How often should you cut your hair?
The shorter the style, the more often. Short hair holds its shape for four to six weeks, medium-length hair for six to eight, and long hair gets by with a cut every three months or so. Here’s why, and how to tell it’s time.
· 4 min read
Written by the team behind Stamly at Inovix AS. We sell the booking system we write about, and we show where the numbers come from.
In short
- Short hair: every four to six weeks. A sharp, short men’s cut needs doing every four weeks.
- Medium-length hair: every six to eight weeks, once it starts to feel heavy and hard to style.
- Long hair: four to six times a year, more often if the ends are dry and split.
- Hair grows about a centimetre a month. Cutting won’t make it grow faster, but it keeps the ends healthy.
Hair grows “a little over one centimetre a month”, according to the Norwegian medical encyclopedia Store medisinske leksikon. That centimetre (just under half an inch) explains nearly everything. On a style where the sides are clipped to a couple of millimetres, one centimetre changes the whole look. On hair that reaches halfway down your back, you’ll barely notice it.
How often to cut your hair, by length
The hairdressers who’ve weighed in don’t quite agree on the numbers. They do agree on the order. Here is the advice they gave the Norwegian hair site Define and the women’s magazine KK:
- Short hair: every 4 to 6 weeks. Jon Inge Lilleng, who owns Hair Zone in Oslo, told Define that men who want a perfect short cut should go every four weeks. Short hair with softer lines can wait until week six.
- Medium-length hair: every 6 to 8 weeks. By then the hair gets heavy and harder to style, Lise Holm-Glad said in Define. KK writes that a long bob or a shag can last 8 to 12 weeks.
- Long hair: 4 to 6 times a year according to Define, every 8 to 12 weeks according to KK. The point is to take off split ends before there are too many of them.
- Curly hair: roughly every 12 weeks, more often if it’s very dry, KK writes.
- Fringe (bangs): every 2 to 4 weeks. It’s in your eyes long before the rest of the style needs a cut.
Four signs it’s time
- Your hair won’t sit right in the morning, even though you’re doing exactly what you used to.
- It feels heavy and goes flat at the roots.
- The ends are dry, split or tangle easily. That happens sooner if you use a hairdryer, straighteners or backcomb a lot.
- You’ve had highlights or colour, and the line where the regrowth starts is showing.
Does cutting your hair make it grow faster?
No. Hair is made in the follicle in your scalp, not at the tip. What you cut off is old hair. Even so, if you’re growing it long, regular trims are a good idea. KK recommends cutting long hair every 8 to 12 weeks to prevent worn and split ends. Leave it a year and you may have several centimetres of damaged hair that has to come off in one go.
Coloured hair
Colour and bleach are hard on hair, and coloured hair often needs cutting a little more often than hair that’s never been dyed. KK writes that colour should be refreshed every six to eight weeks. At a centimetre a month, that’s a couple of centimetres of regrowth. Book the cut and the colour in the same appointment and you only make one trip to the salon.
Book the next one before you leave
The easiest way to keep the rhythm is to book your next appointment while you’re still in the chair. You get the time you want, and your hairdresser can tell you whether four weeks or eight suits your hair in particular. If your salon uses Stamly, you can book in the app and get a reminder before the appointment. See how booking works, or, if you live in Norway, what a haircut costs at the salons we looked at.
Questions and answers
How often should I cut short hair?
Every four to six weeks. A sharp, short men’s cut needs a trim about every four weeks, while short hair with softer lines can wait until week six.
How often should you cut long hair?
Four to six times a year, or roughly every 8 to 12 weeks. If the ends are dry and split, cut more often.
Does hair grow faster if you cut it often?
No. Hair grows from the follicle in the scalp, about a centimetre a month. Cutting removes split ends, which makes it easier to keep the length.
How often should I cut my fringe?
Every two to four weeks. A fringe grows into your eyes long before the rest of the style needs cutting.
How do I know it’s time for a haircut?
When your hair won’t sit right, feels heavy and loses volume, or the ends are dry and split.
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