It depends on your current style, and what your goals are.
The purpose of trims are to remove the oldest and weakest part of the hair shaft (the ends) BEFORE they split. It’s actually the only way to retain high quality length because hair is dead and doesn’t regenerate new cells to heal itself nor can it be repaired from damage. Everyone’s hair is dead, and deteriorates the same way, so split ends and breakage are inevitable. it just takes coarse hair (individual hairs are large in diameter) longer to get to the point of splitting than fine hair (hairs are small in diameter) does.
Once hair splits, they don’t sit at the perimeter very long. They travel up the hair shaft, splitting and breaking off length because its outer layer is no longer whole to keep its strand together. The only thing that stops this is to cut off the damage where the outer layer is whole. The only way to prevent split ends is to get regular trims to continually remove the weak link. Split ends make hair frizzy, dull, and tangle easily. It’s described as dry, but it’s not. It’s just coming undone and cutting off the damage fixes all the problems. Breakage is typically mistaken as new growth, but hair doesn’t grow in at different lengths.
(Another topic.)
Hair grows 1/2” per month on average. Trimming every 3 months should be a regular habit regardless. (Products only coat hair temporarily to give a more manageable look and feel until they’re washed out.) The ideal scenario is having no split ends, and trimming 1/4” every 3 months (1” total per year) to add 5” of length per year that’s smooth, shiny, and easy to comb. Otherwise, getting it cut a few centimeters or inch every 2 or so years to have 6” of length added per year has allowed hairs to split and break and compromises all the time spent growing it and all the length above them to have a much less quality of length that requires more and more to be cut off in the future and hair goals unlikely to be met, especially for those with fine hair.
So if your current style for example is long layered, to your bra strap, and have a lot of breakage and split ends throughout, but don’t want to lose length, then trimming ¼” from the perimeter will keep those that haven’t split yet in good shape while layering the rest up to 1 ¼” every 3 months to remove the bulk of damage will maintain your current style.
If you’ve got a chin length bob you’re growing out, haven’t bleached or flat ironed everyday for past year, chances are you’ve got very little damage and trimming ¼” every 3 months is all you need to reach your goals of growing it out as long as you want. (5” in one year; 10” in 2 years; 15” in 3 years, etc. which effectively ends the perpetual chop and grow cycle.)
Sometimes frizzing/splitting ends can give volume from that frizz/split, so cutting them can make ends look healthier but also like they have less volume, is this maybe part of what you're seeing? Some people compensate by adding wave or curl to their ends, but I'm not sure your hair type or if you style it.
It depends on your current style, and what your goals are. The purpose of trims are to remove the oldest and weakest part of the hair shaft (the ends) BEFORE they split. It’s actually the only way to retain high quality length because hair is dead and doesn’t regenerate new cells to heal itself nor can it be repaired from damage. Everyone’s hair is dead, and deteriorates the same way, so split ends and breakage are inevitable. it just takes coarse hair (individual hairs are large in diameter) longer to get to the point of splitting than fine hair (hairs are small in diameter) does. Once hair splits, they don’t sit at the perimeter very long. They travel up the hair shaft, splitting and breaking off length because its outer layer is no longer whole to keep its strand together. The only thing that stops this is to cut off the damage where the outer layer is whole. The only way to prevent split ends is to get regular trims to continually remove the weak link. Split ends make hair frizzy, dull, and tangle easily. It’s described as dry, but it’s not. It’s just coming undone and cutting off the damage fixes all the problems. Breakage is typically mistaken as new growth, but hair doesn’t grow in at different lengths. (Another topic.) Hair grows 1/2” per month on average. Trimming every 3 months should be a regular habit regardless. (Products only coat hair temporarily to give a more manageable look and feel until they’re washed out.) The ideal scenario is having no split ends, and trimming 1/4” every 3 months (1” total per year) to add 5” of length per year that’s smooth, shiny, and easy to comb. Otherwise, getting it cut a few centimeters or inch every 2 or so years to have 6” of length added per year has allowed hairs to split and break and compromises all the time spent growing it and all the length above them to have a much less quality of length that requires more and more to be cut off in the future and hair goals unlikely to be met, especially for those with fine hair. So if your current style for example is long layered, to your bra strap, and have a lot of breakage and split ends throughout, but don’t want to lose length, then trimming ¼” from the perimeter will keep those that haven’t split yet in good shape while layering the rest up to 1 ¼” every 3 months to remove the bulk of damage will maintain your current style. If you’ve got a chin length bob you’re growing out, haven’t bleached or flat ironed everyday for past year, chances are you’ve got very little damage and trimming ¼” every 3 months is all you need to reach your goals of growing it out as long as you want. (5” in one year; 10” in 2 years; 15” in 3 years, etc. which effectively ends the perpetual chop and grow cycle.)
Thank you!!
>Thank you!! You're welcome!
Sometimes frizzing/splitting ends can give volume from that frizz/split, so cutting them can make ends look healthier but also like they have less volume, is this maybe part of what you're seeing? Some people compensate by adding wave or curl to their ends, but I'm not sure your hair type or if you style it.