Trouble with length of curly hair.

[Margarita]

Okay okay, i know this question is going to be stupid and ridiculous, you can mock me. So, my hair's current length is to my collarbones(i believe they grew 2-3 inches the past 2 months, i think), i see that when i wash my hair, get out of the shower, and comb it with my fingers so that makes my hair straight at that moment. But! i always scrunch my hair using a curl creme so okay that curls my hair extremely. So whats my question? It is that, when i curl(scrunch) my hair, it gets to Neck length(yes i know its absolutely logical since it <<wurls>>). Sooo, if my hair is actually on collarbone length, then why when my hair is curly it doesnt get curly to my collarbones? I know most of you gonna question if my hair is thin or thick, the answer is that my hair is medium and dont have much weight. I dont know if you got my question of what i truly mean but, i hope my question wont make you laugh.....

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Because curly hair never looks its actual length. Unless you straighten it. It's simply the nature of the beast. It's called "shrinkage".

[Margarita]

Because curly hair never looks its actual length. Unless you straighten it. It's simply the nature of the beast. It's called "shrinkage".

Hm, so thats it. But in the other way, i've girls with even curlier hair than mine being in the length even when it straight. If a girl has chest length hair, it will be the same and follow the same as it grows with curly and straight.

It makes me kind of curious if somethings wrong with my hair...

[lapushka]

So whats my question? It is that, when i curl(scrunch) my hair, it gets to Neck length(yes i know its absolutely logical since it <<wurls>>). Sooo, if my hair is actually on collarbone length, then why when my hair is curly it doesnt get curly to my collarbones? I know most of you gonna question if my hair is thin or thick, the answer is that my hair is medium and dont have much weight. I dont know if you got my question of what i truly mean but, i hope my question wont make you laugh.....

Nobody is going to mock you for anything you ask - please *never* think that! :)

"Shrinkage" is a term that is synonymous with wavy/curly hair. Look it up on Google sometime.

There are ways to stretch your hair using the "banding" method (also please look it up on Google and especially YT). It is putting elastics all along 2 ponytails or more (depending how much hair you have) when it is dry or slightly damp.

You'll just have to accept it for the most part. It is the way of wurly hair.

Just keep growing, and it will keep getting longer! :flower:

You can't compare curly hair! You just can't. You also don't know for a fact what those girls do to their hair to get it like that (and there are people who won't tell you the truth).

There's nothing wrong with your hair!

[chomsky]

One of the perks of curly hair. Mines nearing waist stretched but only sits on my shoulders when it's curly. Even when wet I never see my hair's full length.

Its something you have to learn to appreciate. The way I see it, I have have my hair short, or long! :lol:

There's are heatless straightening methods, but it's not going to change what grows out of your scalp.

[Margarita]

I see, so its common for curly girls. Anyway, thank you all for your help ^_^

[*Wednesday*]

When the hair is wet, it’s holding water and the hair is weighed down. Whether hair is curly, wavy or straight. It’s with wavy or curly hair, the hair is weighed down by the water. As it dries, the wave/curl starts to return.

My hair is near BCL when wet. It’s hip when dry. However, in my case I measure my length based on fully dry. Some measure wet if the curl is very tight.

[MusicalSpoons]

Hm, so thats it. But in the other way, i've girls with even curlier hair than mine being in the length even when it straight. If a girl has chest length hair, it will be the same and follow the same as it grows with curly and straight.

Um, nope, that's physically impossible. Perhaps you could try this: take a piece of string, ribbon, or anything else that isn't stretchy. Lay it straight along something, maybe a pencil or a cardboard tube, and see how far it goes. Now wrap the string/ribbon around the same object; see how far along it goes now. I guarantee you it will look a lot shorter.

I did rag curls on my straight hair some weeks ago, and when I first took out the rags, the curls barely reached my waist ... my hair is actually mid-thigh length! As a straight-haired person, I'd understood the concept of shrinkage but never realised just how much length curls take up.


When the hair is wet, it’s holding water and the hair is weighed down. Whether hair is curly, wavy or straight. It’s with wavy or curly hair, the hair is weighed down by the water. As it dries, the wave/curl starts to return.

My hair is near BCL when wet. It’s hip when dry. However, in my case I measure my length based on fully dry. Some measure wet if the curl is very tight.

True - I gain about an inch or so in the shower despite my hair being 1b.

[lapushka]

Um, nope, that's physically impossible. Perhaps you could try this: take a piece of string, ribbon, or anything else that isn't stretchy. Lay it straight along something, maybe a pencil or a cardboard tube, and see how far it goes. Now wrap the string/ribbon around the same object; see how far along it goes now. I guarantee you it will look a lot shorter.

I did rag curls on my straight hair some weeks ago, and when I first took out the rags, the curls barely reached my waist ... my hair is actually mid-thigh length! As a straight-haired person, I'd understood the concept of shrinkage but never realised just how much length curls take up.


It's not impossible to have stretched out curls; there are plenty of methods (like the banding method) to stretch the curl out.

[MusicalSpoons]

It's not impossible to have stretched out curls; there are plenty of methods (like the banding method) to stretch the curl out.

I don't understand. I meant it's impossible for the hair in curls (elongated or not) to look the same length as when it's pulled straight, which is how I interpreted the OP:

So, my hair's current length is to my collarbones(i believe they grew 2-3 inches the past 2 months, i think), i see that when i wash my hair, get out of the shower, and comb it with my fingers so that makes my hair straight at that moment.

If I'm wrong though, or have misinterpreted, my apologies (and please educate me!)

EDIT: actually, thinking about it, I may have interpreted the post too literally. Margarita, did you mean their hair looks exactly the same as if they'd pulled it straight, or did you mean it looks around the same length (similar length)? If you meant about the same length, maybe your shrinkage is more noticeable because of where your hair is - a couple of inches shorter than collarbone is far more noticeable because the hair ends move to a part of the body that looks totally different. A couple of inches off waist (for example) still looks pretty similar because it's all in a visually similar area of the body.

[Margarita]

I don't understand. I meant it's impossible for the hair in curls (elongated or not) to look the same length as when it's pulled straight, which is how I interpreted the OP:


If I'm wrong though, or have misinterpreted, my apologies (and please educate me!)

EDIT: actually, thinking about it, I may have interpreted the post too literally. Margarita, did you mean their hair looks exactly the same as if they'd pulled it straight, or did you mean it looks around the same length (similar length)? If you meant about the same length, maybe your shrinkage is more noticeable because of where your hair is - a couple of inches shorter than collarbone is far more noticeable because the hair ends move to a part of the body that looks totally different. A couple of inches off waist (for example) still looks pretty similar because it's all in a visually similar area of the body.

I'll try to explain it better. You see a girl with chest length hair, and her hair is naturally straight. The next day she has curls, not wavy curls, just curls. And it remains in the same chest length as it was straight. So that girl's hair has weight and not that much shrinkage.
As for me, go to my album. The curls i have there, are made by scrunching with a curl creme after shower. BEFORE i did that, and when my hair is totally wet(not dripping) i get them in front and with my hand i slowly pull down in order to see which is my current length, and its collarbone. And after scrunching and air-drying my hair is totally curly and shrinks up to my neck. I can also see my collarbone length when i pull down a dry section of my hair even if its a bit curly, but dry.

[lapushka]

I'll try to explain it better. You see a girl with chest length hair, and her hair is naturally straight. The next day she has curls, not wavy curls, just curls. And it remains in the same chest length as it was straight. So that girl's hair has weight and not that much shrinkage.

Are you sure it's her "natural" curl? Hot rod curls often cause less shrinkage than a natural curl would - it is the way it is.

[SallySue]

Curling irons generally produce loose curls, which will have less shrinkage than your 2c/3a natural curls. The length might also have something to do with it: when you say "chest length," there is a lot more space on a chest than in the neck/collarbone area to make any differences in length much less noticeable. A difference of 3" length on a torso is harder to pinpoint than 3" on a neck.

Again, repeating what others have said, the shrinkage you're experiencing is just what happens when hair curls. Yes, it will take your hair longer to show growth, but that doesn't make the medium lengths any less beautiful, so enjoy them while you have them!

[MidnightMoon]

I'll try to explain it better. You see a girl with chest length hair, and her hair is naturally straight. The next day she has curls, not wavy curls, just curls. And it remains in the same chest length as it was straight. So that girl's hair has weight and not that much shrinkage.
As for me, go to my album. The curls i have there, are made by scrunching with a curl creme after shower. BEFORE i did that, and when my hair is totally wet(not dripping) i get them in front and with my hand i slowly pull down in order to see which is my current length, and its collarbone. And after scrunching and air-drying my hair is totally curly and shrinks up to my neck. I can also see my collarbone length when i pull down a dry section of my hair even if its a bit curly, but dry.

I'm thinking it might be because of the way you can curl hair with a wand vs. naturally curly hair.
With straight hair you can (and I think it's more common these days) to curl the ends of the hair, to get a sort of cascading effect. You can also curl by layers, so the bottom layer, closer to your back is only curled at the ends, and the top layers begin to curl at a higher level. That way it's less work than curling ALL your hair, you get to keep it long looking, and you don't get so much volume to look like a poodle :lol:
Naturally curly hair usually curls from higher up, either from the roots or somewhere near, and is more uniformly curly, you can't pick parts to stay curly just in the ends, and so on.
Another thing might be the use of heat, since you can also use a straightener to get curls, so it might help stretch hair a bit before giving it some curl.

[Margarita]

It depends of the wand of the curling iron, right? There the thinnest wands that make afro curls so yes they shrink. I dont have any better idea of how to explain the details, however my only question and wonder was the weight and the length of curly hair and it reacts. Thanks for all answers =)

[lapushka]

This is the banding method:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_q0PIdC6tE

[Margarita]

This is how i can combat shrinkage, right? If there are more ways of how i can do this, please share =)

[Margarita]

Hmm, this method seems it'll gonna stress out my hair and maybe torture it, i try this method a few years ago and my hair would go frizzy and awfully wavy :/

[chiapommama]

I have bad shrinkage too . I have bsl hair and when I do the CG method, it shrinks up to barely past shoulder blades. But that's the nature of the beast with curly hair.

[Margarita]

I have bad shrinkage too . I have bsl hair and when I do the CG method, it shrinks up to barely past shoulder blades. But that's the nature of the beast with curly hair.

lol, lets all bear the traits of curly hair. xD

[Margarita]

I want to add a fact that since i have curl shrinkage, and my original length is collarbone, and when its curly it goes to neck, i would say my hair shrinks 4-5 inches? So, my goal is to reach the thigh length so, my hair will appear at the end of my back when its curly. Thats how i think about it if my hair begins to show weight after growing past my shoulders :confused::rolleyes:

[JennGalt]

This is how i can combat shrinkage, right? If there are more ways of how i can do this, please share =)

There are other methods. Try searching "heatless hair straightening methods" on YouTube, and I believe Glitch has a link in her signature on that subject.

There are more permanent methods too. Some people use relaxers to partially or completely straighten their hair. This involves using chemicals that I personally don't want on my head (plus I've never had good results from a relaxer), but some people have used them successfully with great results--AutobotsAttack comes to mind. I believe she even started a thread for relaxed hair if you want more info.

I personally use henna. My hair is black, so it doesn't really show the red proteins that attach themselves to the hair and straighten it. I noticed a slight difference after one use, and a big difference after four or five uses. I am naturally a mixture of 3s with unevenly distributed shrinkage, but these days I look more wurly than curly, and with much less but more even shrinkage. I mix it with coconut milk for more conditioning, and it has even helped repair some of the heat damage from when I used a flatiron. The last two applications have made a big difference to my damaged ends, which were damaged straight but now have a slight curl again. I don't have any pix yet, unfortunately. But there's an entire section on the forum with a ton of info on henna, and hennalove even did an experiment to see if she could get her hair straight using henna.

I hope that helps!

[enting]

I myself don't have a ton of apparent shrinkage because I have a combination of hair textures. Some of my hair is nearly straight as it is, especially toward my nape. This gives the impression that my hair is longer while also being curlier because the top layers are curlier. By themselves they probably have a lot of shrinkage but the underlayers add visual length with their lack of curl and shrinkage.

That being said, if you would like ways to weigh down your curls and give you less shrinkage, oiling always weighs down my hair. Leave in conditioner and scrunching will make my curls bouncier and create more shrinkage, but pre poo oiling and not scrunching gives me less curl and less shrinkage. Trying to straighten or weigh down curls does have the potential for damage and frizz because you're going against the hair's natural shape, but as these things go I think this isn't so damaging a choice. Banding shouldn't be too damaging either.