Her 4b is not MY 4b ....hair type

mahogany_horizons

Active Member
I resurrected this thread from the dead, because I have so many textures in my hair and I'm trying to deal with them all.

It seems that just my edges are 4 B. But the rest of the hair on my head seems to be a 3c/4a mix (maybe a little 3 b in my kitchen area).

This thread has got me better able to type my hair, and I am still coming to the same conclusion that I came to prior to reading this thread.

I guess what I want to know is, is there a coarse 3c hair type? Because my hair does wave up with water and I can tie it down. But, unless I put water in my hair daily, it doesn't look slick or shiny like other folks hair. It actually resembles 4b hair, because it doesn't have luster. It looks dryer if that makes sense. Dry and curly.

But it isn't cottony either. But, it wouldn't have any gloss or shine if I didn't put products in it, just the dry waves. Does that make sense?

But the 3c folks that I see on this board seem to have glossiness to their curls that I do not have.

This is also confusing for me because my hair is fine. But it's not shiny either. Maybe I just need to find the right products. I'm wondering if those 4b edges of mine need a whole separate regimen apart from the one I use on the rest of my hair.

I'm asking this for the sake of learning products to use as I transition, I'm not hung up on hair type.

And, gelling down my edges is working, but I wish so badly that my hair was one consistent type!
 
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Holla

Well-Known Member
I resurrected this thread from the dead, because I have so many textures in my hair and I'm trying to deal with them all.

It seems that just my edges are 4 B. But the rest of the hair on my head seems to be a 3c/4a mix (maybe a little 3 b in my kitchen area).

This thread has got me better able to type my hair, and I am still coming to the same conclusion that I came to prior to reading this thread.

I guess what I want to know is, is there a coarse 3c hair type? Because my hair does wave up with water and I can tie it down. But, unless I put water in my hair daily, it doesn't look slick or shiny like other folks hair. It actually resembles 4b hair, because it doesn't have luster. It looks dryer if that makes sense. Dry and curly.

But it isn't cottony either. But, it wouldn't have any gloss or shine if I didn't put products in it, just the dry waves. Does that make sense?

But the 3c folks that I see on this board seem to have glossiness to their curls that I do not have.

This is also confusing for me because my hair is fine. But it's not shiny either. Maybe I just need to find the right products. I'm wondering if those 4b edges of mine need a whole separate regimen apart from the one I use on the rest of my hair.

I'm asking this for the sake of learning products to use as I transition, I'm not hung up on hair type.

And, gelling down my edges is working, but I wish so badly that my hair was one consistent type!


Is your hair high porosity? When the hair cuticle is flat and sealed, the hair looks shiny. I think I am low porosity (still trying to figure this porosity stuff out myself).
 

mahogany_horizons

Active Member
Your hair reminds me a lot of my hair. Like I said earlier in this thread or the other one, my new growth felt rough and hard. It also felt that way when I used products like butters. It's not been like that since I went natural and cut back on products to only use S Curl. In fact when I have no products on my hair, while it may feel dry to one used to feeling moist hair, it is very soft. It is particularly this softness that makes me forever afflicted with HIH. Remember I have NO products in my braided hair. I also think my hair "became soft" after I started DCing so learned how to have moisturized hair even if not coated in moisture.

Also my hair never looks wet when wet unless I take a few strands so you can see water glistening on them. This hair is dripping wet:


I do not see zigzags. I see curls. The curls I enclose in the red rectangle of your attached pic are no different from those I see at the base of my hair here:


I know this is old, but thank you for your post. Your nape looks a lot like my edges, and one very stray patch of curls I have that grow a little longer right below my "kitchen". It's helpful to know.
 

mahogany_horizons

Active Member
Is your hair high porosity? When the hair cuticle is flat and sealed, the hair looks shiny. I think I am low porosity (still trying to figure this porosity stuff out myself).

How would I know this? Is it that strand test?

If so I'm going to try to do that today.

I will look up porosity on this board, I'm sure there are some threads.

Thanks Holla.
 

PinkSunshine77

New York's Finest
It's funny because all this time before going natural, I was claiming 4B and now that i can actually see my hair strands minus the relaxed ends, my hair is clearly 4A.
 

Holla

Well-Known Member
How would I know this? Is it that strand test?

If so I'm going to try to do that today.

I will look up porosity on this board, I'm sure there are some threads.

Thanks @Holla.

mahogany_horizons -- yes. you are supposed to take several strands and put them in a cup of water. If it floats, you are low porosity. If they sink immediately, you are high porosity. Do search on here as well as google it. There are some threads dedicated to each hair type.
 

BonBon

Well-Known Member
Tis funny when I sent my hair off to hair analysis they typed me as 3c with some 4a LOL.

I'm still claiming 4a/b.

When I collected my hair I did see that quite a lot of my hairs were S shaped rather than coiled, but they are so ridiculously small compared to most 3Cs that I don't feel claiming that would help me in any way.

I look for fine haired type 4s for tips specifically.
 
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