Length: wet hair VS dry hair

[Mrstran]

What is the difference in the average length of hair when wet as opposed to dry?
Or even oiled if that has any difference.

In the Beginning of october I had taken a photo my hair from behind and it was pretty short and had absolutely no oils in it. It also was straightened because I had straightened it a week Pryor before I cut it off.

Now I keep it oiled all the time. My hair has natural wavs so you can still see them very well when it's oiled. It is the end of October and I took a behind photo again for a comparison.

This time my hair is roughly an inch and a half longer (again, it is now oil coated and with a wave unlike my first photo with dry and straightened hair)
How much length on average is temporarily added when your hair is oiled down? In your personal experience of corse

[LaísB]

I always see a difference in my hair lenght from when it's wet from when it's dry. I usually measure from when it's wet because my waves are really different every time so they are not good to measure 'cause when they are curlier than usual they are way shorter than when straightened/wet or even to when they are less wavy. I also see a difference from when it is oiled but as much as to when it is wet vs dry. The lenght changes can be up to over an inch sometimes with my hair.

[meteor]

According to L'Oreal Hair Science:

Despite the close fitting scales of its cuticle and the sebum which naturally coats it, a hair in good condition can absorb more than 30% of its own weight of water. If the hair is alread damaged by other factors, this percentage can reach 45%. Its length can thus increase by 2% and its diameter by 15% to 20% (http://www.hair-science.com/_int/_en/topic/topic_sousrub.aspx?tc=root-hair-science^so-sturdy-so-fragile^properties-of-hair&cur=properties-of-hair)

Personally, I haven't consistently measured my own hair wet vs. dry, but it does feel like the difference between wet & dry length is increasing significantly with more added length (which could simply be that the same % represents more cm as the total length is greater now...). When my hair is wet, it's almost a whole milestone longer compared to when it's dry.

For very textured hair, this difference between wet vs. dry tends to be even more obvious since water/humidity temporarily affects quite a bit the way the curl/wave pattern shows up.

[RavenRose]

I have similar texture to you, My wet or stretched hair is about 23", dry it can be anywhere from 2-3" shorter depending on how much it decides to wave. if it is oiled and brushed, it is only about an 1" to 1 1/2" shorter than wet/stretched.

[Mrstran]

I have similar texture to you, My wet or stretched hair is about 23", dry it can be anywhere from 2-3" shorter depending on how much it decides to wave. if it is oiled and brushed, it is only about an 1" to 1 1/2" shorter than wet/stretched.

Omg! You're right. Your waves and thickness looks like mine in the back when my hair is in its natural state. That's crazy

I looked at your profile so I could see your hair closer. It's very beautiful. What's even more funny is that you also have my natural color lol. My roots are really dark in the back though, which is leaving me rather confused.

[animetor7]

I don't see a huge difference in my hair for wet vs straight, and no difference for oiled vs not. But then, I'm a straightie. :shrug:

[LadyCelestina]

Maybe it's because you took your pics a month apart, or just your waves were a bit looser that day? :) With curls or waves you can never take length pics too seriously.

/// Ok read your post again - you are compared straightened hair to waves. I think then perhaps you've had a growth spurt :) I do get a difference between wet and oiled hair, but it's from shorter curly to longer wavy.

[Bea18]

Depending on the day my hair usually has a difference of about 6 cm from wet/straight/stretched hair to wavy/curly hair. Which is really annoying cause it looks like my hair is shorter than it actually is and that i'm far from my goal when in reality i just need a few more inches.

[Idreamlong]

Depending on the day my hair usually has a difference of about 6 cm from wet/straight/stretched hair to wavy/curly hair. Which is really annoying cause it looks like my hair is shorter than it actually is and that i'm far from my goal when in reality i just need a few more inches.

Eurgh, this for me too :( it's so frustrating. Curly my hair is APL whereas wet/ straightened it is BSL. I really want my curls to get to BSL and then I probably wouldn't ever straighten it again. I like my hair curly, I just don't like it curly at the length it's at now as APL curly on me means it falls out rather than in/ down so it just looks really poofy and silly!

[RavenRose]

Omg! You're right. Your waves and thickness looks like mine in the back when my hair is in its natural state. That's crazy

I looked at your profile so I could see your hair closer. It's very beautiful. What's even more funny is that you also have my natural color lol. My roots are really dark in the back though, which is leaving me rather confused.

Thank you! My hair is a changeling! It is never the same from one day to the next. It makes it hard to measure, so I have been calling my milestones when oiled and brushed since it seems to be the middle ground...

[sarahthegemini]

When my hair was BSL when unstretched, it was WL when wet (and thus straight, stretched out) After a recent trim, it's now just gone APL when unstretched and BSL when wet and straight.

[EbonyCurls]

wet = hips/right above tailbone
dry = waist

[vampyyri]

It's not a huge difference for me personally, maybe about .5". When it's wet it's definitely all up in BCL land :lol:

[raemarthe]

The majority of my hair is about 3-5 inches longer depending on the specific curl. I go from a little past BSL to waist. I always have to remember that although it appears shorter, I need to treat it with care because its actually a longer than it seems. I want to try for hip curly so I'm assuming it'll be around tailbone length wet if I ever manage to grow it that long.