How should curlies measure their length?

[ZoSo]

Dry or wet? Naked or with a leave in, not sure if that changes length. I don't mean a curl enhancement product. Laying naturally or pulled straight? To me it would seem pointless to pull it straight to measure it, unless you want to straighten it.

[Hairkay]

Good question.

I've tried pulling it straight to measure but get a different measurement each time. I don't want my hair straightened. I've measured plaits/braids mostly. My hair appears to change length unstretched all the time too. It's BSL/MBL when stretched and between SL and APL unstretched.

[Halliday]

i measure mine wet ^_^

[cat11]

Dry and however you usually style it, as this is the length it will be when you wear it down. I have curly hair and always felt like wet was cheating because nobody sees it actually look like that. At least for body marker measurements, like hip. For inches I dont think there's much wrong with wet or straightened at all because your measuring not how long it looks, but the specific length of each strand of hair, how much keratin came out of your head. Just my two cents :)

edit: like, I could call waist now if I counted wet length. but then people would look at me and be like... uhhh. your hair isnt at your waist. I would look at me and say that.

If I wore my hair straightened every day though, I would call waist when it got there straight... but I don't so I find it irrellevant like the OP

[Quixii]

When I measured, as in inches/centimetres, I pulled it straight when wet, because that was the actual measurement of the length of the hair that had grown out of my head.
When calling body markers, I usually observe when it hits both straight and curled. After all, the curls could hit a slightly different point every day, depending on how much they decided to curl, or not, that day.

[Wildcat Diva]

This is a sensitive subject for some. I'm wavy/ curly and more about the body markers than anything. I don't speak for anybody but myself, and I measure dry and whurly.

[Nique1202]

The important thing is to do it consistently. Measure at the same time in your wash cycle (just before/after washing), if you measure dry let it dry the same way (don't comb your hair straighter while it's drying one time and just stretch the dry curls/waves by hand next time you measure, it won't shrink the same way), and don't measure too often because hair takes a long time to grow, especially if you're measuring dry and unstretched.

A big reason to measure wet or stretched is because that measures closer to the actual growth out of your head. A reason to measure unstretched and dry is if you want to measure the everyday/useful length. Some people choose to measure both, just to keep track all around. As long as you're happy, there's no objective right or wrong.

[EDIT] I guess I could add that I measure my inches stretched and my visible length unstretched by milestones, which is another option. When I wear it down dry it's at hip, when it's wet it's much closer to bcl, but I won't call bcl until it's bcl dry and unstretched, even if my stretched inches say it's as long as bcl, if that makes sense.

[MINAKO]

I'm so over measuring, as long as it doesn't feel shorter or thinner i shall be alright. But would just go by measuring it wet and going by body markers.

[lapushka]

I have only wavy hair, so at the end of the week, pulled taut and relative to a marker (BSL, TBL, classic). I have 2/3 inches to go until classic. That's the most I know. :)

[chen bao jun]

It is impossible for curlies to accurately measure their hair.

Seriously.

Mine, by the way, is shorter when wet. significantly shorter. I'm a hypercurly and this is how it works for us--the minute water touches it, whizz, zoom, half the length it was just a minute ago. Maybe less than half.

[gthlvrmx]

I pull it stretched when dry to measure and I use my body markers to check instead of a measuring tape. I am not sure if there is an exact method that curlies should use. I just figured it's up to the individual on how they should measure.

[cherrybird]

I measure by body markers. I never got an accurate reading with tape measures. I measure monthly on wash day, but occasionally I''l stretch my hair and see where it is straight. It always depresses me a little :P

[Totty]

I mature in cm wet and stretcher. Some montessorischool are slighly off by 2 cm. In dry state it varies between WL and HL+.

[Totty]

I ment measure... Altough I mature wrinkly and dry after my ears

[Arwenlily]

It is impossible for curlies to accurately measure their hair.

Seriously.

I completely agree. I measure both dry and wet but it is basically impossible regardless. When my hair is dry, my curls vary from day to day, so when measurements vary, I get really frustrated and disappointed. But when it's wet, I literally have to measure it when it's soaking wet because that is the only time it is straight. The second it isn't being touched by water, it starts getting wurly.

[TrapperCreekD]

Curly hair is a many-faced beast, nearly impossible to accurately measure. Seconding what Nique1202 said, whatever method you employ, be consistent. Personally, I only measure (with a tape) when I'm really tracking the growth, otherwise I just watch the progress toward the next body marker. I wash and apply my normal products and then measure when my hair's dry, pulling it "straight".

[QMacrocarpa]

How should curlies measure their length? However they prefer to measure it, of course! :)
:cheese:

[ositarosita]

I have 5-7" shrinkage depending on how well my hair is behaving that day so measuring curly for me is pointless, so I measure dry while pulling my hair taught to body markers there's no point in me using measurements

[chen bao jun]

Maybe its sour grapes because I can't, but I have decided that there is no reason that I need to measure anyway. I think someone else said this above.

clearly its growing because my photos from when I joined here look different than my hair looks now. Equally clearly, although it grows, it takes 3 to 4 times as long for me to look as if I reached a body marker as it does for someone who has a different hair type, and when I finally do, I can look as if I never reached it the very next day. So I can either live in a state of constant aggravation or forget about it.

I used to go around when I first joined this forum and my hair started to grow telling people, my poor family members and even random strangers, 'look, my hair looks THIS long and its really THIS long' but people seemed, you know, bored by t his kind of remark. And its not even like I'm educating them in some way anymore, because the whole world and their brother seems to know that curly hair, especially afro curly hair, has 'shrinkage.' the word seems to have entered the general vocabulary of every one sometime in the last 2 or 3 years. Actually, its kind of hilarious, people used to think my hair was as short as it looks, in its natural state, now everyone assumes that I have a lot more shrinkage that I actually do, in the past couple of weeks 3 different people IRL, only one of them black have told me that my hair must be so, so long, it must be waist length or 'something like that' because 'I know how your hair type hides length!'

I wish. A good year before I get there, probably. But its fine with me if they think so.

[curlylocks85]

Dry or wet? Naked or with a leave in, not sure if that changes length. I don't mean a curl enhancement product. Laying naturally or pulled straight? To me it would seem pointless to pull it straight to measure it, unless you want to straighten it.

I do not know about one particular way of measuring with curly hair, but I think as you do. I do not see the point in measuring my hair straight unless I wear it that way. I understand the shrinkage factor, but I knew about that when I decided to rock my curls instead of flat ironing, which changes the measurement. I do not measure with a tape measure. I judge the length by where my hair falls on my back when it is dry. I always leave conditioner in my hair after washing, but it does not change the length when dry, just how soft it feels. Thus, I measure with my hair dry and curly and with no tape measure. That is me. I do not speak for others'.

[Quixii]

Actually, its kind of hilarious, people used to think my hair was as short as it looks, in its natural state, now everyone assumes that I have a lot more shrinkage that I actually do, in the past couple of weeks 3 different people IRL, only one of them black have told me that my hair must be so, so long, it must be waist length or 'something like that' because 'I know how your hair type hides length!'

I wish. A good year before I get there, probably. But its fine with me if they think so.
I've noticed this too!
When I was still a bit before knee length, someone was describing my hair to someone else, "Oh, her hair is really long, but it's curly, so it's really somewhere down her calves!" :laugh:

[HappyHair87]

I double measure. I have 3c curls...they get weighed down with water and when thoroughly moisturized.

I feel it's fair to double measure....my hair's real length is WL +

My hair when curly is about APL/BSL...right now it's more on the BSL side. When it's wet it's BSL/MBL.

Day 2 hair and beyond? My hair shrinks and shrinks and shrinks!!!

I don't think on measurement is practical for someone with super curly hair. :lol:

That may work for someone with very loose curls...like 3a types.

[maegalcarwen]

Dry and however you usually style it, as this is the length it will be when you wear it down. I have curly hair and always felt like wet was cheating because nobody sees it actually look like that. At least for body marker measurements, like hip. For inches I dont think there's much wrong with wet or straightened at all because your measuring not how long it looks, but the specific length of each strand of hair, how much keratin came out of your head. Just my two cents :)

edit: like, I could call waist now if I counted wet length. but then people would look at me and be like... uhhh. your hair isnt at your waist. I would look at me and say that.

If I wore my hair straightened every day though, I would call waist when it got there straight... but I don't so I find it irrellevant like the OP

This is exactly what I think!

[ExpectoPatronum]

I measure mine dry and pulled straight. If I don't pull it straight, my length can vary. Sometimes my hair is more wavy, sometimes it's got a ton of spirally curls which eat up more length than waves do.

I don't consider it cheating. It's how long my hair would be if it weren't full of waves and spirals :P

[YvetteVarie]

I measure dry and pulled down my back. I know if I measure it curly, I wold get discouraged since my hair will seem like its not growing. For example, my hair when stretched is almost APL but if left curly its barely neck length, and may even shrink to ear. And the hang factor doesn't really apply yet. When I grew close to BSL the shrinkage factor was still the same, my hair shrnk to barely neck length while curly.