How do you decide what length?

[Pigfarts]

Hi, I just hit tailbone length and now I don't know if I should keep growing it, keep it trimmed to tailbone length, or even bring it up an inch.

How do you decide what length you want your hair at?

[jacqueline101]

I picked tail bone as my goal I'm going to grow until I reach it.

[panffle]

I'd say it's about convenience... if you are willing to take care of it when it gets longer, how you like it on yourself, what you're going to do with it. Honestly if you can't decide, just let it grow because you can always cut it shorter. Or if you decide to cut, hair keeps growing.

[DarkCurls]

Grow until it feels like too much?

That's what I plan to do... I have an idea that classic is my goal length, but it may end up being less or more. I think it's hard to know until you get there.

[Macaroni]

I've had WL for years but using coconut oil on the ends has allowed me to go to TBL. I like it at this length, it's not hard to handle and in very good condition.

[torrilin]

I don't really have a goal length the way most LHCers think of it. There are about 3 different milestones that count as "long enough" so far... long enough to braid (around shoulder length for French braids), long enough to bun (somewhere past APL for a cinnamon bun), and long enough to be lazy (can wear hair down without a tangle explosion and can do a Celtic knot bun... somewhere past waist length).

If I find that there's a milestone where I add on new, fun and even lazier hairstyles, I'll add it to the list of good milestones. If I start to get ticked off by my hair, I'll cut back to a comfy milestone. The two styles I'm growing towards right now are twin braids that wrap the whole way around my head and a single braid that wraps the whole way around my head.

[biogirl87]

I've had around shoulder-length hair most of my life prior to joining LHC, so when I joined I first decided on the next length from how my hair was. As I reached that first milestone, I slowly moved my sights to the next milestone but not dead set on how long I want to grow out my hair. At the moment I'm enjoying the journey and would probably stop when I get bored with it. I'd say keep growing until you no longer enjoy it or you don't want to keep growing out your hair any longer.

[faerielady]

I decided that I'm going to grow it until it's more trouble than it's worth. So who knows how long it'll end up.

[MidnightMoon]

Hi, I just hit tailbone length and now I don't know if I should keep growing it, keep it trimmed to tailbone length, or even bring it up an inch.

How do you decide what length you want your hair at?


My goal keeps changing as my hair grows xP...First it was hip, now hip is way too short for me, so my new goal is knee. I'm reaching towards tailbone at the moment, though, so it will be a couple of years until I set a new goal, I guess.

[HumanBean]

I decided that I'm going to grow it until it's more trouble than it's worth. So who knows how long it'll end up.

^^^This. Though I seriously doubt it will be beyond BCL. Current goal is hip.

[Amorice]

I think at some point I decided on TBL, after browsing around at LHCer photos and deducing that TBL looked long enough to earn the title of "super long" without looking like too much. But I'm not exactly set on that goal. I'd like to just keep growing until I arbitrarily decide that it looks long enough, then maintain there.

[emeraldfaery]

I have had my hair at Classic before, right now it's almost at waist, and I loved it. My goal for now is Classic, but since I already know I love the length I would like to see where terminal is on me.

[hypersensitive]

This thread has been helpful for me because I have also hit tailbone and am deciding what to do now. Everytime you hit a milestone, you have to reevaluate whether to cut it back, stop and maintain, or to keep going.


I'd say it's about convenience... if you are willing to take care of it when it gets longer, how you like it on yourself, what you're going to do with it. Honestly if you can't decide, just let it grow because you can always cut it shorter. Or if you decide to cut, hair keeps growing.

This is sound advice. I admit though that tailbone is getting a big long for me but I still want to go longer just to see what it's like.


I'd say keep growing until you no longer enjoy it or you don't want to keep growing out your hair any longer.

I'm still enjoying growing it immensely! That must mean I should keep going!


I decided that I'm going to grow it until it's more trouble than it's worth. So who knows how long it'll end up.

Haha! That is a very personal and subjective thing to decide. Only when you get there will you know if it is the time to cut. I hope it coincides with terminal!

[biogirl87]

I'm still enjoying growing it immensely! That must mean I should keep going!Feel free to keep growing. Really, who can keep you from wanting to have your hair as long as you want it?

[Bagginslover]

I've had around shoulder-length hair most of my life prior to joining LHC, so when I joined I first decided on the next length from how my hair was. As I reached that first milestone, I slowly moved my sights to the next milestone but not dead set on how long I want to grow out my hair. At the moment I'm enjoying the journey and would probably stop when I get bored with it. I'd say keep growing until you no longer enjoy it or you don't want to keep growing out your hair any longer.

This is what I did too. I joined here at BSL, so waist was my first goal, my goal is hip now I reached waist and so on. I do have a final goal in mind of classic-mid thigh, but I'm in no huge rush to get there, I enjoy the mini goals as they spur me on and give me a sense of acheivement often rather than waiting years for my end goal ;)

[Oksana]

Grow until it feels like too much?
.

Exactly my plan. I will keep growing until I either don't like the way it looks or the length is unmanageable/not enjoyable.

[Caitpenn]

I'm debating between staying at waist or going to TBL. My main considerations are ability to do the updos that I like, and ease of maintaining it. I think I'm going to maintain at waist for the next year while the rest of my layers grow out, so I can get a good healthy start... then let it grow to TBL and see if I like it and if my favorite buns are still doable.

[dwell_in_safety]

I am pretty set at TBL/BCL because, well, that's at least as long as I think I can handle without annoyance. It is also taking a while to reach it because I am tall, so it still will feel like an accomplishment when I get there. My goal may change when I hit it. We'll see!

[AmyBeth]

I had grown my hair for most of my life but could never get much past waist and then only with thin fairy tale ends. Maybe it was blow drying and bleaching and wearing it down all the time and hot rollers and curling irons and harsh SLS shampoos- who knows :p-? Now that I've learned how to really care for it, it is as long as ever with much better ends and I plan to keep growing until it won't grow any more. Then I might maintain at terminal or re-evaluate. I think hip-length is soooo pretty!

[Pigfarts]

You're all so helpful ^_^ I think I'm going to keep growing it past tailbone until it gets in my way. :D

[chen bao jun]

Yes, keep growing, as someone said you can always cut. and if you do, you'll have an instantly thick hemline.
I can't even imagine my hair being long enough to annoy me. I'm jealous of people who get to a point where they can actually say that!
i started last year. I wanted to get to bra strap again stretched. I had been to bra strap before with straightened hair so I knew I could do that, wasn't sure I could get beyond that. I thought it might take a couple of years. However, it took just one year. (I was at shoulder length, straightened last June, or maybe an inch or so below). so I guess I met my goal, except since I really like to wear my hair natural, not straightened and I have really curly hair, it appears to be shoulder length even though its grown so much. So I am now hoping to get to brastrap while curly. this may take a long, long time, as what seems to be happening is that as it grows and grows it never looks any longer, just thicker and thicker. Sigh.
I'd love to get to tailbone one day. I might look like I had brastrap length hair if I did.

[~honeyflower~]

I'll stop when I start to get headaches or it feels too heavy.

[jeanniet]

I just do what I feel like doing. I'm of the mind that hair grows, so if I cut it shorter I can always grow it back out, and if I grow it out, I can always cut it shorter. I had it almost to BCL, and wanted it shorter, so now it's about APL. But if I want it back to hip or BCL or even longer, then in a few years I'll be back to that length again.

[prettyhairisred]

My final goal length id hip, as that's as long as it can get before it starts to get annoying and I start sitting on it, or catching it on the toilet. But because I'm only a bit past bsl now, I just think mini goals. I'm almost at mid back length, so that's my goal. I don't think about hip as it's so far off I'll get discouraged. My next goal is waist, then mid lower back then hip. This way I'll constantly be achieving something so the wait'll seem shorter, plus there'll be lots of positive joy whenever I achieve anything.

[Sharysa]

How do you decide what length you want your hair at?

I decided I wanted to be able to do a crown braid and a waist-length braid in the front, so my hair has to be at least waist-length (thirty inches) for that.

Anything significantly longer will be decided after a year of maintaining at waist/hip, since on me they're about two inches away.

[TheMechaGinger]

I'm almost to waist and then I'm gonna maintain there for a bit I think and get my ends cleaned up and see how I feel about it. After that I'll probably head to tailbone and do the same, maintain for a bit and see how I feel.

[Quixii]

I picked my goal length because I would just really like to see myself with knee length hair. It feels like a little girl's dream (mine) that I can actually make come true (hopefully). :) Now, as to what length I'll maintain at after I reach knee, I'm not sure. If I like knee length, then I'll rock on with that. If not, I think I'd cut back to a bit before it started being a little more difficult, like somewhere between classic and fingertip. Because I do like the look and style possibilities of long hair, but there's no point in feeling burdened by my hair.

[EdG]

One method is to let one's body determine when hair is too long... the hair will stop growing once it has reached terminal length. Attaining terminal length eliminates any uncertainties about how long one's hair should be. :)
Ed

[Savvyhorsez]

I say keep growing it as long as you can take care of it, grow it as long as you can stand it?

[Kherome]

I've almost reached Classic length. I'm still unsure what my length goal is. I guess until it's too much of a bother.

[HikerTrash]

Tailbone = terminal length for me.

[verylittlecarro]

For me, I don't want longer then waist. I think at that length I'll be able to have it down or up as I please, and should be able to maintain it in good condition. I may even stop before waist. I had long hair as a child and hardly ever wore it down loose, which limited my enjoyment of it and wasn't especially flattering either.

[kpzra]

I'm in the "until it become too much of a bother and I like how it looks" group. When I keep my hair long it is usually between MBL and waist, but I also never had hair toys in the past. I'm not even sure how long to keep my daughters hair. She's 3 and has MBL, but hates having it up for too long (unless someone else put sit up). I've never cut her hair other than bangs.

[meteor]

I'm in the "until it become too much of a bother and I like how it looks" group.
Same here!
In a way, it's a moving target. I thought it would be TBL, but when I see finger-tip length, I realize I can pull it off and can even wear it down in a half-up, so I might change my goal length to that. The only problem is detangling at such lengths. I really hate spending an hour or two with a comb and capfuls of detangling leave-ins post-wash.

[meteor]

Double post, sorry!

[nobeltonya]

I just haven't stopped letting it grow yet, so I get used to it.. I figure, when it starts getting in the way or too much to manage then I'll maintain or trim it back up to a manageable length. Just haven't gotten there yet. :) I still don't want to go past fingertips yet, b/c I don't think I could manage it. But I would also be willing to continue toward knee just to see.. I can always cut back to fingertips. :disco: