Reaching milestones

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I was wondering if you claim a milestone when your stretched hair touches the desired length, or whether you grit your teeth and wait until the unstretched hair reaches the spot?

I think that for myself, while the former is tempting, I would feel more comfortable waiting until my unstretched hair reaches where it should, to me it feels more "honest", as that is the length the casual observer sees.

What about you?:)

[Mya]

For me it's the same as you. It doesn't make sense to me to say my hair is a certain length if it doesn't actually show.

[MinderMutsig]

I'm the same but I think we need to realize that this state of mind is a luxury only 1's and 2's can afford. A 4 may never reach classic when curly, it may even only be BSL or so when they are at classic stretched. Yet their hair does have all the problems and difficulties other classic length peeps run into.

But yes, for me, I don't claim a length until I'm there when it's dry and in it's natural state because to me that's what matters and that's what people see. On me this meant I was waist when sopping wet and 2 inches below BSL dry and stretched before I could actually claim BSL in it's natural state. It seems that the longer my hair grows the more it shrinks and curls.

It's a matter of personal preference. Just like how I wouldn't claim BSL until the bottom of the bra strap but others sometimes claim it when they reach the top.

ETA: I just realized my siggy is for the dry stretched length so I passed BSL in my siggy months before I actually claimed BSL.

[Madora]

I am with you, Sarahlabyrinth. When the hair reaches a certain plateau, w/o pulling it there, then you have truly arrived. I feel sorry for the curlies since their journey takes far longer than for other hair types.

[biogirl87]

I used to claim shoulder length when my longest hairs were just touching my shoulders. Then I started claiming milestone when hemline would fully reach it. With the layers I have now, APL got claimed when the all my longest fully reached it (my shortest layers are only shoulder length).

[Helix]

This reminds me of a math problem I had in junior high. It showed two lines; one straight and one looped and asked which one of the two lines was longer. The correct answer= they're the same length. Whether or not you can actually see length makes no difference. That is my take on milestones as well :)

I also do not base my milestone measurements on what other people observe. I spend more time with my hair, therefore, I'm more likely to make a precise assessment of my own hair's length than some random observer.

We cannot visually observe gravity either, but that doesn't make it more 'honest' to say it's not there because we cannot see it.

Anyway, I digress..I'm a 4 and my hair shows varying height/ length on any given day in its natural state so it's just more accurate to stretch my hair to verify milestones. If that makes me a 'cheater' then so be it. I won't be butt hurt about it since I'm not playing any games; just growing some hair.

[Faux]

I celebrated mid back this week! I think I'll buy myself a present when I hit waist!

[battles]

I'm a 2, and I choose to claim milestones unstretched.

I do think people should choose whatever feels right to them.

[Helix]

I celebrated mid back this week! I think I'll buy myself a present when I hit waist!

Yaaay, congrats! Me too!

What are you thinking of buying?

[terylenerose]

I consider myself to have reached milestones when I get there stretched. (I'm a 3.) I don't place any value on what length my hair actually looks like; that's just not how long it is. At the moment, I'm perfectly happy to claim BSL even though my hair shrinks to somewhere between SL and APL. I sort of have a mini-goal of reaching APL curly, but that's really not a priority.

[Ashlbee]

I wait until it reaches the milestone dry and unstretched as many of you have mentioned, but as a 1, maybe a 2 (I need to retype as I am just now realizing my hait has wave!) the lengths are not that different. I can completely understand 3's and 4's counting a milestone at stretched, and everyone else for that matter as your hair really is that long. Just as my personal preference I don't count it until that's what it looks like just doing its thing.

[gthlvrmx]

This reminds me of a math problem I had in junior high. It showed two lines; one straight and one looped and asked which one of the two lines was longer. The correct answer= they're the same length. Whether or not you can actually see length makes no difference. That is my take on milestones as well :)

I also do not base my milestone measurements on what other people observe. I spend more time with my hair, therefore, I'm more likely to make a precise assessment of my own hair's length than some random observer.

We cannot visually observe gravity either, but that doesn't make it more 'honest' to say it's not there because we cannot see it.

Anyway, I digress..I'm a 4 and my hair shows varying height/ length on any given day in its natural state so it's just more accurate to stretch my hair to verify milestones. If that makes me a 'cheater' then so be it. I won't be butt hurt about it since I'm not playing any games; just growing some hair.

Yup, i hear ya! :D

id rather stretch my hair since is does curl up a bit and check the LENGTH of the HAIR. not how long it is when curled. i dont even wear it down so it doesnt matter very much to me how it looks when curly.

[Mesmerise]

Well I stretch my hair to measure length... so I tend to stretch it to see if it's reached a milestone. Given that hair waviness can change from day to day, that seems a fair enough method to me. I don't see it as being honest vs dishonest though... I mean, it's simply a gauge of how long your hair has grown, when my hair reaches waist stretched, it tells me that THAT is where my hair is at... when it's longer stretched, it's grown (even if by that time it reaches waist unstretched!).

To me it isn't so much about what other people see, as my own understanding of how long my hair is, and being able to see the difference on myself!

[melusine963]

I always wait for the unstretched hair to reach the milestone. After all, I don't stretch (or straighten) my hair when it's loose, so I don't do it to measure either. It's frustrating, because my hair is juuust above my goal of tailbone length, but when it's wet in the shower it reaches way lower.

[jacqueline101]

I stretch my curls they're perm curls naturally my hair is straight. I thought straight for me would be more accurate but I'm not going to up date my current length until I feel bra strap. I'm only at the top of my strap. I'm counting the bottom as bra strap.

[elthea]

my hair shows varying height/ length on any given day in its natural state so it's just more accurate to stretch my hair to verify milestones.

This. A thousand times this. I'm an inch off waist stretched, and left to its own devices I can be anywhere from APL to BSL depending on humidity, proximity to wash day, and product in hair.

[bunzfan]

I'm the same i don't really claim a new length milestone till i'm there wavy, i could say i'm hip but my hair in its natural wavy state has about another inch to go..it used to frustrate me but now i'm just accepting it.

[Avital88]

well if you can stretch it to there it probably means you are there..
my daughter has waist length hair that looks apl,it curls,thats why it isnt visible but if i would relax it (which i would not even consider to do) she would have had visible waist length hair.
Same hair different view

[WaitingSoLong]

Well, the difference between my hair stretched and not stretched is only about an inch.

I just differentiate. TBL stretched, or "true" TBL. But I can see where the curlies get robbed of this.

But like now, in the shower washing, my hair actually tickles my thighs, and even tho I am inching past Classic, it still only looks "just" classic from someone else's POV.

So basically, I have a range, I am at Classic from the time I can stretch it there, to the time it looks past classic in a nautral state, which is probably a difference of 3". By the end of this year, I will be in the past-classic-but-not-thigh-or-FTL-yet expanse.

[MinderMutsig]

This reminds me of a math problem I had in junior high. It showed two lines; one straight and one looped and asked which one of the two lines was longer. The correct answer= they're the same length. Whether or not you can actually see length makes no difference. That is my take on milestones as well :)

I also do not base my milestone measurements on what other people observe. I spend more time with my hair, therefore, I'm more likely to make a precise assessment of my own hair's length than some random observer.

We cannot visually observe gravity either, but that doesn't make it more 'honest' to say it's not there because we cannot see it.

Anyway, I digress..I'm a 4 and my hair shows varying height/ length on any given day in its natural state so it's just more accurate to stretch my hair to verify milestones. If that makes me a 'cheater' then so be it. I won't be butt hurt about it since I'm not playing any games; just growing some hair.Not cheating or dishonest at all imho! If I was in the high 3's or 4's I know for certain I'd do the exact same thing.

I think 2-type wavies are a somewhat grey area when it comes to shrinkage. The shrinkage is not enough to justify taking the stretched length as leading (personal opinion, and on my hair) but just enough to be frustrating when nearing a milestone.

I wouldn't judge a 2 (Or heck, a 1. The more the merrier!) who wants to use the stretched length but for me it just doesn't feel right. It feels kinda silly to claim BSL when everyone can see my hemline clearly ends 2-3 inches above it.

With curlies reaching BSL when visually their hair is only shoulder it's clear to anyone that it's the spirals that munch up the length. Somehow having a larger gap between stretched length and visual length makes it more reasonable to use the stretched length as indicator.

I dunno. Maybe I'm weird. :p

[WaitingSoLong]

How much shrinkage do type 2's have?

[MinderMutsig]

How much shrinkage do type 2's have?I think it's different per person. I have (I think) a lot of shrinkage when comparing wet and dry hair. I'm maybe 2 inches past waist in the shower but dry I'm only just past BSL and there's 5 inches between those two markers.

When comparing dry-natural and dry-stretched the difference isn't so large. At my length I guesstimate maybe 3 inches? DH can't seem to be able to measure my hair without pulling it down so I've never actually measured my unstretched hair.

[cooklaezo13]

For my slightly wavy 2a shoulderlength+ hair, The shrinkage varies depending on humidity in the air, and how recently I have washed it. This is pretty typical shrinkage for me.
http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n573/cooklaezo13/shrinkage.jpg

I call a milestone when I've reached a length stretched, because it seems more reliable and consistent to me.

[WaitingSoLong]

I call a milestone when I've reached a length stretched, because it seems more reliable and consistent to me.

I would think that would be best. It could vary too much from one day to the next. That must be frustrating!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

At the moment I'm half an inch from the top of my bra strap stretched, and 3 inches away unstretched, a big difference!