Natural hair success happens when you know and own your tresses.
Informing yourself about the natural hair curl patterns adorning your head only supports your goals. Speaking from experience, it can open up a new world of understanding and a more exact direction for your hair journey. Hair texture should define how to care for your hair.
What works for one natural does not necessarily work for all others. Thus, a missing or incorrect texture identification leaves you lacking a critical piece of information to support healthy, growing hair. It is the equivalent of attempting to drive a car without having a key. So, dive into this post for a necessary explanation of natural hair curl patterns.
What Type Is Your Natural Hair?
Before you can know your hair type, you need to know the classifications of hair and their differences. After that, a simple observation of your hair will give a clear idea of what type of natural hair you possess.
The four hair types
Generally, hair comes in four basic types determined mainly by the amount of wave or curl present in the hair:
- Type 1 – predominantly straight
- Type 2 – predominantly wavy
- Type 2A – slight waves
- Type 2B – moderate waves
- Type 2C – defined wave (think crimps or S-wave) but no actual curls
- Type 3 – predominantly curly
- Type 3A – loose curls (long length from one loop to the next)
- Type 3B – moderate curls (moderate length from one loop to the next)
- Type 3C – tight curls (shorter length from one loop to the next)
- Type 4 – predominantly coily
- Type 4A – loose coils (think ringlets) with smaller loops and shorter distances between them than Type 3C
- Type 4B – tight zig-zag pattern
- Type 4C – tight coils with the smallest loops and distance between them; experiences the most shrinkage
How do I know my hair type?
To know your hair type, you need to do a strand test. Collect a shed hair, and lay it on a flat surface. Examine the pattern of the hair and match it to the closest example picture and description above.
Conduct your test on a clean, unconditioned hair strand containing no product to get the most accurate result. Additionally, you will want to observe the hair without holding down the ends or stretching it, as these things can distort the strand’s appearance. Lastly, laying the hair on a blank sheet of white paper will provide good contrast, allowing for the best viewing of the tress’s features.
Natural Hair Curl Patterns and Their Impacts on Your Hair Regimen
Texture guides the design of a natural hair regimen in the best of circumstances. Curl pattern significantly impacts two aspects of a hair care routine: the products used and go-to hairstyle selection.
Choosing natural hair products
Selecting appropriate products for natural hair is extremely important in a hair regimen. Using the wrong products can leave you with undesired results when moisturizing, detangling, and styling.
For instance, let us say you want to put your hair in a slicked ponytail. Type 4B hair will need a gel with greater hold than Type 2C hair needs to create the same style. Moreover, the more coily hair types tend to fare better with thicker moisturizing products and the widest toothed styling tools.
You know great looking hair can boost your mood even on a challenging day. Having the wrong products in your hair toolbox does not make the best recipe for success. Moreover, incorrect products for your type may deny hair what it needs to thrive. Hair in need is usually less resistant to damage and breakage. These conditions can pose obstacles for hair health and length retention.
Go-to hairstyle selection
Generally, any hair type can achieve any hairstyle. However, the ability to do a thing does not mean you should do it. I could choose to straighten my hair bone straight every day. Yet, I do not do so because I know it would undermine my hair’s health (and I love my coils!).
Most naturals undertake their selected hair regimens to grow stronger, healthier, longer, fuller hair. Protective and low-manipulation styles serve as the gold standard to achieve these goals for those with Types 3 and 4 hair. Nevertheless, some may find particular low manipulation styles, like wash-n-go’s, braid-outs, twist-outs, etc., can cause problems (I fall into this category).
My 4B/4C mix tangles very quickly in ‘out’ styles, even when using the pineapple method to preserve a style. After a couple of days of a twist out, I usually have tangles galore. Four days in, my hair starts to mat. Now, I can twist and untwist my hair each day. But that action defeats the purpose of a low-manipulation style.
As such, my go-to hairstyles lean heavily to the protective and ‘non-out’ low manipulation styles like braids, twists, knots, flat twists, cornrows, etc. Individuals with tighter natural hair curl patterns should enjoy their hair and wear it out. However, wearing hair down should be the exception, not the norm in a hair regimen to prevent the hot mess of tangles that can ensue and support the best length retention.
Common Natural Hair Texture Misnomers
Even in our instant information society, inaccurate assumptions about natural hair curl patterns still exist. Only by arming ourselves with correct information about hair texture can we conquer preconceived notions.
Each head possesses only one of the natural hair curl patterns.
This statement is FALSE. Most people have two or more types/subtypes of hair within their crowns. As I stated earlier, I have a predominant 4B/4C mix. However, the hair at the very nap of my neck is 4A.
So, individuals should get rid of the notion of something being wrong with their hair because it has a mix of textures. Remember, each head of hair is uniquely different. Your blend belongs to only you. So, celebrate it.
Some natural hair textures are better than others.
Here is another INACCURATE declaration believed by a minority of persons. Two years ago, I asked the ‘good hair’ question to 345 people as part of the Natural Hair Perceptions Survey. While 85% of respondents did say they believed some African Americans had ‘good hair’, the overwhelming majority of those individuals defined good hair as “clean”, “healthy”, “strong”, “hair growing out of the scalp”, or “all hair is good”. Those definitions have nothing to do with actual curl patterns of natural hair.
Hair textures are traits. Nevertheless, some may prefer specific curl patterns over others due to their own preconceived biases. But a value judgment is not fact. In truth, hair is straight, wavy, curly, or coily. When someone describes hair texture as good or bad, she has stated an opinion that risks offending others.
You can change your natural hair type.
This particular misnomer can be a little tricky. While it is true you can temporarily or permanently add curls or straighten hair, the appearance of hair as it grows naturally from the scalp dictates your actual hair type. Yet, hair’s natural appearance can change over time.
Aging, certain diseases, stress, and even diet can cause changes in the body, resulting in a different hair texture. You can control some of these factors. Others exist beyond your control. So, you can mask your natural hair type through chemical or physical means and have the ability to influence it partially through lifestyle factors.
But in the end, genetics ultimately determines hair texture, according to MedlinePlus. So, unless you can manipulate hair genes in your garage, you are pretty much stuck with the natural hair curl pattern dealt to you.
Related Posts of Interest
Awesome Survey Results: 6 Natural Hair Perceptions Revealed
Let Protective Styling Natural Hair Work Its Unique Charm on You
How to Win at Building Your Healthy Hair Routine for Natural Hair
Final Thoughts
Identifying your natural hair curl patterns can provide invaluable insight into customizing a hair regimen for success. Additionally, informing yourself on hair textures can give you the knowledge to educate others, helping to counteract the misinformation concerning natural hair.
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