Back to Basics: Let's Talk Hair Typing
Hey everybody! Welcome to Installment No. 1 of my "Back to Basics" tag.
I have been completely natural for almost 3 years, and I’ve found that knowing my “hair type” has helped me tremendously in determining what products and methods work best. Most people think curl pattern when they hear “hair type”. But I would break hair typing down into three categories: curl pattern, porosity level, and density. I'll detail each of these categories and hopefully by the end of this you'll be able to type your hair, should you choose to do so.
So, let’s get into it!
Curl Patterns:
Straight Hair (Type 1)
This hair type is typically very resilient and difficult to damage, but the flip side is that it’s also very difficult (or in some cases impossible) to manipulate or curl.
Wavy Hair (Type 2: A, B, C)
This hair type is one step up from straight hair, but not quite “curly”. People with Type 2 hair can typically alternate between straight and curly styles, but the hair is usually more prone to frizz. Type 2 hair is also where the letter types (A, B, and C) come in.
Curly Hair (Type 3: A, B, C)
This is the first hair type, going in number order, that has a very clear spiral curl pattern. Curly hair tends to look fuller due to the extra space that curls take up, and it is somewhat delicate (so be careful with manipulation and heat use).
Kinky Hair (Type 4: A, B, C)
This hair type can be a tight spiral/corkscrew curl, an S shaped curl, or a Z shaped/zig zag curl and despite it’s coarseness, this hair type is probably the most unforgiving if you neglect it. It’s more prone to breakage and dryness (needs moisture frequently).
The Andre Walker Hair Typing System
***sidenote: yes, it is possible and common to have more than one hair texture throughout your head***
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Porosity Level
Porosity refers to your hair’s ability to absorb moisture. In short, low porosity hair is resistant to moisture, normal porosity hair retains the right amount of moisture without letting too much escape, and high porosity hair absorbs lots of moisture quickly and loses it just as quickly.
HOW TO TEST: To determine your hair’s porosity, take a strand of clean hair and put it in a glass of water for 5 minutes. If the strand sinks to the bottom, you have high porosity hair. If it floats, you have low porosity hair. If it’s somewhere in the middle, you have normal porosity hair.
Recommendations from Sister Scientist
High Porosity Recommendations
If you have highly porous hair, you can try the following techniques to hold in more moisture:
1. Deep conditioning hair to help seal damaged spots on the cuticle surface.
2. Sealing hair with oil or silicone based product to help prevent moisture from escaping your hair.
3. Incorporate an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse every now and then to lower the ph of hair which will help to close cuticles tighter and trap moisture inside the cuticle.
Low Porosity Recommendations
If you hair with low porosity, or it’s considered resistant, you can help infuse moisture into the hair by trying the following:
1. Incorporating a steamer into your haircare regimen.
2.Using humectant rich products to draw moisture to the hair, especially in humid climates.
3.Soak the hair in alkaline water for a few minutes just to slightly increase the pH of the hair, thus opening the cuticle more and infusing more moisture into the strand.
Density
Density simply refers to the number of strands of hair on your head. On average, we have 2,200 strands of hair per square inch on our scalps. Low density hair means that there are less than 2,200 strands per square inch, medium density hair means there are about the average number of strands, and high density hair means that there are more than 2,200 strands per square inch.
HOW TO TEST: A good tip that I learned for determining hair density is by measuring your ponytail (courtesy of naturallycurly.com). Low density hair will measure less than two inches around, medium density will measure between two to three inches around, and high density will be four inches or better.
So there you have it! A crash course of sorts on hair typing. People don’t always like to “type” their hair because of confusion and stigmas that accompany them, and don’t get me wrong, there is a LOT of variability even within these subsections so don’t be discouraged if you don’t fit neatly into one or the other! But I found that typing gave me a starting point for determining what products and methods work best for me, especially when I first went natural.
Let me know if you found this useful in the comments below! Thanks for journeying with me, and cheers to beauty, wellness, and conscious living from the inside out!
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