My journey with my curls has been a confusing one. I’ve hated them, over-styled them, and now I finally accept and love them. After years of battle with hair extensions, I made the decision to remove the clips and give my hair a little more freedom.
When it’s time for a trim, your hair will let you know, and if we’re paying attention, we’ll do the same. A significant aspect of the natural hair journey can be length retention or trimming.
Trimming your hair every few months will encourage growth in addition to deep conditioning, preserving moisture, and sealing your ends. Depending on the type of hair you have, you might cut your hair every three months or every six.
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Benefits of trimming curly hair occasionally
1. Preventing split ends: Curly hair is more prone to split ends than straight hair, and regular trimming can help prevent them from occurring. Split ends can make hair look frizzy and dull, so trimming them off can improve the overall appearance of curly hair.
2. Maintaining shape and structure: Curly hair can easily lose its shape and structure if it becomes too long or damaged. Trimming regularly can help maintain the shape and structure of curly hair, giving it a more polished and defined look. (Does Curly Hair Look Better Short or Long?)
3. Reducing frizz: Trimming curly hair can also help reduce frizz. When hair becomes damaged or split, the cuticle layer can become rough and uneven, causing frizz. Regular trims help keep the cuticle layer smooth and even, reducing frizz.
4. Promoting healthy hair growth: Trimming curly hair can actually promote healthy hair growth. When split ends are left untrimmed, they can continue to split up the hair shaft, causing damage and breakage. Trimming regularly can help prevent this, allowing hair to grow longer and healthier.
Overall, regular trimming is an important part of maintaining healthy, beautiful curly hair. It can help prevent split ends, maintain shape and structure, reduce frizz, and promote healthy hair growth.
Since different hair types have different growth, your trimming sessions may be different from that of a friend.
There are three basic types of haircuts for curly hair.
1. The curly cut
This should occur at least once every year or two. Finding the ideal overall shape for your hair while it is completely natural requires a dry curly cut.
You should only ever cut your hair that way. If you cut your hair straight, the amount of shrinkage you experience or the unevenness of your curls may be greatly affected.
Avoid cutting your hair when it’s wet as well because you won’t know how it will appear when it’s dry and it will be at its longest length. As a result, this may also have an impact on shrinking.
2. Dusting
For dusting, there is no set amount of time. After your trim or Curly Cut, it’s more of an eyeballing feeling every one to two months. You can complete this on your own in the comfort of your own home.
This does not imply that we should go find our broom in the closet. As you dust, you take 3–4 quarters of an inch off of each curl.
Hence, you aren’t actually experimenting with your length; rather, you are concentrating on removing those tiny dead ends. The general health of your hair can actually be much improved by this.
3. Short trim
You should perform this cut periodically, which can be every 3–4 months. It’s time for a trim when you start to see visible dead ends, knotted tips, or when they start to feel fragile and weak.
A trained curly hair stylist will trim your hair curl by curl, picking up each curl individually as they go and only making the necessary cuts.
So when do you think is the appropriate time to trim your curls?
1. The bottom of thicker hair thins out
It’s time to trim your hair to a length that is noticeably thicker if it is long and thinning at the ends. Thinning ends can happen if you detangle or comb through your hair harshly or with the incorrect equipment.
2. Rough/Split Ends
Our hair’s ends might split or get tough for a variety of causes. Too much heat, failing to seal your twists or braids, dehydration, excessive chemical processing, and many other issues.
Split ends result in thin ends, which prevent the hair from growing as long as it might. Your hair’s ends typically suffer when it loses moisture.
3. Excessive hair fall
You must be sick of brushing or styling your hair just to discover that there is a lot of it on the bathroom floor. A little shedding is acceptable, but when it gets excessive, it’s a sign that the length of your hair is not healthy. Cutting your ends can promote shedding and stop breaking.
4. Tying knots
Fairy knots happen when two or more single hair strands tangle and form a larger knot. As your hair begins to knot, it can be challenging to comb through or untangle, which might break your hair during routine handling.
Do yourself a favour and grab the scizors if you start to form fairy knots. A trim will not only eliminate your knots, but it will also prevent breaking.
5. Loss of structure
There are instances when your curl pattern thrives at a particular length, producing a lot of volume. Once it is longer than that, it loses shape and falls flat. It’s crucial to pay attention when it occurs. Possibly it’s time for a trim!
How much hair should you cut off based on the length of your hair?
The next question is how much to cut your hair now that you know how frequently you should trim it based on the texture of your hair. This will depend on the texture, length, and time since your previous trim of your hair.
Below are some broad recommendations to abide by.
The objective is to trim just enough for maintenance and to regain style because if you have short hair, you probably don’t wait as long in between trims. I would advise taking an inch or two off the length of medium to long hair with each trim.
But, three inches of hair may be required if it has been a very long time since your last cut. If you want your hair to grow longer, I would suggest trimming off half an inch every two months to protect the ends from getting dry and split.
What happens when you don’t trim your curly hair for a long time?
1. Causes external damage to your hair
Your hair will continue to snag on clothing, get torn out by sunglasses, and overall suffer damage from daily living. “This damages the cuticle, causing your hair to lose its sheen and become more brittle and dry. Unfortunately, your hair starts to break off and get stuck up more frequently as it becomes more damaged.”
2. Your natural texture won’t act as normally as it formerly did
Naturally curly hair becomes weak and loses its ability to maintain its natural shape when it isn’t clipped. So, by removing the dead ends, you give your curls new life.
It’s fascinating because, despite the fact that I had clearly observed a change in the way my hair was air-drying, I hadn’t given it any thought.
Instead of looking huge, full, and curling, it appeared boring and weak. I started seeking for a solution that will enhance the hydration and gloss while also redefining my curl pattern.
3. Your hair growth stops
Instead of letting your hair grow, you are actually endangering the length by not trimming it. Contrary to popular belief, cutting your hair frequently will stop breaking by removing the weak, dead ends.
As was the case with my depressingly sad locks, as those ends split, they ultimately move up your hair and break it off higher, leaving your hair shorter than before.
I suggest dusting your hair once a season to keep it growing so that you can keep on top of split ends without losing any of your valuable length.
To sum it all up,
Consider having your curls trimmed every 8 to 12 weeks to maintain them and keep them healthy. This will help your curls get rid of their dead, dull, split ends and encourage the growth of healthy hair in their place.
After around three months, your curls will naturally start to separate, so you want to prevent that from happening.Trimming your curls regularly is beneficial for them, especially if you have dead ends, split ends or when your hair is falling off.
