Haircuts: How Often and How Much You Should Have Cut

There is a lot of controversy over how often people should get their haircut and how much should be trimmed off. I am here to straighten all that out for you and give you direct answers on the truth about haircuts.

We are taught in beauty school that most people need their hair trimmed, on average about every six weeks. But every head of hair is as different as every person who sits down in that chair and every hair on your head can be different too. Depending on your type of hair, your diet, your environment, your shampoos, conditioners, styling aids and on and on, there are so many factors that your right trim time depends on, it is hard to say in one article. But I will try to shorten it up for you so to speak.

I need to get you up to speed on the topic of hair growth real quick so that you will understand some statements. The better you understand your own hair the easier it is for you to get what you want and for your stylist to help you. I am sure you hear all kinds of numbers on how fast hair grows but again that depends on you. The basic idea is a healthy person with average hair growth gets about a ½ to and inch a month of new growth. That can change with diet, age, the amount of styling and the amount of shampooing and conditioning. Hopefully your stylist can help you determine the amount of average growth for you, it may be more or less than average. I did write an article on how to grow your hair long, you can check the internet for my article or this site. If you have questions or need help you can comment below.

Knowing what a split looks like will also help you. The hair shaft is wound sort of wound together like a rope would be. So when you look at the hair shaft and it has two ends instead of one, most people would already know this, but that is a split. Some of the problem is though that it can split farther up the shaft. You can grab a small chunk of hair and look at the ends but you may not be seeing all the splits that could be there. I mention below about twisting the hair shaft and trimming. You can twist small chunks of hair up and then run your fingers backwards toward your scalp and see what pops out, sometimes this helps you determine if there are splits somewhere farther up, and I repeat, sometimes.

To start with the tips let me tell you what I tell my clients on a regular basis. As far as your particular hair type, that will have to be determined and talked about later. But for now lets start with the most common statements and if you have been keeping up with my other beauty articles you will know that I am going to tell you that you have to judge for yourself. Here are some signs you can watch for.

1. When the ends start to thin. If you have long hair it is easier to see because when you first get your hair cut you have this nice line at the ends of your hair, or rather, you should. When that line becomes undefined or thinner then you are starting to split and maybe already have some breakage, definitely see your stylist. Or find a new one if the line is very defined in the first place. The only time that line is undefined right after a haircut is if you get a razor cut, and I am not talking about clipper, I am talking about a straight edge razor. If they use thinner shears, and that would be a whole other article on that topic, there are proper ways to use them and improper ways. Or if you haven’t had enough taken off, the line may still be thin and you can talk to the stylist before you leave the salon. If they tell you to come back in six weeks, call them out and say baloney. If you haven’t had enough taken off then you should either have more taken or it should be a minimum of 4 weeks later. Remember the average hair growth. I sometimes give clients tips to keep up their hair if they are trying to grow it out or there is damage or breakage farther up the head of hair that should be watched or taken care. If the client doesn’t want their hair that short than usually I have them twist small sections on their own at home and show them how to trim those splits that are farther up themselves. It can take hours sometimes and to do something like that I would have to charge tremendous amounts of money per hour and I don’t feel right taking that kind of money from people for something they can do themselves.

2. Visually, people with very dark, shiny hair, usually Asian. The natural Asian hair shaft has what is called a glass cuticle. Their hair is black and shiny and split ends are easy to see. This is why, the outside of your hair shaft looks like fish scales and when those fish scales are laid down flat the hair reflects light easier, causing the shine. When the fish scales are lifted up and rough the light refracts off and it causes it to look dull. Also, all of your color is contained inside, underneath that fish scale, so it is harder for it slip out or fade if that fish scale cuticle is laid down. I am going to write an article later on hair color which will help you with any color problems you may be having, please watch for it. These people with dark hair or easy to see splits will be able to tell if they need them trimmed off, but then again, if you hair is getting healthier, you may need to change your habits and watch for other things.

3. Touching, the hair shaft. People with light hair, sorry, it is harder for you to see them. As the ends of the hair split, you do loose more color but if you hair is already light you won’t be able to spot them as easily. Another way you can tell if you are splitting is by running your fingers down your hair and teach yourself what your healthy hair feels like and what it feels like when more of that fish scale is lifted. Start close to the scalp where your hair really hasn’t had a chance to get damaged yet. If you have had a chemical process or tend to put your heated styling aid towards the scalp it will make it harder, but the hair towards the scalp with still be just a little healthy. Get to know your hair. As you run your fingers down your hair you may feel a change in the texture, not the size, the texture, or your hair as you move father to the ends. If it feels a little balled, like there is beads in it, that is a whole other article and is usually a body change but don’t panic. What you are feeling for would be like going from a smoother light sand paper to a rougher more coarse sand paper. If you use professional finger files you may understand this. One side of the file is very fine and softer then the other side is rougher. When your hair feels like that finer side, then it is usually ok the fish scales are laid down fairly well. If it feel like the rougher side then you are probably looking at hair that is split or broken and needs a trim.

4. Knowing by your style. Short haired people will know when they want a trim because their style isn’t working anymore. Long haired people may not know unless they follow one of the steps above. Person choice comes into play here. I have long hair and I trim it once a month about a ½ an inch but my hair grows almost too fast. Again you can read my article on growing your hair long to find out how I grow my hair fast. You can find it on the internet, on this site or leave a comment below. Most people will know when to get their bangs trimmed because they aren’t working or they are in their eyes. That doesn’t mean you have to trim all your hair so tell your stylist if you just want your bangs trimmed and don’t let them talk you into a whole haircut if you know your not in need of it.

Following these simple steps usually helps my clients know when they need to see me. Some come sooner and some come later and I am nice enough to let them know if they are not ready for the trim. I also nice enough to let them know if they don’t need as much as they told me to cut. Here are some simple things I look for when clients tell me how much they want, also things to remember.

1. First and foremost I tell my clients that it is easier to take more off than it is to put it back on or grow it back out. If you tell me an inch I usually take about ½ of an inch. I know I am not normal, but I have had too much taken off my hair before too. I told someone once that I didn’t want my curly perm anymore and when they went to cut it they neglected to tell me that it was an inch from head. They also neglected to realize that I have naturally curly hair and most of what they cut was not the perm. Shortest haircut I ever had and I have a very long neck, v-necks were in that year and it was my freshmen year in high school. I started high school looking like a giraffe. If you want some advice on how to cut your hair for you then post a comment below and I will answer the best that I can or write an article.

Back to the point of number 1, under estimate how much you need and be specific on what you want done. Tell your stylist to “start” with this much and go from there. Personally with my clients, I would rather take all day and get it right then rush through and have them leave upset or unhappy. Every stylist should be like that, yes they make money by how many clients they can get through in a day, however, you are our walking billboards, if you are not happy, eventually we have no clients. Make them take their time. You live with your hair every day, not us.

2. You can have different amounts taken off in different areas. I have clients that have areas of hair that grow slower or faster than others. Like the bangs, people tend to play with their bangs or brush them out of their face so by touching the scalp they are actually stimulating the circulation which can cause their hair to grow faster. Other parts of your hair can be effected by that too. Like mine, I have the curly hair that I have mentioned before, so I get a lot of breakage around the hairline. I don’t really want those hairs cuts a ½ like the rest because they are already short, so I just trim the tips to make sure that the splitting isn’t causing the breakage.

Just to make sure you are clear on the splitting and breaking comment; when your hair splits it can continue to split up the hair shaft and eventually that split leads to breakage. If you would like other information or causes of breaking hair please comment below and I will answer as soon as possible or email me.

You are allowed to tell your stylist that you want a ½ inch here or a ¼ there. You do not have to sit down and say “oh, I want a 1 inch all over taken off.” You should be consulting with your stylist on any situations, difficulties or ideas you have about your hair. Do not let them rush you. It is your hair, be picky.

3. Check your hair after it is cut, before you leave the salon. Run your fingers through it, ask for a brush to see how it feels. If it’s not right, do not walk out of the salon until it’s what you want. Unless of course they cut it too short already. Then you need to tell them you are upset. I have only had that happen to me once and it wasn’t really too short. I was in the middle of back to school which is a stylist nightmare, 30-40 clients a day non-stop. I had a boy sit down in my chair who was in dire need of a cut. His mom explained that she wanted it really short but that he had a tail in the back that he had for years and she said she wanted him to keep it. It was one of those days I had done the same cut all day, number two blended up, it’s a clipper cut and then scissors on the top, neat and clean. I accidentally took the tail off. I realized the minute that section of hair hit the floor. I looked at his mom and she seemed shocked and I looked at the boy and he was smiling, obviously mother and son were not in agreement. But I gave him the haircut for free and offered to cut his hair for free until it grew out. He told me that was ok, no big deal and the mom took my deal, however, when he came back for the next cut his mother paid and she paid me double saying that she shouldn’t have let me do it for free the first time, he wanted the tail gone. I still feel guilty about it and it has been 14 years. That is the one and only time I have ever let anything my client said slip out of my mind. Do not let your stylist stop listening to you. If they seem distracted when you are in their chair, make them stop.

There are so many things I can tell you about how to make sure your appointment is what you want and how to know when to get it cut but for now, lets just start with this. Again, if you have questions or would like to hear more on another subject or would like to give us your ideas, please comment below. Look for more of my articles on this site or look me up on the web, may all your days be good hair days.