Cutting your hair may help keep split ends and damaged locks at bay. In this article, we discuss how often you should cut your natural hair and reveal the signs that tell you it’s time for a trim.
Ideally, you must trim your hair every three months. Regularly trimming your hair will make it stronger and reduce breakage. If you stick to a proper hair trimming schedule, you will notice that your hair will be healthier, and over time you won’t need to trim it frequently.
Signs That You Need a Trim
You must trim your hair if you start noticing any of the following signs:
Ends Dry Faster Than The Rest of The Hair
This is one of the most obvious signs that it’s time to trim your hair.
When your cuticles get damaged, your ends will start drying quicker than the rest of your hair.
The best way to get rid of this damage is to trim your hair.
Excessive Breakage
If pieces of hair start falling out more than what you know to be normal, it’s also a sign that you are overdue for a trim.
You shouldn’t wait till there are patches in your hair to start getting concerned.
Your Hair Can’t Seem to Hold a Style
Imagine spending hours doing your hair; then, ten minutes after managing to come up with the best style, it goes back to being limp and lifeless.
This is a clear indication that your hair is damaged and needs extra attention, and it usually happens if you use heat tools a lot.
Once you notice this type of pattern, you must quickly trim your hair to get rid of the damage.
Hair that’s Difficult to Comb
Damaged hair usually gets tangled quite easily. So if you spend too much time trying to brush and get rid of the knots, you should get to work and cut off the dead ends.
Hair Appears Dull
One of the first things that happen to your hair when it gets damaged is it will lose its shine.
So if you notice that your once shiny hair is now dull, you must get a haircut.
However, the hair won’t all get dull at once. Usually, you will notice that there will be a difference in shine between your roots and ends.
Fairy Knots or Single Strand Knots
Wash day can become a nightmare if there are a lot of fairy knots in your hair.
These knots occur when single strands become entangled to create bigger knots that are even more difficult to untangle. The quickest solution to this problem is a quick trim.
Split Ends
Split ends are probably your hair’s worst enemy. They are a sign that your hair is damaged and the only way to get rid of them is to get a trim.
If you don’t get rid of split ends, your hair will continue splitting, and you’ll end up having to get rid of more inches.
If you keep getting split ends, it’s advisable to add a repair mask to your hair routine.
Hair Lacks Volume
Limp, lifeless hair that lacks volume is not a pretty sight.
This usually happens to your hair if you ignore haircuts. Fortunately, the moment you trim your natural hair, volume tends to reappear.
Cutting your natural hair is the easiest way to get rid of split ends and give life back to your hair.
Naturally Curly Hair Now Straight
If you start noticing your hair losing its bounce, you need to trim it.
Sometimes, because of the harsh conditions your hair is exposed to, it may start losing its curls and becoming straight.
Fortunately, a trim usually does the trick and restores life to your hair.
Like this? Read our guide on the best hair dryers for natural hair.
How Often Should You Cut Natural Hair?
If you are maintaining your hair naturally, it usually remains quite healthy for longer.
This is because you won’t be using all those chemical relaxers that weaken your hair’s structure.
It helps to know your hair type and its porosity so you can take better care of it.
But in general, experts recommend trimming your natural hair every 8-12 weeks.
Should You Cut Your Hair Less Often for Hair Growth?
Well, logically, cutting your hair less will result in more length.
However, you can’t just forgo cutting your hair and expect that the result will be better growth. In fact, it might be the exact opposite.
If you don’t trim your hair and you end up with a lot of split ends, you will have to cut off more of your hair than you should, which will work against the growth you want to achieve.
Under normal circumstances, your hair should grow at a rate of a quarter to half an inch a month.
If you trim your ends regularly, you will remove no more than a quarter of an inch, and this should leave you with noticeable growth and length retention.
To avoid having to cut off greater lengths, you must take care of your ends in between trims.
This can be done by sealing your ends with hair butter and oils.
These products not only protect your ends but will make it so that you don’t need to trim your hair as frequently.
With proper use of such products and good care of your hair, you might even go for five to six months without needing a trim, which will help your hair grow longer.
Trimming Your Hair at Home
Before you trim your hair, it’s recommended to stretch it out first.
Stretching your hair with a blow dryer will make it straight and help you get a more precise cut.
If you don’t want to heat your hair, you can opt for a heatless roller set.
After stretching your hair, part it in sections and lightly detangle it using a wide-tooth comb.
Hold your hair with the comb about an inch from the ends and trim off the dead, frayed, and thinning ends of your hair.
Maintaining Your Hair Between Haircuts
Here are some tips for maintaining your hair in between cuts:
- Avoid using heat tools or at least use heat protectant spray each time you use one.
- Dry your hair with a towel instead of a blowout dryer to minimize damage.
- Switch out hairstyles to avoid having breakage in the same spots.
- Condition your hair and repair split ends regularly.
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