How can you tell what your hair type is, as in type 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. ?
1. What types of hair are there?
This is a classifies hair according to one of four curl patterns. Based on this,you will know which particular hair type you can identify your hair as.These types are further divided into subcategories based on the tightness or looseness of the curls and coils - this adds an A, B, or C to each number.
“ The Andre Walker Hair Typing System, also known as The Hair Chart, is a classification system for hair types created in the 1990s by Oprah Winfrey's stylist Andre Walker. It was originally created to market Walker's line of hair care products but has since been widely adopted as a hair type classification system.” - By wikipedia
| Name | Hair Texture | Hair Pattern |
|
Straight hair |
Type 1 | 1A |
| 1B | ||
| 1C | ||
|
Wavy hair |
Type 2 | |
| 2A | ||
| 2B | ||
| 2C | ||
|
Curly hair (aka, curls.) |
Type 3 | 3A |
| 3B | ||
| 3C | ||
|
Kinky hair (aka, coily, kinks.) |
Type 4 | 4A |
| 4B | ||
| 4C |
2. Explanation of four hair patterns.
(1) STRAIGHT HAIR: This type of hair is usually straight and has no natural curl. They fall without waving from root to tip. Straight hair can be divided into three subcategories which are:
Type 1A – This subcategory of hair type is super straight and fine. So the hair texture is fine hair.
TYPE 1B – This subcategory of hair type is also super straight but has more volume than type 1A.
TYPE 1C – This subcategory of hair is straight but thick ad shiny.
(2) WAVY HAIR: This type has a natural wave, and it is thicker than Type 1 hair. The subtypes are divided by the thickness of the hair and the shape of the waves. There are three subcategories for wavy hair:
Type 2A – This type of hair is very fine and thin with S-shaped waves. From the roots to around eye level, the hair is fairly straight. And from eye level to the ends, you have a loose, undefined wave.
Type 2B – A little frizzier than type 2A, this type of hair is wavy and medium-thick. The curls have a more defined S shape.
Type 2C – This hair type is wavy, thick, and coarse – it is prone to frizz and difficult to style. The most well-defined S-shaped waves are type 2C.
(3) CURLY HAIR: This type of hair is definitely curly – usually the kind of curl that goes straight when the hair is wet but goes back to being curly as it dries. Curly hair has clearly defined, springy curls and it tends to be easy to style. There are three subcategories for curly hair:
Type 3A – This hair has defined curls with a thick texture and a lot of shine but can be frizzy. The curls have a circumference a little wider than the large end of a taper candle.
Type 3B – Hair of this type has tighter curls and may have a combination of textures. The curls have a circumference about as wide as the barrel of a Sharpie marker.
Type 3C – This type of hair has very tight curls or kinks and is generally easy to style. Hair would coil perfectly around a drinking straw.
(4) KINKY HAIR: Hair of the very curly or kinky type has very tight, sometimes well-defined curls. It tends to be fairly coarse in texture but is also sensitive and prone to damage by heat and product. There are three different subcategories for kinky hair:
Type 4A – This hair is soft in texture with tight, well-defined curls or kinks. The curl pattern for 4A hair is an S-shaped coil you could wrap around a chopstick.
Type 4B – Hair of this type has very tight curls, but they are less defined, soft, and fragile.
Type 4C – This type of hair has such tight curls (coils) that it may not even look curly at all.
See curly and kinky in our shop.
In addition, there is type 4d hair. This specific type of glorious hair is precisely afro textured but unlike the other type 4 hair, it has more of a Z structure and sometimes an L pattern. Unusual natural hair type 4d tends not to have as much moisture as 4A or even 4B due to the curl pattern.
