Is your wet length your true length?

I guess it depends on your hair and your curl pattern. My hair is shorter when it's wet than when it's dry.

I'm natural so wet or dry does not show my true length. However, if my hair were straight, I would consider wet hair my true length.

My hair is natural and when wet it is up to my neck, when straight it's a bit past bsl. To answer the question, no, wet length is NOT my true length.

As someone who always takes wet shots. I think wet hair is your true length. Your hair cannot stretch to whats not there. IMHO. Also, when my hair is dry, and I stretch it, its the same length as when wet.

--When dry, my newgrowth is shriveled up, and I usually have a rollerset or some sort of curl at the end. SO YES! I do think wet hair is your true length.

MizzBrown said:

Hmmm, I always thought your hair WET was your true length and that is why you should always cut your hair when WET rather than dry.

All of my major haircuts or precision cuts that i've had were always done on WET hair so that you can see your hair at its true length without it being bumped, curled, styled.

My hair shrinks up. Relaxed hair shrinks up and even if my hair is relaxed bone straight, my stylist would never give me a cut on DRY hair. Always wet to see my true length.

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Even that depends. Naturals usually get hair cuts on dry straightened hair because of shrinkage.

^^^ Agreed. I'm not even natural and my hair shrinks after drying. I started cutting my bangs dry because they're always just a little shorter than I want them when I cut them wet. For extra precision, however, I cut the rest of my hair wet. I just cut a little less.

To answer the OP's question, my personal true length is flat-ironed.

Christina Dior said:

to me its the true length or jus about becasue after i co wash and let my hair air dry it shrinks up due to my new growth and waves that are on my relaxed ends

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This is true for me too, with the shrinkage, the detangled wet length is the true length or very close, sometimes it's about 1/2 off but that depends.

Caramela said:

When your hair is soaking wet after your c/o wash and shower, is that your true length? Or is your true length, the length of your hair after it's air dried or maybe even blown dry?
How do you determine your true length?

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I determine my "true" length, but

a. stretching (by pulling it downward) the hair if it isn't bone straight OR
b. flat ironing it

i believe soaking wet hair doesn't tell the whole story. my hair is its "longest" when it is either stretched or flat ironed.

No, my true length only comes out after a fresh relaxer and a flat-iron afterwards.

blasianbeauty said:

Great question! I typically go by my "dry" length. I mean, I don't walk around with my hair saoking wet everyday, so once it's dry, that's it.

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Me too. And given that I rollerset 90% of the time and generally don't use heat, my hair is prob. slightly longer than I think since I only really see it in a loose curl (or after drying in braids).

aloof one said:

I think if youre not wearing your hair out that way then it doesn't matter.

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This is how I feel. I'm natural, but if I was relaxed, I would never be walking around with soaking wet hair, so it would'nt matter.

I'm going for a look with length, so for me I consider my true length either stretched or straightened.

True in the sense that, that's how long my hair is... but not true in the fact that it's not like that dry.. who walks around with a wet head lol... my "true" length is 15+ inches shorter than when wet.. when my hair is wet it is about bra strap length when it is fully dry it is way above shoulder length.. so.....

For me I'd say no...although i know my hair is longer than it appears, to me the way I wear my hair is more important.

Since I don't walk around with wet hair... I would say dry hair is true length.

It's not my true length. For some reason when my hair is wet, it shrinks up really bad. My dry flat ironed hair shows my true length.

The curl pattern in most African textured hair tends to really be hidden length UNLESS it's immediately stretched w/ heat or a NEW full relaxer (not just roots). Even a relaxer that's been in sometime will revert somewhat to the curl pattern if the hair is healthy. For naturals, most times it's far more drastic. Natural's dry and straightened length can be several times it's wet/unstraightened length. There are plenty of Black people (men too) w/ VER Y long hair, but you can't see it because it's in it's natural state. Add water and it draws up big time for most....add heat and it's a stunning revelation!

Judging by what I've seen w/ White people and other non Blacks, unless their hair is extremely curly, their true length also is hidden because many of them use heat to straighten on a frequent basis.

IOW, for most people (myself included) length is measured by dry hair in my observation.

Nope. Even when wet, I still have shrinkage. The closest I can get to my true length is when I have a fresh relaxer and it's flat ironed. Even then there is still a tiny bit of shrinkage. I don't think I will ever be able to get it bone straight without frying it to death.

Blessed2bless said:

I agree with you JK... My natural hair when wet is my true length... when it is dry it shrinks above shoulder length.

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I agree about the kinky hair you never see the true length when wet or dry. My wet hair just recently hit my shoulders. Blowdried my hair is slightly at armpit length. Wash-no-go my hair appears an inch. How long is my hair really? When stretched as far as I can it is to the middle of my back or a bit longer. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Neith said:

Nope, your wet length is not your true length.

We all know that hair is elastic. A healthy hair can stretch A LOT before breaking... but we all know that just because it can stretch far doesn't mean that the stretched length is the true length.

Same thing for wet hair... it's heavily weighed down and stretched slightly. It's not the true length, it's a little longer.

Of course... this pertains to people with sraightened out hair.

Curly and kinky heads never see their true length wet or dry... derned shrinkage.

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ITA, When wet, my hair doesn't fully stretch, the coils/kinks loosen a little more, but it doesn't show my true length

Dreads?

What about dreads? Dreads are the ultimate hider of length. If you have dreads, is your hair as long as what you see upfront or the length of the dread unraveled (not counting being straightened)? Since dreads are hair that has been "trained" to grow around itself, is it the length of what's seen or what's fully there? Whether you see it or not, the hair IS there, esp. on UNcultivated locks. Considering most natural African textured hair easily dreads, that should tell you alot about wet vs dry vs straightened when it comes to judging length. Add to this the Afro hair style. Few groups have hair that can naturally stand like this w/o serious hairspray and styling products plus elbow grease (think Angela Davis, Erikya Badu, Kobe Bryant, Snoop, etc...) because that, like easy dreading, is almost a solely African textured thing, I think it shows just how much hidden length most Black folk really have. LOL... think of Malcolm X in his book and the story of the conk.

Braids are another common hider. Many people who've worn braids long term have serious hair. Is your hair as long as your cornrow whether it hangs down or not? Braiding "takes up" length on any texture of hair, so you won't even have an idea of true length even if it hangs down.

I measure my hair stretched, since it can be different lengths on different days, depending on the level of shrinkage.

I just wanted to add, that different hair types react differently to water, too. Some hairs shrink up completely when wet, and some are elongated.