How to know when to clip your natural curls

When it comes to clipping your ends, depending on your hair type, it may be harder to tell when it’s time to give those ends a good chop. Over my seven-year journey of staying natural, I have come up with an easy three-step process to clipping ends. 

The first step is determining whether or not they need to be clipped. It is common for some to believe in getting your ends clipped every three to four months. This is a reasonable timeframe to feel the need for a chop, but before you reach for your scissors make sure to examine your curls. Test out your hair with product from root to tip. If your curls are defined all the way through and look great then there is no need in snipping your beautiful curls. If you find that your curl is defined in some parts and in others is fuzzy to the point that there is no longer a curl pattern and your hair strands are splitting and frail, you may want to get to get to chopping.  

The next step in this process is if you find some dead ends to get your hair ready for a nice clip. There are a couple of ways to do this, which are both super easy. The first step is by going through a normal co-wash or shampoo with no product. Once you do that, section the hair of into off-the-scalp braids or twists. You can make however many you feel is necessary, I prefer making around 16 to 20 for the best result since I have thick hair. Once you have your braids or twists, begin to go down and clip any fuzzy hairs sticking out of the braids or twist. When you’ve worked through the entire braid or twist, clip the end and repeat until you have completed your entire head.  

The next way to clip your ends is easy, however extremely tedious and will even feel like an arm workout, so take breaks when needed. First, begin by giving your hair a nice scrub with a co-wash and then sectioning it in three to four sections, six if your hair is thick. Do not put product on the hair once it’s been washed. Once you have it sectioned, go through with a comb in each section breaking the sections into smaller ones. Comb through your hair and find where the dead hair begins and start clipping there. This process may take a up to two-and-a-half hours if you have thick hair, for finer hair it may take just one hour. 

The last step is to moisturize. Keeping the hair full of moisture is what prevents you from needing to clip your ends. Focusing on every inch of your hair is important in this process. It is often that we leave out the ends of our hair when they usually need the most love. Along with most hair, having those curls protected from heat damage and other harmful elements saves it from needing a visit from those scissors and a continuing chance to grow into luscious long curls.