Does anyone else find their new length surreal?

[browneyedsusan]

My hair has been shoulder length or shorter all of my adult life. (I think it was longer when I was about 8, then abruptly cut.) Even though it has taken a few years to grow it this long, it still seems new and strange. I've seen lots of threads about cutting hair and feeling different or sad after, but I'm the opposite. Long hair feels different than what I've been accustomed to. I really like it: the ease of care, and variety of styles it provides; but it still feels "new" sometimes.

Anyone else in this boat? Is your hair longer than it has ever been? Are you used to it yet? Does your new length sometimes catch you by surprise?

ETA: Oh my goodness! There is a typo in the thread title! :rolleyes: oopsie!

[two_wheels]

I feel like after several years of not being "me", my hair is approaching my "me" length. It's surreal and familiar at the same time :)

[jasper]

Mine is longer than it has ever been, but it has been such a gradual change that I am mostly used to it. It catches me by surprise sometimes when people comment on the length, because I am so used to it. But I have worn different lengths over the years, so yeah, maybe that's why you feel differently. Long is new for you, and that's pretty special.

I like your "Aug 2014" pic in your signature. You hair is really looking good!

[Theobroma]

I feel like after several years of not being "me", my hair is approaching my "me" length. It's surreal and familiar at the same time :)

Yes, that describes my feeling too! I have a few inches to go before my hair becomes longer than it's ever been before (I think I must have been at or near fingertip when I was 12 and I'm at classic now), but for the first time in my adult life I've reached a length that feels "right".

[gossamer]

I definitely find mine surreal! It's felt that way since the first time I felt it brushing on my upper calves. Since then, it's only gotten weirder, not in a bad way, but still in a strange-to-me way.

[MsPharaohMoan]

I remember a few years ago I just didn't cut my hair… I wasn't actively growing, I just didn't cut it! Every once and a while in the shower I would feel where on my spine my ends were. As the months passed, it definitely became surreal! Like "Wow, is my hair really at that length??" Heh. Of course, now that I'm actively growing I'm a bit less patient but no less happy to reach new milestones.

I imagine for you it's like suddenly having a tail! I'll admit, as a lurker I had read your story. Seeing your progress pic in your sig… Wow! Knowing you haven't had long hair before it's as if every bit of growth is more amazing than the next. Cheering you on! ;)

[jacqueline101]

Yes I do find mine surreal and stunning in terms of how much it's grown. It's even more amazing in terms of progress towards the health of my hair.

[Caraid♫]

yes, sometimes! Before I started growing, the longest I'd had was bsl, so it's been the longest I've ever had it from there all the way until now, below hip. Since it's been gradual of course, I'm mostly used to it, but it's when I catch a glimpse of it in a mirror that's from a distance, or in my shadow that it just looks really long to me and I sort of just stop and go "woah :bigeyes: it really is getting long!"

[Madora]

Yes, most definitely surreal! I rarely wear it down because I loathe tangles, but I did so a few weeks back...a braid that started in the front and hung down past my waist..and then some. The tassel was about 4 inches long and it just seemed strange to have a braid that long. When my hair is down for brushing, it seems incredible that I can actually feel the ends touching the backs of my knees. I never, ever, thought I'd be able to achieve such a length (though I had relatives in Ecuador who had hair even longer than knee).

[lapushka]

It feels all the more comfortable the longer it's getting. This might be due to the layers that were put in, because unlayered waist was about my limit whereas comfort goes.

[ashke50]

I do sometimes, when I feel my hair brush the top of my thighs! But it mostly just feels right to have hair this long, probably because I've got used to it as it grows out. I feel like if/when I get to knee that will feel super surreal, but I may well find that by the time I get there (if I do!) it just feels normal.

[RileyJane]

I actually had this kind of moment the other day, actually. I was on my time hop app, and it showed me a pic I took of myself and a friend, and it said: omg i have really long hair! which, then it was about armpit length, kind of getting towards BSL but nowhere near. Then I looked at my hair now and its double basically triple that length, and I thought man, if past me thought that was long, then I wonder what she would think of my hair now!

[Johannah]

How longer it gets, how better I feel. I'm used to it. But I hope I'll have such a moment in the future, when it's getting REALLY long :p

[lazuliblue]

Not yet....I've had hair this length for most of my life (between shoulder and BSL) and because the growth from having a pixie has taken two years my current length isn't surprising! But I can't wait until I get to waist, I am sure then that it will feel surreal :)

[queenovnight]

Yep! This is the longest (hip) that I've ever had my hair. I wear it up a lot, so when I wear it down.. I usually run up to my bf and say "Omg babe look at how long my hair is getting" xD

[RapunzelKat]

:hmm: Mine really doesn't feel surreal to me, I think maybe because it's been really long for many years. Also, I've done a great deal of trimming in the last few years since joining LHC, so the change in length hasn't been all that large (can-I-call-this-classic when I joined, almost fingertip now). So I've had plenty of time to adapt to the length.

It's definitely surreal to others though! :rolling: I've seriously shocked quite a few people when I redo my bun and they realize how long it actually is. :disco:

[AmyBeth]

I've had long hair for most of my life, but never could get much past waist-ish with really ratty ends. I've just reach BCL with a thick hemline, and I never thought in my wildest dreams it would happen. So that's surreal alright. I'm also surprised at how much thicker it is! Since joining LHC and learning how to really take good care of it, it's at least doubled in thickness. The part that really surprises me is how much of a hassle it is! The self braiding and the tangles are challenges I could never have even visualized before. The time it takes to detangle and put up in some sort of order is something that I never saw coming.

[two_wheels]

Yes, that describes my feeling too! I have a few inches to go before my hair becomes longer than it's ever been before (I think I must have been at or near fingertip when I was 12 and I'm at classic now), but for the first time in my adult life I've reached a length that feels "right".

That's great! I wondered maybe if it was just a thing where I would never feel it was long enough. Good to know that you can feel like that & then get there.

[RoseofCimarron]

Yep! When my hair was about 2 inches away from my knees I would sometimes see myself in the mirror and think, "Is my hair really that long? I never noticed!" Now that I have cut it, I sometimes think it is still really long but it is not (well, it is at TB, but that is short-ish for me). I'll never forget the time I was in the shower (probably the third or fourth shower after I cut it) and I reached to grab my hair and I accidentally grabbed my rear-end instead! :laugh:

[pixldust]

It does feel surreal sometimes, particularly when my hair brushes against my back. I've never experienced that before. I never envisaged myself as a longhair (or budding longhair like I currently am), even though I always envied those who had long hair. So it seems strange to see my hair slowly creeping down my back and I sometimes get this odd notion that I'll wake up one morning and it'll be gone and I'll be back to a pixie again :magic:

[DreamSheep]

Ironically yes - although my hair has been "long" by my standards for a good two years, as I've never had hair this long before, it feels foreign, exciting and new to me, and I love it!! :) Why did I never grow my hair this long before?

[Verdandi]

Yes! I left my hair alone and diddn't fuss with lngth for a couple of months due to my life in general, and when I asked DBF to take a picture at it because I liked the waves, I was sligthly shockeed. WHERE DID THAT HAIR COME FROM? Even more surreal is the fact that my care routine has been accustomed to my new length without me thinking about it, one day I just realized the tail on my lazy wrap bun almost wrapped around the base one more time than it did last time I thought about it. But ofcourse, it's not long enough yet ;)

[KwaveT]

Most of you ladies have had some kind of practice wearing longer lengths of hair somewhere in your life. My mother would never let me grow it out. Boys aren't suppose to have long hair. I finally got brave enough to do it 3.5 years ago. It has been surreal every step of the way. I have never felt my hair on my ears or my neck or my back. The best way I can describe feeling hair on your skin when you aren't use to it is like a spider crawling up you all time. It felt very unnatural. I have to learn to adjust to how alive long hair is. It has a life it's own. I have had to adjust how much warmer it feels in summer having all that hair on your head. I have had to learn how to ponytail my hair. I was fairly clumsy doing this at first. I have had to learn how to detangle and condition my hair. All these things were so foreign to me.

Other thing is most girls growing up have their mother teach them all these things. My mother hates my long hair and was not going to teach me much of anything so I had learn myself even though I still live with my parents and have daily access to my mother in my thirties.

[Atira]

I have never had hair past about inch past shoulders until I started growing it almost five years ago, and I just turned thirty three. I can't tell you how much more "me" my hair has become. I'm not there yet, but I feel like once all my hair (long layers still hanging on) is about BCL then I will finally feel like it's the length I desire.

[ChrissieM]

Yes...I've bee on a long hair journey for 6 years now. I drifted away from LHC in 2011 for some reason. I was between BSL and waist then..could never grow any longer. Then I had a baby and dealt with a shed. I basically put my hair up and forgot about it. My hair is suddenly at almost tailbone! Unbelievable. I'm shocked every time I take my hair down.

[velorutionista]

I'm in the same boat...I'd never had hair longer than about BSL (maybe as a kid, but it was always braided to avoid tangles, so I can't really recall how long it actually got at the longest). Every now and then I'll notice how long it "suddenly" is and it's always a surprise! I'll also occasionally swat at a bug tickling the back of my arm, realize it was actually my hair, and then wonder if my hair is really long enough to actually tickle my arm that far down!

But I have to say, the longer it gets, the more I like it--after many years of mutiny at shoulder length and above, it's amazing how easy it is to get my hair out of the way at longer lengths. Not to mention much more interesting updos!

[Symbiotek]

Yes, even though surreal isn't the word I'd use. But yeah, I get surprised by the length of my hair every now and then, despite having a slow grow rate. Especially when I lean back when sitting and my hair gets stuck between me and the chair. It's such a strange feeling after having a pixie cut for years, and it always makes me happy :)

[peachyleshy]

When my hair was bra strap length before it was the longest it had ever been, except maybe when I was very young, too young to remember. The length I had was more unreal to me than surreal. It just didn't seem long. Though, if I could suddenly have that length back I'm sure it would seem much more real and long then.

[cdmo]

Sadly, I recently cut my hair to try to improve its health and the shortness feels very strange. I feel like I don't know how to style it at this length. It has never however, grown past BSL, so once I get their I imagine it will feel amazing. I'm so very much looking forward to it.

[AspenSong]

I'd had TBL hair before I kept it shorter for a while, but right now, at a few inches to knee length - My hair is longer than it's ever been. It's kind of shocking to me to realize it's that long, because sometimes I don't feel like it's THAT long still. haha. I kept calling hubby a liar when he said it was nearly knee recently. I just couldn't wrap my brain around that.

[chen bao jun]

It feels surreal when I stretch a curl and see it is below brastrap, only 6 inches or so to waist. The problem is, I always wear my hair curly and it is between shoulder and apl that way. This feels 'normal' and even 'not as long as it's been) as my straightened hair was usually somewhere between APL and BSL and most of my photos show hair this same length. I remind myself that straightened and unstraightened is apples and oranges but I fear I won't realize the length until my unstraightened hair is at least BSL, which will take a while.
ON the other hand, the way my hair FEELS is surreal. It's so soft. I'm used to rough, harsh feeling, dry hair. My hair hasn't felt like this since I was a kid about 7 years old (when my mom started straightening it). I love it.

[Agnes Hannah]

Yes it does feel kinda surreal, my hair brushes across my back and I like the feeling. I went out last night, and wore my hair down for the first time in a long time, and got into a conversation with another woman who remarked on how long my hair is. Yay!

[Nebulae]

Because I'm trimming off damage and my hair doesn't grow very fast in the first place, I'm used to the length it is even if it's longer than ever. However I can still be surprised catching a glimpse of it in a reflection or seeing it in my shadow when the wind blows my hair around.. because then all of a sudden I actually see how long it is, when I look in the mirror at home it feels much shorter. What I'm marvelling at most though is how different and so much healthier my post-LHC hair is. That does feel a bit surreal!

[embee]

I remember the surprise when I first sat on my hair ends! I didn't realize my hair had grown that much. Also I remember measuring a shed hair and finding 36 inches. There are still some days when I am astonished at the length, never dreamed it would grow this long. When I was younger, my hair always "stopped growing" at BSL, no doubt from breakage as I always wore it loose and paid little attention to protecting it.

[browneyedsusan]

Thanks for all the replies!
--Thanks, Mods, for fixing that typo in the title! I don't know how it snuck past me! --

I'm glad it's not just me, and am looking forward to the day when it feels more natural. (I can't articulate it very well. It feels natural, but new at the same time?) I don't know if it's because I wore it so short for so long? Most of my adult life, I've just barely kept it long enough to lie down--you can see the stubborn sticky-up bit on my crown in my siggy, and I'd already grown it for a couple months. I imagine that the longer it's long, the more I will get used to it. (I love it, though! It's a nice kind of "new".) :)

[RapunzelKat]

Because I'm trimming off damage and my hair doesn't grow very fast in the first place, I'm used to the length it is even if it's longer than ever. However I can still be surprised catching a glimpse of it in a reflection or seeing it in my shadow when the wind blows my hair around.. because then all of a sudden I actually see how long it is, when I look in the mirror at home it feels much shorter. What I'm marvelling at most though is how different and so much healthier my post-LHC hair is. That does feel a bit surreal!

I've had something happen along these lines the past couple weeks - several times I've taken out my sleep braid and had not. one. single. tangle. I didn't even know that was possible for my hair, to be able to take out a sleep braid and run the comb from root to tip without hitting a single snarl. It was awesome, but I half expected the theme song from "The Twilight Zone" to start playing. :lol:

Let's hear it for LHC hair care! :bottomsup:

[Nebulae]

I've had something happen along these lines the past couple weeks - several times I've taken out my sleep braid and had not. one. single. tangle. I didn't even know that was possible for my hair, to be able to take out a sleep braid and run the comb from root to tip without hitting a single snarl. It was awesome, but I half expected the theme song from "The Twilight Zone" to start playing. :lol:

Let's hear it for LHC hair care! :bottomsup:

Ah, I can't wait until that happens to me! (And lol on the Twilight Zone part!)

Long live the LHC :bottomsup:

[SnottyDotty]

I had this exact situation yesterday as it happens.
In preparation for registering with LHC I took a photograph of my hair from behind. While my hair isn't that long (about 1" below APL) I still had it in my head that it was only just a little longer than SL. That was a happy surprise!

[browneyedsusan]

My hair "feels" like it's between SL and APL most of the time. It isn't, but that's as long as its ever been until the last year or so, and SL seems quite long after lots of pixies.

[pixldust]

My hair "feels" like it's between SL and APL most of the time. It isn't, but that's as long as its ever been until the last year or so, and SL seems quite long after lots of pixies.

I feel the same way about my hair. Even though it's hovering near bsl, in my mind I'm still at apl. I commented to my fiance earlier, after I'd been peering at my hair in the mirror, that I felt like my hair was shrinking. He just looked at me like I'd completely lost the plot :D

[hanne jensen]

I'm only at BSL and I still can't believe that this is my hair. I've never been able to get past a longish APL until I joined LHC.

[dogzdinner]

I think mine would have to get a few inches longer to feel surreal coz Ive had hair this length before...just never longer!
What I do find surreal is that it feels super long when I feel it brushing my elbows and yet when I look at it it still seems quite short. So I suppose I find the Tardis like qualities quite surreal!!LOL

[Nadine <3]

I feel this way about my hair more often than not! Not only is my hair longer than it's ever been in my entire life, but it's also never been all one length before. I still have some layers on the sides, but I used to keep it very heavily layered because I always have stylist tell me that's the only way my thin hair would look nice. I can't imagine how odd (in a great way) it will feel when I hit my goal of waist length! :)

[RachelRose]

Yes! I think this is the longest I've ever been (about 3 in from waist) and I love it ! It's certainly the best condition . I've stepped away from the chemical dye, I s&d , I deep condition , I dilute shampoo, I henna and I rarely use heat on it. I'm finally seeing my hair as a labor of self love than a constant thing I need to change to look trendy .

[chen bao jun]

Well, my hair is definitely below APL without being stretched at all. When I braid it,it's bra strap top. The longest I can remember is it being at shoulder blade bottom straightened and it's a couple of inches past that curly. It feels very, very surreal in a great way.
if I straightened it now it would be within a few inches of waist, but I have no urge to do that.


It feels surreal when I stretch a curl and see it is below brastrap, only 6 inches or so to waist. The problem is, I always wear my hair curly and it is between shoulder and apl that way. This feels 'normal' and even 'not as long as it's been) as my straightened hair was usually somewhere between APL and BSL and most of my photos show hair this same length. I remind myself that straightened and unstraightened is apples and oranges but I fear I won't realize the length until my unstraightened hair is at least BSL, which will take a while.
ON the other hand, the way my hair FEELS is surreal. It's so soft. I'm used to rough, harsh feeling, dry hair. My hair hasn't felt like this since I was a kid about 7 years old (when my mom started straightening it). I love it.

[emilia83]

So I suppose I find the Tardis like qualities quite surreal!!LOL

Oh my goodness, this is perfect! I too find myself amazed at how long my hair is when I feel it on my back or arms, but then I look in the mirror and it's still soooooooo far from waist!

[jacqueline101]

There are days when I braid my hair and it seems like it takes forever and I try to not look at it in the mirror. I finally figure out why I gain a bit more length.

[veryhairyfairy]

Yes and no. Like many others who have chimed in, I've had long (waist-hip) hair fairly often so TBL feels kind of 'me' to me. But at the same time, I've never had hair this long before, and I still feel a shock when it brushes against my behind or I tug on a braid tassle that hangs at hip length.

Part of the reason it's still so new to me is that I wear it up in a bun 90% of the time, so I don't see/feel it all that much. I'm currently trying to get more comfortable with wearing it down to hopefully make things easier for myself.

[Islandgrrl]

All the time.

I was scrolling through blog land a little earlier this morning and not really paying all that much attention (talking to someone on the phone at the same time) and I saw a picture of knee length hair. I actually thought, wow, I wish my hair was that long. And then I realized that not only IS my hair that long, but I was looking at my own most recent length shot.

I need more coffee this morning. I really, really do!

[Amapola]

All the time.

I was scrolling through blog land a little earlier this morning and not really paying all that much attention (talking to someone on the phone at the same time) and I saw a picture of knee length hair. I actually thought, wow, I wish my hair was that long. And then I realized that not only IS my hair that long, but I was looking at my own most recent length shot.

I need more coffee this morning. I really, really do!

:rollin: :rollin: :rollin:

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I do! Mostly when it is wet in the shower and reaches places it has never reached before:)It feels so heavy and delicious down my back and I sometimes swish it a bit just for the fun of it. Otherwise it is up, really and I never see the length apart from my monthly length pic when it always surprise/shocks me with its length. When you don't wear it loose the length just creeps down and down and lurks there to surprise you on a dark night:p

[squirrrel]

I got a shock with that one last night - had taken hair down just before I got ready for bed (don't always do things that way) and suddenly thought 'hang on, is that really My hair I'm feeling?' Once again, it's not all that long, being around BSL, and I have had it longer, just... Well, I don't often feel it... (wear vests a lot, and practice SO hair care, so it's not down when in the bath either...)

[Allie_snowflake]

My hair is the longest it's ever been (BCL :) ) but it feels so short to me. Before LHC I had no idea how long it was. I just thought it was long! About four years ago I chopped from (what I assume was) almost waist to a little above BSL because I was switching from bleached blond to henna. When I joined here last March I started lurking in the mid back to waist thread dreaming about how awesome waist length would be. Then I finally took a length photo.... And I was already 2" past waist.... That's when it immediately felt short and still has ever since. Partly to blame are all of the beautiful shots on LHC!

[chen bao jun]

I know LHC can make you feel that anything less than classic is short. I keep going by what I see in real life though and around here BSL is long, MBL is very long and waist is rarely seen.

[Allie_snowflake]

That's similar to how it is here chen. Waist seems long because it's not very common (and when I do see it, it seems like it's layered and v-shaped, never a thick blunt hemline)

[Bambi]

I agree, it's definately an odd but gratifying feeling for me. I've had waist-lenght before but it was long ago so I don't really remember all the sensations.
Now when i sit down and feel something softly brushing my skin in places it did not reach before I feel frigthened until I realize it's my hair:).
What makes me most happy, and grateful, is that my patience grow with each inch my hair grows, like they are intertwined:).

[Key]

When my hair reached mid-back length, it would sometimes brush against my arm. I'm pretty much always wearing unisex t-shirts, so for the longest time I've never felt my hair touch the skin on my arms. My hair spooked me several times doing that.

[TwilightShadow]

When I look at my length in the mirror from the side, it doesn't feel that long. But I've recently has some pictures taken from the back while wearing a skirt/dress, with my waistline visible and it finally looks long to me. I have a picture taken at the premiere of the last Hobbit movie, where I wore a medieval dress and Tauriel's hairstyle and I was actually proud of how my hair looked in a picture.

[arr]

The only time i find my length surreal is the rare occasion it is down and im out somewhere, like the mall or grocery store, and i catch a glimpse of it in a reflection. I always think it looks so long! But whenever i see it down at home, it looks short. I dont know why that should be, its like there is something wrong with all the mirrors in my home.