When measuring hair in inches, where do you start?

[sareca]

I take 3 measurements. I take one from the nape, one from the temple, and one from the crown. I consider my "hair length" to be whatever it is from the nape.

 

[Poohbear]

Measuring from hairline to ends or from crowns from ends wouldn't do me any good. I'm natural and have major shrinkage. I measure sections of my hair from root to end which is what I did when I was relaxed as well. The other two methods didn't make sense to me given that the hair that starts growing at your hairline may end at your neck while the hair that starts growing at your nape ends at your brastrap. If you measure from hairline to ends, it's not a true measurement of the actual length of your hair because of the placement of hairs on your head. But even with that, different areas of your hair may be different lengths anyway.

Most of my hair is 8 inches in length from root to end. When I stretch the nape area, it goes about 3 inches or so pass my shoulders.

 

[dlewis]

DLewis, i just love your chair photos! That is the neatest idea ever. What a brilliant way to measure progress.

thanks

your siggy looking very nice

 

[RZILYNT]

I have never done this before but I just measured from the crown to the tip. Mine is 18 inches. That does not seem very long to me. My hair measures when stretched to the middle of my BS. My hair does not seem as long as many of you ladies with BSL hair in your photo's. Kini how long does your gorgeous mane measure?

 

[RainbowCurls]

Hairline to ends. Because the hairline is always consistent. I don't know where my (actual) crown is and my strands are all different lengths so can't measure that way either.

 

[LaNecia]

I also use this method.

Me too.

 

[silvergirl]

I checked other because there are some folk who start the measuring tape at their hairline then measure from there to the longest part in the back. It makes no sense to me, but some people do it.

that would only make sense if your hair in the front was your longest length. alot of long hair (midback plus) ladies do this, because most of the time , their hair is cut blunt, with the length in front meeting the length in back.



for me i just measure the strand root to tip

 

[leleepop]

I only measure when my hair is str8. I go from hairline to ends. I go by where my ends falls. I really just go by apl,bsl,mbl, now.

 

[Suerte]

I measure my top, sides, back, and crown...then I do an overall "crown all the way down" measurment.

The individual measurements are good for like, checking on your personal hair growth goals...the overall is more for the "look".

If that makes sense.

 

[Blackoutzangel05]

I haven't measured but if I did I would probably do hairline to end of hair. I can't do root to tip because my crown is the shortest. My front is a nice length and my back is longer. I guess I could pick pieces from all over but if I was to do that I would probably do that once every 6 months. Right now I just take pictures and go from there.

 

[EMJazzy]

Root to tip similar to camelia's method ....I think this is how most naturals do it if they dont straighten their hair. I do different sections as all of my hair is not one length.

same here

 

[EMJazzy]

I only measure when my hair is str8. I go from hairline to ends. I go by where my ends falls. I really just go by apl,bsl,mbl, now.

When I get some real length I'll be measuring the same way.

 

[Mestiza]

I measure from hairline to ends because it makes all the sense in the world to me. My hair grows unevenly so me measuring from the nape or just grabbing a random section won't work.
The strands of hair in the middle of my head are like 26 inches long. Most of my length comes from the middle of my head. The hair from the top of my ears down barely measure about 16 inches or so if measure from root to tip. So what really is the length of my hair?

ITA w/ the bolded!

 

[HoneyA]

I MEASURE FROM HAIRLINE TO TIP, IT MAKES SENCE TO ME!! I DO IT SO THAT I CAN KEEP TRACK OF HOW MANY INCHES I GET EACH TIME I TOUCH UP. SO FAR I HAVE BEEN GAINING 1" EACH TIME I TOUCH UP. IT'S JUST A PERSONAL THING FOR ME TO MEASURE MY PROGRESS. LAST TIME I RE-TOUCHED ON 30TH DEC 06 I HAD 21" FROM HAIR LINE TO TIP HOPE TO HAVE 22" WHEN I RE-TOUCH IN 5WKS. NEED 24" FOR BRA STRAP, YAY.

This is how I do it too. Hairline to ends. This way I always know how many more inches I need to get from BSL>MBL, etc. and I can work out how long it'll take me to reach a certain length. It makes perfect sense and has never failed me yet.

 

[fivetimestwo]

When I measure my hair in inches I just take a section of hair, stretch it out as far as it goes and then have my DH measure it with a tape measure while I hold it still, starting at the scalp and going down to the tip.

The way I'm stretching out a piece of my hair in my avatar is the same way I stretch it for DH to measure.

This is how I measure my hair also

 

[anon123]

I take 3 measurements. I take one from the nape, one from the temple, and one from the crown. I consider my "hair length" to be whatever it is from the nape.

I'm the same. And then I'll say "my hair is n inches from my x". I was so confused when I came here. People would be saying they had 20+ inches of hair and I would look and be like "huh"? I think measuring from hairline to tip gives funny numbers, like people with 1" TWAs saying they have 13" of hair or something. But usually I'm able to tell which method people are using by looking at their numbers and looking at their hair, so it's no big deal now which one they are using.

 

[mzcris]

I have my husband measure my hair starting from the end of my hair to my bra strap. I take measurements after I've relaxed my hair.

 

[Bigghair]

You just pick up a section and place the measuring tape at the roots. Measure all the way to the ends.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

I don't measure anymore, but I use my chair to compare length. I take several photos to be sure they look the same and it's not longer on one than the other.

I've jacked this method!

 

[KEWLKAT103]

I've never measured. Too many variations to be accurate and I don't
care so much about how long my hair is in inches.

 

[*Michelle*]

hmmm...I think I'm going to find a chair and use that method. When I do an update in June.