Have you been experiencing tangles, breakage, and your hair doesn’t look its best? It might be time for a trim. Trimming your hair can be intimidating if you’ve never done it before, but there are so many benefits. It takes less time. You don’t have to leave your house. You are completely in control of how much length you take off (we’ve all had a hairstylist take off way more than we asked for!) And once you have the right tools, it’s free! You can quickly save hundreds of dollars in your first couple of years of trimming your own hair.
Trimming is essential to healthy natural hair and length retention and comes with a lot of benefits. But before we talk about that, let’s address the most pressing question related to hair trimming.
And that is – how often should we trim our hair? According to experts and hair stylists, we must trim about a quarter-inch of our hair every 12 weeks. If you feel that your hair grows faster, then you can get a trim every 9 to 10 weeks too. Similarly, if your hair grows slowly then you can trim once every 14 to 15 weeks. The more you get to know your hair, the easier it will be to see when you are due for a trim.
Here Are Reasons You Should Always Trim Your Natural Hair.
- Split ends naturally start developing a couple months after every trim. Split ends are caused by natural wear and tear on your hair, and while you can prevent split ends from occurring as quickly, it is impossible to completely eliminate them. When you don’t trim split ends, they continue to split all the way up the hair shaft. This results in the loss of the entire strand, rather than just the end.
- Split ends and single strand knots catch and snag more easily on each other, increasing tangles.
- Tangles are enough of a problem on their own, but they also increase breakage, especially if you don’t detangle gently. Having to detangle your hair is a process all on its own but that process is made much more difficult when you are faced with having ends that are not in good shape. You will likely have to manage split ends, breakages and all sorts. To prevent tangles resulting breakages, it’s essential to trim off split ends and single strand knots. Trimming your hair regularly can cut down on the time it takes to detangle.
- Split ends also make your hair (particularly your ends) look scraggly, frizzy, and unhealthy. Frizz can occur if you tend to wear a lot of hats and scarfs. Hair is very delicate and frizz can eventually cause damage to your hair strands. Regular trimming can help to keep this under control.
How To Trim Your Natural Hair At Home.
- Only cut your hair with professional hair shears. If there is one important thing that I can tell you about trimming your hair it is that you should always make sure you use proper professional scissors. These are specially made for hair cutting. Sharp scissors like these are non-negotiable. In fact, if you aren’t willing to get a pair, you’re better off not trimming your hair at all. Any other scissors will leave a jagged end that is far more prone to splitting in the future. Do NOT use your office or kitchen scissors on your hair, under any circumstances!
- Once you have hair shears, don’t use them for anything besides your hair. Otherwise, they will grow dull and blunt, which defeats the purpose of getting hair shears.
- Cut dry. Some people cut hair wet because wet hair is more stretched, so it is easier to see and make a clean cut. However, your hair is also weakest when it is wet, so trimming wet can lead to more breakage and damage. The best way to visualize this point is by imagining two pieces of paper. One is damp and the other is dry. When you cut the dry one, you can get a sharp line across, right? But when you snip the wet paper, the line is uneven. The scissors did the job, but now the wet paper is cut into a soft, jagged line, looking almost like ripped paper. It’s the same when you cut wet hair. You might want to trim after washing your hair but we recommend playing it safe and cutting your hair dry.
- Cut carefully. We have provided a range of common methods below for cutting natural hair and some are easier than others, but any of them can go wrong if you rush or don’t focus. Give yourself plenty of time, especially the first time you do it.
DIY Natural Hair Trimming Methods.
- Two-strand Twists: When you twist your hair, notice the frizzy, dry, coarse ends at the very bottom of your twists? You can go twist by twist and snip those off, leaving soft, clean ends. This is a great method for those with shorter hair. The smaller you make your twists, the more accurate your cut will be!
- Curl by Curl: As opposed to twisting your hair, let your hair fall in clumped curls. Then go curl by curl, trimming off the scraggly ends. This method is recommended for those with looser curls (type 3A – 3C). Many naturals have withered ends at the crown area that need extra TLC. That means you need to apply more deep conditioning treatments, apply protein more frequently, and be diligent about trimming that specific area when you get a trim.
- Search and Trim: You can also leave your hair down and carefully look through your ends for split ends and single strand knots, snipping them off when you find them. Warning: this method is time-consuming, and will leave you with hairs of slightly different lengths since you won’t cut every hair. Don’t feel like doing twists? At least make sure to cut in small sections. Focusing on a few hairs at a time will help you organize while you trim, and it will prevent overzealous cutting.
- Blowout: To provide the most visibility for a clean, even cut, use medium heat to stretch your hair before you trim. This method is time consuming as well because it involves doing a full blowout, and you’ll need to be careful to not damage your hair with heat.This is a great method for those with longer hair. To make it easier, you can twist your in two-strand twist sections then comb out each section and trim.
Doing trims is key to maintaining long, healthy natural hair. You’ll notice your curls pop when you’re not holding on to straggling and frayed ends. Just make sure you follow the best practices when you decide to cut. If you do want to wait longer before you get a trim, then we would suggest that you are extremely careful with your hair and keep manipulation to a minimum. Give one of these methods a try and skip the hair salon especially if there are no salons with good experience handling type 3-4 natural hair around where you live!
Disclaimer!
Trimming the split ends on your hair on its own does not entirely help with hair loss. Emphasis on ‘entirely’. What it does do is to give the illusion that your hair is much fuller than what it actually is. It also prevents breakages, tangles and single strand knots. If you are noticing hair loss in places, then it would be a good idea to use the hair growth elixir to repair damaged hair and stimulate blood circulation in the hair follicle for healthy hair growth. If you are worried that your hair loss is much more significant then it would be wise to see a hair specialist.
The hair growth derma-roller would help to improve your receding hairline, edges and nape hair.
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Created by Social Butterfly Haven For Reina HairCare.
