I remember it too clearly. "Just clip the ends," I said naively. I left the hair salon quite upset that day. The lady took off about 3 inches - A trim? I think not! That my friend is a CUT. This is a very common experience with hairstylists and even more common for women with natural curly hair. The stylist seems to forget that your hair at the ends is curled up and sometimes doesn’t consider the shrinkage factor, cutting off much more than intended. If you hair is very damaged at the ends, you may need to go to a salon but if you only have a few knots at the end you can easily take care of this yourself. What can you do about this problem – D.I.Y. Yes – you can Do It Yourself. It is really easy. Just try a little…DUSTING
(Tools: A sharp scissor used for hair only and a comb)
Dusting is by far the easiest and fastest way to trim your hair and is ideal for women who want to retain length. It’s called dusting because you take off just a little bit of the ends of the hair and are left with just a little (fine dust) that was taken off. Dusting is easiest done when hair is in plaits or twists. You can also do this with loose hair takin one section at a time.
Thoroughly detangle your hair. Strings that are left hanging or those fine harsh bulbs on the ends of your hair need to go. Carefully cut them off at an angle... just a little now. You don’t want it to be a blunt cut because it will be harder for the ends of your twists or plaits to stay in and not unlosen if the hair is too even.
BLOW-DRY & CUT
This may be for the braver ones of you who need a good cut. This method is not recommended for people who have very damaged/dry hair.
First gently/lightly blow-dry or flat-iron your hair because natural hair is be easier to manage in a semi-straightened state. I part my hair in four sections and then take away smaller sections and simply cut off the bad ends. Be careful not to do one side shorter than the other… This is also a little tricky. AS mentioned above, you don’t want your hair to be too even or blunt because then your plaits will start to unlosen.
Good Luck!
Keep It Kinky.