What’s My Hair Type?
PT. 2 of DISCOVERING MY HAIR IDENTITY SERIES
For a couple of years now, I’ve constantly heard the terms “hair type” and “curl pattern” followed by some label in the form of a single letter and number like, 3A. I was always perplexed by what this seemingly secret hair identification system was and how I would be able to know which combination represented me. I thought this would be the perfect place to start my research. I assumed that discovering my letter and number pair would be all that I would need to know and voila, I’ve figured out my hair type. As I began to dig deeper, it quickly became clear that there’s so much more to your hair type than a singular component. In fact, each of us have a unique set of characteristics that tell us how our hair behaves and reacts with different elements. I began to realize that there is a holistic approach when it comes to understanding your hair type, it does not fall into one category but the collective of four categories. Once I began to understand my hair’s curl pattern, three other distinct terms were soon to follow. They are porosity, density, and width. In order to figure out your hair type, you must learn where you fall amidst these four categories. There is a good amount of content to get through so I decided to break this part into four separate videos, each one tackling a component of the four categories. In addition, I’ve incorporated easy at home tests to help you identify and determine where you belong. But before we get started, allow me to simplify today’s journey in the form of our guiding equation throughout this series. Here is how your hair type is determined:
Curl Pattern + Porosity + Density + Width = Your Hair Type
This is our guiding equation that will help us to understand and document the results that we receive. We’ll keep coming back to this equation throughout the series. Let’s start with the first term, Curl Pattern. Your curl pattern is kind of like your hair’s fingerprint, the only difference is that there’s a higher chance you may share this fingerprint with someone else. Anyway, the curl pattern is all about how your hair grows naturally from the scalp and the shape of that curl. You can watch the first video below as I break down all the subcategories and take you through some fun tests to help you find your curl pattern.
1. CURL PATTERN
2. POROSITY
This is probably one of the most important parts to the equation. Moisture is a key element in nourishing and maintaining healthy hair. Keeping your hair moisturized is very vital to avoid breakage and dryness. While moisture is fundamental to the growth of one’s hair, the way in which your hair can absorb and retain moisture differs greatly from head-to-head. Which brings us to porosity. Learning your hair’s porosity level will tell you if you have low, medium, or high porosity. What determines the porosity level of your hair are the cuticles on your individual strands. The cuticles might be extremely close together which indicates low porosity meaning moisture will have difficulty being let in. Or the cuticles are wide apart, allowing for moisture to easily penetrate the strand but also easily escape. Or you may find yourself somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. Knowing your porosity level will tell you the optimal way your hair can receive moisture and hold onto it. If you’re confused take a look at my video below as I visually define porosity and have you take some simple tests that will tell you your level.
3. DENSITY
The third part of this equation is density which literally means how dense your hair is or how many strands are on your head. No, I will not ask you to count the number of strands on your head. This is probably the easiest step to test for but I’ll let you spend the next minute finding out just how easy. It is important to understand your hair’s density when it comes to the products you choose and the hairstyles you wear. I’ll be discussing this step in a lot more detail as we continue the series. For now, take a look and find out how dense your hair is.
4. WIDTH
The last part to complete the hair type equation is your hair’s width. This refers to the circumference of an individual strand of hair, whether it is coarse or fine. Much like your hair’s density level, this component relates to how well your hair can handle the weight of certain products you use and tell you the level of manipulation your hair can handle with different hairstyles. The tests related to width are again very easy to do at home. So take a look as we test for width together and happily wrap up part 2 of the series.
Congratulations! If you watched each video and tested your hair at each level to see where you fit, then you have all the fixings to put your hair equation together. I want you to take the results from your test and insert them in the equation shown below. This is what I discovered my hair type to be:
4A + Med/High Porosity + High Density + Coarse = Aida’s Hair Type
This is a major accomplishment and probably the most important step that we’ll make on this journey. With this information, we are able to understand our hair more intimately and pay attention to the small details that help to maintain healthy hair. These characteristics will help us in understanding which products we’ll need and the haircare routine that will continue to replenish and support our natural curls. We’ve made huge progress today, but the journey isn’t over yet. Next step, we’re finding out what ingredients are compatible with our hair type. Hang on to your results and I’ll see you on the next page!
