Trim Done and Daughter Home

I finally did my half inch trim today. I always have mixed feelings when I trim. On the one hand, I know that I need it, but on the other hand, I hate losing length. However, wanting thicker ends in the long run always outweighs any trepidation I might have. 

I know how fickle I sound. Sometimes I really want to cut out the remaining 4 or so inches of thin ends, and then on the other hand, I feel hesitant about trimming just a half inch. Well, I think a lot of us feel that way at times.

The trim seemed to go well, and I didn't cut off any more than I planned on. I do know that my ends feel nice, but until I wash my hair and see it damp, it will be difficult to tell exactly how the hemline is looking. I have some bun waves right now, so it's hard to tell. 

My daughter arrived yesterday in the late afternoon, and we stayed up talking well past my bedtime. Unfortunately, I had a bit of a rough night, so I'm not as well-rested as I'd like to be today. Especially given how this past week has been, I really needed a good night's sleep.

Tonight I'll be going to bed as soon as I'm drowsy enough, just as I did the other evening. I hope that I sleep through the night.

Well, this is very brief, but my daughter is not going out this evening, which may not be the case for the rest of her visit, so I'll leave it at that for today.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.

Doing a Little Trim On Saturday

Well, I am well overdue for a trim, and I have booked an appointment with myself to trim on Saturday morning. I'll just be trimming off 1/2 inch to even up my hemline a wee bit and to continue to cut out the thinner ends due to the breakage that I so often mention.

I love trimming my own hair. I like it because I know exactly how much I'm cutting off. I know exactly what a half of an inch looks like; it's merely the width of my pinkie finger. So many people--even hairstylists--forget just how little a half of an inch is.

I also like the feeling of satisfaction that I get from not only saving money on a stylist, but from the sense of accomplishment that comes from doing something I never thought I could do myself. And I learned how to do it when I was 45!

I am such a klutz in so many ways, but trimming my own hair and having the hemline look decent really does make me feel good. And it's so nice to feel some fresh ends against my fingertips afterwards.

I won't lie; sometimes I am still tempted to go back and cut off the remaining inches (4 or 5) of thin ends, right up to the visible point of breakage, but having reached BSL again, and knowing that I'm on my way to having longer hair than I've ever had within the next year keeps me from chopping.

I will confess that I had my hair in a braid the other morning, or "Black Tuesday" as I might now refer to it, and I had a momentary fantasy of picking up the scissors and lopping off the braid. The thought of how I could undo in seconds a couple of years of growth snapped me quickly and rudely back into reality. I simply could not and would not do such a thing.

I have made a choice to continue growing, only with small trims, and nothing, barring a drastic medical event, will stop me.

I will try to get a November photo taken before my trim. I hope that my hair and the camera cooperate.


Well, I did it. I slept through the night last night. I started feeling drowsy enough to fall asleep by 8pm and by 8:15, I was off to bed. Reading in bed before going to sleep is my habit, but I don't think I read for more than 2 minutes before falling asleep. I slept through my husband getting ready and leaving the house for work, and I somehow managed to sleep until 6am. I can't tell you that one good night's sleep has fixed everything, but it's a good start.

The black cloud is still there, but it is less dense than it was earlier in the week. I am starting to vaguely see a thin spot in the cloud that will soon be a way out. While I love being a woman, and I wouldn't change it for the world, I do think that we pay for it sometimes with our ever-changing hormones. While they can often be our friends, they can also become our nemeses.


Well, my daughter is coming home tomorrow. Given the week I've had, I'm sure it is no revelation that the house is not in the shape I hoped it would be for her arrival. I feel bad about it, but I am not going to allow that thought to start me off on a feeling-bad-about me tangent again.


I did respond to the comments left on Tuesday that I simply couldn't manage to do yesterday. Even today, my replies are insufficient compared with how much the comments meant to me. I can only hope that you can see beyond my words to the true appreciation that I feel.


'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.
xo

October BSL Update: I'M THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I mentioned yesterday that I was nervous about taking a BSL update photo, but I did it anyway. (Photo clickable as always)

I am well and truly at BSL now!!!

Yes, my ends look a bit thin, but we knew that, as I've mentioned ad nauseam that I'm still trimming out the damage that I did over 2 years ago. I still have a few inches to trim off.

But I'm at BSL again for the first time in almost 2 1/2 years, and I couldn't feel happier about it. Since I skipped my trim in September, because I was getting so close to BSL, and of course I haven't trimmed in October, I now feel free to have that much-needed trim, and I'll be able to feel good about it. I'm going to get back into my "trim 1/2 inch every 3 months routine" now, until I reach waist length, which even with the trims, should be next summer.

I really do feel so happy to know that my hair has been getting longer this year after maintaining between just below shoulder length and BSL for almost 2 years.

So, while I won't deny that my damaged ends still bother me, I will say that for today at least, it's a very good hair day for me.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all, and extra hugs to anyone feeling exhausted today.
xo

Happy Autumn!

The Vernal Equinox is just a few hours away, and with it comes the official first moment of Autumn here in the Northern Hemisphere. In some ways it feels like I was just watching the snow melt in early Spring, but when I really think about it, I guess it was a rather long hot summer.

In any case, I welcome the new season, and I look forward to the beautiful colours of Fall.

According to The Almanac, today and tomorrow are good days to trim hair for optimal growth and according to  The Morrocco Method Lunar Calendar, today and tomorrow are best days to "beautify" hair, whatever that means. I suppose it just means it's a good time to do any trim, treatment or touch-up. I often notice that the Equinox and Solstice days are often viewed by many cultures as the very best times of year to trim one's hair.

It's making me rethink the idea of waiting until October to trim. After all, I'm going to get the trim one way or another, and who am I to argue with hundreds of years of folk wisdom?  Whether I trim now or trim next month, I'll still reach the same length by Christmas, which I hope is BSL.

I'll let you know tomorrow what I decide.

It was a very rainy morning and early afternoon, but it's nice and sunny now. The sun is beckoning me, so I'll close out this entry now.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love and extra hugs to anyone feeling heartbroken today.
xo

No Trim This Month

Thanks to everyone for your get well wishes, as I am feeling somewhat better today. Much to my surprise, I had a full night's sleep last night, despite all of the napping yesterday, and it made a lot of difference. The fever is not gone, but it's down significantly, and I am a little more aware of my surroundings again today.

I finally managed to wash my hair, and I'm glad that I knew that after having it bunned for a few days, with very little combing in the mean time, there would be a lot of shed hairs ready to be removed, or I may have panicked when I saw all of the hair that came out in my comb. However, it was just 3 days worth of shed hair that was unleashed, so it was entirely normal.

My hair is not quite dry, but it was just about dry enough to take a photo of the ends. My assessment is that I can go one more month without a trim. My ends are thinner than the rest of my hair, especially on the right side, but we know that already, as I am still growing out and trimming out the damage. Nevertheless, I don't see enough new unevenness or thinness to make it mandatory to trim this month.

I'll have my half inch trim in October, after checking with both the Morrocco Method Lunar Calendar and The Almanac's Best Days. I like to choose a day that they both recommend. Usually there is at least a day each month when their best cutting days overlap.

I am indeed enjoying the cooler air that has come today, and I'm sure we'll have a few more blasters of heat before the summer is officially through, but this has been a very nice respite today.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful weekend. For those of you who celebrate Labour Day as we do, I hope you enjoy your long weekend.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Love to all, and extra hugs to anyone with an ailing loved one.

Sometimes It Really IS Hard To Trim

Thank you for the nice comments to yesterday's blog entry. I really am happy with my colour, my hair is shiny and I have no split ends. I don't know why I felt the need to apologize for the photo just because the ends looked uneven due to bun dents, but that's how it is sometimes in the world of Crazy Longhairs; we are our own worst critics.

Lulu made a very interesting point in her comment yesterday. She said that having a small trim seems like such a big decision all of a sudden. I don't think that there is any committed longhair who can't relate to how you feel.

Now, in my first year of growing, I had considerable damage from the days before I knew how to care for my hair. My hair had previously been blow-dried, hot-ironed and over-lightened. It's not surprising that after 9 months of growing without any trims, my hair was covered with splits and was extremely thin at the ends. I was just a whisper away from waist length, but the bottom 6 inches were see-through.

My decision to dye my hair medium brown, which required two full-head dyes did not help matters. My hair looked pitiful and felt like straw. It was the easiest decision of my life to cut off those six inches and have a fresh start.

A year later when it took repeated dyeing to get back to my blonde shade (before I knew about the wonders of coconut oil protecting from peroxide damage), again, it was easy to chop off six inches of visible damage once again. I even cut off a further two or three inches. For the next year and a half, I merely maintained my above APL length, so I was trimming frequently.

Once my hair felt healthy enough to start growing again, this past January, suddenly trimming has become very difficult. Logically, I know that for me, trims are essential. My hair is so fine and so straight that any true unevenness shows up like crazy and thin ends simply are not for me. Yet doing that mandatory trim is getting harder and harder to want to do.

My head and mind know very well from experience that where my hair is concerned, the old saw, "A stitch in time saves nine.", surely applies. My emotions and my heart on the other hand, are getting excited about reaching that next goal.

And so with that disconnect between head and heart, the decision to trim when necessary suddenly becomes huge.

The bottom line is that I have to be strict with myself, assess my needs honestly and be disciplined enough to trim when it's time to trim.

In my case, I trim when my hair begins to look uneven. Other times, it may be that I can simply feel with my own hands that it's time to trim.

If my ends feel like velcro and I've tried the usual first aid of clarifying and then doing a deep moisturizing treatment and that hasn't worked, then chances are that it's time to trim.

Having learned the skill of trimming and cutting my own hair and bangs has proved to be invaluable. As I've mentioned before, I use Feye's Self-Trim Method, with excellent results. It still amazes me that I, who can't draw a straight line to save my life, or cut a straight line freehand on a piece of paper, can cut my hair successfully.

To this day, I've never unintentionally cut more hair off than I wanted.

In any case, this month was slated to be my trim month, but since my growth rate has been slower than normal this summer, I may hold off until October. I've given my hair an extra day of rest since I touched up my roots on Monday, so I won't be washing until tomorrow morning. I'm going to do a deep moisture treatment, comb my hair straight down and really look at my ends. If they're uneven, then I trim this month. If they're still okay, no trim until October.

I think I'll have a photo taken of my ends combed down so that I can really see it clearly before I make my decision. Whichever decision needs to be made, I'm going to make sure that I post about it and stick to it, without regret.

I have realized that I really do have to let my brain do the talking when it comes to my hair and not my emotions.

I think it's hysterical that I've written so much on the topic of trimming just a half of an inch, but that's the way it can be with Crazy Longhairs. In any case, I'll let you know tomorrow what the verdict is.

'Til then, my friends. Love to all, and extra hugs to anyone in pain.

Rough Day

I had hoped not to talk about migraines when I started this blog, but I'm afraid they are a regular part of my life, so it's difficult not to discuss the subject, especially on days like this.

Today I woke up with not only a migraine, but a cluster headache on top of it. It hasn't eased up even a little today, so needless to say, I am not up to writing much.

I have not been very present on the hair forums or on Facebook for the past few days. Sometimes I tend to retreat to my groundhog hole, and this is one of those times. I'm about two days behind on reading the blogs that I'm subscribed to as well, but I will catch up.

In good news, my son returned home safely after his visit with my daughter.  They had such a good time, and I know that it meant a lot to my daughter.

As for my hair, I have been wondering if I can start going four months between trims instead of just three. I guess I won't know until trim time comes in September. If the ends are looking too raggedy, I guess I'll go ahead and have a small trim. If not, I'll wait until October.

However, with such straight hair every little uneven hair does show, so my guess is that I'll end up having my regular September trim.

It's funny how for the past two years, trimming didn't bother me, but as I'm getting closer to my next goal, I'm very jealous of every half inch of hair that I have.

In the end though, I know that my desire for quality will win out over my desire for quantity, even though it means waiting to reach that next milestone.

I hope to have a video or a photo tutorial some time before the end of the weekend. I'm actually thinking that I'll be able to do a Figure 8 video now.

Even for those of you with shorter hair, you may find that you can do a Figure 8 half-updo, so yes, it will indeed be my next video. The nice thing about half-ups is that they do protect the most vulnerable part of the hair, the canopy.

Well, I'm off to relax in hopes that I can obliterate this head pain and nausea.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to everyone.

Hair Care and Moon Phases

Since I was a teen, I remember reading in The Farmer's Almanac about "Best Days".  They are influenced by the phases of the moon.  Farmers have been following the "Best Days" guide for planting, pruning, harvesting etc, but they also have best days for many other activities, including cutting hair to encourage growth or to discourage growth.  It's easier than ever now to look up the best days since The Almanac has a great website.

Morrocco Method has taken it a step further and has best days to trim for thickness, length, to touch up your roots or to all-over beautify.

I find all of this fascinating, and people all over the world plan many tasks based on moon phases.

While there is really no science to this, I do tend to look up the best days for trimming when I do my regular trims.  Does it work?  I don't know. But it can't hurt, especially since I trim anyway. Who am I to argue with centuries of folk wisdom? Call me crazy, but I don't care.

Here is the link to Almanac.com's best days.  Here is the link to Morrocco Method's Lunar Chart and Hair Care. Even if you don't believe in the idea, it is fun to think about.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

It was time to trim my hair today. I’ve mentioned before that I planned to trim one third of my growth every three months.  This is to remove the old damage, of which several inches are left, and also to keep my ends from looking raggedy.

However, when it came time to trim, I realized before I even took that first snip that I was going to have to trim off more than just a third of my growth.

My hair had been cut in a very sharp v-shape, and I want to start leveling it out a bit.  If I just cut off 3/4 of an inch, almost none of the length would have been trimmed.  There was such a tiny bit of hair at the point of the vee, that it was almost pointless to trim it and expect that my ends would look less jagged.

So I thought about it for a long time and ended up doubling the amount that I trimmed.  So in essence I cut off about half of my growth of the past three months. I really didn’t want to lose the length, but on the other hand, my ends looked terrible.  I would rather have hair an inch shorter than planned than have longer hair with ends I despise.

A really important part of growing my hair is doing my best to make sure that it remains as healthy looking as possible.

If it takes me double the time to achieve my goals, so be it.  This is really where patience is going to be needed.  The sooner I get the rest of the damage cut out, while still managing to keep growing, even a bit, the better.

So, I’m not exactly ecstatic with losing more length than I hoped, but it did beat the alternative of having ends that I was unhappy with.  That past damage is really coming back to haunt me more than I thought it would.

I must admit that I do hope that this is a good growth month.

Trim Your Own Hair For Total Control

I've mentioned before that I like to have 1/2 inch trimmed off of my hair every 3 to 4 months.  While not everyone agrees with trimming while growing their hair, for me, it's a must. Without trims, my ends become very shaggy looking within just a few months. In part that's due to the uneven growth rate of each individual hair. With my fine, pin-straight hair, it's very noticeable.

I like to keep my ends looking as thick as possible while still growing.  Yes, cutting off 1/2 inch 3 or 4 times a year inevitably slows my progress to my ultimate goal, but I'm more concerned with the journey than the destination at this point.  

I've seen what my hair looks like without a trim for a year, and it isn't at all the way I want my hair to look.

A small trim now and then could mean not having to have a big chop because I suddenly notice that the bottom inches of my hair are transparent, as has happened to me in the past.

If you are someone who likes to have regular trims, it can be difficult to find a hair stylist who really understand that when you say 1/2 inch, you really mean 1/2 inch.  Sometimes people don't even realize just how small 1/2 inch is.  For me, it's merely the width of the tip of my pinkie finger.

A lot of stylists will not work well with trims that small.  Of course there are many who do, but how do you find one? Believe me, it can be hard.

That's why a lot of long-haired people have taken matters into their own hands and self-trim.

I've mentioned before that I'm all thumbs, and I'm honestly not kidding.  I can't draw a straight line to save my life and my handwriting is horrendous, even when I'm trying to be neat.

Yet I can trim my own hair!  I never thought I'd be able to do it, but I can.  It's so easy and just about anyone can do it. On the long hair forums, I discovered  Feye's Self-Trim Method. What a revelation!  It's a very easy way to trim your hair in tiny amounts.  You can also vary between a straight across hemline, a v-shape or a u-shape.

I will suggest that if your hair is only just past your shoulders, it may be helpful to have a friend do the cutting, especially if you're not self-confident, but once your hair is below the under-arm line, you should have no trouble at all doing it yourself.

My second suggestion would be to try cutting off less than you plan to have cut off in total the first or second time you self-trim.  You can always cut off a bit more if necessary.

Lastly, make sure you are using very sharp barber shears.  These days, you can find good quality barber shears at reasonable prices on Ebay. If you really want to go all out, by all means, go to a professional store to buy your shears.  Sharp scissors are essential, not just for a good cut, but also to keep your hair in the best condition.  Dull scissors can lead to split ends.

It's a really fine achievement to be independent of having to go to a salon, but to still be able to maintain your own hair.  It saves money, and you are also in complete control of your own length.

Here is the link to Feye's Self-Trim Method.  If I can do it, believe me, anyone can.

Good luck with it!

How to Trim Your Own Bangs--It's Easy!

If you wear bangs or a fringe, you'll find that you'll need to trim them fairly often.  Many hair salons will trim your bangs for free between regular cuts.  However, if you're growing out your hair, you may not be going to a salon regularly anymore. 

If you already have straight-across bangs, here are some tips for trimming your bangs yourself.

You don't need much in the way of supplies for this.  A mirror, clips or a headband, scissors (preferably barber's shears) and a fine tooth comb are the only tools you need

First of all, make sure your hair is dry when you trim.  Wet hair will shrink as it dries, and your bangs may well end up being too short.

Now, clip all hair back, leaving only your bangs exposed.  Comb them straight down with a fine-toothed comb.

With the fingers of your dominant hand, pinch the bangs together and place them right at the bridge of your nose below the brow line.

Take your non-dominant hand and grasp the bangs horizontally against your forehead between the index and middle finger. This frees your dominant hand to hold the scissors.  Slide your fingers down to the length you want your bangs to be.    Make sure that your fingers are truly horizontal and not tilting to one side or the other.  The fingers will serve as your guideline.  However short you think you want your bangs to be, lower your fingers by about 1/4 of an inch, to prevent accidentally cutting too much off.  You can always trim more later.

Now take your scissors.  Hold the scissors almost vertically and make repeated vertical snips until your bangs are at your finger line (the guideline).

Comb bangs straight down with your fine-toothed comb.  Look for any errant hairs that may have escaped your scissors during the trim and snip them off.

Now, check the length.  If you're happy with the new length, you're done.  If you need a bit more cut off, repeat the process with a slightly higher guideline.

You're done!  You've cut your own bangs.  With the almost-vertical cutting method you'll not have the straight as an edge home-made look, and by having pulled the hair to the center of your forehead, to the bridge of your nose, you'll have a nice natural line.

For those of you more visually oriented, I'll make a video the next time I trim.

I'll give instructions for cutting bangs for the first time in a future entry.

Remember cut less to start with.  You can always cut more.  Good luck!

Beautiful Quiet Spring Sunday

Well, it was pretty quiet until a black squirrel started making all kinds of noise on the deck. I thought it was a crow, it was so loud.

Anyway, lots of sunshine and it finally feels as though spring is really here.

I did do my deep moisture treatment with 1 part honey and 2 parts conditioner today. My hair isn't completely dry yet, but I can really feel the difference. Nice and silky smooth again.

As a timesaver, instead of rinsing my hair prior to applying the moisture treatment, I thoroughly dampened my hair with a spray bottle of distilled water. When I got into the shower I added a bit of water, worked the conditioner with my fingertips and then put my hair up in a clip while I did my remaining showerly duties. I then rinsed my hair for about 3 minutes and finished of with a mild apple cider vinegar rinse. I use just a few tablespoons of ACV in a pitcher of water. It not only gets rid of the excess conditioner, but restores the natural acid mantle of the scalp. It also tends to close the cuticle of the hair, thus creating more shine.

I also cut my bangs. I think that I may have cut off about 1/8 of an inch too much, but that will take care of itself in about a week.

I think tomorrow I'll post a hairstyle photo here and add it to my website. I don't know yet what style I'm going to do, but I think I'll do a half-updo. Half-ups are a great way to protect the top layers of the hair (or the canopy) from damage. They're also a great way to do updos that your hair is too short for.

For example, at the moment I can't do a Figure 8 bun at my current length, but I can do a figure 8 half-up style. I love going through the various phases of growth and seeing what hairstyles do and don't work.

Well, it Sunday, it's a beautiful day, all is right with the world and that's about all I have to say for today.

Bangs, Fringe--It's All The Same

I've had bangs all of my life, with the exception of about 2 years from 2006-2008 when I grew them out. I loved the way they look grown out, but with my fine, straight hair, they were always in my face, and I had to clip them back, even when they were well grown out. I finally caved and cut bangs again.

Not everyone is a fan of the fringe, but I guess it's just part of my identity. I'm including a photo of me at the age of 10. Basically, I have the same hair style now as I had then. After years of perms, curling irons and even crimpers (yipes) in an effort to have bigger, wavier hair, I've finally come to love my straight hair, and I find it ironic that I wear my hair the way I did when I was 10. It's all come full circle.

My hair grows fairly quickly, so I need to trim my bangs every 2-3 weeks. Fortunately, I have a good pair of scissors and I've learned to trim them myself. It's quite easy. In fact I cut the bangs I have now from the grown out bangs myself. I am quite pleased that I don't have to worry about going to salons for those trims anymore.

So, today, the bangs are falling in my eyes, and I guess it's time for a trim. Again.


The clarifying yesterday went well. I didn't end up having time to do the hour-long deep conditioning, so I loaded my hair with a ton of conditioner in the shower and left it for about 5 minutes. I'll have to do the deep conditioning tomorrow.

Nonetheless, my velcro ends are gone, and my hair feels less tangly. So if you ever find that your ends are tangling, don't forget; clarify before doing anything else, like getting a trim.

I can't say that my hair looks any different after clarifying, but it feels different and is better behaved. So much about hair is not visible to the eye but is visible to the touch.


After a gloomy week of rain here in Southern Ontario, I'm delighted that the sun is out again. It looks to be a promising week of Spring weather. I hope that everyone is having a great weekend.

Off to trim the bangs.