Clip, Snip, Pow!: How often to should you clip your ends? (Requested Topic)

I was asked to discuss my thoughts on clipping ends and how often to do so. I think the first thing to do is to understand the reason people clip their ends in the first place.

Why?

We know that the ends of our hair is the oldest and most fragile area of the hair. This makes the ends most susceptible to damage from manipulation, weather, heat styling, friction from clothes, etc. This damage will causes breakage, split ends, single strand knots, and so on. All of these can spread leading to more breakage, rough ends and hard to manage hair. To stop the spread of damage you have to cut it out. 

How?

Now that we know why we should cut damage out we need to talk about how to do it. There are several ways to cut the ends, but I've found three pretty common techniques among naturals; Search and destroy, dusting, and trimming. 

Search and destroy: Is literally what it sounds like. You would divide your hair into workable sections and examine the ends of each section, clipping any split ends, knots, and rough areas. 

Dusting: Is when your take your hair while in twists and snip off the tiniest bit on the very end. 

Trimming: Is taking hair in sections and clipping a set length off of each section, anywhere from a quarter inch or more.

When?

This is where the debate comes in. On one end, it is suggested to trim every 6-8 weeks, to keep ends without any damage and as strong as possible. This may however stunt the noticeable growth. On the other end it is suggested to trim less frequently about twice a year to maintain length. This is likely to result in more severe damage and more cutting. I like to take on an approach in the middle of the spectrum. I like to trim about a quarter inch every 6 months. In between I dust my ends every 8-10 weeks to prevent knots and plits from getting worse or traveling up the shaft of my strands. 

How often do you trim? Which method do you use?

Length Goals, Rentention and Obsessions

I'm sure most of you have some sort of goal you wish to reach with your hair.One of my goals is waist length hair. For most people, hair grows about 1/2 inch per month. This means about six inches of growth per year. The key for growing hair to long lengths is to retain as much growth as possible. Some ways to aid in length retention are; protective styling, low manipulation, and safe handling while washing. 

Protective Styling: This means wearing your hair in style in which the ends are tucked away and protected from things such as weather and getting caught in clothing. Some ideas include buns and tucked up-dos. Here are some examples. (These are not my images).

        

Low Manipulation: This means when you do style your hair, handle it as little as possible. Try finger combing instead of using an actual comb to detangle or make parts, use a scarf to smooth edges instead of a brush and wear your hair in the style you choose until you need to wash again.

Safe Handling while washing: This means choosing shampoos and conditioners that work for you but are not too harsh. Products that cause drying will lead to breakage and split-ends,  Also be mindful of when you detangle. I usually suggest a detangle session before your wash. This will make your wash session much easier. If your hair is very tangled and matted use water and some conditioner with good slip. Once you begin to wash, keep hair in sections to prevent tangling. 

My personal growth: So as you all know I have been completely natural since 2010, however due to some bad choices I did another big chop in July of 2012. Here are some pics right after the cut:

      







And her are pics of my hair now:

         

This is about 10 months of growth since the cut, which should be about 5 inches. 
For those of you with hair goals, I would recommend only doing length checks every six months or longer. That way you will be able to notice the growth. Anything less than this will mean less than three inches of expected growth and will be harder to notice. I used to do a check every month and became absolutely obsessed, pulling out tape measuerers, rulers and everything else. Try to leave your hair be and just enjoy every stage of growth. Before you know it, we'll all be team #LongHairDontCare!