Know Your Hair Type, Porosity and Curl Pattern

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On your journey to healthier hair, it is important to know your hair type and its characteristics. Typing your hair will help you bypass a great deal of trial and error in choosing hair products, hairstyles, and in building a hair regimen.

This article will guide you to discover your hair’s porosity, curl pattern, strand size, density and length.

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  • Relaxed/texlaxed: Hair that has been chemically straightened or loosened.
  • Transitioning: Hair that hasn’t been retouched in a long while, so it has two textures- natural at the roots and relaxed at the ends.
  • Natural: Hair that hasn’t been damaged or chemically altered. It’s best to type your hair in its natural form.

Hair Porosity

Your hair porosity could be low, medium or high.

porosity-levels

The test: Make sure your hair is washed and clean. Take a strand of hair from your head and put it in a cup of water. If it floats atop the water, it’s Low Porosity. If it sinks to the bottom, it’s High Porosity. If it floats at mid-level (neither top nor bottom), it’s Medium Porosity.

Curl pattern:

Type 1: Straight hair

Type 2: Wavy hair

Type 3: Curly hair

Type 4: Kinky hair (Most black Africans have this type of hair).

Strand Sizes or Hair Width:

Fine (a), Medium (b), Coarse (c)

The test: Hold a strand of your hair up to the light. If it’s barely visible, it’s fine hair. If it’s wide and very visible, it’s coarse. If it’s in-between, it’s medium.

Type:

Your hair type is a combination of your curl pattern and hair width.

The test: take a strand of your hair and compare its curl pattern with the ones in this picture.

hair-types

Density: Your hair could be low density, medium density or high density.

The test: let your hair hang loose and unparted. If you can easily see your scalp, you have low density hair. If you can see your scalp with a little effort, medium density. If it’s difficult to see your scalp, you have high density hair.

Length: There are various markers for hair length, eg Ear Length, Shoulder Length, Bra Strap Length, etc. You can also determine exact length by measuring your hair with a tape or ruler. Short hair is less than 2inches. Medium length is 2-10inches. Long hair is above 10inches.

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Based on this article, I have medium length, low porosity, high density, 4b natural hair. What’s yours?

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About Author

Bunny Street is a hair salon and fashion store. We give you stunning hairstyles while ensuring that your own hair is healthy and gorgeous. Visit us: 98 Independence Avenue, Independence Layout, Enugu. Call us: 08188658918 Follow us: @bunnystreetng

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