When do wurlies & curlies call?

[diddiedaisy]

I was wondering when anyone with wurly or curly calls their hair length? Is it when you reach your milestone stretched or when you actually look it?

Im asking as I'm approaching apl, I will be there in August , but with my wurls it could get to November before I look apl. Actually it could get to December. But by then I'll be well on my way to bsl. Which by the way I'll call at top of bra strap ;)

So which is it? Actual or look?

[Sharysa]

I go by look, especially since I'm borderline instead of full wavy. I only lose a couple inches with my waves, so I call it once it hits a mark both stretched and with braid waves.

[Lostsoule77]

I only call it when I actually am with my waves. So I guess when I look it. I measure straight, but won't call it. Just feel that if it's not hitting the mark with my real type it's not right. I'm odd like that though. ;)

[StellaKatherine]

Same here. I will be classic when it will look classic with my waves :D

[lapushka]

My mom looks for me, but she measures it stretched for me. So that's when I call it: stretched (dry).

[LadyCelestina]

I do claim both,because why the heck not.I can be just as excited about reaching new lengths with stretched hair as I am with curly hair :D

[cherrybird]

I figure I get two milestones out of one, one when I reach it stretched and the other when I reach it curly! Keeps things interesting.

[Maktub]

I'm with calling both too ! (it's less discouraging !)
But my hair goal (at least waist...) is really a curled & dry goal... I wonder how long that will be wet / stretched... If if looks only BSL when air dried, it wont satisfy me.

[spidermom]

I only call it when it's visually obvious. Right now my longest ends are hip length, but I don't call it because visually I think most people see waist length.

[Beborani]

I never notice where it is visually until it is well past that and always accidentally even though I wear it down. So I call it when I reach stretched ( or wet) as calling is mostly for lhc purposes--in real life it is what it is, somewhere down my back-no need to nitpick on details.

[chen bao jun]

I also call both.
I am a tightly curly (though on the looser side of tightly curly). I am past brastrap but I probably won't look like I'm APL for another year. Getting used to waiting..
However, even if it doesn't show, the length of hair I have makes it possible to do hairstyles for that length. That is, I may look only just past shoulder, but I can do buns for BSL length.
I've got somewhere between 30-50% shrinkage depending on how recently I washed, the weather and I don't know what other factors, so its more than just a curly would have, but there are tightly curlies with 80-90%. sometimes I get frustrated but when I think, would I like to lose my curls, no.

[cathair]

I call both too. It's impossible to measure anything like accurately wavy un-stretched. But other people won't see it as the length as it is stretched, only wavy, so I keep track of both. As you can see in my signature :) It's not a bad thing, you get twice as many milestones :D

[Jumper]

Measure wet (straight) and call it when it hits it dry.

[DweamGoiL]

I call both, too. My hair shrinks between 1.5-3 inches when it's unstretched so in a couple of months, I'll be there :)

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Oh I call at both - twice as much fun you see!

[two_wheels]

I measure sort of halfway in between- not when it's dried wavy, nor when it's straightened (because I don't), but after damp-bunning. It's moderately consistent that way and I don't lose as much length, plus it's what you would see most of the time if I let it down because I don't let it dry wavy usually.

Also, because of the variability I have decided not to call a length until it's there almost every day. Not the first time I see it there!

[lapushka]

The only "awkward" thing is when you call it stretched and you have a normal picture taken upon reaching your goal length. You may seem to not be there yet due to wave or curl shrinkage - a cause for confusion. :confused:

[molljo]

I do it halfway between wavy and stretched, I guess. By the last days in my wash cycle, my waves have loosened up considerably to about 1c, so that's when I measure. It's not super precise, but it's what I feel most comfortable doing.

[chen bao jun]

Oh, nobody ever believes me when I say what length my hair is stretched. They think I am seriously delusional--unless they are a curly, too.

The only "awkward" thing is when you call it stretched and you have a normal picture taken upon reaching your goal length. You may seem to not be there yet due to wave or curl shrinkage - a cause for confusion. :confused:

[two_wheels]

Oh, nobody ever believes me when I say what length my hair is stretched. They think I am seriously delusional--unless they are a curly, too.
I believe you, but I am also a hair nerd so I guess I have seen plenty of high-3s/4s stretching their hair!

If I were high 2s or curlier, I would call both as well. It's one thing to expect to see progress after a few months, and quite another to see progress only after 6 months/a year.

[Impulsive]

I keep going back and forth on this. I like the idea of calling it when stretched because that's how long the hair actually is, but due to shrinkage it never looks anywhere near its actual length so for a long time I called when it was dry and curly. Lately, I've sort of compromised with myself and I've been calling my length at where it is when it is wet but unstretched (my hair is still quite curly when wet, just not as curly as when it is dry).

[ZoSo]

Not stretched, like it is most of the time.

[curlylocks85]

When I reach each goal I do it curly. Curly is how I wear my hair, therefore that is how I determine each goal length. :)

[Wosie]

I measure it stretched (otherwise the number would vary too much) and hit milestones when the hair is dry and non-manipulated. My hair isn't very wavy, but I do get a little annoyed when I look at my flippy ends and imagine how long my hair'd look like without them. At the same time I think my flippiness will diminish more and more the longer my hair gets, so maybe I'll miss them in a year or two. =O

[LadyCelestina]

The only "awkward" thing is when you call it stretched and you have a normal picture taken upon reaching your goal length. You may seem to not be there yet due to wave or curl shrinkage - a cause for confusion. :confused:

This is why I mostly use my rounded down curly length/measurement ( I don't measure straight )when describing my hair -people with straight hair the same length as my stretched hair face different challenges than I do with my wl curls.

[Symphony]

I call both lengths. My end goal is about my curly dry hair though.

[Theobroma]

I call stretched, since that's the only way to get a consistent measurement; unstretched hits at a different place every day depending on how wurly or wavy it currently is.

And stretched is what matters for buns, anyway.

[luluj]

I definitely measure and call it when my hair is soaking wet and straight, after all, this is my true length.

[HappyHair87]

I DEFINITELY claim my length while stretched! I have been Shoulder length...since I was APL!:lol: I am now Waist length and I'm still Shoulder length, when curly. Although I do have a few curls that hang around APL. When My hair is wet, my longest curls hang at BSL. If i claimed my length while curly as my real length...i'd be so discombobulated! :D

[CostaRita]

I go by look because I always wear my hair curly

[diddiedaisy]

I think I'll call twice. At least by the second call I'll be halfway to bsl :)

[Arwenlily]

I measure when wet because my hair is just way too inconsistent when dry. I lose a lot of length with curls though.

[ositarosita]

I go by stretched ... i am currently APL but curly I'm at shoulder. If i went by look by the time i reach APL i would actually be BSL or MBL.

I find that if i go to long without seeing a noticeable change in length i get to get a little down and frustrated so by stretching i get to see where I'm actually at.. gives me some light at the end of the tunnel

[CurlyCap]

My suspicion is the curlier your hair, the more likely you are to call it stretched. It just takes too long to reach any milestones otherwise and where's the fun in that?

I'm cruising toward classic with 3b/3c hair and some days it still pops up to APL. My hair's length is it's length. It's curl pattern is it's pattern. The two are separate things.

[TrapperCreekD]

I claim both! I've never calculated my shrinkage, but I'd guess at least 1.5", so for my monthly length check in I measure it stretched then let the wurls fall where they may for the photo.

[lapushka]

I'm cruising toward classic with 3b/3c hair and some days it still pops up to APL. My hair's length is it's length. It's curl pattern is it's pattern. The two are separate things.

Best distinction *ever*! :) And a good explanation for measuring when stretched!!!

[luluj]

I'm cruising toward classic with 3b/3c hair and some days it still pops up to APL. My hair's length is it's length. It's curl pattern is it's pattern. The two are separate things.

I agree 100%.

[spirals]

Yep. Get in the car and drive down a stretch of road from one point to another. Say it's 4 miles. Assume you could magically stretch out that length of road and drive it again. You'd still go 4 miles. Length and curl pattern are two different things, yes.

[coconutinsight]

I call both. My hair can shrink up to 3 inches and it never looks the same when unstretched, sometimes it looks MBL other days it's BSL and sometimes It can go a bit above BSL so I keep track of it when stretched. My goal is Hip unstretched though, but until I get there this is the way I'll do things :)

[YvetteVarie]

I call stretched. Otherwise I will be forever at neck length/shoulder length. High shrinkage problems

[Johannah]

I call unstretched.

[Firefox7275]

I call when my hair is at goal straight-ish (air dried stretched so slight wave), but my ultimate goals are waist straight/ BSL wavy-curly which should be approximately the same length.

[Silverbrumby]

I do both. I'm feeling a bit excited as for the first time since joining the LHC I'm approaching waist, wet, just a few hairs. I never thought I'd get there.

[queenovnight]

I'm a stretcher, I suppose. But really, I never measure my hair in it's natural state because I never wear it curly. Almost always braid waved or in a bun (which streches my curls.)

[PerkyCurlz]

I measure my hair stretched, but I make the call by body part (mid-back, waist, hip, etc.) by what it looks like most days. My first day curly hair can be up to 2-3 inches shorter than day 3 hair, which has been braided and/or bunned.

[Totty]

I call both, but at this moment, due to postpartum shed and with the, probably second postpartum shed on the way, the stretched one is the most important one for me. I like my hair the most when curly, but at this moment I'm trying to get my hair thicker

[darklyndsea]

I get excited at the length of my hair in the shower, especially now that I'm in the legs and my hair's getting curlier at the ends. But I only really count it when it's dry because if I wore it down that's what people would see. Honestly, I feel like the best way to measure my hair would be in a braid, since that's the base of most styles I use and thus is the length I'm actually working with, but...meh.

[Elizabeth E]

I know this is an old thread, but I agree with many people here. My hair shrinks about 10 percent of its true length when wavy, but I only call it WL when that is where it hangs dry and unstretched. When stretched, it's probably around HL, but that feels like cheating to me since no one is actually going to see it that way.

[ravenskey]

I measure stretched but call milestones by look.

[chomsky]

Stretched. 50% of my length is eaten by curls. I'd never get past collar bone length if I went by my unstretched hair.

I do want to know I'm making some progress. :lol:

[pili]

I call both, in a way. I measure stretched, but only claim a length once I hit it visually. My hair shrinks by a whole milestone usually, so if I didn't do that I'd be a sad panda.

[*Wednesday*]

I call my length visually.

[ExpectoPatronum]

I call stretched only because my apparent length can vary wildly from day to day based on how loose or tight my texture is that day. Looser days would make my hair look a few inches longer than on a day where my curls are tighter. The only way I can get a consistent length measurement if I measure when stretched.

[leayellena]

My hair is not wavy. It's not THE straight either. It's past layers still tend to flip. So I comb it then let it fall naturally while I set up the camera (perks of having dark hair) and call my length when it looks like my hair hit the length.

[Simsy]

I call at wet stretched (standing in the shower), wet curly (damp and detangled after the shower), stretched (brushing out before wash day) and curly (air-dried while loose). Hence my sigi only allowing for half-classic at the moment. It also means that I’m usually a few weeks behind with calling since I don’t bother to check most of the time.

[lapushka]

I call stretched, always do so, since that is the "true" length of the hair.

[Corvana]

I call both, but one is like... a "soft milestone" :laugh:. I measure stretched, because that's my actual hair length, and then call when I hit measured milestones. But that's the soft milestone! The hard milestone (now, at least) is visual. When it looks like the milestone is when it's "official".