Understanding your hair type will help you more effectively manage your hair, buy the right hair care products, and keep it healthy. Learning how to determine your hair type is the first step in crafting a personalized hair care routine that works for you.
There are several ways that hair types are measured and categorized. Finding out your hair type involves examining aspects like the density of the hair, curl pattern, porosity, diameter, and elasticity to better understand how to care for it. Becoming familiar with your hair type will allow you to practice healthy self-care for your hair.
Table of Contents
- What Does Hair Type Mean?
- Hair Density
- Hair Texture
- Porosity
- Scalp Moisture / Oiliness
- Elasticity
- Curl Patterns
What Does Hair Type Mean?
If you're wondering how to know what your hair type is, start by looking at your curl pattern as it's the most visible trait. Most commonly, this refers to the hair curl pattern, or formation, which describes the way the follicle grows into the scalp. Four main curl patterns exist: straight, wavy, curly, and extra curly.
The more asymmetrical the hair follicle is, the curlier your hair will be.
Though you may treat your hair to temporarily change the way your hair behaves or appears, that does not change your hair type. A person’s formation is encoded into their DNA, and how the hair grows from the scalp does not change.
There are other parameters by which people describe their hair, such as density, porosity, diameter a.k.a. texture, and elasticity.
Hair Density
Hair density is how many individual hair strands you have per square inch on your scalp. Density is different from hair diameter (thick or thin hair strands). To gauge hair density, face a mirror, take a section of hair on the front of your head and pull it to the side. This method can also assist in determining your hair type, particularly if you are comparing density and texture. If you can visibly see your scalp through your hair, you have low hair density. If your scalp is barely visible at all, your hair density is high If the amount of scalp you can see is somewhere in the middle, you have medium hair density.
Since hair density is sometimes confused with hair diameter, let’s look at how that is measured.
Diameter aka Texture
The diameter of your hair refers to the diameter of your hair strands, not the density of your hair. You can have coarse hair strands but a low hair density, and vice versa.
Texture is categorized as fine, medium or course. This all depends on the layers of cuticle you have per strand of hair. Fine hair has as few as 4 and course hair has as many as 18.
A practical way to determine the texture of your hair is to take a single strand of hair and run it between your index and thumb. This tactile test is a quick answer to how to find out your hair type based on texture. If can barely feel it, you have fine texture, if you can somewhat feel it the hair is medium, if it feels like a piece of thread you have course hair,
Determining the texture of your hair matters, because if can help you and your stylist determine the appropriate products to use based on their strengths. The courser the hair the more strength is needed in a product,
Porosity
Porosity is how much moisture your hair can absorb and retain. Understanding porosity is crucial when you need to know what your hair type is for effective moisturizing. The higher the porosity, the more moisture and product your hair can absorb. Porous hair has more microscopic holes in the surface layer, called the cuticle.
Knowing the porosity level of your hair will determine what types of products and chemical treatments your hair can withstand.
Your hair may be naturally porous, or chemical treatments and heat styling may create extra porosity.
High porosity hair may be susceptible to frizzing in humid weather. This is because the hair strand is absorbing moisture from the air. High-porosity hair also releases moisture quickly, meaning it might need extra conditioning, moisturizing masks, or leave-in treatments to help nourish the hair and seal the cuticle layer.
When your hair is low in porosity, the cuticle resists moisture absorption from the local climate or chemical processing.
Here is an easy way to test your hair to see if it is low, medium, or high porosity.
Take a strand or two of your hair and put it in a bowl of water. If it sinks to the bottom quickly, your hair is high porosity. If it sinks at a moderate pace, it has medium porosity. When your hair floats, it has low porosity.Hair that is highly pourous tend to lose color faster which leads to fading.
Scalp Moisture / Oiliness
Your scalp produces a natural oily substance called sebum, made up of various lipids. This is produced by sebaceous glands, which are connected to hair follicles. Though sebaceous glands appear on all parts of your body that have hair follicles, there are many of these glands in the scalp. The sebum produced by these glands help moisturize and protect the body. This thin layer of lipids helps guard the body from microbes.
If your scalp underproduces sebum, you may be prone to dry scalp or flaking. Overproduction of sebum may lead to oily skin and hair. Certain areas of the face and scalp may produce more oils and sebum, such as the hair behind the ears or above the temples.
A good way to test the oiliness of your hair is to wait until the day after you wash your hair, then dab your scalp with a tissue. You may determine that you have a high, medium, or low amount of oils produced by your scalp. It is also possible to have combination oiliness, such as a oily scalp and dry split ends.
Depending on what type of hair you have, you can select an appropriate shampoo or conditioner to bring the oiliness of your hair to a medium measure.
Hair Elasticity
Hair elasticity is the extent to which a hair strand can stretch before returning to its normal state. High elasticity has a high correlation to overall hair health and strength.
To measure the elasticity of your hair, take a strand of your hair and stretch it as far as possible. Elasticity testing is another essential aspect when you’re trying to find out your hair type.
High elasticity hair can stretch a large amount without breaking. Hair with medium elasticity can stretch a reasonable amount before breaking. Low elasticity hair breaks quickly when stretched and tends to be very brittle. Hair in this category needs special attention – be careful of what products and treatments you use with low elasticity hair.
This leads us to how most cosmetologists and hair stylists categorize hair types today, using a system of hair curl patterns and diameter to create twelve distinct hair types.
The Four Curl Patterns: Straight, Wavy, Curly, Extra Curly
There are four basic shapes of hair as it grows from the follicle.
Straight – no curl - Type 1
Wavy – Some ‘S’ shaped curls - Type 2
Curly – coil curls - Type 3
Extra Curly – ‘Z’ shaped curl pattern - Type 4
What emerges from your follicles is a product of how the follicles are shaped. The flatter or more oval the shape of the follicle, the curlier your hair will be; a more circular shape results in straighter hair. Your curl pattern describes the shape that each strand takes as it lengthens – curves, or spirals – and how they all behave when draping together.
The amount of curl in your hair is largely determined by the shape of the follicles at the root. The rounder the follicle, the straighter the hair. The more oval the shape of the follicle, the curlier the hair will be.
Type 1: Straight Hair
Type 1 hair is straight and can be any diameter from fine to coarse. There is no natural curl, it falls without any significant waves, bends or twists from the root to the tip. Straight hair often lacks volume and it’s a challenge to hold curls without styling tools and products.
There are three subcategories under Type 1:
- 1a – Extremely fine and straight which is very fine and thin.
- 1b – Medium texture, slight bend, holds a curl better than 1a.
- 1c – Coarser and thicker, can react to humidity, rarely frizzes.
Type 2: Wavy Hair
Type 2 is wavy hair, with gentle waves in an S-pattern. This hair is often between straight and curly and can be styled in many ways. There are three distinct patterns.
- 2a: Loose waves sometimes described as tousled. Struggles to maintain a natural curl without proper hair care product.
- 2b: Medium S-shaped waves, requires some product to hold curl. More volume, some light frizzing.
- 2c: Coarse, thicker waves that hold curls when air-dried. Still resistant to styling, requires hair product, still prone to frizz.
Type 3: Curly Hair
Type 3 hair has natural curls with well-defined patterns. There are three specific subcategories.
- 3a: Fine to medium S-shaped curls, Gentle, loose curls, very sensitive to humidity and frizz but manageable with product.
- 3b: Tighter ringlet curls, in spiral or corkscrew shapes. Curls hold very well with styling. Lots of volume, but prone to dehydration and frizz in humid weather.
- 3c: Tight, dense curls, often in coils or corkscrew shapes. Lots of volume, this coily hair is very sensitive to humidity. Requires lots of hydration to prevent frizz, stay healthy, and maintain shape.
Type 4: Coily Hair
Type 4 hair is coily, sometimes called kinky, much curlier than Type 3. The coily can have a zig-zag pattern. Requires lots of conditioning. There are three subcategories described below.
- 4a: Textured, well-defined curls, in a tightly coiled S-shaped pattern. Loosely packed coils that hold moisture.
- 4b: Sharper angles than 4a, Z-shaped coils with more volume. Can be a mix of coils and zigzag shapes. Can shrink when dry. Should be brushed carefully to avoid breaking hair.
- 4c: Tightest coils, a wide range of zigzag curl patterns. Very prone to shrinkage, this hair grows outward and stands on its own. Very fragile, needs to be delicate and must be brushed carefully to avoid breakage.
Are You Interested in Becoming a Cosmetologist?
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If starting a career in cosmetology is something you are interested in, contact our Admissions department for more information.