What is APL, anyway?

[curlytwirlykate]

Okay all! I'm REALLY sorry to be obnoxious by posting this outside of the Shoulder to APL thread, but I can't get any of the popular threads to open. Such a pain!

Anyhow, I have a really dumb question about APL. Is APL measured in the front, or in the back? 'Cause those are two totally different things!

ALSO, for the curlies out there, do you measure when your hair is stretched, or with the curls?

Please help this newb. I'd LOVE to say that I've finally reached APL, but you wouldn't know it from the front!

[Tangle or Curl?]

I'm pretty sure it's with the back, not the front. I stretch and measure. It's too depressing not to because I can shrink up to 30% my actual length!

[chen bao jun]

It's measured from the back.
I stretch for measurements also. I get very inconsistent results if I don't. My shrinkage can be 50% sometimes but it varies (if it was a consistent 50% it wouldn't be so difficult). However, there was a thread here in which some disputed whether this was correct or not with a curly person. She said she was bra strap and showed this stretching her curls and some said she was not. They were all non-curlies though and I don't think they 'got it'.

[spidermom]

If you can catch your hair under your arm, it is Arm Pit Length - doesn't matter whether it's the front or back.

[curlytwirlykate]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! If I use spidermom's approach, I'm definitely not there yet. But if I stretch my hair out, I'm just a few... cm... away! Whoo!

[door72067]

I think the curly-stretching/not stretching "controversy" comes in when the stretcher only has a few strands that stretch to whatever the proposed length is

indeed, a curly (esp a super curly) should stretch to find a true length, but...

my own example...I am a curly (2b/2c according to a quiz I took) but, I rarely wear my hair in it's natural state as I have it up in sticks about 90% of the time and the 10% I wear it down, it's generally been in cocoon curls as I like that curl pattern better than my own unpredictable mop

all that said to say this, I say I am *dusting* waist because I have a few strands that are to my waist, no matter what state my hair is in, but no one would look at me and call me "waist-length" just yet (at least not an LHC-er)

so, I do *get* the stretching vs. not for measuring, but imho (and I think the opinion, in general) is to claim a certain length, it should be apparent you are ~at~ that length, not just pulling/stretching/tipping your head, etc to be at whatever length it is just for the photo


or, you know...I might be having :cheese:

[Firefox7275]

What??? Is it different front and back??? Is that to do with boobage (I don't have much)? Or is your posture off (earlobe should be directly above the outer shoulder)?

A lot of people straighten their hair to do a length check, others wait for 'true' armpit/ bra strap. That is a personal choice really. I don't really think a few strands hitting a marker is a true measurement but if it makes someone feel motivated that is up to them.

[chen bao jun]

would agree that 'a few strands' would not count. But if you can stretch different sections of your hair down to the place, I would think that that counts for a curly. some of us don't want to straighten to measure. Straightening my hair is a huge job and I hate doing it myself (takes hours) and if I go get it done professionally, its very expensive and equally horrible. Plus, as my ends are getting older, when I straighten, they are really affected. The last I straightened, every time I touched my hair, short pieces broke off and rained all over. when i went back to curly, the breakage immediately stopped.
I think we are agreed in what we are saying, which is that curlies are allowed to stretch but it should be more than a few strands and they should not be tilting heads backwards or other 'cheating'

[BeccaAngel]

I had APL hair once, it was nice... I miss it :p

[jacqueline101]

I think it's at the top of your arm pit like if you did the chicken wing as a child hair would get caught in your pits.