Hair Types

STRAIGHT HAIR
Straight hair is classified as a 1. There is absolutely no curl pattern in the hair. It is completely straight.Straight hair is very sleek and shiny because there is no curl pattern which allows the light to reflect off of the hair giving it a shiny finish.Some straight hair that appears dull is usually because it is damaged. Proper care is always necessary if you want beautiful healthy hair.

WAVY HAIR
Wavy hair is classified as a 2 as seen in these pictures. Type 2 hair can be categorized as 2A/2B or 2C. Basically, 2A hair is fine, like the picture on the left while 2B hair is medium textured like singer Mya’s hair on the right. 2C hair is thick and coarse with a frizzier look. If you have type 2 hair, you have a wide variety of styles available to you. You can straighten the hair for a sleek look, or add tighter curls for a different look. The versatility can make the hairs texture look totally different. This hair type has a natural “S” curl pattern as it hangs.

MEDIUM CURLY HAIR
Type 3 hair has a tighter curl pattern. It can be categorized at 3A/3B and 3C hair. 3A hair types have a looser curl pattern, while type 3B hair has a tighter curl pattern (picture on the left) and type 3C hair has a tightly curly look and may look slightly kinky (picture on the right). This type of hair has a lot of body and can be styled in many different styles. When wet, type 3 hair easily absorbs the water and shrinks quite a bit. But it is not as shiny as straight hair because the hair cannot reflect the light as easily.
Type 3 hair is very springy. If you pull on it, it bounces back into its original curly state. This type of hair can sometimes be a challenge to straighten, especially 3C hair. However, if you blow-dry and use a hot comb or straightener the hair will have a smoother sleeker finish.

KINKY COILY HAIR
Tightly coiled type 4 hair is a lot kinkier than the type 2 and 3 hair types. Although this hair type is much coarser and appears thicker than other curly hair, it is actually quite fine. Type 4A hair has an “S” pattern to it, while type 4B/C hair is more wiry with a zig-zag pattern.
These coiled afro pics show the texture of type 4 hair. The picture on the left is more type 4a hair, while the picture on the right is more of a 4b/c hair. Type 4 hair is hard to grow since it has fewer cuticle layers than the other hair types. Once brushed or combed it’s common for hair to break, leaving it shorter and easily susceptible to damage. (Note: Never brush dry curly hair as this creates frizz and can lead to breakage.)
An easy way to rid yourself of this damage is through proper conditioning, hot oil treatments and not putting tension on the hair daily with pony tails or styles that pull on the hair and add tension.
Type 4 hair is extremely versatile and holds well on it’s own without the aid of styling products. Some common styles of this hair type are curly fro’s, afro puffs, two-strand twists, braids, straightening, cornrows and so much more.

image from 123rf.com