I have been growing out a pixie style for about two years.  My hair (longest layers) are finally a little beyond shoulder length.  I have been getting frequent salon trims (10-12 wks).  I have decided not to do this any longer, and have been without a salon trim for 16 weeks now.  I have had my daughter trim just the damaged hair with the "twist 'n snip" technique. (twisting sections of hair and trimming off split ends or bubbles)

Ok- finally to my question-  I still have tons of layers in my hair  :(.  (I'm not totally opposed to layers, but because my hair is fine, I have the stringy clumpy thing going when I wear my hair down.)  Given the fact that hair grows at different rates, if I don't get a salon trim, and just keep trimming off damaged ends, will my layers start to look less defined over time?  Any advice would be appreciated!

If you don't trim the bottom on a regular basis, you won't elminate the layers.  But there's no reason why you have to do it any more often than absolutely necessary and by just trimming the damage, you limit how often it needs to be done.  I would suggest you keep doing what you're doing and every time you add a couple inches of growth overall, trim a half inch from the entire length.  By trimming the splits regularly you will be able to go longer without trimming the length, and by trimming the length occasionaly, you will keep your hair in excellent condition overall and will eventually elminate all the layers.  Patience is *really* the issue when it comes to growing out layers... it's a tough job!

Thanks for the advice...I have planned to try to wait another month or two before crawling tentatively to a salon and *hoping* that I won't get a scissor-happy stylist (is there such a thing?  ???)

Another question though- since I'm doing my little monthly twist 'n snip trims, is there any reason I couldn't have someone besides a stylist trim my length?  Do you know of a good resource for home-trimming instructions?

There's not much to trimming hair that's one length but layers can sometimes be tricky.  I'd do a lot of research and see if you can't find a professional who specializes in long hair.  You might want to ask long hair friends where they get their hair trimmed.  Otherwise, if you know someone who has or loves long hair whom you trust *implicitly*, you can always try that route.

Thanks...I've been trying to find a long-hair salon here, but have had no luck so far.  there are, however, a couple of rapunzels that I come into contact with at meetings.  I'm planning on using the following strategy to get some dish on where I can go without being scalped  ;) #1- complement them on their beautiful hair, #2- ask them where they get their hair cut.  I'm out of luck if they cut it themselves!  I don't know them well enough to ask them to trim mine!  :-[

Personally, I have had my husband trim my hair since it was just below my shoulders.

Here's a site with a description of how to trim your own hair.  You might want try this!

http://members.fortunecity.com/feye/trim/

Thanks for the link...it might be a little hard to do this for myself right now, but I will *definitely* be triming my own hair once it's a little longer!

This post is ten months out of date but I thought this might help other people who are growing out layers or at least provide a different point of view.

Most people advocate regular trims when growing out layers but I disagree. This might not work for everyone but I have found that the hair tends to even up eventually all by itself. I asked my mother and a friend who have had long hair and they both agreed that this was also their experience. (My mother has very thick hair and my friend has quite fine hair.) My daughter also cut quite a chunk out of the side of her hair and you really can't tell the difference now. (Aside from her fringe and a 1/2 cm trim I once gave her that the only haircut she's ever had. I was horrified!)
The only problem with this method (lets call it the Leave it alone 'till it finally looks good method) is that you can have some awkward stages where all you can do is tie it back. My daughter certainly did! I've found though that when growing hair out from quite short that when it gets to just below shoulder length that I get curls which is nice.

That turned out to be quite a post! I'm aware that many (and probably most) people will disagree with me but I hope this may be useful to someone.

Actually Emma-May, I would agree as well. My hair had layers in it from last year, the shortest being my fringe which was to my cheeks.

When I decided to grow it all out, my mum in law has done hair trim "dustings" on the very bottom...and only once every few months.

Eventually I pretty much left it alone and my hair is all one length now, even my fringe. I don't think that the dustings did that much to my hair as regards evening out the layers, aside from remove splits.

Interesting..... ::)

nice to hear that  :D

i decided i won't trim my hair more than needed until the longest part reaches classic length. actually i think the thin ends will bother me anyhow less when they are passed my waist. it's between waislengths and tailbone that they are the ugliest in my opinion. i quite liked layers at shorter lengths though, i even dislike the look of one length hair between shoulders and mid-back. i even liked them so much i had rather deep layers ... which are entirely ugly once gravity takes over and the hair becomes very straight.

I agree Emma-May, I have never had layers but I have had bangs off and on (I have them now) and let them grow out and they always managed to catch up with the rest of my hair. It seems to me that layers and bangs would be quite a bit the same because you have something short that you want to be as long as the ends of your hair.  ;)

I gave in and had my longest layer trimmed.  I'm actually happy I did, except I want all of my hair much longer than it is!  It seems I have less layers sticking out when I put my hair up.   I'm hoping not to do any more trimming for a long while now though.  Maybe I'll finally get to a true shoulder length  before it's all silver lol.

Trimming layers is a tough decision - especially when you want the length so bad.  Congratulations on taking the big step.  In the long run, you will find it worth it.