Taper & Terminal Length

[bikerblue]

Sorry if this is a stupid question but why does some peoples hair taper more than others? Mine tapers quite bad but it doesn't have many splits. I never noticed it both I started to care for my hair properly.

Does it mean that my hair is thicker near my scalp than at the ends? Do you think it will effect my terminal length?

[Soraya]

Some people shed more than others. Your hair might also have been breaking off - I know mine used to, even though I didn't have that many splits either. The breaking off would be positively affected by better care and if it's because of sheding (you could try counting the hairs you lose in a day) a different washing method might help.

The hair is always thicker in the roots because of sheding and baby hairs. If your shed rate is above average then yes, it would affect your terminal length, but you might also have faster growth rate or a longer cycle than the "average" six years, so you might still have a terminal length longer than the average.

[Juliet's Silk]

Apart from individual hair thickness, growth and shedding rates, it also depends on how fast you grew out your hair. If you did so with minimal trims, all the hairs that are shorter than the longest weren't able to catch up yet, so that causes taper.
To reduce taper it takes a long, long time of maintaining the length.

[Riot Crrl]

The hairs grow at different rates. If you were maintaining a chin length bob, the ends would probably start to look uneven a while after trimming it, even if you were feet from your terminal length.

[FlowerHair]

I think some people's hair suffers from wear and tear more than others, that could be one reason for the taper.