Have you ever thought how awesome and different everyone’s hair is?

Well in this post you will be able to identify exactly what kind of strand of hair you have (straight, wavy, curly, coily) and also to which degree of the strand you have. There are 4 categories of hair and there are 3 sub categories in each category. Woah, don’t get confused, there are pictures and descriptions to help you out 😉

This “hair typing” system was created by Andre Walker (He used to be Oprah Winfrey’s hair stylist – feel free to have a look at his website). However, this is an altered version, derived from his original hair system.

 

Let’s get started!!!!

 

Firstly, there is no “good” or “bad” hair. We all are created differently and our strand of hair will match our ethnicity. All hair is beautiful and you should learn how to work with your gorgeous locks 😉 🙂

 

Secondly, here are 4 terms you should familiarize yourself with:

  1. “Coarse” – refers to how rough your hair feels when you run your fingers through it.
  2. “thin” – the strand is smaller than a thread of cotton.
  3. “medium” – the strand is the same size as a thread of cotton.
  4. “thick” – the strand of hair is slightly larger than a thread of cotton.

 

1) The first type of hair is straight hair.

Picture1

1A

  • Fine/thin
  • Easy to style
  • Looks skinny in a ponytail

1B

  • Medium
  • Commonly known as “normal hair”
  • Easy to style
  • Sometimes appears to be slightly coarse

1C

  • Thick
  • Difficult to curl
  • Slightly coarse
  • Common hair type among Asian women

2) The second type of hair is wavy hair.

It is recognised with an “S” pattern.

Picture2

2A

  • Fine/thin
  • Can accomplish various styles
  • Has a little bit of volume
  • Fluffy/feathery

2B

  • Medium
  • Smaller waves
  • Tends to be frizzy
  • Can be resistant to styling

2C

  • Coarse
  • Can also be resistant to styling
  • Very frizzy
  • Tends to have thicker waves
  • Often confused with curly hair

3) The third type of hair is curly hair.

It is recognised with a spiral shape.

Picture3

3A

  • Loose curls
  • Shiny and frizzy
  • Combination texture (Dry and shiny)
  • It has spiral curls plus thick waves
  • Lots of body
  • It has a definite “S” pattern
  • Curls are more defined on longer hair

3B

  • Tight curls/ spirals
  • Combination texture (Dry and shiny)
  • Thick strand
  • Medium amount of curl

3C

  • Tight curls in corkscrews (tiny spirals)
  • Kinky or very tightly curled
  • Lots of strands densely packed together
  • Can be dry and frizzy

4) Lastly, we have the coily/kinky hair type.

It is fluffy and usually has loads of volume. Can be worn as an afro.

Picture4

4A

  • Very fragile and tightly coiled
  • Less defined curl pattern
  • “z” pattern shape

4B

  • Soft springs
  • Fragile, tightly coiled hair
  • Defined curly pattern

4C

  • Thick and coarse
  • Tight curls
  • Dry and fragile
  • Makes an Afro (which usually makes everyone stop and stare)

 

I have type 2C hair. What type of hair do you have? Let me know what you think of this post. 🙂

(Remember, you are hair-dorable)