Hair progress + haircut recommendation request
Before I begin, here is the timeline of the photos:
1-5 are shots i took tonight. 5 is right after taking a bath so the hair is still pretty wet/moist (towel took out some water ofc). 4 and 1 are my usual resting states.
7 is from...mid may...i believe idk when i took that
8-9 are from december 2025
cant see much hair in 10, just me chilling with my new friend, november 2025
11 is july 2025
12 is june 2025
Now, the main question
Over the last year I decided to grow out my hair, being tired of the years of embarrassingly short haircuts. In between I had only one haircut in late december. that was a shitty one (that's why no photos from jan-april). basically, the guy messed up and ended up cutting the right side noticeably shorter than the left. you can probably still see the relics of the damage in 1 and 4. yes, i am super scared of getting a haircut right now but I sort of thing that I need one.
so my question is, what should I aim for when getting this haircut? let me know any and all thoughts. also, i dont know practically any technicalities of a haircut so please let me know where how much cutting is needed. i dont want to leave it entirely on the barber's discretion, so i would be very much grateful to know some stuff myself.
as for what I like, i'd say my preference is growing it out longer until the sides are down to my shoulders, or whatever else pleases me at that time. I do like my look from december, but, well, the grass is always greener on the other side.
Few (potentially unnecessary) details of what i did
I have somehow ignored conditioners all my life, until recently. so no. 8 onwards everything is completely free of conditioners. only shampoo. somehow it worked idk. I get dandruff issues every winter, and it's usually gone by spring. 1-7 have nothing other than a cheap shampoo and conditioner. today for the first time i applied a leave-in. havent noticed anything yet, let's wait a couple of days more.
thanks for taking your time to read this. I apologise if I missed any detail, or ranted too much. I wont apologise for my english; i have no respect for this language.
P.S. it seems most photos have at least some form of a in-formation beard, but I usually shave clean most of the time.
TL;DR
pictures go back in time. need haircut advice. want to keep it long.