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My Hair Type
Hair type is a very hard thing to determine. Some naturals don't bother with it and I am of the same opinion. Hair type consists of more than a number and a letter e.g. 4b, etc. On the GreenBeautyChannel she says you have to take into consideration: Curl pattern, texture, thickness, elasticity, porosity and hair density for a more comprehensive understanding of what your hair type actually is, which in turn can help you choose the right products to maintain it. I quite like this explanation of hair typing. I feel I actually understand my hair type much better now, looking at all the aspects of my hair makes sense. There is no hierarchy of hair type in her system but just how much maintenance you have to do to keep it looking its best.
I'm not sure what my hair type is if we are looking at the most common hair typing system (Andre Walkers 2 through to 4a, 4b 4c). I don't think that Andre Walkers' hair typing system tells me what my hair type is satisfactorily enough. I think it would be a good idea to have a look around for a hair typing system that actually applys and identifys your hair type much better. I'm willing to be non conformist and take the contemporary route why on earth has everyone always accepted Andre Walkers system of hair typing. (No offence to Andre Walker because what do I really know!)
I have had a look at GreenBeautys complete hair typing system. See below for her videos.
These are photos of my hair freshly washed with no product on but it is in twists as usual, but the ends are almost unravelled. My head is upside down by the way! I do not have curls as such, the ends look like heat damage but it's not it's always been like that. The texture varies over the whole head the front is as shown and the back is slightly coarser. My hair is very very kinky.
This is a run down of what I think my hair type is: (sorry to keep using the word 'think' I am feeling my way so bear with me)
Curl pattern: From Greenbeautychannels complete hair typing system I think my hair is an S and L pattern with some O pattern. She says that if you wet the hair or put gel on it and it shows waves in your hair you have a more S and O pattern and my hair does have waves with gel in so I must have all 3! My strands are not in a very tight pattern as GreenBeauty explains, that these patterns can be quite loose or very tight along the spectrum, mine pattern might be medium tight and can mesh quite badly and break. You can see some of the strands are meshed (top left in the 1st image). It is just quite kinky along the strand not a nice s shape as such. The 2nd photo is one of my twists taken out it looks as if I've got sideburns as well, I'm quite a hairy individual!
Texture: The texture feels soft most of the time, when well moisturised and conditioned.
Porosity: (Low, medium, High) I think it is medium to low. I always have to put lots of moisture on my hair. I find that if I moisturise in the morning I have to do this again part way through the day. The strand in water test showed that my strand stayed floating on the water and did not sink so my hair does not let much moisture in or out! I am not sure if it really is low but going by what Cipriana from UrbanBushbabes says she also has low porosity but still has what she feels is quite dy hair. I think you must still go with how your hair reacts so I would still put lots of moisture and protein on my hair as it keeps it conditioned and moisturised and I have less breakage.
Elasticity: (Low,or good), I think my hair has good elasticity as I can pull the strand between my fingers and it does not break but shrinks back as it aught when I let go.
Density: (Thin, medium or thick), I think my hair is medium I cannot see through my hair to my scalp easily if not in cornrows of course! If using GreenBeautys' definition I have a big sized bun when it is all gathered together in one. I don't think it is truly thick though as I have seen what I class as really thick hair, whereby if it is in an afro you can't see through it and it does not move easily when swayed, this hair to me is amazing and I don't think you can get your hair that thick if it is not already but I don't know. (There might be a way, if you know please share I've tried castor oil by the way already no luck, I should stop being greedy)!
Thickness: I think the hair strands are not very thick but not really fine, so I suppose they are medium thick, again I have read that if your hair is thick or coarse meaning the strand is strong therefore thick and not as easy to break it has more protein in it and I know I can use a fair amount of protein and my hair strand is strengthened by it and it breaks quite easily without protein conditioning so I have to be extra gentle and patient with it. This is probably why I don't retain so much length I'm a little rough with it, especially when detangling.
Length: My hair has only grown to just past my under armpit. I cannot seem to see it grow any longer. I will wait and see if by ammending my hair regimen this will yield me some more length retention. I will just have to accept that if this is the length of my hair then that's that and just enjoy it. This is the longest my hair has been to date and it did have a little growth spurt, which got me to just past my armpit so I'm grateful anyway. Measurement by tape measure is only 11" in some places and 12"
Hair goal: I would love waist length hair ultimately, but to be more realistic as my hair grows so slowly or maybe breaks too much. I would be glad to grow it to a little way past my shoulder blades, as this seems possible for my hair, then at the max bra strap length. (I must invest in a top that's especially for measuring my hair length).
Now I still am not sure if I do actually understand all the information about my hair, I hope I've got it right, but I will try and look after it by accepting these definitions and seeing if my breakage will stop once and for all. I will try the recommendations for the different elements of my hair type.
I think that it is very important to understand what your hair type is, (porosity, elasticty, etc) simply to enable you to maintain your hair to the best of it's health and just understand it. If you know how to look after your hair properly based on the categories of your type of hair, your hair will only thrive and eventually grow that's my hope for myself anyway!
Currently I am watching GreenBeautys channel as it is very informative and UrbanBushbabes as both girls on UrbanBushbabes but mostly Cipriana, has some excellent advice, but we do need to remember we must do what suits our hair and not just do what someone says might be best for it. By all means we can try it, but if it's not working move on and find something that will help, just experiment wisely. Remember what works for one head of hair might not work for the other and what I do might not work for your hair so be careful and get to know your own hair. A recent addition to my YouTube favourites is Aliciajamesmusic channel and she has a video that encourages us to embrace our hair whilst on the journey I agree wholeheartedly with her advice. I never used to like my hair but I wouldn't have any other hair now after all I was born with it !
I am interested to know about other hair typing systems and if they have been a help to you understanding how to manage your hair type.
Please let me know in the comments box
See GreenBeautys videos there are 3 parts, watch all three and see what you think!
Hair typing systems
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