Of course, every once in a while your hair will need a good trim. The key word in that statement is “Trim”. Trimming your hair is the process of clipping and not necessarily cutting off any unwanted, split ends, uneven hair strands, or relaxed ends when going natural. Basically, it’s removing any dead hair on your head. When you have this service done, you do not intend to get a full-blown haircut. 

How Much Should I Trim Off?

Hair trimming is only intended to cut off about 1-2 inches of your hair. 3 inches or more of your hair being taken off is pushing the limit and a borderline haircut status. Most people don’t want to give up the length of their hair. This causes them to avoid any removal of their split ends and haircuts altogether. So when should you not trim our hair?

• Do not trim your hair if you do not know what you are doing. It is best to go to a hairstylist near you or someone you know who can do it for you properly. 
• You have natural hair. Most people who have natural hair don’t typically wear their hair in its straightened state or in straight hairstyles. They wear their hair in an afro, pineapple, twists, or dreadlocks. This is basically an unnecessary process because you would not be able to tell that the hair was actually cut. This is due to their natural daily hairstyles.

• Do not trim your hair if you had it done during your last wash or style. Unnecessary trimming is done that doesn’t need to be done depending on the length of time in between trims. Your hair doesn’t typically grow that fast. Your hair grows at a rate of about half of an inch per month to about 6 inches a year. You would be getting rid of hair that should remain on your head.

• You just did a big chop. This is either cutting all your hair off of your head to start with a fresh set of new growth or clipping your relaxed ends. If you did a big chop it would not be needed because your hair is just beginning to grow. If you were transitioning it would essentially be the same thing because your relaxed ends would have already been removed. You would just be cutting into your new growth.

• You will be getting a braided style, a weave, or wearing a wig. You should wait until after you take down the style so that this will allow your hair to grow out a bit longer before cutting. Also, your hair can possibly become damaged during the style which may cause you to have to go back in and cut away more hair.