Questions about volume

[Pixna]

Hello--it's Wacky Pixna here again, friends! :)

So, I've got this strange question about volume and thickness. My hair, after I wash and air-dry it, has a seemingly much bigger volume than it does a day or two or three later. My hair is a iii after I wash it, and more like ii/iii days later.

Which one is right?

Also, where do you measure your ponytail for volume? Up high (close to the head), it's much thicker there. Lower down, it's thinner.

And, one final question/comment: Do you think the volume category should have an additional option? It seems that i, ii, and iii don't quite cover all the possibilities. I think I could possibly fit into the less voluminous end of iii, but there are iiis who are MUCH more voluminous than I am. Do you think (as I do) that we should add a iv range?

Thank you for listening and for any and all replies. :flower:

[Messyhair]

I go by the freshy washed thickness. And I'm borderline for the thickness of my ponytail. I often wonder if I measure it wrong, because mine seems so thick but then I'm only a ii??

I can't wait to see others' replies.

[halo_tightens]

I personally think that there should be a "iv" category. I'm a iii myself, and I know that I've seen members here with TONS more hair than me.

It doesn't seem quite right to have one single category that might contain a person with 4" circumference and another person with 7"!

[MandyBeth]

I measure right after I wash/dry - but that's a daily thing, so I guess I don't think there'd be much difference for me ever :)

Where I measure - If I admit to being a big cheat, oh well :) I measure where it's the thickest. Sure, it may be more - but that point is also somewhat the factor on if I can do a "proper" cinnamon bun at SL or at APL. Plus, right now for me, the thickest area is also the area that has the most of my hairs, since I can't get everyone back into a ponytail yet.

I will say as a iii on the possibly iv side, it does get kind of frustrating to see all the iii growers who are able to do x, y and z at SL - and my hair is rolling around laughing because it's not even close to that yet. Like, my hair would happily hide a sock. It just won't double over it yet. Which means that I'm looking at SL being a pony tail, and APL being a sock bun.

[Oskimosa]

About a year back a bunch of us ganged up on the mods and begged for them to re-hash the hairtyping system. They took a poll and I can't remember the outcome. Since there are so many other boards who use the same system, (and because it was affecting only a minority of us) they ruled it out. :shrug: It kindof bugs me too that I am on the really high end of iii and can't do updos that other iii's can, but.. meh. You can see it doesn't stop me from enjoying myself here ;)

[MandyBeth]

Yeah, my hair may do nothing yet - but it doesn't shut me up :)

[Pixna]

About a year back a bunch of us ganged up on the mods and begged for them to re-hash the hairtyping system. They took a poll and I can't remember the outcome. Since there are so many other boards who use the same system, (and because it was affecting only a minority of us) they ruled it out. :shrug: It kindof bugs me too that I am on the really high end of iii and can't do updos that other iii's can, but.. meh. You can see it doesn't stop me from enjoying myself here ;)

True, it doesn't keep me from enjoying myself here, either. :) And, I'm not complaining -- just trying to draw attention to a "gap" that we might be able to close.

I think I might be a iii -- but when I see truly thick-haired people (with volumes of 5, 6, or even 7), I feel like an impostor. :shrug:

What about my other questions -- where do you measure for volume, and what about those of us whose volume is substantially more after washing but diminishes somewhat days later? Which measurement is right?

[Beatrice]

True, it doesn't keep me from enjoying myself here, either. :) And, I'm not complaining -- just trying to draw attention to a "gap" that we might be able to close.

I think I might be a iii -- but when I see truly thick-haired people (with volumes of 5, 6, or even 7), I feel like an impostor. :shrug:

What about my other questions -- where do you measure for volume, and what about those of us whose volume is substantially more after washing but diminishes somewhat days later? Which measurement is right?

I know just what you mean! I'm glad I stumbled across this post. I'm also barely a iii on wash day and a definite ii the day after. Since even my iii is borderline, I'm thinking about changing my stats, but I like your solution of using the in-between category. I wonder how many other members notice their type shifting throughout the week. Maybe that's just for us borderline people.

[dropinthebucket]

7????! did you say 7?! think i got sorta the female equivalent of p#42% envy here ...... ;0

ponytail envy, that is! ;) mind outta the gutter

[Pixna]

7????! did you say 7?! think i got sorta the female equivalent of p#42% envy here ...... ;0

ponytail envy, that is! ;) mind outta the gutter

LOL!!! Me too!!! :laugh:

[HintOfMint]

I have to wonder about the claim that one's actual ponytail circumference changes. My hair too is more voluminous and fluffy when it is freshly washed and then gets progressively sleeker (read: flatter) as the days go on until I wash it again. It is also more voluminous in humid weather.
However, if I really comb it properly and then take my boar bristle brush to really smooth it into a ponytail, the circumference is the same as when my hair is not freshly washed or in a dry climate. In my case, the fluffiness can create a false thickness if I do not comb it out and really get it into the most smooth and compact ponytail possible. I have to remind myself of this because sometimes I feel like my hair is thinning, when in reality it only looks thinner because my hair is really flat that day. I measure my ponytail circumference, and lo and behold, I'm not thinning, my hair is just dirty, haha.

[Domino]

I have to wonder about the claim that one's actual ponytail circumference changes. My hair too is more voluminous and fluffy when it is freshly washed and then gets progressively sleeker (read: flatter) as the days go on until I wash it again. It is also more voluminous in humid weather.
However, if I really comb it properly and then take my boar bristle brush to really smooth it into a ponytail, the circumference is the same as when my hair is not freshly washed or in a dry climate. In my case, the fluffiness can create a false thickness if I do not comb it out and really get it into the most smooth and compact ponytail possible. I have to remind myself of this because sometimes I feel like my hair is thinning, when in reality it only looks thinner because my hair is really flat that day. I measure my ponytail circumference, and lo and behold, I'm not thinning, my hair is just dirty, haha.

That's exactly why I call mine ii/iii. However I really don't like it when people around me say "is it thinning", so discouraging :)

[mamaherrera]

Yea this is my case totally. As a young girl in WI, I brushed my curls, daily, so they were all separated and lived in humidity, so they stayed big all the time. It was lots of fluff and air, but in any case I got made fun of for having big hair. Now in ALbuquerque, dry weather, no brush anymore, lots of conditioner on my ends and scrunching, I too, have lost volume. Too bad I never measured my ponytail as a young girl, because I still get that feeling that my hair is thinning, and I have nothing to compare it too except pictures. But yea, after I wash, and it all gets fluffy and voluminous, it looks big, but as soon as I put it in a braid or put it up, all that fluff compressed majorly and you can feel there's not that much hair there as it appears. My braids are way thinner than my daughter who has more of a mix of coarse/fine hair but lots of it. I have more coarse hair, but less of it. And yeah, I can have big curls/volume, but as soon as I sleep on it, the next day it's totally flat. Maybe I need to start brushing again to see if that "bigness" would reappear. But yeah I felt bad too when a lady told me, You have lots less hair than your daughter"

[mamaherrera]

oh and like you said above, my niece when I went back to WI, said, "did you lose half your hair, it's not as big anymore." well gosh, it had gel, was curly the night before, and I had slept in it with a ponytail, of course, it got completely flattened through the night. But it's tough to hear those comments.

[biogirl87]

I have to wonder about the claim that one's actual ponytail circumference changes. My hair too is more voluminous and fluffy when it is freshly washed and then gets progressively sleeker (read: flatter) as the days go on until I wash it again. It is also more voluminous in humid weather.HintofMint, I know my ponytail circumference measurement will differ depending on what I did to/with my hair after washing it. If I brush my hair out after it dries and then measure my ponytail circumference, it'll be nearly 4" without my bangs but if I don't brush it out after it dries or if I measure my ponytail circumference on second/third and even more so fourth/fifth day after washing my hair, my ponytail circumference will be a bit less than 4". So, depending on how one styles their hair between washing/airdrying it and measuring the circumference of their ponytail, the ponytail circumference could appear to change. I know for myself I measure it after my hair is dry and after I've combed/brushed it, but I don't know if this is really how I should measuring my ponytail circumference given how it seems to change for me.


Yea this is my case totally. As a young girl in WI, I brushed my curls, daily, so they were all separated and lived in humidity, so they stayed big all the time. It was lots of fluff and air, but in any case I got made fun of for having big hair. Now in ALbuquerque, dry weather, no brush anymore, lots of conditioner on my ends and scrunching, I too, have lost volume. Too bad I never measured my ponytail as a young girl, because I still get that feeling that my hair is thinning, and I have nothing to compare it too except pictures. But yea, after I wash, and it all gets fluffy and voluminous, it looks big, but as soon as I put it in a braid or put it up, all that fluff compressed majorly and you can feel there's not that much hair there as it appears. My braids are way thinner than my daughter who has more of a mix of coarse/fine hair but lots of it. I have more coarse hair, but less of it. And yeah, I can have big curls/volume, but as soon as I sleep on it, the next day it's totally flat. Maybe I need to start brushing again to see if that "bigness" would reappear. But yeah I felt bad too when a lady told me, You have lots less hair than your daughter"mamaherrera, I know how that feels. Even after I wash my hair I feel like I have to brush it to get it to be fluffier/appear to have more volume.

[mamaherrera]

No I second that. my hair is curly. So if I don't brush it, and it's in clumps, that ponytail is going to measure differently than if I separate each hair out. Or if I measure it after a wash day, and after having slept on it all night with it in a ponytail or braid, the volume changes mega, and the measurement varies a bit as well. I hear some people tighten that measuring tape as tight as they can, and if I do that, mine can go from a 3.8 to 3.4 inches. That's a big difference, but my husband figures, if you already have compressed it with the elastic band, you don't need to compress it anymore by tightening the measuring tape, all you're going to do is push hairs over other hairs and not get accurate readings either, plus you'll damage hairs. I guess the biggest thing is to measure always the same way, just for yourself to know your hair density isn't changing. And yes, it's such weird hair, when it's wet it looks like so little hair, I mean to finger comb, it doesn't take that long really, but it dries and everything just expands. I imagine that living in Illinois, with the moisture, you keep that expansion a bit, but in the desert dryness, as soon as I flatten my hair by putting it up in a ponytail, I can't get that fluff back without wetting it again.