Here’s the last article in the 3 about the setbacks I’ve experienced since going natural. Click below to see Parts I & II.
- Part I – Hair Color Disaster
- Part II – Heat Damage
- Part III – Trim Turned Into Cut
Setback III- Trim Turned Haircut
This incident happened at the same salon where my hair was heat damaged. Thinking about it, it was probably during that same appointment. I guess it was about 2 years ago. I asked for a trim…expecting about 1/2 an inch off, 1 inch at the very most. I was facing the mirror when the cut started but slowly got turned around. My little sister was there with me and she was watching the stylist so I thought everything would be okay.
When I saw the state of my hair, I was in shock. I really did not expect that much hair to be taken off. It looked at around 3 inches shorter than when I went in. The worst part is she cut in some really funky “layers.” I’ll use the term layers loosely. There was a large section of hair on my right side that was significantly shorter than the rest. I’ve referred to this area, as the shelf. It looked like she took a handful of hair at the crown and just cut it 2″ shorter than the rest of my hair.
Lesson Learned
This actually wasn’t the worst haircut I’ve had in my life, but it was absolutely terrible. I don’t have much luck with salons and this experience has me sworn off them for now. If I do want a haircut I’ll wait until I’m past my goal, I’ll flat iron my hair myself then go to a cheapie strip mall salon that only does cuts and trims. I love the look and feel of very blunt ends, so for the past few years I’m back to cutting my hair myself. Luckily, the odd shape I got from my setback trim has mostly evened out. I also learned not to trust my sister, lol.
Yes my most recent trim turned into a cut this past weekend. After doing a good blowout and smoothing on myself, I realized how long my hair is (super full below shoulder blade) but also how much of it was damaged ends….i had to cut off so much that i was tired of cutting and left in alone until the next morning…Then I decided that I would postpone having long hair (short hair can be spicy lol) and cut my hair to about 3-4 inches all around and did mini twists….it was a lot of hair to let go of…I have had long hair all my life, and I just didnt want to hang on to it for the sake of saying it was long, esp. if its super damaged (I didnt take the best care of it this year, and postponing the flat iron was to hide the amount of damage I figured would be there)…I made sure my hair was long enough to mini braid though 🙂
There’s definitely no point to hanging onto damaged hair. I’m sure your hair looks and feels better after the cut and hair will grow back. I trim my hair a minimum of every 3-4 months and I cut out splits and single strand knots as I find them. In this instance my hair was not damaged at all. On the contrary, I just like to get a professional trim every now and then because I know I can’t reach the back of my own hair properly. My hair was hacked off, unevenly at that, when all I asked for was a trim. Thankfully, the unevenness is mostly grown out.
Have a happy and healthy hair journey and I’m sure your hair will grow in better than it was before. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your experience. Hopefully, you will find an awesome stylist and salon that will properly handle your hair in the future.
Thanks! I’m weary but there’s got to be someone out there that understands the word “trim.” I think I’ll wait until I’m passed waist length before I seek out another professional.
I found someone who’s not scissor happy to trim my ends- problem is I only went to her for the first time last year and I really didn’t want to make an appointment for another trimming this year. My ends were looking ragged last month, so I took matters in own hands and cut them off. I know I cut more than necessary, but hey, I CUT THEM. About two days ago, I straightened my hair and the ends were still looking jacked, so I cut some more, lol.
You are so lucky that you’ve found someone you trust to trim your hair! I know the feeling of having to trim and trim again. I trimmed my hair after I straightened it and as soon as I washed it was like all the single strand knots came right back and I had to cut more. Your hair is still long and luscious! 🙂