimmers.
Now, if you are going to trim at home, it's VERY IMPORTANT that you have a good set of trimming shears. You can't just be cutting your hair with scissors around the house. The other thing is, I'm not a hairdresser. I don't aim for perfection. I look for crispy ends and I chop them off. I cut about 1 inch from the back alone. I don't care if it's straight, either. I NEVER wear my hair straight. I just looks limp and lifeless when I do that. Since I wear it curly/textured, I'm not too much concerned about the cut being perfect. If you are concerned with that, you should let a professional handle it.
My hair feels 110% better. I gave it a light protein conditioner, and then put it back up in flat twists (I know, I flat ironed and then wet it - but, it just looks a mess when it's straight). The twists are holding so much better now that my crispy ends are gone.
I think that if I had been doing regular trims, I would have retained more length. So, I'm going to go with a trim every 12 weeks. If 12 weeks is not enough, I'll have to go back to my old schedule from when I first went natural - every 8 weeks.
Ladies, learn from my faux pas and be kind to your ends! Unless you have locs, or are wearing a bun every day (which is what we call a protective style), you are going to need to trim them regularly. Also know that with regular trims, you won't have to cut off as much hair each time. And finally, this is definitely a YMMV (your mileage may vary) situation - you may not feel comfy with trimming your own ends and that's fine - find a hairdresser you can trust, who knows the difference between a trim and a cut.
4 comments:
LOL @ growing your hair out for the wedding.
The first time I went to get my hair trimmed and shaped up in this podunk town, that heffa definitely did a cut. I had a TWA and she "trimmed" so much that it ended up being shorter than my original big chop. Talk about pissed!! She got the stank eye and I've been very strict about letting other people touch my hair ever since.
I can't recall how often I trimmed after that incident. I think I just snipped off some ends whenever I felt the need as I did two-strand twists.
Yeah, girl - I needed to be able to do some kinda style. LOL!
I thought about trimming in twists, but then I think I would get it really uneven. My hair has ridiculous shrinkage. So for right now, I just prefer to trim when it's straight.
Thanks for stopping by. I've bookmarked your blog because one of these days I'm going to bite the bullet and go natural. I'm a ponytail fiend and work in a very corporate arena - so I'm trying to figure out how to make it happen.
Hey Tazzee! I really enjoyed your blog. Come on by whenever you get the chance. I work at an insurance company...'ve been natural since 2003 and always worked at insurance companies. However, the companies have not been absolutely strict about dress policy, and not very conservative. I guess that one is a "YMMV" situation. No one has said anything about my hair, because the most important thing is that it's neat in presentation. They actually look forward to different styles.
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