To cut or not to cut.... is that a question?
It never fails... whenever I am at a convention, product demo, conference, or just out and about people always ask me how I get my hair to look the way it does. Having natural hair is not an easy task, but mind you it has been over 25 years since I have had any sort of chemical process in my hair, so I have a little bit of experience. Achieving and maintaining a healthy head of hair has been by trial and error... but let's face it in the beginning it was mostly error. However, over the years I have gotten my hair regimen down to a science - and yes I am speaking literally and figuratively. It is surprising that even after all these years I was missing an important aspect of hair care maintenance - regular trims. We often omit regular trims based on a variety of faulty information pertaining to hair styling, hair growth, and hair maintenance. A good haircut will complement your natural hair style. It will give your curls definition. It will stop shedding and actually help your hair to grow. When I go out to do my hair care demos African American women still ask me the same age old question : To cut or not to cut... but should that really be a question?
Let's face it - we live in a society that mostly equates long cascading hair with beauty. Most of the black female icons from Beyonce to Kerry Washington all have straight shoulder length hair or longer. Conversely, women like India Arie, Erykah Badu, Viola Davis, and even Bey's own sister Solange are somehow not included in this very subjective conversation about who is and is not beautiful. Long hair is oftentimes equated with beauty, femininity, gentleness, fertility and availability. As a result, we often times will abuse, damage, and neglect our hair to maintain a of semblance of length.
Don't get me wrong. I know there are a lot of other areas to unpack when we are discussing African/ African American women and beauty. I understand that there are other mitigating factors such as color, age, and class that play a role in how beauty is determined , evaluated, and then assigned. I could go on and on for pages and pages on the topic of color alone, but for the sake of brevity I will stay focused on the subject at hand: damaging hair for the sake of length. It has been proven that regular trims actually help the hair grow because it get rid of split ends which in turn helps stop breakage. Trimming the hair during the transition phase, although traumatic for some, is one of the most effective and fastest ways of allowing your hair to reach it growth potential. It will also allow your styles to last longer and it is a great way to speed up transitioning from processed to natural hair.
One of the most common misunderstandings about trimming the hair is that hair cutting is for styles only. Although cutting your hair in a style will add definition, enhance the style and compliment your features, regular trims also help your hair care product reach its maximum effectiveness potential. It will help you execute your natural hair styles with all the finesse of the best youtubers. Regular trims will help prolong your twistouts, wash and gos and many other natural hair care styles. Here is a great link about how to get the most of your natural hair with a great trim.
Finally, regular trims will help define your curl pattern. Although there are several methods you can find on YouTube to achieve this, it is recommended that you see a professional natural hair stylist first . One of the benefits of having a clearly defined curl pattern is it makes maintaining your hair easier. I don't know about you - but i do not have an unlimited amount of hours to devote to my hair. I have noticed that my defined curls enables my hair to look its best with minimal effort. I mean the fall asleep on a twistout, fluff in the morning, and run out the house minimal.....
We at Grand*Tressa believe that your best hair is your healthiest hair no matter the length, texture, color or pattern. One of the ways to achieve this is by regular trims performed by a stylist or yourself. Regular trims will help your hair to grow, define your curls and help you execute your natural hair care styles perfectly. So when the time comes, to cut or not to cut will not even be a question... but your answer to how you achieve a full, beautiful, and healthy hair.
Here are a few links that you may also be interested in:
