14 JUL | What is my hair type?Posted: July 14th, 2008By: Treasured Locks |
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There have been several attempts to define hair “typeâ€. You may ask “Why should I care?†Well, mostly you shouldn’t.  We think typing systems actually complicate what can pretty easily be conveyed in a few words.  By the time you sort through what a 4b or 1a really means you might as well just say “I have thick kinky African hair” or “I have straight, thin Caucasian hair”.  And, hair typing systems are so subjective as to be almost worthless in our opinion.  Who determines whether your hair shafts are thick or thin?  And whether the curl pattern is “loose” or “tight”.
There are controversies surrounding hair type methodologies that use works like kinky, nappy and other words that have less than positive connotations for some people. Other systems use numbers. But, they tend to lump all African American hair into one big category with a few variations. So, how useful is that really? Considering everyone’s hair is slightly different and people can even have different types of hair on their head at one time, categorizing hair is a difficult proposition at best.  There are two major systems that seem to be the most popular. There is a system called LOIS that uses the hair shape as the defining hair “typeâ€. For more on LOIS, do a Google on “LOIS Hair Typeâ€. Until many people switch over to the LOIS system, the standard seems to be the numbering system developed by Andre Walker.
In spite of our reservations about hair typing systems, knowing your hair type can allow you talk with others and research products, styles and regimens that are best for your particular hair. And you will often see people saying they have 4a or 4c hair. So you might as well know what it means.
The most common system seems to be one that categorizes hair based on curl pattern (with a number from 1 for the straightest to 4 for the kinkiest) and on the thickness of the shaft (note this is not the amount of hair strands you have but how thick each one is).  The thickness is rated with a letter ranging from a to c. The following numbers refer to the amount of curl or wave in a hair.
- Type 1 Hair- Type 1 hair is straight with no discernible curl or wave pattern. This type of hair tends to get oily and is usually shiny.
- Type 2 Hair- Type 2 hair is hair that has some soft waves, but little to no real curl. It doesn’t form rings, just waves.  It typically is more coarse than Type 1 hair and will cling to the scalp in long “S” shaped waves.
- Type 3 Hair- Type 3 hair has a more definite “S” pattern to it with the “S” being more tightly formed.  It will typically be relatively soft and will have less shine than type 1 or 2 hair. It will straighten out or form ringlets when wet but will draw up into a curlier pattern when it dries.  This hair type is typical of biracial (African and Caucasian mix) people and of Blacks of a more mixed heritage.
- Type 4 Hair- Type 4 hair will have kinks and twists and possibly coils but does not form an “S” shape. It may be “L” shaped with bends in it. It may form tight coils or “O” shapes (not really the same as the “ringlets”formed by Type 3 hair.  This type of hair generally doesn’t change shape much wet or dry.  It can be wiry and usually is fragile.  It tends to be drier than other hair types because the bends and twists not only provide points that are more fragile, they actually make it hard for the natural oil (sebum) produced by the scalp to reach the ends of the hair shaft. Because the cuticles do not lay flat on Type 4 hair, the hair tends to be less shiny than Types 1, 2 and 3 and people will often think natural Black hair is dry or dull looking.  Most African-Americans have Type 4 hair, which is why this designation alone is not really super descriptive.  It seems we are the ones most concerned with categorizing our hair and by this pretty crude system, most of us fall into basically the same category.
- Chemically Straightened Hair- Chemically Treated or Permed hair is a hair type we think we have to add. Perming the hair changes the natural structure of the hair creating its own hair type.  It is going to be anywhere from a Type 2 to a Type 1 in terms of straightness (depending on the strength of the perm).  In spite of the fact the hair shaft is slightly thinner due to the action of the perming chemicals, it might still be a relatively thick hair shaft.  It will have more shine than natural hair because the cuticles lay more flat.  But, it will tend to be dry.
The letters a, b and c after the number tell you how thick the hair strand is.  One would think the thicker the strand the less fragile the hair.  But, actually type 4c hair can be the most fragile because of the curl pattern and the dryness of the hair. Type 4c hair needs to be moisturized regularly, treated gently and should never be brushed with a bristle brush that can catch the bends and break the hair.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:25 am
[...] the very back and 4B on the top — has been an important chapter in my natural hair journey. Click here to figure out your hair type, in case you’re unfamiliar with such terms. And please note — alphanumeric hair types [...]
November 6th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Very interesting. So…does that mean that we can now stop defining our hair texture as having “good hair” of so-called “bad hair”? FINALLY?!
Also, how do you treat chemically relaxed that is Type 1 or 2 but oh, maybe, Type 4 when the relaxer is getting older or need a touch up? By the way, I just discovered these websites for women of colour. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them. So imformative and empowering! Keep up the good work. If I have any more questions, do you mind if I email in the future? Thanks.
December 25th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Oh, yes. I want to add that the look of the hair when relaxed is not just based on the strength of the perm as you say. It is also based on the hair texture you started off with.
December 25th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
http://forum.blackhairmedia.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=33607&PN=1
This is pretty accurate I think. What do you think?
There was 1 site that even stated Asian’s hair as being coarse. I have seen that before…but it was still straight. An Asian’s coarse hair and a black person’s coarse hair is different but a 1 is a 1 no matter what.
And no black person is ever going to be a 1 unless she is truly passing white because her blackness is so far down the line or for some strange reason unusually recessive. Even then I think most people like that would fit at the least into a Type 2 no matter what.
And you will never find a real white person in a type 3 or 4.
I am surprised that they don’t separate African Americans separately altogether. With an entirely different system just for being a different texture altogether…inspite of the curl pattern.
So I can get categorized along with a white person because we both have curly hair? This world sure has changed. But then the difference would be that I have an Afro-American influenced-texture and an African American-influenced type of coarseness.
Because like I said, they are saying that some Asians hair is coarse, even though it is still different from ours and from caucasions.
It can get very complicated this way. I guess it is best to classify things as they have been doing. According to curl, and coarseness inspite of your race.
Especially since many of the diversity and crossovers are due to racial mixing. A persons whose hair would have otherwise hand an Afro like her mother may somehow get fused into the 2 category because her other parent is white. But that same person can still maintain a certain texture which still identifies her as being part black. Her siblings hair may be even silker than hers because more of the caucasion texture has taken over. So I guess it would right to keep the HAIR TYPE chart as one UNIT. Because one can metamorphisize into another due to HUMAN relationships and the arrangement of the DNA. Not only can this result in different hair types, but different hair textures on ONE head.
Talk about confused in head. How about confused on the head?
Even when a black person straightens her hair you can tell it’s black hair. This is normally the case unless that person had a mixed textured hair that was straightened. In that case, taking that into consideration and a well-done perm it may be more of a challenge to identify, especially to the untrained Eye.
I say that the typical black afro embodies the very definition of frizz. So when I see white people with frizzy hair…I like to say that is the black trying to come out (but not being successful at it).
But seriously, like this site that I was reading said, there is natural frizziness due to DNA, and natural frizziness due to DRYNESS (sometimes caused by heat damage or overprocessing). In my own words: Both can be healed, or changed.
A black person’s relaxed hair can give the appearance of velour, velvet, or an unhealthy wood like appearance. While a Caucasions hair whether curly or straight can give off an feel and appearance similar to satin. And remember even with Caucasions the overprocessing, heat damage, and use of drying hairsprays can challenge this statement.
January 16th, 2009 at 12:56 am
Ok i have type 2 hair yet very fine but, would love to wear it naturally. Any products / hair styles to suggest
February 16th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I have type 3 hair and my parents are from eritrea while i was born here. It’s right near ethiopia. why is it that i don’t have kinky hair, when my parents are african?
July 6th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Yes fifi, I do have type 3 hair, and so do my cousins and aunts. When my parents are blacks(father african american and mother carribean) and my family I guess this just means you have a mixed heritage, some where down the line there was some mixing. And it’s not just bi-racial people who have type 3 hair, look at yours and my parents and many others I know. It just depends on your heritage I guess fifi. Hope I helped…:D