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Should You Trim Your Hair Every 6 to 8 Weeks?
A trim is defined as, "To put into a neat or orderly condition by clipping, paring, pruning, etc." A trim is also defined as, "A haircut that restores the previous cut to neatness without changing the hairstyle." Now that we have a common definition of what a trim is, should you trim your hair every 6 to 8 weeks? Let's talk about it.
Trimming your hair based on a time frame, such as every 6 weeks or 8 weeks is not a method to make your hair grow faster. Trimming does not make hair grow. For most of us, trimming the hair this frequently is a way to MAINTAIN our current length.
For some of us, it is way to keep our hair ends neat as the hair gains length, slowly. For almost all of us, trimming the hair based solely on a timetable of 6 to 8 weeks is not the fastest way to gain length.
Why not? This is because hair, especially afro textured hair, grows in whorls.
Think of hair used for weaving. It is all the same length. If you take that hair and wrap it around someone's head, around and around, that's a kind of whorl.
Although that weaved hair is the same length, once you start wrapping it around a head, some of it seems longer or shorter. This is due to the location of the weaved hair on the head. Think of a sea shell. The shell goes around and around, in whorls.
Our natural hair grows the same way as that wrapped piece of weaving hair and that shell. These are all examples of whorls.
My suggestion is to trim your hair on a time based schedule only when your goal is to neaten up the ends of a style you wish to maintain, at your hair's current length. A trim is for maintenance. A cut is used to CHANGE the hair. A cut is used to give yourself a new style, to completely remove split or damaged ends or to shorten the current length.
If you are trying to gain length, a trim can be useful for your purpose. The caveat or catch is that the trim should not be time based. The trim should be length based.
Chicoro
Are you wondering the best way to go about trimming natural hair? With all of the options out there today, sometimes this is a decision that can take far longer than necessary. In this article, there are various options so that you can decide which fits what you and your hair needs. plus the pros and cons of styling straight vs curly, wet vs dry, and how often you should trim.
Curly Hair Trim vs Straight Hair Trim
You can trim your hair while it's in its curly natural state or you can straight your hair for trimming.
When your hair is curly and you do not like to straighten it, you can still get get it trimmed by several methods. You can take your hair and put it in 10-20 twists and snip off the ends. Or you can have a professional stylist trim your curls according to the texture and preferred style. Choose to trim your natural hair when it's curly if you never wear your hair straight.
If you wear your hair straight - even occasionally - you'll want to have your hair trimmed when it is straight. How straight do you need it to be? Well, it depends. You can get your hair trimmed with a blow out or you can have it flat ironed bone straight for a trim. Trimming natural hair when it's straight will provide a more precise trim that is also visually appealing when your hair is worn in straight hair styles.
Wet Natural Hair vs Dry Natural Hair
Since your hair is more pliable when it's wet, trimming it at this stage can be a little easier. You can stretch the hair to get a nice grip on your hair and the hair is a little bit easier to cut with the scissors.
However, if your hair is wet, you may not get a precise cut and may actually end up cutting more of your hair than you planned to. This is because hair especially natural hair is elongated when it's wet. Be very careful with wet trims of natural hair.
Have your hair trimmed while it's dry can be an easier optiondepending on your goals. One main benefit of dry trimming is that you know exactly how much you got off because your hair is not elongated by water.
Regularly Trimming Natural Hair
Just because your hair is natural does not mean that you can ignore hair trims. You should still have your hair on a schedule to receive regular trims.
Depending on how you wear your hair will determine how often you need to trim it. If you heat style your hair, you will need to trim it more often than if you didn't.
Also, if your hair tends to knot around itself at the ends, you will need to trim more often than someone who does not have that problem - despite using heat. Generally speaking, a schedule of 2-6 months should be used depending on your personal goals, styles, and hair condition.
Conclusion
Trimming natural hair doesn't have to be difficult. Depending on what you're trying to achieve, there are various methods that you can try. Hopefully the ones mentioned above will help you achieve the look and health you desire.
