Trim Your Way to Healthy Hair

With hair extensions being so popular nowadays, it seems that no one is really worried about getting haircuts or trims. But getting regular trims is essential to keeping your hair healthy. Today, we have so many hot tools at our disposal for daily styling. Blow dryers, curling irons, flat irons, all give us control over our hair. But with daily use, these tools put a lot stress on the hair, especially the ends. Heat from these tools over a period of time, dries out the hair, just like a too hot iron can scorch a garment. When you factor in daily friction from brushing and combing and the drying effects of the sun….our hair takes quite a beating. This can cause the ends to split and break….which will make your hair feel damaged. 

 You can always tell when your ends have seen better days. If you can feel tangles and snags as you comb through the ends of your hair….chances are the ends need a good trim. And when the ends are really brittle and frayed…you can actually see the splits and frizziness. How often do you need to trim your hair? It depends on how much heat you use on your hair on a daily basis, the overall texture of your hair and whether you have a color, perm or relaxer. Everything you do to your hair affects it’s elasticity….the ability of the hair to stretch without breaking. Anything you do to reduce the elasticity, like color, perms or relaxers, means you have to be more careful about using heat which also reduces elasticity.

 As a general rule, to maintain a cut or short style, a ½ inch trim every 4 to 6 weeks is perfect. If you are growing your hair out or want to maintain a longer length, a ½ inch trim every 8 to 10 weeks works well. If you wait longer, it could mean an inch or more off instead of a ½ inch….so stay on schedule. This will keep your hair growth consistent and your ends in good condition. Remember that once the ends are damaged the only real fix is to trim off the damage.

About The Author:  

Valerie currently is a freelance hair and make-up artist with over 20 years experience and has worked on many projects including “Deal or No Deal” for NBC and “Ten Years Younger” for TLC. She has magazine editorials from In Style, LA Direct, First, Life and Style and many more.  She continues to work on movie press junkets, video shoots, editorial photo shoots, and photo shoots for models, actors and musicians as well as advertising and commercial shoots, doing hair and make-up.

 ©2009 This article was excerpted with permission from Valerie Noble.  Permission to reprint is granted by the author. All reprints must state, “Reprinted with permission by Valerie Noble for www.valerienoble.com. Originally published in www.WomensOnlineMagazineLosAngeles.com, July, 2009.

DISCLAIMER: The information and opinions reflected in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect on the publisher, editor, or editorial staff of Women’s Online Magazine. This article has been written and reviewed by the author. Any errors should be brought to the attention of the author.

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