You know how your mum always has that one story she just has to tell when she meets someone new? Apparently, when I was a couple of months old, I lost the thick auburn hair that I was born with. After being bald with nothing but a few patches of baby fluff for more than a year, I started to grow tufts of platinum blonde hair. Feeling desperate and wanting her daughter to have the same luscious hair as her friends, my mum visited a hairdresser. The hairdresser told her to keep cutting my hair regularly and it would soon grow longer and thicker. This is what my mum did and, according to her, my hair started growing out beautifully.

Baby stories aside, the idea that cutting your hair on the regular to promote hair growth is something many believe to be true – even hairdressers. So, is this a myth or a fact? Does trimming your hair every few months boost growth and thickness? Let’s unpack this piece of advice and whether it’s the real deal.

The anatomy of hair growth

When our hair grows, it stems from the follicles on our scalps and not from the ends of our hair. Cutting off the ends of our hair doesn’t affect the follicles at the root of our hair. In other words, there is no point of communication between the ends of our hair and our scalp.

If this is the case, it wouldn’t make sense that trimming the ends of our hair would promote hair growth. Unfortunately, while hair stylists can often work miracles, getting your hair to grow by shearing off the ends isn’t part of the magic they possess.

Why you should go for regular trims

Okay, so if cutting our hair doesn’t make it grow, what’s the point of trimming off the ends every couple of months? The truth is, cutting off the ends of our hair actually has quite a few benefits.

Cutting off the split ends at the end of the hair shaft can make our hair seem thicker, healthier, and shinier. It also prevents breakage – which is a way that we can lose our hair – as split ends make our hair brittle and vulnerable to breaking. Split ends tend to prevent hair from growing as they damage the hair shaft.

Although they can’t make your hair grow any faster, regular trims can make your hair seem longer, even if it doesn’t stimulate our hair follicles.

The hair that is the length of your shoulders is about three years old. So, it’s been through a lot: styling with heated tools, cold winters, and chemicals. Regularly cutting this old hair off makes your hair look healthier and gives it added bounce. Unmistakable volume? Uh, we’ll take it!

How often should I trim my hair?

Our advice is to have about one centimetre of the ends of your hair trimmed every eight to 10 weeks. Don’t stress, your hair grows on average around one centimetre a month, so you won’t lose much length.

What does promote hair growth?

Oiling your hair! With the right hair growth oil, we can prevent hair loss and grow longer, thicker, healthier hair. Paired with a dermarolling routine, hair oil can deeply penetrate the scalp to nourish our hair follicles and stimulate hair growth in ways that cutting our hair can’t.

So, as it turns out, the advice my hairdresser gave my mum might not have been technically true. But cutting your hair regularly certainly has its benefits, and it’s something we definitely recommend to maintain healthy hair.

Shop our Super Roots Hair Growth Elixir and 1.5mm stainless steel derma roller on our website. You’ll find everything you need to grow beautiful, voluminous hair, backed by science and mother nature.