7 Signs You Need A Haircut

Has your hair been misbehaving lately? Are you finding it hard to manage or feel like it’s lacking its usual volume? Your hair may be trying to tell you something. Even if you are trying to grow your length you still need regular cuts to prevent breakage and encourage healthy growth. Read on to learn the seven tell-tale signs your hair's crying out for a trim and the answers to some of the most asked questions related to having your hair cut.

1. Your Hair Does Not Hold Styles As It Used To

You might be finding that your familiar bouncy blow dry isn’t quite doing the job, or your freshly straightened hair seems to flick or frizz on the bottoms. It's more than likely this is down to split and frazzled ends, once the hair has broken and become damaged it's extremely hard to smooth, no matter how much product you use! Trimming the dead ends will get rid of the broken pieces and make the hair much easier to style.  

2. Your Ends Feel Dry, Frizzy And Fuzzy

If the rest of your hair feels smooth and silky but your ends have a fuzzy, dry texture that refuses to behave, it is definitely time for a trim. At this point the very ends of your hair have split and died so they will not be able to repair with a miracle treatment, the only thing for it is to cut them off to allow the healthy hair above to thrive. By having regular trims every 8-12 weeks you can prevent the hair from getting to this stage, this is especially important if you bleach and heat style your hair as it will break faster. Find out more in our "your ultimate guide to frizz free life" blog.

3. Your Hair Has Lost Its Natural Curl

If you have naturally curly hair but your curls seem to have lost their bounce and shape it's likely the ends have split and need removing. This is a big tell-tale sign for curly-haired beauties to let them know it's time to visit the salon! After a healthy trim, the curls spring back into place feeling soft and silky once again.

4. Your Hair Is Very Knotty And Gets Matted Easily

You may be finding your once easy-to-comb locks are getting tangled and matted, especially on the ends. This can be uncomfortable and painful, and cause more damage to the hair as the tension caused by removing the knots can break the hair further. Usually, about 12-15 weeks after a haircut or straight after a harsh chemical service the hair will show signs of increased knottiness. Trimming the ends will remove the brittle, split portions and you should find the hair a lot easier to manage. This is also a common hint for parents that children are ready for their next haircut when it starts to become difficult to brush.

We have some advice to help you to prevent tangles and knots in the first place in our "how to take care of tangled hair" blog.

5. Colour Does Not Take To Your Hair

When the hair is extremely dry and broken it can actually repel colour and not allow it to penetrate into the hair shaft. You might find the top of the hair and mid-lengths take well but the ends have a faded, almost patchy appearance even though the same dye has been used throughout. Most stylists will recognise this before the colour goes ahead and either advise a trim before applying the dye or adjust the colour to suit the hair quality.

6. Your Hair Feels Flat And Lifeless

It is not only the ends that are affected when you need a cut, the layers around the crown and mid-lengths can become dead and dry meaning they will not retain the volume you're used to. Trimming off the dead ends will ensure smooth styling and return body to your hair. If you don’t have any layers in your hair and you want some more lift on the top, ask your stylists to add some to your next haircut. This will also help with curled and wavy styles to give your hair some more movement.

7. Your Hair Feels Like It Never Gets Longer

You haven’t cut your hair in 9 months so why hasn’t it grown? That is because the hair on the ends is dead and either needs to be cut off or has already snapped off leaving the ends feeling thin, brittle, and wispy. Having tiny trims every 10-12 weeks will remove the dying hair without taking away the growth to encourage a healthy growth cycle. It will also leave your hair feeling thicker and not so wispy at the bottom.

FAQS

What Are Split Ends?

To visualise split ends imagine an unravelling rope, the tips will look frayed and frazzled, sometimes beyond repair. It occurs when the hair shaft has become weak, damaged and brittle so the hair starts to split and eventually break apart (or off). Split ends happen to everybody regardless of your hair type and length so aren't always preventable, however, extreme splitting is avoidable with good care and regular trims.

What Causes Split Ends?

Split ends are caused by general wear & tear, heated tools, chemicals such as bleach and hair dye, and neglect. Neglect includes leaving the hair for too long in between haircuts and not using the correct protection products before styling. Heat Protection Spray can be used to create a barrier between the hair and the heated tool to prevent damage to the hair shaft which will reduce the number of split ends in the long run. This is especially important for use on hair extensions.

Do Split Ends Stop Hair Growth? Does Cutting Hair Make It Grow Faster?

Ignoring your split ends by not cutting them off will hinder your hair growth cycle. It's not that the hair stops growing from the root, this will still happen regardless of the hair quality; your split ends will just continue to split higher up the hair shaft unless you trim them - causing breakage and snapping, which in turn removes length from the hair. This could be why you feel like your hair is not getting any longer even though you have not had it cut for a long time.

How Often Should You Cut Your Hair?

If you want to keep your hair at the same length then you should have small trims every 6-8 weeks to remove any split ends that are starting to form, if you are growing your hair then 10-12 weeks is the perfect time period. Taking just a quarter-half of an inch every 10-12 weeks will remove the dead ends without cutting into the length of your hair. If you have left it a long time in between cuts you will need to remove all the split ends before you start your hair growth journey and try to stick to a strict trimming schedule.