Length....but is it really?

[ChloeDharma]

Odd one i know.....but i was talking to someone earlier on today and we were talking lengths. I was saying how mine touches the band of my jeans....(i wear low-rise/hipsters) and that when i tried measuring myself, which isn't totally reliable, it was at about 32 inches.

Now this sounds great i know, but....and it's a big BUT.....ok, about 5 inches maybe of my hair is still the old chemically fried stuff, and last year i lost a shedload of hair to TE taking me down from mid ii -ish to i range in thickness. Add to that the fact that my hairline and a good few of my hairs seem not to grow that long PLUS the fried lengths have breakage in them and are quite see through on the individual hairs as i'm fine haired.....and you get the idea.....it doesn't seem to LOOK that long.

Oh and also i have been doing the no trim thing since august 2006 and my hair tapers to a point with fairytale ends.....and i feel a bit of a fraud really. I don't know that it really qualifies as that length even though technically it is.

Does anybody else have this issue? Maybe other fairytale ended non-trimmers who have those shooting ahead strands right ahead of the bulk of the hair?

[girlcat36]

I totally know what you mean. My hair is much shorter than yours, but my ends are so thin that I question myself as to whether it 'qualifies' as length. I feel slightly fraudulent! My hair grows at different rates all over my head so I will always haave fairytale ends.
In the end, though----length is length!! Right? We all can't have superthick hair, I guess.

[Delila]

Yes!! Every fraction of an inch counts. ;););)

Joking aside, I do think it's perfectly fine to use the length of your longest strands as your length number.

My longest strands are at tailbone (Yay!) and there's no way I'm trimming them.

Another thought: My length needs more conditioning than the shorter bits, so it's important to remind myself just how much length I actually have, even if it seems practically invisible sometimes.

[Shanarana]

I agree length is length. I'm growing out layers and my hair has a taper at the ends.

[ChloeDharma]

I totally know what you mean. My hair is much shorter than yours, but my ends are so thin that I question myself as to whether it 'qualifies' as length. I feel slightly fraudulent! My hair grows at different rates all over my head so I will always haave fairytale ends.
In the end, though----length is length!! Right? We all can't have superthick hair, I guess.

This is true......slightly off topic, but i love the way you get those beautiful curly spirals.

I do love fairytale ends, don't get me wrong, and though i'm considering starting to trim again until my damage is gone (i'm thinking once i'm more at hip i might maintain there until it's all trimmed off) but definately want to stop cutting after that to get the fairytale/uncut ends look again......just longer lol

[ChloeDharma]

Ooooh just seen 2 more posts while i was replying.....thanks you two.....that does help.

[JennQ]

Length is length. Plus, if we didn't just measure to the longest part, where would we measure? Somewhere in the middle? Unless you're just maintaining a specific length, the ends will almost always be thinner than the roots. I feel that the measurement is personal, and is more for you to gauge your own progress. And as far as BSL, WL, etc goes, that will be a different length for everyone, depending on your height.

[GlassEyes]

All inches matter.

...

With hair and other things.

[BlndeInDisguise]

I know exactly what you mean! My hair goes down to my knees, but probably from classic on, it's thinner. Sometimes I wonder if I should explain when I say that my hair is knee length.

[Kirin]

LOL glass eyes!

[Isilme]

Yes, length is length:) and your hair is beautiful, but I understand that you want to maintain to cut out some damage.

[Leisha]

Lol GlassEyes :laugh:


Length is length. Plus, if we didn't just measure to the longest part, where would we measure? Somewhere in the middle? Unless you're just maintaining a specific length, the ends will almost always be thinner than the roots. I feel that the measurement is personal, and is more for you to gauge your own progress. And as far as BSL, WL, etc goes, that will be a different length for everyone, depending on your height.
That's what I think too. It's easiest to just measure the ends/longest part. Otherwise it would get confusing to decide where your hair starts being "thick" enough to be worthy of measuring, or something :)

[mira-chan]

My ends are not very visible past tailbone and I have a grand total of 3 hairs at the end (47") now as those 3 hairs grew 1.5" :bigeyes: while the rest grew the standard half inch. I am trimming now to thicken the ends a tiny bit as I like the current length. My trimming is on a "when I feel like it" basis and never shorter than the golden ration length (45.5").

Generally I don't really care as I wear it up almost all the time, though it becomes noticible in meet line up pictures. My hair looks hip/ tailbone there most times

[ChloeDharma]

Yes, length is length:) and your hair is beautiful, but I understand that you want to maintain to cut out some damage.

Awww bless you hun :smooch:.......but you say that not having seen a recent pic of it ;) not that i have any. Mind you, you can see how bad it is from the pics at the london meet last year.

Thanks everyone for the replies.....i really don't mind the taper and the stragleys, in fact part of my long term goal is to have that natural v shape and have my hair taper off into nothing.....i just wish that the bulk would come further down like other fairytale enders have. I don't actually have a clue how far it comes down, i've deliberately avoided looking or getting any pics taken :P

[Speedbump]

I am experiencing this to some degree. I have been trimming about once or at most twice a year the last couple of years, and those are small trims. (I also follow my natural hemline and don't try to make it even.) I have racer hairs and an increasingly deep "V" hemline. Most of my hair is not even close to tailbone length, while the point end of my "V," when pulled a little bit, is definitely BC length, if you know what I mean. :lol: I feel like I'm "stuck" even though I know I'm really not, but yeah, I feel a bit of a fraud in a way, too. The last six inches of my hair is not even close to as nice or as thick as the rest of it.

[AprilElf]

It took me a while to decide on how I was going to measure. At first I thought I should do it dry without pulling out the waves, since that is how others see my hair. But then it's a bit of a guessing game as to where to measure to, having to do it by touch mainly.

Then I figured that yes, length is length, and the longest locks deserve measuring! :)
So now my measuring will be done on wet hair, to the longest group of hairs. :cheese: (Dancing cheese is awesome!)

[WavyGirl]

I actually did my last trim for this reason. I just wanted to be able to measure properly and the ends had got so thin I felt like I was lying. *nuts* So I took off 2" and not only can I measure peacefully again but it feels and looks better too. My ends will always be thinner than the rest but I still like to have a line at the hem. What's funny is when other people do it I think they're right to measure to the longest hairs even if there are only a few of them. Guess I'm just much too hard on myself.

[MeMyselfandI]

Yes length is length. I think who ever grows their hair long without regular trims understands that hair tapers off, becomes thing and not as many hair.

You are not cheating or making up numbers. The longest hairs end where they do.

I feel odd, measuring from the forehead hairline. I used to measure my hair from the nape of my neck to the longest hair. The longest hairs are at the nape. I know hairline at forehead is the standard why of measuring , so I do it from there now, but it still feels odd to me.

[brunette]

I love the fairytale ends look too but that is certainly a major drawback, especially when doing the 'not trimming' thing. Apparently I have one single hair that reaches just above mid thigh! I have been eagerly anticipating reaching Classic and I try to only allow the measurement to be 'official' if I can see the hairs on the tape, so there have to be, say 10 or so lol. This does make me feel like a fraud, especially as when my hair is loose it probably looks tailbone or less to other people especially when it is curling up into waves.
I wear it down so rarely that I can tell myself it doesn't matter - most people don't know how long my hair is in real life - but it bugs me after long hair meets because it never looks as long in photographs as I think it is in real life! I'm not going to stop having a V cut and fairytale ends though because I think it looks better on these lengths or at least better on me with my hairtype.
So I will continue to measure to the longest point - but I won't count that one hair that is longer than the rest!

[spidermom]

I've been too obsessed with having an even hem, also with having perfect, split-free hair, so I trim and trim and trim. I wish I could get to the mind-set that would allow me to just let it grow no matter how uneven it gets and no matter how many splits develop. I'd like to not even look for splits. It sounds so freeing!

[jel]

When I started growing my longest layers were barely shoulder length. I got into the habit of measuring the tippy-tips of my hair, stretched. I still do that, and that's the recorded length in my siggy. However, it is a bit misleading, as there's about a dozen hairs shooting ahead by half an inch - and, also, my waves effectively shorten my hair by an inch or so. Not to mention that my hair is layered and V-shaped, so the bulk of it has not reached waist yet.

But, at the end of the day, it's just how I keep track of my growth. It's a consistent method of measuring, not a scientific, absolute value!

[Katze]

I just can't call my hair BSL even though, stretched, the longest part of my hair would cover the strap. There is a severe "V" to my hair that I am trying to cut off slowly, and I have a lot of layers, baby hairs, long bangs, etc that are all growing out...slowly.

So while the longest parts of my hair are 25 inches, the sides may be more like 21, and somehow calling my hair 25 inches long when the rest isn't is kind of unfair, I dunno, feels like cheating, though I know that most people here do that. For you it's OK - most of you have hair that's all one length anyway, or at least a non-see-through hemline - mine is so thin that I don't want to call it "long" until it's long and thick, even though this may be a kind of skewed self-image.

[redcelticcurls]

I claim what I have, more for progress sake.

I'm at 27" at my longest point when my hair is wet. But, it is layered and curly so the daily length is inconsistent. I'm using the wet measurement just to see if and how much I grow.

I have a wet and dry length in my sig as it seems a better representation of my hair. I have to take shrinkage into account.

[rhubarbarin]

Don't you think it's funny that we all expect long hair to be superthick and even all with way down with no taper?

I find myself thinking that way too, but I think it's the exception rather than the rule.. there are some very lucky members here with thick hair that grows evenly. But every long hair IRL I've seen has visible taper. I certainly do. Some of mine is due to damage, but even looking at pictures of my long virgin braids when I was little, I can see a lot of taper. But you know, I don't think it looks bad.

Anyway only the (very thin) point of my V is at mid-back, but I say it counts! My hair isn't in the greatset shape right now, but I am determined to enjoy it anyway, and it is improving all the time.

[wendyg]

I always measure the longest two hairs. I mean that's their job, isn't it? To *be* the standard bearers?

wg

[spidermom]

I always measure the longest two hairs. I mean that's their job, isn't it? To *be* the standard bearers?

wg

I love this!

[busnutmedic]

Sigh, sometimes I feel that way too, since only a few strands are at the very bottom of my length. I'd say it all counts though :D

Bonnie

[harpgal]

For my part, only the bulk counts....not the gallopers. However, they are the "point" strands. They go were no hair has gone before. LOL!

[Flaxen]

I always measure the longest two hairs. I mean that's their job, isn't it? To *be* the standard bearers?

wg
Yes it is. :cool: