Does our type really correlate with our length? TYPE 4s!

What's your hair type and length?

  • 4a and SL

    Votes: 42 11.7%
  • 4a and APL

    Votes: 42 11.7%
  • 4a and BSL or longer

    Votes: 34 9.5%
  • 4a/b and SL

    Votes: 72 20.1%
  • 4a/b and APL

    Votes: 52 14.5%
  • 4a/b and BSL or longer

    Votes: 35 9.8%
  • 4b and SL

    Votes: 46 12.8%
  • 4b and APL

    Votes: 17 4.7%
  • 4b and BSL or longer

    Votes: 18 5.0%

  • Total voters
    358
  • Poll closed .
It's funny, so many people took issue with these polls..but the shapes of the graphs they make are clearly inverted..

Yes. I thought it would show something similar, but I didn't expect it to look this neat & predictable, to be honest. At least not here on this hair board, anyway. It is a little depressing. :look: But oh well, I still have hope that I can make it to full APL, at least. :lachen:

Something else that's interesting is that 4b appears to be faring slightly better than 4a/4b at reaching BSL. :scratchch
 
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I'm mostly 4a with a few patches of 3c. I voted BSL and longer.

However, before the hair boards my hair hovered around shoulder/apl. Discovering good hair practices lead to length.
 
shouldn't be discouraging at all! these are just current lengths. makes sense, because not everyone who voted has reached their final goal lengths yet. I'd love to see a poll asking "have you reached your goal length?"

after all... we all started out either bald or with TWAs (as babies)!
 
shouldn't be discouraging at all! these are just current lengths. makes sense, because not everyone who voted has reached their final goal lengths yet. I'd love to see a poll asking "have you reached your goal length?"

after all... we all started out either bald or with TWAs (as babies)!

true. and I know some 4s who met/exceeded their goal and are gone - Lavendar2 and SerenityBreeze are two i can think of right now.
 
no

only those who have a healthy regimen will retain length

know your true texture, and your hair care regimen will work FOR you not against you
 
Hair is 4b and neck length due to BC a month ago. Before that I was right at brastrap with layers. Its all about maintence and health
 
This thread is very interesting. I am 4a/b shoulder length. I used to assume my hair never grew but thanks to forums like this learned about healthy hair techniques especially retention. Since I upped moisture to the max I see growth. I am excited to see what length my hair will end up at but y'know I don't mind if I end up at APL or BSL max. As long as it is full and healthy I will love it.
 
Yes. I thought it would show something similar, but I didn't expect it to look this neat & predictable, to be honest. At least not here on this hair board, anyway. It is a little depressing. :look: But oh well, I still have hope that I can make it to full APL, at least. :lachen:

Something else that's interesting is that 4b appears to be faring slightly better than 4a/4b at reaching BSL. :scratchch

Maybe that's because real 4a/4b mixes have to deal with two textures. Thus, it might take more trial and error to produce a solid regimen and to learn how to deal with the hair. Whereas, 4bs may be able to figure out a regimen quicker and their hair may need less manipulation since they aren't working with two hair types.


Exactly why I posted in this thread before. :yep:

These polls do not represent any of our potential for growth.

I did not think the intent behind this poll was to suggest that our hair type grew slower. I don't think our potential for growth was being called into question and I think it is the same as type 3s. Imo, the debate has really been about whether type 4 hair needs more work to retain length than type 3s. I don't think that the ability to retain is related to growth but to length instead (as the thread implies anyway). Therefore, I do not see why anybody should be discouraged because of these results. Get your regimen down packed, stick with it and there should be no need to feel doomed because you have type 4 hair.
 
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I (5'0") am 4a/b relaxed but more so 4b I think and I am approaching MBL. My mother (5'9") has the same hair type and she was waist length at her longest length and relaxed.
 
Okay, after a couple of days, this is how it has panned out:

Picture3.png
 
Okay, after a couple of days, this is how it has panned out:

Picture3.png

I will preface my statement by saying that I know you said this isn't scientific. And with this being said I don't want people to go with this data and run with it and start saying type 4 doesn't grow.

This survey does not include: how long an individual has been on LHCF, when they last cut there hair, how often do they trim, is BSL or beyond even their goal?

And, let's say this was a scientific poll and all figures came out the same--(i posted this earlier in the thread) maybe this shows that 4's should take advice from 3's because if "4's can't grow their hair (WHICH THEY CAN) why not try a new technicque?


I hope I stated that all right, but just in case:

DISCLAIMER: 4ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ can grow their hair just as long as 1,2,3ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ. IMHO
 
Okay, after a couple of days, this is how it has panned out:

Picture3.png

Very nice graph! :yep: The results are very interesting, there's so many follow-up studies you could do! :yep: (Can't believe I chickened out of statistics during my college years; these threads are like a wet dream to me, lol.)

Maybe that's because real 4a/4b mixes have to deal with two textures. Thus, it might take more trial and error to produce a solid regimen and to learn how to deal with the hair. Whereas, 4bs may be able to figure out a regimen quicker and their hair may need less manipulation since they aren't working with two hair types.
That was my theory as well. It sort of seems like when a 4B reaches APL, they get over that APL-BSL hump more easily than 4a/4b.

I did not think the intent behind this poll was to suggest that our hair type grew slower. I don't think our potential for growth was being called into question and I think it is the same as type 3s. Imo, the debate has really been about whether type 4 hair needs more work to retain length than type 3s. I don't think that the ability to retain is related to growth but to length instead (as the thread implies anyway). Therefore, I do not see why anybody should be discouraged because of these results. Get your regimen down packed, stick with it and there should be no need to feel doomed because you have type 4 hair.
Well said. :yep:
 
I will preface my statement by saying that I know you said this isn't scientific. And with this being said I don't want people to go with this data and run with it and start saying type 4 doesn't grow.

This survey does not include: how long an individual has been on LHCF, when they last cut there hair, how often do they trim, is BSL or beyond even their goal?

And, let's say this was a scientific poll and all figures came out the same--(i posted this earlier in the thread) maybe this shows that 4's should take advice from 3's because if "4's can't grow their hair (WHICH THEY CAN) why not try a new technicque?


I hope I stated that all right, but just in case:

DISCLAIMER: 4ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ can grow their hair just as long as 1,2,3ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ. IMHO

There should be a poll on how many knowingly take a significant amount of advice from people who are not their specific hair type. I really don't believe just type 4s who have a "refusal" to take type 3 advice just because some of us admitted it in your thread.

There's a vibe in these threads that some haven't been growing their hair for as long as others. Based on the poll results it's safe to assume those "some" are the type 4s. I don't think the results can be explained away like that. Some newbies arrive with their hair at SL or longer (even if it's unhealthy), some who already here big chop to a twa or cut inches off, some people BC with 12" of hair etc. Not everybody is here from the same starting point no matter what time they arrived.

I don't think these results can be used as gospel truth also but they do provide an interesting snapshot of how things seem to currently be on the board. Personally, I do think it is easier for looser textures to retain length (therefore, type 2s have it easier than some type 3s etc). Yet, I do not think having that belief implies I think it's a piece of cake to grow type 3 hair or that they don't deal with their own length retention issues. If it was the case that type 3s have it easy, they wouldn't be on this board like everyone else.
 
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There should be a poll on how many knowingly take a significant amount of advice from people who are not their specific hair type. I really don't believe just type 4s who have a "refusal" to take type 3 advice just because some of us admitted it in your thread.

There's a vibe in these threads that some haven't been growing their hair for as long as others. Based on the poll results it's safe to assume those "some" are the type 4s. I don't think the results can be explained away like that. Some newbies arrive with their hair at SL or longer (even if it's unhealthy), some who already here big chop to a twa or cut inches off, some people BC with 12" of hair etc. Not everybody is here from the same starting point no matter what time they arrived.

I don't think these results can be used as gospel truth also but they do provide an interesting snapshot of how things seem to currently be on the board. Personally, I do think it is easier for looser textures to retain length (therefore, type 2s have it easier than some type 3s etc). Yet, I do not think having that belief implies I think it's a piece of cake to grow type 3 hair or that they don't deal with their own length retention issues. If it was the case that type 3s have it easy, they wouldn't be on this board like everyone else.

I agree completely. Many people try other's recommendations regardless of type. I have, for example. It was, in fact, my doing so that lead me to the conclusion that I got better results by following people with a similar hair type.

As I was reading the threads, there were many people in the type 3 thread that said their hair was not easy and they worked hard for what they had. Of course they did! I never intended to suggest otherwise. But the natural question that lead to was "well, does that mean type 4s aren't working hard? that they aren't caring for their hair?" And I wonder if it's true that type 3s have been growing their hair out for longer. I won't be doing those spin-off polls (at least not now), but it would be cool to know.


And right, this snapshot doesn't say much about the reasons behind the difference. I have my own ideas why and they're a lot like yours. Hair tends to be more fragile the tighter the coil and it tends to break off more easily. That doesn't mean there's nothing you can do to stop it from breaking off, just means it's going to require a little more work. At the same time, that doesn't mean you can treat type 3 (or any type, frankly) of hair like crap and expect to have healthy and long hair. Just like my orchids and african violets. Without the proper care, neither will flourish, and with the proper care, they are both beautiful. However, even with knowing the proper care, implementing it is just a bit more difficult for the orchids than it is for the violets (in my climate, at least. I was a houseplant hobbyist before becoming hair obsessed. ;) ) That is no reason not to grow orchids, though! They come with their own pluses!
 
Maybe that's because real 4a/4b mixes have to deal with two textures. Thus, it might take more trial and error to produce a solid regimen and to learn how to deal with the hair. Whereas, 4bs may be able to figure out a regimen quicker and their hair may need less manipulation since they aren't working with two hair types.



I did not think the intent behind this poll was to suggest that our hair type grew slower. I don't think our potential for growth was being called into question and I think it is the same as type 3s. Imo, the debate has really been about whether type 4 hair needs more work to retain length than type 3s. I don't think that the ability to retain is related to growth but to length instead (as the thread implies anyway). Therefore, I do not see why anybody should be discouraged because of these results. Get your regimen down packed, stick with it and there should be no need to feel doomed because you have type 4 hair.

This was my point.

Maybe I don't explain myself clearly enough even though I talk a lot :lol:

I knew that some would be discouraged by the findings, unnecessarily. I wanted to just put it out there. :)
 
when i was growing up i had a lot of friends who were type 3. long hair always. I constantly tried to do what they did not understnding why i wasn't getting the same results. i didn't understand types. i kept trying to follow regimens like Michael Michelle and Jasmine Guy. with disaster results.
when my hair and my friends hair is straightened it looks similar but..when she washed her hair it took her about 45 mins to wash con, blow dry and her hair was straight smooth shiny. It took me 2-3 hours to try to get the same freakin result and i couldn;t understand why. My hair broke off a lot and wouldn't grow after a certain length, her hair hardly ever broke. she would cut her hair and within the year it would be down her back. i cut my hair and within a year im still struggling to get past SL.
i found this board and fokti's finally with my hair type and the regimens worked great. shoot i still, out of denial was trying other type 3 regimens like Dlewis wash & go(disaster)
and that co washing etc(disaster) twistouts(disaster)
i think type ..im sorry..plays a BIG difference in retaining length. I mean i have had so many try to tell me i'm not a type 4 just cause i am able to stretch my relaxers. not knowing the blood, sweat, hair and tears & PATIENCE ive gone through to be able to do that. it was a do or die decision for my hair when i started stretching. i had NO choice.!
not knowing again the blood, sweat, hair and tears & PATIENCE to keep it flat and smooth and left alone.
i said all that to say..sorry ..yes i believe our type does correlate with our length. imo.

ETA: i also remeber reading a post by Zaynab who has gorgeous type 3 hair saying she cut her hair and within that year she was BSL. never in a mill years could i do that:lol:
 
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when i was growing up i had a lot of friends who were type 3. long hair always. I constantly tried to do what they did not understnding why i wasn't getting the same results. i didn't understand types. i kept trying to follow regimens like Michael Michelle and Jasmine Guy. with disaster results.
when my hair and my friends hair is straightened it looks similar but..when she washed her hair it took her about 45 mins to wash con, blow dry and her hair was straight smooth shiny. It took me 2-3 hours to try to get the same freakin result and i couldn;t understand why. My hair broke off a lot and wouldn't grow after a certain length, her hair hardly ever broke. she would cut her hair and within the year it would be down her back. i cut my hair and within a year im still struggling to get past SL.
i found this board and fokti's finally with my hair type and the regimens worked great. shoot i still, out of denial was trying other type 3 regimens like Dlewis wash & go(disaster)
and that co washing etc(disaster) twistouts(disaster)
i think type ..im sorry..plays a BIG difference in retaining length. I mean i have had so many try to tell me i'm not a type 4 just cause i am able to stretch my relaxers. not knowing the blood, sweat, hair and tears & PATIENCE ive gone through to be able to do that. it was a do or die decision for my hair when i started stretching. i had NO choice.!
not knowing again the blood, sweat, hair and tears & PATIENCE to keep it flat and smooth and left alone.
i said all that to say..sorry ..yes i believe our type does correlate with our length. imo.

ETA: i also remeber reading a post by Zaynab who has gorgeous type 3 hair saying she cut her hair and within that year she was BSL. never in a mill years could i do that:lol:

I LOVE this post and agree with everything you stated!!!!
 
aaand :lol: im' still having problemms. my hair has been stuck at a certain length for awhile. it gets longer but my ends seem to be thinning out. thats another problem. i should be grateful to be at the length im at without protective styling...but..hey.. now i just wanna see how far my type hair can grow despite being chemically relaxed and no protective styling. now i gotta revamp my regimen and go back to that blood, sweat, tears, patience focus to get it longer while still wearing it down without my ends thinning or splitting.
thats one of the reasons i started TWO threads asking if anyone not natural, past BSL, type 4ab only. i just wanted to see.
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=374555&highlight=

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=70999&highlight=

I also gotta get more real inspirations. For a long time my hair inspirations were Jennifer Freeman, Chili, Jayne Kennedy... unfortunatley that is not reality. our hair types are different and my hair will never be like theirs. i still can't find anyone famous with my hair type who would be an inspiration for me. :ohwell:

ok thks 4 lettin me babble vent yall:lol:
 
I use to think that 4bs could retain just as well as any other type. Then I had to come to terms with my own chronic hair breakage. I also noticed that the average hair length on a certain hair site dedicated to type 4 hair is shorter than this site. There are far more people in the waist length club here than over there. And the ladies here with WSL hair are usually type 2 and 3. It's something that people dont like to talk about, but it's true.


And as people with type 3 like to post and say that they worked really hard for their BSL hair and it didn't come easy... Well I've been working very hard for the past 4 years on my SL hair and it isn't easy. :drunk:
 
Wow. The modal length for type 4's is looking like SL whereas the modal length for type 3's is looking like bsl...hmmm


I'm glad you said that!! I was thinking the same thing also. For me, despite the best of hair care practices (& products & nutritional supplements), I've never been longer than shoulder length; relaxed or natural.
 
when i was growing up i had a lot of friends who were type 3. long hair always. I constantly tried to do what they did not understnding why i wasn't getting the same results. i didn't understand types. i kept trying to follow regimens like Michael Michelle and Jasmine Guy. with disaster results.
when my hair and my friends hair is straightened it looks similar but..when she washed her hair it took her about 45 mins to wash con, blow dry and her hair was straight smooth shiny. It took me 2-3 hours to try to get the same freakin result and i couldn;t understand why. My hair broke off a lot and wouldn't grow after a certain length, her hair hardly ever broke. she would cut her hair and within the year it would be down her back. i cut my hair and within a year im still struggling to get past SL.
i found this board and fokti's finally with my hair type and the regimens worked great. shoot i still, out of denial was trying other type 3 regimens like Dlewis wash & go(disaster)
and that co washing etc(disaster) twistouts(disaster)
i think type ..im sorry..plays a BIG difference in retaining length. I mean i have had so many try to tell me i'm not a type 4 just cause i am able to stretch my relaxers. not knowing the blood, sweat, hair and tears & PATIENCE ive gone through to be able to do that. it was a do or die decision for my hair when i started stretching. i had NO choice.!
not knowing again the blood, sweat, hair and tears & PATIENCE to keep it flat and smooth and left alone.
i said all that to say..sorry ..yes i believe our type does correlate with our length. imo.

ETA: i also remeber reading a post by Zaynab who has gorgeous type 3 hair saying she cut her hair and within that year she was BSL. never in a mill years could i do that:lol:

WELL SAID! I TOTALLY AGREE.
 
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