Hair Length Chart: Everything You Need to Know

When it comes to hairstyling and face defining, hair length plays a crucial role in determining the two.

Often women crave different hairstyles of varying hair lengths either with their natural hairs or hair extensions for various reasons but do not know how to classify the hair type they want.

You would hear some say things like ‘I want a short hair that is not so short’ or ‘I want something long but not busy with tight curls’ etc.

These somewhat confusing statements are a result of ignorance of appropriate measurement of various hair lengths.

If you know the exact hair length you want and what it is called, you wouldn’t end up with such confusing terms, would spend a shorter time at your salon, and would get yourself an appropriate length of hair extension. In today’s guide, we’ll be looking at hair length chart for wavy hairs, curly hairs, and other hair types.

Hair Length Chart | Why is it Important?

Knowing how to measure and determine your exact hair length is essential not just for your styling and extension purchase purposes but for charity purposes.

If you are someone who loves to make life easier for people in need, you may want to donate some bundles of your natural hair at some point.

The organizations in charge of the collection usually have a specific length of they accept. So you would love to know your hair length before shaving them off.

In this article, we will be looking at various hair length charts for different hair types to guide you through hairstyling, grooming, and hair extension selection.

How Does Hair Type Influence Hair Length?

People are usually born with various hair types; some are born with straight hairs, wavy hairs, or curly hairs. These varying hair types directly influences the individual’s hair length.

A person with straight hair would have his or her hair appear in its actual length, whereas another person with curly or wavy hair of the same length as the straight hair would have his or her hair appear shorter than its actual length. This is as a result of the presence of waves and tight curls in their manes.

So an individual with straight hair of 12 inches would have her hair reaching the back of her shoulder, while another with wavy or curly hair of 12 inches would have her hair at the base of her neck or at above her shoulders, respectively.

Therefore, before you go sulking about your hair length, do consider your hair type first. The hair lengths you are admiring and wishing were yours might require you to grow your hair twice as long as its length.

Hair Length Chart For Various Hair Types

The following guide would help you know what your actual hair length is and what to tell your hairstylist to enable him/her to have a clear idea of what you want.

Hair Length Guide For Short Hairs

Your hair is considered short if it reaches your ear lobes and runs slightly below your chin.

Ear Length

Ear length is the shortest hair length. It starts from the scalp and stops at the ear level, either the top of the ear or the earlobe.

Supposing you want a haircut as short as this, tell your stylist that you want an ear length haircut.

Chin length

This is a hair length popularly rocked in the ’30s. It is a stylish and classic look to have. It runs from the scalp down to the chin area.

It typically looks like a cute bobs style with a retro vibe to it. Chin length haircut or weaves look great when styled with layered and textured short haircuts.

Hair Length Guide for Medium Hairs

Your hair is considered to be of medium length if it falls between your collarbones and just the top of your shoulder.

Neck Length

This falls between the chin and shoulder length. It suits almost every face shape. It’s often styled into curly hair, long bobs, and layered wispy shag look.

Shoulder length

This gives an illusion of longer hair without actually feeling weighty as long hairs feel.

One pretty advantage of this hair length is that it can be styled and tied into any kind of pretty updos such as ponytails and chignons. It can also be worn straight down.

Hair length Guide for Long Hairs

Your hair is considered long of it reaches your armpit and beyond.

Collarbone length

Collarbone length reaches just beneath the shoulder. It provides the hair with a couple of extra inches of movement.

With collarbone hair length, one can braid the hair and also have some fine-textured tips of long layers.

Armpit length

Armpit length is what some people call medium long hair. At this length, you can virtually do anything with your hair for drama and volume. You can perm the hair into body waves to achieve a chic and alluring look.

If you decide to perm, ensure you go for loose cold body wave perm; otherwise, your collarbone length hair would be reduced to medium neck length.

Bra Strap length

This reaches just about the level of your bra strap. It lies a few inches beneath the armpit, at the same level as the shoulder blades.

If your hair is at chin length and you want to groom it to bra length, it would take you about twenty months considering that the human hair grows at 0.5 inches per month. Maintaining and caring bra strap length hairs isn’t easy.

Mid Back length

Mid-back length sits on the mid-back. Hairs at such length can be plaited into beautiful braids or just let down to flow with the wind. Grooming your hair from chin length to mid-back will take you about two years and a few months more.

Waist Length

This is the length a lot of people refer to as ‘very long hair.’ Such hair length is usually rare and gets a lot of attention to the owner.

Extra Long Length

This type of hair length is usually found below the waist. They are also rare and get heads turning whenever their owners hit the streets.

In this category are hairs of various lengths such as between the hip and calf-length, tailbone length, and the classic length. The classic length isn’t named after any body part, but it reaches the buttocks down to the upper thigh.

After the classic length is another called the mid-thigh length, then the knee length, the calf-length, and finally the rarest of all hair lengths, the ankle-length. The ankle-length is often referred to as the ‘full body coat.’

Wavy Hair Length Charts

Curly Hair Length Chart

Straight Hair Length

Hair Length Chart for Hair Extensions

Now that you have known the various hair lengths, what makes hairs short, medium-length or long and how to give your stylist a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your hair. It is time to know what each hair length in inches mean for your hair extensions.

The use of hair extensions by women is as old as hills. You should know the exact length of each extension you are getting to keep your ‘hair game’ steadily classy.

Short Hair Extensions

Hair extensions that measure 6 inches, 8 inches, 10 inches, and 12 inches are referred to as short hair extensions. They give appropriate ear to the chin-length hairstyle with alluring volume and thickness.

Medium Hair Extensions

Hair extensions that measure 14 inches, 16 inches, 18 inches, 20 inches, and 22 inches are considered as medium length hair extensions.

They run from the shoulder to the middle of the back and give a satisfying appeal when installed.

Long Hair Extensions

Hair extensions that measure 24 inches, 26 inches, 28 inches, 30 inches, and 32 inches are considered long hair extensions. Women who dream to have long thick hairs usually find hair extensions in this category as compensating.

Growing hair from ear length to mid-back or waist length takes about two years and more.

So, to shorten the long wait, most women resort to long hair extension while they patiently groom their natural hair.

Frequently Asked Questions about Hair Length

How do I measure the hair extension length?

The manner of measuring your hair extension is dependent on the type of hair extension you have. If you a bone straight hair extension, you simply place it on your wig stand or flat surface and measure with a tape.

If your hair extension is curly or wavy, try as much as you can to draw it to be as straight as possible before you measure. Do not measure your hair extension on your head. You will not get an accurate figure.

Medium length hair vs. long hair, which is better?  

Variety is the spice of the world. There is no better hair longer than the other. Different women wear different reasons, such as the shape of the face, comfort, and ease of maintenance.

Although, women have been led to believe that long hairs make them look sassy, hence the increased preference for long hairs.

But lately, such stereotype is seen being broken, as a good number of women have shown up to formal and informal events wearing short hairs while looking breathtaking.

It’s all about your face and styling, my dear. You must choose the hair length that best suits your face shape and skin tone.

How many inches is shoulder length hair?

Shoulder length hair and hair extensions measure 12 inches but sometimes vary due to height difference.

Conclusion

Hair length and hair extensions are generally classified as short, medium, or long. The variations in between come as a result of specific body part where the hair reaches.

There are no better hair lengths. Your most suitable length is dependent on the shape of your face, and if you love to experiment, you can as well switch over to hair extensions.

We hope that the guide provided has enabled you to know what length your hair is, what length you would want to either groom or cut your hair to, and what length of hair extensions you’d be ordering soon from your favorite hair store or dealer.