Some people love getting haircuts and some people wait as long as possible before getting a trim, but is there a right or wrong answer to how often you should get your hair cut?

To keep your hair healthy and in good condition, then yes, there is a right answer to that, but if you’re not interested in maintaining a certain hairstyle, or coming off as having healthy or strong hair, then you can go a lot longer in between haircuts.

We don’t recommend never getting your haircut as that eventually leads to split ends, straw-like hair, or a straggly, unkept appearance and start to look and feel unhealthy. Even if you just go for a light trim to clean up the ends and even everything out, it will make a world of difference in the long run.

When is it Time for a Haircut?

Different lengths and styles of hairs will have a different amount of time between trims.

Short Hair

People with short hair typically prefer to get their hair cut every few weeks as opposed to waiting longer periods of time.

If you have a short hairstyle that you enjoy, the more you let it grow the more obvious it will be that you’re starting to look a bit shaggy. By getting your short hair trimmed up every 2-4 weeks, you can keep your hairstyle tight and clean.

Short hair can start to look unkempt a lot quicker than longer hair styles merely for the fact that it’s very noticeable to others that your hair is growing out.

Medium Length Hair / Long Hair

Whether male or female, longer hair can typically go a bit longer in between cuts than short hair. Medium length hair should probably be cut every 8-12 weeks to help maintain the medium length you’re looking for, but letting it go a little longer is less drastic than letting short hair grow longer.

With longer hair, getting it cut every six months or so should suffice as long as you don’t see any damage to the hair.

You’re less likely to notice medium/long hair getting even longer since most people are already used to seeing you with long hair. So waiting longer in between haircuts will not draw that much attention. You do want to make sure that your hair is staying healthy and clean though. The longer the hair gets the harder it is to maintain in terms of dryness, breakage, and overall damage.

Maintain Healthy Hair

Just because you can go up to six-months for long hair, or weeks with shorter hair, doesn’t always mean that you should.

Keeping your hair strong and healthy will keep your hair looking its best regardless of the length. Getting regular trims to clean up the ends of your hair can go a long way in maintaining the style and look you’re going for without less tangles, split ends, or fraying, especially for longer styles.

Regardless of the length of your hair, there are certain signs you should look for to know when it’s time to cut your hair.

As we mentioned, split ends and tangly hair are a huge sign that it’s time to get a trim. Trimming off those damaged ends and cleaning up the hair overall will bring your hair back to a healthy state.

If you’ve noticed that your hair no longer holds its shape and you have a hard time styling it in the way that you normally would, this would be an indication that it’s time to head to the salon or barber. Hair that has been damaged or gone untamed for a long period of time can begin to break at the ends. The longer you wait to get those broken hairs trimmed off, the higher up on the strand the breakage can get which can lead to you having to get more hair cut off than you may have liked.

What If I Want to Grow My Hair Out?

It may seem like a good idea to just stop cutting your hair altogether if you’re trying to grow it out, but that can be more harmful.

Naturally our first thought is that in order to get longer hair you just need to stop cutting it, but in actuality, having regular trims will help keep the hair healthy and strong as you work towards the length you’re looking for.

While there are certain factors like environment and lifestyle changes that can make your hair grow slightly faster, a way to speed up the hair growth process has not been discovered yet.

On average, a person’s hair grows ½” per month, or 6” per year, so growing your hair out is just going to take some time depending on what length you’re trying to reach. You’re not going to be hindering the overall growth by getting the ends trimmed up every 6 months.

The longer your hair gets the older the hair is at the ends and anything you’ve done to your hair over the last year (or more) like blow drying, straightening, coloring, etc. adds up over time making the longest strands the most fragile and damaged.  By keeping the ends cleaned up and trimmed, you’re helping to keep your hair as healthy as possible as it grows out.

Cutting your hair at regular intervals is very important to the overall health of your hair, even if you’re trying to grow your hair out. Removing broken hair and split ends will help you be able to style your hair better and keep it looking the best it can.

If you have shorter hair, the intervals between cuts can be shorter and that also means your hair sustains less trauma between cuts making for the healthiest hair.  Longer hair can go for months between haircuts but don’t wait too long to keep your ends neatly trimmed. Figure out what’s best for you and make sure you stick to a routine. Once you know how your hair grows and what sort of style you’re going for, you’ll be able to better understand how often you need to get your hair cut.