How to Trim African American Hair

African American women tend to avoid getting their hair trimmed because hair stylists tend to be "scissor happy" and cut off too much. Seeing that our hair seems to take forever to grow, this is the last thing that we want. Still, if you do not trim African American hair, the ends will split and it will cease to get any longer. In fact, it might get shorter. Here are my tips for trimming African American hair.

Things You'll Need

• Scissors
• Comb

Instructions

1. Purchase a quality pair of hair cutting scissors. kitchen sheers or scissors used to cut other items will be dull and cause you to cut off too much hair and get an uneven cut.

2. Condition and straighten your hair before trimming it by using either a fresh straightening perm, or by flat-ironing it. This will make damaged ends more obvious. It will also reveal whether you need your hair trimmed at all.

3. Examine your hair and determine how much you will need to cut. In most cases 1/4 to 1/2 inch is enough to cut to remove the damaged ends. If the hair has very short sections, or more than the ends are damaged, you may want to see a professional to have your hair cut into a style that will remove the damaged hair or hide the short sections.

4. Part the hair into thin sections, running the hair through your middle and ring finger as shown in the picture and clip the ends.

5. You can cut the ends straight across if you like your ends perfectly even. If you want a more contemporary jagged look you can take small snips at an angle.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not attempt to razor cut your own hair.