pri
Member
Totally agree!
Inches or Centimetres? Is everyone measuring their growth correctly?
- Thread starter MummysGirl
- Start date
Totally agree!
MochaEyeCandy
New Member
I don't use a ruler to measure my growth, I eyeball it. It's not that serious to me...I do comparison shots every other month...as long as my fro is getting bigger (which it is) I'm happy. I think my growth has picked up substantially between my cardio, biotin, and msm powder. I won't be making a thread claiming x amount of inches, cause I don't need the drama. My results will me in my siggy, and my doubters can suck it. 
Highly Favored8
Well-Known Member
at this thread. Girl are you serious.
I would hope that people know the difference. Its possible that someone could get 4 inches in 5 months. Not everyone's hair grows at the rate of 1/2 inch a month. This is an average. There will be people below and above that rate.
ITA with this post.
In my siggy pictures from September 08 Until Jan.09, I got an unusual growth spurt of growth from using BeeMine hair serum.
I get all of growth spurts in spring and summer months.
Highly Favored8
Well-Known Member
I use inches.
MummysGirl
New Member
I was about to write a long response explaining myself but I can't be bothered.
Thanks for responding ladies, looks like I was wrong... everyone seems to be measuring, correctly, in inches.
Thanks for responding ladies, looks like I was wrong... everyone seems to be measuring, correctly, in inches.
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Mook's hair
New Member
I don't use a ruler to measure my growth, I eyeball it. It's not that serious to me...I do comparison shots every other month...as long as my fro is getting bigger (which it is) I'm happy. I think my growth has picked up substantially between my cardio, biotin, and msm powder. I won't be making a thread claiming x amount of inches, cause I don't need the drama. My results will me in my siggy, and my doubters can suck it.
That's funny !!! I like that.
I feel similarly. I don't do ruler measuring because I think I"d drive myself nuts. And I'd be too obsessed.
I rely more on comparison shots to gage my level of progress.
danigurl18
Active Member
I use inches always
Evolving78
Well-Known Member
man your hair grows fast! i get 5 inches a year.
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CHECKMATE!
New Member
Definitely in inches
I was wondering if you meant people doing it by accident. Sometimes people DON'T know. I know I've never done it, but on a bad day, or being distracted, I'm sure at least ONE person somewhere in this world has done it.
If I ever did it, I'd laugh at myself for having such a blonde moment. I'm glad you thought of this OP, cause some of these numbers have me like 
hmmmmmmmmmmmm...especially when the pictures don't match the claims.
MummysGirl
New Member
Ofcourse there is nothing wrong in measuring in cms, one could measure in mm if they want.
I was just wondering if some people were making a mistake (thinking they were measuring inches but actually measuring cms), and it looks like no one is.
I was just wondering if some people were making a mistake (thinking they were measuring inches but actually measuring cms), and it looks like no one is.
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MummysGirl
New Member
Exactly
That was the main reason behind my post.
That was the main reason behind my post.
I was wondering if you meant people doing it by accident. Sometimes people DON'T know. I know I've never done it, but on a bad day, or being distracted, I'm sure at least ONE person somewhere in this world has done it.
Nightingale
On the Grow and Keeping it Simple
ITA. I don't claim to get X amount of growth in a month, but if someone asks me about it, I try to guess based on the growth I saw over the course of the last year. Thankfully, I rarely get asked.
When I do see people claiming 3 inches in a month, I usually ignore them. Not because it could be fake, but because 3 inches in a month isn't my reality. I'm more inspired by people with average rates of growth, who retain most of it.
Peace in Prose
New Member
hmm... 5 centimeter sounds better than 2 inches...
Nah, a rose by any other name is still a rose
Nah, a rose by any other name is still a rose
CAPlush
New Member
I'm not going to say people are lying or delusional or whatnot, but often people are very mistaken about measurements. I do think people can get up to an 1" a month, but if you average that type of growth rate, I just don't think these rare people would have all that much use for this forum. Even if they abused their hair, it would be growing faster than they can damage it.
MummysGirl
New Member
Again, thanks for your responses.
This is an interesting thread. There seems to be some confusion as to which growth rate reports reflect 'normal' growth, and which are VERY unusual (if not suspect).
I suggest that folks check out the Wikipedia entry "Natural afro-hair". Under 'structure' they break down how fast afro/black hair grows ON AVERAGE (ie there can DEFINITELY be exceptions, but when 75%+ of folk claim two to three times the average per month, something might be fishy...). Their references are legit (I checked--but you can too of course!). If you do the math/conversions (I'll speak in inches here since most of us use them), it turns out, that white people's hair TENDS TO grow a bit faster than that of blacks. Specifically, their hair AVERAGES a bit under 1/2 inch (i.e. it grows 1 centimeter) per month (~5.79 inches/year). Black people's hair AVERAGES to under a 1/2 inch (i.e. 1 centimeter) per ~40 days (4.56 inchers per year). (NOTE: ***Capital letters emphasize that there CAN be exceptions in every sample, but not typically a huge number of them***)
You can take this or leave this information...I choose to take it as a rule of thumb so that I don't hold myself to standards of hair growth that might not be normal (and beat myself up for not measuring up to them as a result). The findings seem to be consistent with MY growth rate at least ... Admittedly though, it should be noted that the sample size for the study was only ~40 folk, all continental/presumably "pure" African. Furthermore, its possible that the admixture with faster hair-growing populations (ie whites/native Americans) that has taken place here in the states might change the results for some people.
But if you trust the above mentioned findings, black folk who trim the standard 1/4 inch every 3 months AND grow hair at around the AVERAGE length should take off 1 inch from the 4.56 to get 3.56 inches net growth per year. Add the fact that the Wikipedia article also mentions that, because of the structure of our hair, we tend to give ourselves "natural haircuts" if we comb it every day (ie the hair breaks off at the ends to an extent that eventually, growth rate comes to equal breakage rate) it might be reasonable to take off another .5 inches for daily wear and tear...but then again, given all that we're learning on here about low manipulation styles, those of us in the know might be able to retain some of this...
Regardless, my point is, even if we lost the .5 inches too, the data suggests that, all things being equal, we should STILL net ~3 good healthy inches per year! If we were able to retain even THAT, we could theoretically go from an extremely short TWA to 18 inches/1.5 feet (MBL?) in 6 years! ... Not bad!...That's what I'm hoping to achieve on here. Three inches per year for ~6 years PLUS retention. No more (I'm trying to be realistic) but ALSO, no less (I want to hold myself to a standard).
The somewhat discouraging part is, even with all of the new information about Afro-hair care out, it's still fairly rare to see black women sporting heads full of loose (non-dreadlocked) hair that is 18+ inches long ... Even one's who have had natural hair for 6+ years!
I guess that's why we come together here though...For support in beating the odds!
Happy growing/retaining ladies!
I suggest that folks check out the Wikipedia entry "Natural afro-hair". Under 'structure' they break down how fast afro/black hair grows ON AVERAGE (ie there can DEFINITELY be exceptions, but when 75%+ of folk claim two to three times the average per month, something might be fishy...). Their references are legit (I checked--but you can too of course!). If you do the math/conversions (I'll speak in inches here since most of us use them), it turns out, that white people's hair TENDS TO grow a bit faster than that of blacks. Specifically, their hair AVERAGES a bit under 1/2 inch (i.e. it grows 1 centimeter) per month (~5.79 inches/year). Black people's hair AVERAGES to under a 1/2 inch (i.e. 1 centimeter) per ~40 days (4.56 inchers per year). (NOTE: ***Capital letters emphasize that there CAN be exceptions in every sample, but not typically a huge number of them***)
You can take this or leave this information...I choose to take it as a rule of thumb so that I don't hold myself to standards of hair growth that might not be normal (and beat myself up for not measuring up to them as a result). The findings seem to be consistent with MY growth rate at least ... Admittedly though, it should be noted that the sample size for the study was only ~40 folk, all continental/presumably "pure" African. Furthermore, its possible that the admixture with faster hair-growing populations (ie whites/native Americans) that has taken place here in the states might change the results for some people.
But if you trust the above mentioned findings, black folk who trim the standard 1/4 inch every 3 months AND grow hair at around the AVERAGE length should take off 1 inch from the 4.56 to get 3.56 inches net growth per year. Add the fact that the Wikipedia article also mentions that, because of the structure of our hair, we tend to give ourselves "natural haircuts" if we comb it every day (ie the hair breaks off at the ends to an extent that eventually, growth rate comes to equal breakage rate) it might be reasonable to take off another .5 inches for daily wear and tear...but then again, given all that we're learning on here about low manipulation styles, those of us in the know might be able to retain some of this...
Regardless, my point is, even if we lost the .5 inches too, the data suggests that, all things being equal, we should STILL net ~3 good healthy inches per year! If we were able to retain even THAT, we could theoretically go from an extremely short TWA to 18 inches/1.5 feet (MBL?) in 6 years! ... Not bad!...That's what I'm hoping to achieve on here. Three inches per year for ~6 years PLUS retention. No more (I'm trying to be realistic) but ALSO, no less (I want to hold myself to a standard).
The somewhat discouraging part is, even with all of the new information about Afro-hair care out, it's still fairly rare to see black women sporting heads full of loose (non-dreadlocked) hair that is 18+ inches long ... Even one's who have had natural hair for 6+ years!
I guess that's why we come together here though...For support in beating the odds!
Happy growing/retaining ladies!
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Austro-Afrikana
Well-Known Member
I am a metric user but for lhcf purposes I use inches when measuring hair growth
Goombay_Summer
Well-Known Member
I usually measure in inches, everything always seems longer in inches
I read this entire thread and I definitely understand the reason for the question. I was watching Judge Alex and a woman complained about flooding in her apt. She claimed 2 feet of water covered the floor. Earlier in her testimony she said she had 7 kids sleeping on the floor so the Judge asked if they all drowned. 
After seeing her confused face, Judge Alex demonstrated what 2' looks like. The woman simply said "I'm not good with that type of thing but the water came up to the sole of my shoe." Clearly there are people out there who just don't know any better.
After seeing her confused face, Judge Alex demonstrated what 2' looks like. The woman simply said "I'm not good with that type of thing but the water came up to the sole of my shoe." Clearly there are people out there who just don't know any better. 
BostonMaria
Well-Known Member
When I first BC'd I used the ruler. I knew I hit nirvana when the 12 inch ruler was too short to measure the full length of my hair.
I used to measure in inches. Now I use my back fat to measure my progress
it's more reliable! LOL
I used to measure in inches. Now I use my back fat to measure my progress
it's more reliable! LOL
sweetlaughter
Well-Known Member
OP, it does make me wonder sometime when people claim outrageous hair growth. One of my friends cut her hair to about 1.5" above her shoulders. Prior to that her hair was apl to bsl for at least 5 years. She then tried claiming 'o I know how my hair grows. It will be down here (points to almost bsl) in about 3 months.' yeah, ok... I wanted to be like you're lying. If your hair grew that fast you would be getting haircuts every 6 weeks and not ONCE A YEAR. (I have seen her hair grow from apl to bsl over the course of the year and then she gets her annual cut.) Well needless to say one month later almost to the day I saw her again at work. Her hair wasn't even touching her shoulders yet!
I think some people exaggerate b/c they don't actually measure and they genuinely forget how long it takes to grow their hair b/c they are used to it being always past a certain length.
I think some people exaggerate b/c they don't actually measure and they genuinely forget how long it takes to grow their hair b/c they are used to it being always past a certain length.
