Curlies: Can we talk about hair thickness?

[Cichelle]

My hair can look ii sometimes, particularly if I wash it with lots of conditioner and let it dry without touching it. However, my hair is super thick (iii+) if I manipulate it (even fingercomb) while dry. Anyone have this going on, too? It's kind of like thickness shrinkage issues, but in reverse since my hair is much bigger dry than wet.

How do you judge the thickness of your hair. Under what conditions do you measure ponytail circumference?

[zift]

I'm not a curly only a 2c wavy but my ponytail circumference can go up to 5,5-6" on too puffy days. I measure it on dirty and relaxed straighter days and make the ponytail tight. Cheers:D

[redcelticcurls]

I've wondered about that too. It can be from 4.5 to 7 depending on what day hair I am on and how curly the curls are. Which one is "real"?.......

[LindsayNichole]

How do you determine if it's ii or whatnot? I looked for something to tell me, but couldn't find it. And yeah, when exactly do you determine which it is? When your hair is at its fullest and thickest and fluffiest, or when it really needs a good washing and is all limp and flatter? :P

[allyall]

My curls are delicate, and the ponytail circumference is the same wet or dry I think. I haven't measured wet vs. dry, and my hair is definitely bigger when its dry, but I'm not sure I understand how a ponytail can be that much bigger when its dry. Is it a loose ponytail or one with an elastic - is that the difference? I'm no help, just full of questions!

[HappyCurls]

My hair is also finer when wet, so I go by measuring the thickness when its dry. Its usually between 8-9 inches. The thickness of my hair dry is insane!

[CurlyNinja]

Yes, mine gets thicker and thinner too by a decently wide margin, but not as big as others have described. I oscillate between midrange ii and solidly iii.

[Curlsgirl]

I think an average is appropriate. It is only to get an idea of how thick your hair is compared to others anyway to help compare routines, products that may help and things like that. Most people's does vary from wet to dry and freshly washed or dirty etc.

[yzkaloha]

I too have that issue:(, I usually measure while my hair is dry with little manipulation.
Once my hair is dry and I finger comb or shake out, it can become monstrous :D.

[darkwaves]

My curls are delicate, and the ponytail circumference is the same wet or dry I think. I haven't measured wet vs. dry, and my hair is definitely bigger when its dry, but I'm not sure I understand how a ponytail can be that much bigger when its dry. Is it a loose ponytail or one with an elastic - is that the difference? I'm no help, just full of questions! Like allyall, my curls are delicate -- they are easy to compress, and they fly away after a day or so... My hair is pretty fine, so maybe that's part of it.

Anyway, I think the idea is to measure the amount of hair you have, not the air between the hairs, so I wait a day or so, until the post-wash poof is gone. (My circ. is bigger dry, probably because of that air, and because the curls spring up when it's dry, so their bendiness increases bulk.)

[Sam-I-Am]

I measure the thickness of my curly hair in a tight ponytail. Like darkwaves said, I'm not measuring the air between hairs, but the actual circumference of the bulk of my hair.

When I was a kid I was told ALL the time that I had thick hair, but I thought they meant my hair was big (Mom insisted on fully-brushed hair to be "presentable"). But since joining LHC, I've realized that my hair is thick AND big. :)

[Cichelle]

Thanks all! I like the idea of taking an average. .There is just a huge difference in measurement depending on certain conditions, so I was curious as to how to determine how thick it "really" is. Thanks for the input!

[nappywomyn]

Oh, I can't WAIT til my hair is long enough to put into a ponytail and actually measure it's thickness - I go back and forth between whether my hair is actually thick, or if it's just the curls making it LOOK so dense, because I have the very fine, intensely curly hair as well.....

[Cichelle]

You'll get there before you know it, nappywomyn. You've certainly come a long way since I started following your journey. :)

[nappywomyn]

:) Thank you - I'm really so glad I've been taking pictures and journaling (*sniffsniff*), as if I hadn't, I wouldn't believe how far I've come myself!

[Mahars]

I think it depends on what purpose you are measuring for. If you are measuring to figure out which size hair toy to buy, you should probably measure when your hair is in its "average" state - the state your hair is most often in. So if it pouffs out on day 1 (mine does) more than day two, three or four, you could measure on any day except day 1.

[curlylocks85]

I always do measurements after I shower and my hair air-dries. This way it is the same every time. I know when my hair is wet it is not the same thickness, but I do not wear my hair wet so I just chose what works for me and stuck with it; consistency.