I haven't had waist length hair in a long time now, so I was wondering, does hair get flatter as it gets longer? Because when my hair is short it's very bushy, and at the moment it's not but I thought it might be because of the weather. Has anyone else experienced flatter hair as your hair grows?

My hair has become straighter as it gets longer, if that's what you mean? When it's around my shoulders, it's tight ringlets. It's to slightly below mid-back length now --  ;D -- and it's much looser curls.

Oh thanks a lot, hmm that will help! It was so sad in school today; I was standing with a friend of mine and her hair is very very VERY thick, a bit longer than shoulder length, dead straight, and totally pitch black. Anyway our French teacher went up to her and she had left it down today, the teacher asked her if she had blow dried it and she said no. She went on to tell my friend that her hair was gorgeous. I was wearing my hair in a hairband so most of it was down, and the teacher asked me to turn around. And the expression on her face!!! It was like ... my hair is terrible in comparison to hers!!  :'(! Ok, so it's wavy, and a strange shade of brown, but at least it's different! I mean the majority of the world has straight hair, and the majority of asians have straight black hair! I admit there was a phase when I wanted straight hair, but I got over it, because I like the fact that every day my hair is different! But it really hurt my self esteem when she gushed like that  :'(, I guess my hair is a big part of what makes me feel good!

We must all deal with the fact that some people will be insensitive to how other feel.  It is good that you got over it.

As your hair gets longer, the weight of it may pull some of the curl down making it less curly or wavy.  If you want to add curl to your hair, you could roll it in rag rollers.  I roll my waist length hair around a clean bulky sock and tie the sock to hold it in place.  In the morning I have gentle curls!

If you want to straighten your hair more, pull it in to a ponytail, then slide the leg of an old pantyhose up over your hair and secure at the top and bottom with scruncies or ponytail holders.  This will help keep your hair straighter and less frizzy in the morning.

Hahaha - I never even knew my hair was curly till I cut it! But I discovered something really great. Usually I wash my hair in the mornings before school when it's washing hair day  ;), comb it and leave it open as it dries. I take a brush with me and brush it later on in the day. But yesterday I washed it at night instead of in the morning and combed it as usual, and did my french plait before sleeping. When I woke up the curls were so prominent and beautiful (they haven't been there since I started growing my hair again!) that I couldn't bring myself to brush it. So I combed it and made a braided bun which I later opened in school. And it was so nice!! My hair is *poofy* when I leave it down as my friends say, but today it lay flat and really curly and I *actually* got compliments on it today!  ;D

Thanks Robin, next time I wash my hair I'll try the socks.

I tried the socks to see if they would help to curl my very straight hair.....I washed my hair at night (as always) and let it dry a little and rolled it on several socks when I took the socks out the next day my hair was still damp and I had no curls :(

Oh well I didn't have any curls before that so nothing ventured nothing gained :)

My husband got a kick out of the sock look especially when he realized I used his socks!!!!! :)

ginny

The sock curls didn't work on me either  :(

wrote on Feb 8^th, 2003 at 1:24am:

I tried the socks to see if they would help to curl my very straight hair.....I washed my hair at night (as always) and let it dry a little and rolled it on several socks when I took the socks out the next day my hair was still damp and I had no curls :( Oh well I didn't have any curls before that so nothing ventured nothing gained :) My husband got a kick out of the sock look especially when he realized I used his socks!!!!! :) ginny

My hair must be completely dry when I remove the socks for the curl to hold in my hair.  Maybe next time wait for the hair to be a bit drier before rolling it.  Also, I found the cotton socks work better than synthetic socks.  Sorry it did not work out for you.

Hmm, I think I will ask my mother to try it since I've got butterfingers :P.

It is okay that the socks didn't work....I'm not sure I would know what to do with curls anyway.  The best part of it all was watching my husband laugh at his socks (they were cotton) in my hair!

Ginny

My husband laughs at my sock hair arrangement as well.  The socks I use are some of my favorites that I have had for many years, but now they have holes in the heals or I have lost a mate.  They are quite colorful, I have a bright blue, purple, and red pair.  I look a bit like a bad Christmas tree when I use them all at the same time.  ;D

Don't get discouraged, try again!!  I also have very straight hair and have started to use the "sock method"  The first couple of times, it worked out great.  I rolled them in completely dry hair and slightly damp hair.  The last time I tried it, I didn't have ANY curl.  I think I may have "cancelled" the curls out when I coiled and then wrapped around the sock.  Try to be aware and keep the direction of the coils and wraps complimentary.  Hope this helps.  Let us know how it goes.

KASiss;
Glad you figured out how to make it work for you!  Now your unmatched socks have a purpose!

Haha - maybe mine didn't work because my hair can be hard to manage at times! I'll get my mother to do it for me, maybe it will work better then!

Do most of you tie your hair up every day, and then leave it down for formal events, or vice versa? Or do you never leave it down/tie it up at all? I was wondering if it would be inappropriate to leave my hair long and flowing for a formal event...

I usually go by the look of the dress I choose.  If it has a pretty neck line or back I want to show off, I'll wear my hair up, with pretty hairsticks or hair ornaments.  If it is plain, I like to wear it down to show it off.  ;D  Sometimes I'll pull the top back in a clip or top knot, much like you descrbed for your last performance, and curl the ends.

I also like to consider the event, since I live in Sunny South Florida where it's HOT all the time!!  If it's outside, or I plan to dance a lot, I'll try to wear it up, for comfort sake.

I do wear it in a hair stick almost all the time because of "Angel" who I have mentioned on other topics.  I'm trying to get some ideas for variations.  Any suggestions  ???   I like the cornrows described on "how to grow out bangs" and have used that method , then tied the rest of my hair in a bun and took out yhe clips holding the cornrows.  The bun held the cornrows so there was a nice change to the regular bun I always wear.    :P

I wear my hair in a bun or braided most of the time.  In the winter, wearing it down is very difficult due to jackets, coats and unfriendly fabrics.  I will wear it down for special events.  In the summer I wear it down more often, but if it is very hot and/or humid, it goes back up in the bun.  I always braid my hair when I bike to prevent tangles and damage.

My mother cut my hair today (I don't trust salons anymore) since it's the night of the new moon, I hope it works and my hair grows longer faster!

Do you keep track of your monthly growth?  What is your typical growth?

One suggestion if you're getting poofy hair when you let it alone - even if you don't think of it as curly hair - is to make sure that you have a little layering of some sort in your cut - the cuts down on the density overall and should make it less poufy - I actually have a curly haired specialist I go to for my cuts, and they watch how your particular hair curls and make cuts so that the curls lie in each other instead of stacking out and building or becoming big - I love that place (it's in NYC)

Brushing your hair when dry will really make curly/wavy hair really poufy too - I just fingercomb mine thoroughly when when with conditioner, and again when I put a leave-in conditioner/frizz preventer in after I shower - blow drying also tends to add to poufiness so try using a diffuser if you need to dry it (that's what I do in winter if I don't have time to let it dry naturally fully before I leave the house)

Another suggestion is to check what product (conditioner and after shower products) you're using on your hair, and maybe try a change

My typical growth is almost an inch per month. Since I'm growing it, I'm going to cut it only every two months. It's an incredible growth rate I know, but it slows down when I am stressed (like now... school is very stressy at the moment!).

I do have layering in my cut, but the only thing that seems to make my hair less poofy is the length. This is another reason for my growing it out, apart from the fact that I love it long! I am going to have a blunt cut at the bottom when it's longer.

I have used a diffuser but found it gave me split ends and I don't like to use any blow dryers on my hair. To hold the curl I just braid my hair and put in a little bit of Frizz Ease, and this will make my hair curly for a few hours.

wrote on Mar 4^th, 2003 at 10:03am:

My typical growth is almost an inch per month. Since I'm growing it, I'm going to cut it only every two months. It's an incredible growth rate I know, but it slows down when I am stressed (like now... school is very stressy at the moment!).

If you want longer hair, is it really necessary to cut it that often?  

My hair is very dry. I do take excellent care of it, but at the end of about two months the ends get extremely dry and begin breaking off, so I have to get a trim then otherwise the breakage moves up the strands of my hair. But the way my mother cuts it, she cuts off so very little that it's impossible to tell my hair is shorter, and it doesn't interfere with my growing. I don't get split ends, but didn't Rapunzel say in her Guide to Growing Long Hair that you should trim the ends once in a whiel to get rid of split ends? That's what I mean by trimming it every month. Otherwise, I'm letting it grow.

my hair ALWAYS gets flatter as it grows-i'm happy about that!

Leia,
 I have strait hair and I have forever wanted it wavy. Just recently have I realized I can live with it strait. Funny how the grass is greener on the other head, er, side of the fence. Now I'm trying to figure out how I can make it look thicker.Hopefully I'll start to see how fine hair can be as attractive as thick, wavy hair  ;)

Bonnie