Question for curlies/wavies: Curl pattern changes with length?

[pili]

So I was wondering how much curl was lost the longer your hair got. I am a 2c/3a at APL. I know curls will stretch out, so will I be looking at more of a 2b curl pattern in the future?

I would love to hear from anyone who has gone from short to below waist. What kind of change? How did it make caring for your hair different?
Or not!

[maegalcarwen]

When I was shorter than APL, my hair was much curlier. Now its more wavy, and it stretches more and more every day after wash - the last day its almost straight. I asked several people, because I thought it was funny how I must have a different hair every day, but guess what - according to my not so representative sample, they all think its the same: D

[PalomaSincera]

My hair is not as curly as yours but does have some serious waves and some curls. The longer it gets, the waves it has. Like the post above me, each day after a wash, my hair will get less wavy and on the last day it's almost straight.

[lapushka]

My hair got wavier the lengthier it got, so... Maybe because it takes length for certain wave patterns to emerge properly. Ever since hitting waist, though, it is kind of stretching more towards 2b.

[CoveredByLove]

Some curl/wave types do need more length to curl up. I'm curious myself what will happen to my curls as I get much longer. The longest my curly hair has been was about waist. It was still very curly at that length.

[lilin]

It seems to have more to do with how I'm treating it than how long it is.

I've had a bob that was barely 2a. I've had BSL length hair that's 2c. Depends what my wash is, whether I'm brushing it, etc.

I don't think the length of my hair ever gets less curly. Only the top does, as more weight is put on the roots and thus they stretch out more.

[MedusaWarrior]

I've found that my curl pattern actually changes throughout the length of hair, for instance, near the root I sometimes get 3B ringlets that switch to 3A or 2C and back as you follow the clump of hair. Definitely looser overall than it would be if it was short though. Curls fall out easier and my hair gets wavier as it approaches wash day.

When my hair was shorter I didn't really do anything with it apart from tie it up so I can't speak as to whether I'd be caring for it that differently than I am now that it's longer. I spend more time encouraging my curls now, using the scrunching method with some gel and then using a diffuser.

[momschicklets]

My hair has definitely gotten wavier with length! But I think I'm one that needs length for the waves to begin curling up. As a matter of fact, my hair is pretty darn near straight until at least my ears, maybe even lower. Look at my pic and you can see that. But then it just waves and waves and waves and it seems to be doing more so the longer it gets. Although maybe the weight of it is pulling the top part straight? :hmm::hmm: Guess I didn't think about that....but I haven't noticed the waves disappearing. I'm about 2 inches past APL...maybe things will change once it gets much, much longer.

[endlessly]

My hair was always semi-wavy when it was shorter, but yes, it did get straighter the longer it grew. Now, the only way for me to have my waves back is to either avoid combing or brushing it when it's drying or to just braid it. I'm sure that as it continues to grow and becomes heavier, I'll probably have perfectly straight hair one of these days!

[Glynis72]

I am 2b/2c my 2c curls are in the front and on the bottom half of my hair with a bit of 2b from the crown to the curlier ends. It has always had this pattern (I used to be a strict curly girl at shorter lengths). What has changed for me with more length is volume at the scalp is less. I have experienced some thinning in the recent past and I don't blow dry upside down with a diffuser anymore, but I doubt even with diffusing that I could get as much volume as I used to. But I don't mind, because it is always up!

[cat11]

Now that by hair is mid back length my curls have become more elongated spirals with tighter curls underneath (if I leave it alone that is. If i comb and brush and bun/braid stretch it it's just wavy- which i like because it's easier) unless I plop and stuff and use curly girl method then its pretty much as curly as before

its weird for me to be a wavy now because Ive been a curly all my short haired life, inclyuding when I was in kindergarten/1st grade which was the last time I had long hair- which I dont remember too well.

[kitschy]

my curls seemed to pull out as it got longer. I thought I was a solid 3B, but when I was waist length it was more like 3A

[pili]

I'm not sure how to feel about my curls stretching out. In the past my curl went waiver when I got to waist (and then I didn't know what to do with it so I would chop it off in a pixie :eek: ) I'm happy I found these forums so I can learn a bunch of pretty things to do with it.

[curlylocks85]

So I was wondering how much curl was lost the longer your hair got. I am a 2c/3a at APL. I know curls will stretch out, so will I be looking at more of a 2b curl pattern in the future?

I would love to hear from anyone who has gone from short to below waist. What kind of change? How did it make caring for your hair different?
Or not!

I am not quite APL, but from where I was last August, SL, my curls have stretched out a bit as my hair get longer and heavier. That's gravity for you! :)

[LunaLuvsU]

As my hair got longer is became straighter. I think it has to do with the weight of the hair.

[Wildcat Diva]

From APL to hip it's the same 2C but harder to deal with combing wise. I fight to detangle it and it's such a waste of time and probably damaging. Detangling does no good for me, doesn't last at all.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

My hair gets straighter the longer it gets. It is at its waviest on wash day and it progressively straightens itself from then until the next wash day. The day before wash day it is generally 90% straight, apart from the last 3 inches and a tiny bit of wave at my temples. It's all a bit odd.

[pili]

From APL to hip it's the same 2C but harder to deal with combing wise. I fight to detangle it and it's such a waste of time and probably damaging. Detangling does no good for me, doesn't last at all.

I have to be so, so careful with combing. I only just started detangling dry since I've been putting it up in protective styles. I know the curl is going to lessen the longer it gets. I both look forward to it and dread it.

[elea]

The longer it gets, the more curls i have down the length and the more random the patterns are. Behaviour is the same.
My hair is very fine though. I have noticed friends with thick hair tend to get longer curls as their hair grows.

[Totty]

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=115592

Two years later, still layered from post partum 1 and post partum 2, and 18 cm longer, my curls have stretched a bit more

[ExpectoPatronum]

My hair is maybe MBL stretched.

If I brush it out after wash day, it turns damn near straight. Like. 1c/2a. :(

Needless to say, unless I'm planning on wearing it in a braid, I don't comb or brush my hair.

Sometimes I'll wake up with some pieces that lost all their curl. Wetting it again fixes it right up, though. I'm kind of on the fence if I want to grow my hair much longer now! I just got to the point where I like my waves. I don't want to lose them now :p

[pili]

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=115592

Two years later, still layered from post partum 1 and post partum 2, and 18 cm longer, my curls have stretched a bit more

Beautiful hair!

[lapushka]

Sometimes I'll wake up with some pieces that lost all their curl. Wetting it again fixes it right up, though. I'm kind of on the fence if I want to grow my hair much longer now! I just got to the point where I like my waves. I don't want to lose them now :p

Can't hurt to try, though, right? ;) Try and see what it's like longer. If you don't like it, you can always cut. :thumbsup:

[Totty]

@pili thank you, you've made my day. And my day was prettige bad. Something with a bib, velcro and my rear end...

[Totty]

pretty that is....

[Lianna]

My hair looks 2c around shoulder and APL, but solid 2b around BSL and waist.

[pili]

I've found that my curl pattern actually changes throughout the length of hair, for instance, near the root I sometimes get 3B ringlets that switch to 3A or 2C and back as you follow the clump of hair. Definitely looser overall than it would be if it was short though. Curls fall out easier and my hair gets wavier as it approaches wash day.

When my hair was shorter I didn't really do anything with it apart from tie it up so I can't speak as to whether I'd be caring for it that differently than I am now that it's longer. I spend more time encouraging my curls now, using the scrunching method with some gel and then using a diffuser.

MedusaWarrior, you have the hair I had as a teen…when I hated it and did everything possible to change it (early 90s). How I miss that hair now! Just. Gorgeous.

[cat11]

something that helped me tons with post shower detangling the last couple washes (since I felt the turbie twist mas making it harder) has been letting the hair hang until its 6-80 % dry or I have to go to sleep and then splitting it in four sections, smoothing down from bottom up with my hands and very loosely braiding them to dry the rest of the way in the sleep cap so the hairs dont change directions and dry looser and less hard to detangle, less inter twined.

[Remi]

Mine kind of stays the same.

[Elizabeth E]

Even though my length hasn't increased that much yet, the curls are definitely looser. I think it also has to do with the way I dry it now - when I leave my hair to air dry completely before detangling, it dries much straighter. Which is weird, since I thought that it would dry curlier if I don't detangle it right after a wash. Does anyone know why this might be?

[Joules]

Mine does change with length and also with products. Most products I use weigh my hair down quite a lot, but my hair naturally is so dry I would rather have silky waves than straw-like curls. I can see my natural pattern after swimming in the sea or a pool, when my hair loses a bit of moisture: it's almost pin-straight to about shoulders, and then gradually becomes more and more curly, to full-on 2C/3A curls on the ends. When my hair is shorter it starts to curl more.

[spidermom]

What I've noticed is that with long hair, all that pretty wave/curl was near the bottom while the top was pulled straight, except for the shorter, newer hairs fluffing up all over. With it short, the wave/curl starts at the scalp.

[nycelle]

My ends get waiver for whatever reason. At shoulder length, it looks like I have straight hair. Kinda the reverse of what many people get.

[AutobotsAttack]

It also depends on the density/weight of your strands individually and as a whole.

Obviously, for more denser/heavier hair, with more length the wurls and curls might straighten out from gravity doing its thing.

Finer strands, even with large amounts of density can wave and wurl anywhere along the strand they please.

I have very very fine hair, and it wurls and curls like crazy at the ends, and the mid shaft, and all through the upper middle into my roots as well.

[Glitch]

I have hair on the finer and lighter side overall, so it's pretty wavy after my ears when it's short, with nothing to weigh it down (I never have and probably never will use any products after washing besides a bit of oil). The longer it is, the more weighed down the waves get - essentially appearing more like 1c hair unless I really scrunch. My hair is naturally 1a up to my ears, and I had a 'boy cut' until I was a teen so I never even knew I had wavy hair. I didn't know how to care for it as it grew out or what to do with it (only wavy in the family and circle of friends) so I just began simply flat ironing it all the time. Years and years later, aka a few months ago, I quit flat ironing and now use heatless methods. I don't have a lot of experience in caring for wavy hair, but it definitely looks different from wash to wash, always has, especially with length differences. Very tricky to fully get the hang of!

[Ondine11]

YES!!! The longer mine gets, the less curly/frizzy it is, & the easier it is to manage. Gravity is my hair's friend, as is weight. As it gets fuller (since I suffered some traumatic hair loss) it is less wild & unpredictable. By the time it reaches Classic (please let BSL NOT be my terminal length!) I just might be able to stop the keratin treatments altogether.

[Ligeia Noire]

I second that. I am a 2b body and 2c ends and with the longer it gets the less frizz you have but the length does weigh the curls down. Day two after wash my hair is all waves only.

[enting]

The bottom few inches of hair are always the curliest on me. The rest is losing a bit of curl due to length. I also appear to have lost curl because I comb, oil, and bun it a lot rather than my past routine of wash, condition, scrunch, and clip up to dry for maximum curl. With combing and oiling I can get my hair down to the 1s.
I was shocked to see how curly my hair got a few weeks ago when I had opportunity to try Hello Hydration conditioner. Even the "straight" parts of my hair coiled! So part of it may be about the products and changing products with length.

[Margarita]

My curls definietly changes from time to time due to hormonal issues. I will tell you,when my hair was in neck length, they were every more curlier. Now, they're in shoulder length and absolutely my curls are more loose. Its weird because the back of my hair is a spot that generally my curls loose fast than the rest of my head. So it means i have sometimes to wet and scrunch my loose spots with a creme almost everyday to fix this. My hair type is between 2b,2c and 3a. My hair is bipolar, lol. As for frizz, they frizz a bit naturally. Its so annoying sometimes either the left or right side of my head gets the more frizz, like whyyyyyyyyyy?????? :disgust:

[lapushka]

My curls definietly changes from time to time due to hormonal issues. I will tell you,when my hair was in neck length, they were every more curlier. Now, they're in shoulder length and absolutely my curls are more loose. Its weird because the back of my hair is a spot that generally my curls loose fast than the rest of my head. So it means i have sometimes to wet and scrunch my loose spots with a creme almost everyday to fix this. My hair type is between 2b,2c and 3a. My hair is bipolar, lol. As for frizz, they frizz a bit naturally. Its so annoying sometimes either the left or right side of my head gets the more frizz, like whyyyyyyyyyy?????? :disgust:

It will probably "hang" more once you gain more length. That is just what happens. You don't have to fix this, but it obviously bothers you enough. Meanwhile it looks just fine!

[Margarita]

It will probably "hang" more once you gain more length. That is just what happens. You don't have to fix this, but it obviously bothers you enough. Meanwhile it looks just fine!

Thats natural because as they grow longer my curls get loose, and my hair will become straight wavy even if i scrunch them. It bothers me a bit when my curls get ruined, yeah. Thanks anyway =)

[Lanalavallama]

Even though my length hasn't increased that much yet, the curls are definitely looser. I think it also has to do with the way I dry it now - when I leave my hair to air dry completely before detangling, it dries much straighter. Which is weird, since I thought that it would dry curlier if I don't detangle it right after a wash. Does anyone know why this might be?

It could be that combing before drying encourages the curls to clump.

[AutobotsAttack]

It depends on a few things. Density, strand thickness, texture, etc.

My hair is to tailbone length, and it still retains its curls. I have cotton-like textured hair, that’s very fine (strand thickness wise), but dense, and it shrinks up to above APL on any given day.

Granted I have type 4a hair, and I chemically treat it, but it still behaves much like it was natural.


So it really depends on your hair’s properties, and how they interact with gravitational forces and products.