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Joules
December 11th, 2018, 01:34 AM
I always cut/trim my hair in the front, so when all of it is flipped forward and I stand upright looking straight ahead, it's all of the same length. It gives me a V-shaped hemline at the back.

The other week I noticed that bottom pieces of my hair (from below my ears) are about an inch shorter than top parts. It's really obvious when my hair is wet. To make them even I have to tilt my head far back, it's like my V-shaped hemline is morphing into a soft U. I hope this description makes sense. I haven't had a trim or S&D in almost 3 months, and last time I trimmed my hair it all was even.

What can I do about it? Could this be terminal? My hair is also extremely tapered (here's the most recent photo (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34124&d=1542528879)), and the thickness doesn't seem to grow that much, it just stops at waist and everything longer is see-through. I could cut off an inch to even things out, but those bottom pieces are so thin (like, they start thick at the roots and come down to just a few strands at the bottom) that i can't imagine them growing any longer. Has anyone had similar experiences?

MusicalSpoons
December 11th, 2018, 07:50 AM
I checked my hair below my ears and that very bottom layer is extremely tapered, ending at ~BCL with literally just a few hairs. It seems reasonably common knowledge that the hair around our hairline usually has a shorter terminal length (whether a true or false terminal, I don't know, but the result is the same) and that applies to the hairline at the back of our heads as well as the front.

(As for whether your whole head of hair is nearing terminal or not, I don't have enough experience to answer that.)

christib13
December 12th, 2018, 05:43 PM
My hair also significantly shorter underneath, and the texture/health is different too. It's (on average) about 2-3 shorter than the rest, coarser, and frizzier. I'm not sure if it's partially mechanical damage from braids and wearing it loose, or if that's just the way it would grow regardless. I'm also curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

lithostoic
December 12th, 2018, 06:10 PM
That seems normal. I've always had shorter hair at the nape and around the very front/sides. I have a lot of wispies too. The hair at the nape is medium strand thickness, like most of my head, with the pieces around my hairline at the front being more fine.

Jo Ann
December 12th, 2018, 11:50 PM
Mine does the same thing, Joules--it just seems to go with the territory :shrug:

akurah
December 13th, 2018, 12:30 AM
Is it possible it got caught in something but you didn't notice the damage until now? I have a modest chunk of hair that is abnormally shorter than the rest (it's also not noticeable unless you know to look for it), and I'm almost positive the reason why that chunk is shorter than the rest is cause of my being careless and causing damage, the length, position, and number of hairs affected is really suspect, and damage fits the explanation best.

Joules
December 13th, 2018, 12:34 AM
I checked my hair below my ears and that very bottom layer is extremely tapered, ending at ~BCL with literally just a few hairs. It seems reasonably common knowledge that the hair around our hairline usually has a shorter terminal length (whether a true or false terminal, I don't know, but the result is the same) and that applies to the hairline at the back of our heads as well as the front.

(As for whether your whole head of hair is nearing terminal or not, I don't have enough experience to answer that.)


My hair also significantly shorter underneath, and the texture/health is different too. It's (on average) about 2-3 shorter than the rest, coarser, and frizzier. I'm not sure if it's partially mechanical damage from braids and wearing it loose, or if that's just the way it would grow regardless. I'm also curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this.


That seems normal. I've always had shorter hair at the nape and around the very front/sides. I have a lot of wispies too. The hair at the nape is medium strand thickness, like most of my head, with the pieces around my hairline at the front being more fine.


Mine does the same thing, Joules--it just seems to go with the territory :shrug:

Thanks, guys! I do have very short strands around my hairline, and I knew they had short terminal length, but it never crossed my mind that longer hair can have shorter terminal length too. I just thought whatever grew longer should be all the same. I wanted to chop it all off, now I feel much better :)

leayellena
December 13th, 2018, 12:34 AM
I always cut/trim my hair in the front, so when all of it is flipped forward and I stand upright looking straight ahead, it's all of the same length. It gives me a V-shaped hemline at the back.

The other week I noticed that bottom pieces of my hair (from below my ears) are about an inch shorter than top parts. It's really obvious when my hair is wet. To make them even I have to tilt my head far back, it's like my V-shaped hemline is morphing into a soft U. I hope this description makes sense. I haven't had a trim or S&D in almost 3 months, and last time I trimmed my hair it all was even.

What can I do about it? Could this be terminal? My hair is also extremely tapered (here's the most recent photo (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34124&d=1542528879)), and the thickness doesn't seem to grow that much, it just stops at waist and everything longer is see-through. I could cut off an inch to even things out, but those bottom pieces are so thin (like, they start thick at the roots and come down to just a few strands at the bottom) that i can't imagine them growing any longer. Has anyone had similar experiences?

your photo is exactly how my hair was a year and a half ago. unfortunatelly I took the photo on my mobile phone and I was too lazy to copy it via bluetooth on my tablet so I could share it on lhc. are u sure it's not what's left of a layered or hairdresser-made haircut long time ago (like 4 years ago) like I have? my hair tapers from a bit above cbl to tbl but my hair grows longer (I hope to knee or longer hihi) and the taper gas grown from the crown(!!!) to cbl in just 2 years. note to self: yes, not knowing how to take care of your hair would do that hihi. as for the shorter pieces around the temples... well I have natural face framing bits every autumn so I have the chance to enjoy some soft look few weeks in a year :P
oh btw: eresh's hair tapers from cbl-apl to the ends so yeah go figure hehe...

Joules
December 13th, 2018, 12:37 AM
Is it possible it got caught in something but you didn't notice the damage until now? I have a modest chunk of hair that is abnormally shorter than the rest (it's also not noticeable unless you know to look for it), and I'm almost positive the reason why that chunk is shorter than the rest is cause of my being careless and causing damage, the length, position, and number of hairs affected is really suspect, and damage fits the explanation best.

I did have a henna accident back in Spring when a small piece of my long nape hair got badly tangled and knotted, I couldn't properly detangle it because my hands were covered in henna, I got frustrated and ripped it out. I need anger management courses, I know. That chunk was quite small though, I don't know if it affected anything :confused:

Joules
December 13th, 2018, 12:40 AM
your photo is exactly how my hair was a year and a half ago. unfortunatelly I took the photo on my mobile phone and I was too lazy to copy it via bluetooth on my tablet so I could share it on lhc. are u sure it's not what's left of a layered or hairdresser-made haircut long time ago (like 4 years ago) like I have? my hair tapers from a bit above cbl to tbl but my hair grows longer (I hope to knee or longer hihi) and the taper gas grown from the crown(!!!) to cbl in just 2 years. note to self: yes, not knowing how to take care of your hair would do that hihi. as for the shorter pieces around the temples... well I have natural face framing bits every autumn so I have the chance to enjoy some soft look few weeks in a year :P
oh btw: eresh's hair tapers from cbl-apl to the ends so yeah go figure hehe...

I've been cutting my own hair for the past 8 years :(

akurah
December 13th, 2018, 12:46 AM
I did have a henna accident back in Spring when a small piece of my long nape hair got badly tangled and knotted, I couldn't properly detangle it because my hands were covered in henna, I got frustrated and ripped it out. I need anger management courses, I know. That chunk was quite small though, I don't know if it affected anything :confused:

Might could be that chunk has since come back just fine then, and that's the anomalous hairs? :)

Joules
December 13th, 2018, 03:14 AM
Might could be that chunk has since come back just fine then, and that's the anomalous hairs? :)

Could be. I don't remember exactly at what level those ripped hairs are (I thought they would take over a year to catch up), and there's no distinct line when I look at it in the mirror, so idk. I ripped out literally a few strands though, I don't know if it's really that dramatic to cause such a length difference now.

*Wednesday*
December 13th, 2018, 08:38 AM
Different parts of the hair (each follicle) has different growth cycles. Those regions may just have a shorter a anagen phase, perhaps. Around the nape the hair tends to be shorter. I know with my hair (back nape) a few hairs never get any longer. Tapering going terminal is common when the bulk of the hair has reached its optimum growth cycle and some hairs still continue to grow. I read on a post here, it was an older post (can’t remember the name), that you have to watch the growth for a year and if it is stagnant one may be terminal. Especially if you have tried everything and no significant growth, maybe one has hit terminal. Hair does not go terminal follicles do. You just have to wait and see.

I am subscribed to Lucy’s Corsetry’s. She has hair to the back of her knees. She said she knows when her hair is near terminal. It starts to thin out about knee length. She keeps her hair at knee length to avoid the heavy taper because she likes a *thicker* hemline.


Maybe her video may help. She goes into it.

https://youtu.be/3G4RyJMKtTc

Joules
December 14th, 2018, 04:26 AM
*Wednesday*, thanks for the video! Yeah, I understand the concept of terminal length in my head. I just didn't expect it to be that visible and that short. If I am in fact near terminal, it means I can have hair between waist and hip if I want it to have any decent thickness at the ends. Not quite what I want. There's a chance it could be just damage, so...