Do You Really Know Your Hair Type?

Did you know there are at least 10 distinct types of hair? In reality there are 4 main hair types. Each of these have at least 2 subtypes, some have 3. Add it all up and you get a recipe for confusion when it comes to selecting the right shampoos and styling products.

The first type of hair is straight hair. This kind of hair is resistant to damage and styling because of more cuticle layers. The cuticle layers are what give the shape to the hair. The extra protection of straight hair is also a curse because it resists styling and shaping. Additionally, straight hair that gets damages is usually easy to break and it dry.

There are 3 varieties of straight hair. They are fine, medium and course. Fine hair is shiny soft and usually very thin. Medium hair has a good amount of body and texture. Course hair is the thickest and as such is most resistant to being styled.

Hair type number 2 is wavy hair. This kind of hair shows up as S patterns when you look at a single strand. In addition, this hair type has a hard time being curled and it really does lack any kind of bounce.

Wavy hair also has 3 subtypes. There is fine or thin wavy hair which is quite easy to style with a hair straightener or curling iron. Medium wavy hair is more resistant to styling with these tools and tends to get frizzy easily. The last wavy hair subtype is thick and course. This hair is even more resistant to curling or straightening and can get the frizz even easier.

Curly hair is our next type. It quite often is ‘loopy’ and makes a very distinct S pattern when you look and individual strands. It often has a lot of bounce, is soft and can be quite fine. The cuticles are formed smoothly and that yields a less shiny hair than straight or wavy. When wet, curly hair often straightens and oddly enough when the humidity gets high the curls get even tighter and frizz.

There are only 2 subtypes of curly hair. The first is loosely curled. This kind of hair looks almost straight when cut short. But when grown long, it usually has shiny big curls. The second subtype is medium to tight curly hair. This kind of hair form medium to tight cork screw type curls. It is interesting to note that quite often people with curly hair will have both subtypes in different areas of their hair.

The last hair type is kinky hair. This kind of hair is very tightly curls. It is really wiry and extremely fragile. It is made of lots and lots of really thin strands of hair that are densely packed together. Kinky hair has a sheen but does not shine. Because it has the least amount of cuticles, it is often very soft but that also means it is easy to break. And because of this, kinky hair is hard to grow long.

Kinky hair only comes in 2 subtypes. First is S pattern hair and second is Z pattern. The pattern refers to how a single strand of hair looks when it is stretched out a bit. S type hair contains a bit of moisture whereas Z type has very little moisture when compared to the other hair types.

There you have it. Ten unique and distinct hair types. Now, knowing this, it should be easier for you to decide exactly what specific type of hair you possess. That is important because you will get better styling results if you work with what nature gave you rather than against it. For example, if you have tight curly hair but you love the look of straight hair, you may not get the best results with a hair straightener. Or, if you have coarse straight hair but want to get tight curls, knowing that your hair will resist this type of styling helps you decide the best hair style for you.