Top Sign That Your Natural Hair Needs A Trim

top sign that your natural hair needs a trim

 I do silk presses everyday in my salon. In fact, since I do so many of them I can tell when the hair needs to be trimmed just from touching it. Notice that I did not say I can tell from looking at it because as you can see in this picture above, or the "before" picture, all of the hair looks the same while in its natural state, from the roots to the ends. This is why many natural women do not get trims very often. When your hair is in its natural state, the split ends fit right in with all of the other (healthy) hair. I have had natural women tell me that they have not had a trim in years. They knew it was time for one but just kept putting it off because their hair did not necessarily look bad on the ends. So, how can you tell when your natural hair needs a trim?

If you look at the picture above and the picture below, it is very obvious to spot the split ends when the hair is straight. When the hair is curly, you can tell in the detangle process. When the hair gets very hard to detangle on the ends that is a clear sign that the ends are splitting. You can tell when the comb goes through easily from the scalp to the mid-shaft, but when you get to the ends it gets extremely tangled, that is a clear indicator that it is time for a trim. The comb should go all the way through the hair smoothly.

This client had not had a trim in over a year. Yes the split ends make the hair look longer but they also make the hair not look healthy. Once the hair has had a trim, you can see immediately see how much healthier the hair looks. I recommend getting a trim at least every three months on average. The longer you wait to get a trim, the split ends will only continue to split up the hair shaft meaning you will have to get more cut.

Luckily this client did not care how much needed to be trimmed. Her only concern was that all the split ends were gone and that her hair looked healthy. She had been looking for a hairstylist and found me online so she jumped on the opportunity to come get her hair right. So, this was her first appointment and she was pleased! Her hair had lots of body and bounce. All she would need to do is wrap it and it will last until she wets it again.

Products used on her hair: Silk Hydration by L. Jones Clarifying Shampoo, Moisturizing Shampoo, Replinishing Conditioner, Leave-In Conditioner, and Miracle Potion no9 (in that order).

Why Only Getting A "Baby Trim" or "Dusting The Ends" Is Not Enough

Why getting a baby trim or dusting the ends is not enough

This is a client that I had come to my salon for the first time. She wanted a silk press and to have her ends "trimmed". I put trim in quotation marks because sometimes we use the words trim and cut interchangeably but to me they do not mean the same thing. I consider a trim to be just that, more specifically to me a trim is less than an inch of hair. I consider a cut to be more than an inch. Tip for all of my natural girls: If it has been more than six months, especially if it has been years since you have had your last trim, please do not expect to go to a hairstylist and get one fourth of an inch cut. This may seem like common sense to some but to others they really think they can go years without a trim and when us hairstylists cut all the dead ends off we get labeled as scissor happy.

a baby trim was just not enough this time

Yes the split ends make your hair look longer! But do not be fooled, that is all that they do for you because they definitely do not make the hair healthier. In fact, when you continue to procrastinate on getting your ends trimmed, all they do is continue to split up the hair shaft. As a result your ends look very frayed and wiry. They do not even match the rest of your hair. For this client, I initially gave her a "trim" but it had been so long since she had one that it simply was not enough. I showed her what it looked like to have a trim then explained to her that she still needed more cut. She was not opposed to me cutting and had already been thinking about doing a bob so she used this opportunity to just go for it.

you can see the split ends clearly when hair is straight

Look at what a difference a trim made!

6 Things You Never Knew About Relaxers

The client featured in this post came to me with her hair in bad shape. She had damage from relaxers due to getting them every six weeks like clock work (from another stylist). Over time she began to see her hair start breaking in different places around her head and she also noticed that her hair started looking very thin on the ends. This led to me having to cut her hair so that it could be even and could look healthier. This leads me to today's topic, 6 things you never knew about relaxers.

1. You should never do your own relaxer- I know, I know, many of you already know this. But many of you that know this still do it anyway! I can not stress this enough. It is so important that you let a trusted professional hairstylist do your relaxer. Never try to do your own relaxer. I know that all hairstylists are not created equal and that some will even give you a touch up every four weeks if you let them. If you have relaxed hair it is vital to the overall health of your hair that you find someone that values healthy hair and not only knows how to correctly apply a relaxer but also knows when to apply one.

2. Getting a relaxer every six weeks is too soon- Every single time I