How Often Should I Get a Haircut? The Rulebook For Keeping Your Hair Healthy & Stylish

We all want to know the same thing — same boat — how often should I get a haircut? Let me ask you this — are you maintaining your signature look? Are you going for a whole new style? Are we talking short hair, lots of layers, long and slouchy, growing our a bad haircut (it happens!)? It all matters, kind of — but there’s one rule of thumb I like to follow no matter the look or style. The frequency of our hair cuts can significantly effect our overall hair health — and especially, the S H A P E. In this blog post, we'll break down how often you should get a haircut based on your hair type, length, and goals — and we'll explain why regular trims are the secret sauce for keeping your hair in tip top shape (pun intended). 

Here’s Why Regular Haircuts Are Important

1. Prevent split ends. Split ends are a natural occurrence, especially if you have long hair and like keeping your hair long. They can make your hair look super stringy, ratty, and unhealthy. Something huge to keep in mind — the longer your hair, the older your hair. So long hair is great, I personally love and have long hair, but trim it often. Keep it from splitting up, because it will. And then if you really let it go too long, you’ll have to cut even more off because the split ends will eventually just turn into split, thinned out mid-lengths. I like a trim every 8 weeks if your hair is long. Scared that’s too often and want to keep your length? Make your stylist pinky promise and call it a “dusting.” This way they know your just there to maintain your length and keep it looking healthy, you don’t want a full haircut. 

2. Maintain your shape and strength. If you wear a bob, lots of layers, bangs, or a blunt cut, regular trims help maintain the shape and structure of your haircut. These styles are pretty specific and to keep them looking good and most flattering, maintaining shape is important. For shorter styles with lots of shape, I like trims/reshaping every 6 weeks. Fun fact — shorter hair is actually more maintenance. 

3. Healthy Hair Growth. Trims, reshaping, dustings, and good old haircuts — they’ll all prevent your hair from splitting upwards. This will do you scalp a huge favor. If your hair is growing in healthy from your scalp but you never trim your ends, not a great combo. If you’re hair is growing in nicely and your keeping your ends trimmed, fresh, and taming splits — from root to tip — you are promoting healthier, stronger hair. And most of all, you’ll really be maximizing your shape. Healthy hair has shape, bounce, movement — trims definitely help lift hair up and bring back shape in the most natural way. 

4. Reduce Breakage. Skimming off damaged, weakened ends reduces hair breakage. This is especially important for fine hair, highlighted hair, color-treated hair, and chemically-treated hair — which are all more prone to breakage.

So How Often Should I Get My Haircut? 

The frequency of your haircuts or trims depends on shape, style, and texture — but my rule of thumb is every 6-12 weeks — and try to not go past 12 weeks!

Here’s our two-cents on how often you should see your stylist based on your hair type: 

1. Short Hair — Bobs, Lobs, Bangs, Pixie Cuts, and Strong Shape Styles: Short hair cuts lose their shape quickly, so get a shaping every 4-6 weeks if you’re really in love with your look and want to keep it as distinguished as possible. 

2. Medium-Length Hair: So you want to maintain shape and movement in your hair and keep ends looking solid and healthy — see your stylist for a trim every 6-8 weeks. 

3. Long Hair: The name of the game for long hair is this — keep the long length you love without losing the shape, bounce, and natural movement. For long hair styles, see your stylist every 8-10 weeks for a trim. 

4. Curly Hair: I get that curly girls want to wait longer in between haircuts because we want to see some length before we go cutting it all off. Here’s the thing — curly hair grows out before it grows down, right? But it’s still growing! The G O A L is to keep curls as bouncy and springy and lively as possible. My two cents is — shape over length. To keep curls looking fresh and healthy, see your stylist every 8-10 weeks for a trim. 

5. Hair Growth Goals: If your number one goal is to grow your hair longer, skipping trims is not the route. Decide the length you want. Then, get a dusting every 4-6 weeks on the way to your goal length to keep ends really strong and healthy looking — and of course to prevent split ends. Once you reach your goal length, trims every 6-8 or 8-10 weeks depending on how long your hair goal is.

Telltale Signs It’s Time For A Trim

Book an appointment with your stylist when:

• Your hair is looking dull, flat and losing it’s natural shape.
• You start noticing split ends or breakage.
• You feel like your hair is “doing nothing.”
• Your hair is extra tangly. 

Moral of the story is this — no matter your length, trims are helping your hair thrive! They are such an important part of a healthy hair routine and should totally be the next standing appointment you make. Bangs, bobs, curly ringlets or long and flow-y — a trim schedule is your new BFF.

Oh, and don't forget — a healthy, clean hair care routine is also your BFF. Shop the Allyoos bundle and save 15% plus get free shipping!