Is type 4b hair uncommon?

[Oasis]

You can't really tell from growth. People will tell you they cut their hair expecting it to be one way and are shocked to see its true texture is different from what they thought.

It's funny you see more 4A coz my friend who is relaxed used to admire my 4A puff (not my hair) and say "You can stay natural coz you have that good hurr! Feel my roots; rough as a brush. I have that nappy hair." Of course I told her that's not my hair and undid a twist to show her my hair.

Yeah, I can. I'm still not seeing an abundance of 4b hair. IRL I only know 2-3 people max, relaxed or natural, with solid 4b hair. Everyone is 4a or a mix of the two.

What's funny about it? Are you saying most folks I see with 4a hair are probably wearing fake hair?

 

[ceebee3]

Most of the black people I know and see everyday have hair like the people here who say they are 4b.

I see some 3's, but mainly 4s. I thought that was common throughout the states (I have family all over the U.S.).

 

[locabouthair]

I think "my type" of 4b hair is uncommon.

I do notice more 3c/4a mixes on the board too.

 

[jcdlox]

I'm totally confused now because until I read some of this thread I thought I was 4b. I thought that included the tightest of coils OR z's with the tightness being the key. So my natural hair is small tight coils, like the coils in a ballpoint pen, that small. What is that 4a or b? Please enlighten erplexed

 

[ceebee3]

I'm totally confused now because until I read some of this thread I thought I was 4b. I thought that included the tightest of coils OR z's with the tightness being the key. So my natural hair is small tight coils, like the coils in a ballpoint pen, that small. What is that 4a or b? Please enlighten erplexed

Wish I could help you. All I know is that I'm a 4 something. I definetly don't match the description of a 1, 2, or 3 anything.

 

[Junebug D]

I get more confused by the day. According to Nonie and Mwedzi, I am 4b, according to everyone else I am 4a with 4b in the front & sides. And according to that definition the "4b" hair that's incredibly easy to comb through in the front with no discernible "coil" or "curl" shape whatsoever; some people say that is just something that happens because the hair is "trained" due to manipulation & being pulled back (like into a puff or whatever).

I've read it ALL here, but for all the years I was on NP, no one ever gave me the side eye for saying 4b. 4a/4b was not something that was claimed much at all back when I was active over there. But I guess it doesn't matter anymore to me, to be honest.

 

[msa]

I get more confused by the day. According to Nonie and Mwedzi, I am 4b, according to everyone else I am 4a with 4b in the front & sides. And according to that definition the "4b" hair that's incredibly easy to comb through in the front with no discernible "coil" or "curl" shape whatsoever; some people say that is just something that happens because the hair is "trained" due to manipulation & being pulled back (like into a puff or whatever).

I've read it ALL here, but for all the years I was on NP, no one ever gave me the side eye for saying 4b. 4a/4b was not something that was claimed much at all back when I was active over there. But I guess it doesn't matter anymore to me, to be honest.

I don't know how anyone could say that you aren't a 4b.

As far as the bold, I say that a lot. But it refers to all types of hair. I've noticed on the board that people say their front is this loose straightish texture that doesn't coil up at all. I just don't believe that it grew out of their heads that way.

That top front portion of the hair gets manipulated far far more than the rest of the hair. Smoothing it back, tying the front down (when wet especially), wearing headbands, pulling it into a bun or ponytail, etc etc contributes to that area getting stretched out.

Anyway, it's just something I noticed...and its not really a hair type...just a result of manipulation. Though some 4b's clearly have as their hair type kinky straight hair that is easily straightened.

 

[Kurlee]

ur siggy is

Ok question: what does naturally clumping hair look like? And is zig-zag pattern a definite characteristic of 4b hair without regard to texture of zig-zag? I am still confused because I have not had a perm that long so I remember my natural hair pretty distinctly and that zig-zag stuff in the front of my head is very loose, does not tangle and relatively easy to comb. The coils in the back which consider must be somewhere in 4b,c,z lands are not like that at all. I guess I am trying to figure out if zig-zag can be 4a or is it only 4b?

 

[anon123]

I'm totally confused now because until I read some of this thread I thought I was 4b. I thought that included the tightest of coils OR z's with the tightness being the key. So my natural hair is small tight coils, like the coils in a ballpoint pen, that small. What is that 4a or b? Please enlighten erplexed

I don't know. I'm inclined to think pen spring sized coils are 4a. Pencil to pen spring size. Is that right, y'all? My coils are smaller. The picture below has coils from two parts of my head. The one on the left is from the back which has a bigger curl, though my biggest ones are solidly the size of a pen spring, maybe a bit bigger in the very nape. The strands themselves are also thicker. The one on the right is from the center of my head. The strand is a finer strand and is smaller, though not the smallest I've found on my head. I now think the biggest curls in my nape could be called "4a" while everything else is 4b.

Left - bigger coil; Right - smaller coil

My smallest:

My biggest:

Look at these closeups! I pulled a Nonie!

 

[jennboo]

The point I was making is that waves DO NOT mean Desi doesn't have 4b hair. She can be 4b and still get a wave. I am definitely not a 3b/c nowhere even close. So my point still stands being able to get waves is not an indication of hair type.

This.

I have a 4b hair type. People on this forum have said otherwise, presumably bc the hair in my siggy pic may apppear to have a slightly wavy appearance. If i did not comb my hair into those puffs, and just had a big afro, there would be not a wave, curl, or coil in sight.

MSA in another post described my hair texture to a T. It grows out of my head kinky but "straight", especially on top. Its just a head full of crinkly-straightness that appear as a cottony mass. I have no curl/coil pattern. My hair does not look like Mwedzi's and other 4b naturals who may describe their hair as "extremely tightly coiled" bc my hair has NO coil.

 

[Neith]

I think I'm 100% 4a. All my coils look JUST like Mwezdi's nape coil

I have no idea how to seperate all my coils and have that much definition in all of them though. It's very kinky, coarse and the coils have to be coaxed into playing nicely with eachother.

Interesting because from my perspective, I'd think 4a with no mix is more rare .

Interesting that's how the poll came out too.

 

[Nonie]

This.

I have a 4b hair type. People on this forum have said otherwise, presumably bc the hair in my siggy pic may apppear to have a slightly wavy appearance. If i did not comb my hair into those puffs, and just had a big afro, there would be not a wave, curl, or coil in sight.

MSA in another post described my hair texture to a T. It grows out of my head kinky but "straight", especially on top. Its just a head full of crinkly-straightness that appear as a cottony mass. I have no curl/coil pattern. My hair does not look like Mwedzi's and other 4b naturals who may describe their hair as "extremely tightly coiled" bc my hair has NO coil.

May I ask how you generally style your hair and what products you use? Coz your hair looks like mine in your pics. Maybe that's wishful thinking in my part coz I want my hair to look that cute but I can bet my bottom dollar that you do have curls. (Yeah, I've been told to stop telling folks about their own hair but I don't listen.)

ETA: Your statement in bold is typically how 4B hair is. If you did not comb it, it'd shrink back into a mass and look like a brillo pad. I'm not saying it'd be hard or rough like one, but it's look like just a dark mass. It's not because it has no pattern or no definition. It's because of the compactness and tiny size of the coils. Those waves you see when you comb or brush are precisely the give-away that your hair formed coils. The waves are stretched out coils as seen here:

To the left of that pic, you cannot see any definition and it's not coz it's not there.

 

[knt1229]

This.

I have a 4b hair type. People on this forum have said otherwise, presumably bc the hair in my siggy pic may apppear to have a slightly wavy appearance. If i did not comb my hair into those puffs, and just had a big afro, there would be not a wave, curl, or coil in sight.

MSA in another post described my hair texture to a T. It grows out of my head kinky but "straight", especially on top. Its just a head full of crinkly-straightness that appear as a cottony mass. I have no curl/coil pattern. My hair does not look like Mwedzi's and other 4b naturals who may describe their hair as "extremely tightly coiled" bc my hair has NO coil.

I'm a 4b too. My natural hair texture is krinkly, kinky-straight, then frizzy on the ends. There are some waves and coils but once I brush or comb it they disappear. My hair straightens and lays flat easily. It's soft and manageable too as long as it's moisturized. 4b hair is so misunderstood. I think most people attribute all the negative things to it like coarseness, unmanageable, hard to deal with, etc. And noone ever really talks about all the positive attributes it has. That's why when folk see a curl, coil, wave, or soft looking hair they suddenly start saying you can't be a 4b.

P.S. I like ur puffs.

 

[Kurlee]

May I ask how you generally style your hair and what products you use? Coz your hair looks like mine in your pics. Maybe that's wishful thinking in my part coz I want my hair to look that cute but I can bet my bottom dollar that you do have curls. (Yeah, I've been told to stop telling folks about their own hair but I don't listen.)

ETA: Your statement in bold is typically how 4B hair is. If you did not comb it, it'd shrink back into a mass and look like a brillo pad. I'm not saying it'd be hard or rough like one, but it's look like just a dark mass. It's not because it has no pattern or no definition. It's because of the compactness and tiny size of the coils. Those waves you see when you comb or brush are precisely the give-away that your hair formed coils. The waves are stretched out coils as seen here:

To the left of that pic, you cannot see any definition and it's not coz it's not there.

your texture is sessy

 

[Kurlee]

This.

I have a 4b hair type. People on this forum have said otherwise, presumably bc the hair in my siggy pic may apppear to have a slightly wavy appearance. If i did not comb my hair into those puffs, and just had a big afro, there would be not a wave, curl, or coil in sight.

MSA in another post described my hair texture to a T. It grows out of my head kinky but "straight", especially on top. Its just a head full of crinkly-straightness that appear as a cottony mass. I have no curl/coil pattern. My hair does not look like Mwedzi's and other 4b naturals who may describe their hair as "extremely tightly coiled" bc my hair has NO coil.

After seeing your hair, it is DEFINITELY nothing like 4b and very curly and a pretty big size and easy to see. After reading this thread, I realize that perception is everything and everyone simply does not see the same things. I will just stick to pictures to judge how similar to mine someones hair is, when it comes to trying products, regimens, etc. My description will just be big curls, small curls, etc. The typing is simply something that most will not be able to agree on.

 

[Junebug D]

May I ask how you generally style your hair and what products you use? Coz your hair looks like mine in your pics. Maybe that's wishful thinking in my part coz I want my hair to look that cute but I can bet my bottom dollar that you do have curls. (Yeah, I've been told to stop telling folks about their own hair but I don't listen.)

ETA: Your statement in bold is typically how 4B hair is. If you did not comb it, it'd shrink back into a mass and look like a brillo pad. I'm not saying it'd be hard or rough like one, but it's look like just a dark mass. It's not because it has no pattern or no definition. It's because of the compactness and tiny size of the coils. Those waves you see when you comb or brush are precisely the give-away that your hair formed coils. The waves are stretched out coils as seen here:

To the left of that pic, you cannot see any definition and it's not coz it's not there.

Mine looked exactly like this in its final days.

 

[msa]

I think I'm 100% 4a. All my coils look JUST like Mwezdi's nape coil

I have no idea how to seperate all my coils and have that much definition in all of them though. It's very kinky, coarse and the coils have to be coaxed into playing nicely with eachother.

Interesting because from my perspective, I'd think 4a with no mix is more rare .

Interesting that's how the poll came out too.

I think we have similar hair...not that our coils look the same...but that we have 4a hair with 4b behavior. That's why I say I'm 4a/b because though I clearly have coils, the way they act with each other is just like how people with 4b hairs interact. If that makes sense.

I think a 100% 4a is very rare. I know there's one on this site but I can't remember her name. But she literally has all 4a coils and they are all separate and distinct.

 

[NerdSauce]

I replied that I am type 4a/b. Mostly because of what I've seen here on this forum.

After reading this though, I don't think I am. While i think some people conflate the level of coarseness with curl diameter (what measure are we using for typing anyways) I don't think any of my hair fits in measures of 4b.

-I have a definable curl pattern.
-I have never spied a single zigzag strand anywhere on my head, ever. I'm still searching.

The reasons why its confusing:
- I have a lot of frizz. Like lots.
-Unlike a lot of people, my hair MOSTLY doesn't make coils that easily when I shingle it, it makes S waves (albeit small ones.) Quite a lot of my hair that does coil has those weird little irregularities, like where the coil seems to suddenly change directions. Individual strands will sort of coil, like my shed hair will often make spirals before eventually collapsing into O's (sometimes.)
-As you can probably gather, my hair has little to no consistency (I even have random strands that look straight! no head damage, just randomly placed all over my head, and I've always had them... they look straight because their curl/wave diameter is a loooot wider than the rest of my hair.)--and it's not even really long enough to completely hang yet, so I'm not really sure what's going on.
--If pressed I would honestly define Nonie's hair as 4a. It kind of reminds me of my sisters. Her curl diameter is tinnnny (probably smaller than Nonies in a lot of places) but it needs just about ZERO coaxing to see some sort of coil definition. She's mentioned finding zig zag strands.

I think hair like Jennboo and Mooks is really interesting and looks really cool... it seems lighter and fluffier but as they say, no curl pattern.

But yeah, where are the small S-wave/somewhat coily/doesn't seem to coil as easily as others 4a's with NO zigzags and like, 80-90% possible clumpage? What type does that make me

 

[NerdSauce]

Oh. MSA might be on to something.. 4a hair with 4b behavior? I'll have to find some pics or take some pics and see how they stack up.

 

[jetbeauty09]

This.

I have a 4b hair type. People on this forum have said otherwise, presumably bc the hair in my siggy pic may apppear to have a slightly wavy appearance. If i did not comb my hair into those puffs, and just had a big afro, there would be not a wave, curl, or coil in sight.

MSA in another post described my hair texture to a T. It grows out of my head kinky but "straight", especially on top. Its just a head full of crinkly-straightness that appear as a cottony mass. I have no curl/coil pattern. My hair does not look like Mwedzi's and other 4b naturals who may describe their hair as "extremely tightly coiled" bc my hair has NO coil.

Umm, nope. Your 4b looks nothing like my 4b. I don't have 4b all over my hair, especially in the back. But where it is located, its true 4b. 4b hair is not waves or curls. Point blank period. If you see that, you don't have it. There is no if I ______, then waves appear. Thats not 4b hair. I don't understand the big deal though. Just move to the next hair type or just avoid typing your hair.

 

[afiya27]

When I grew up in Africa, 4b hair was sooooo common. And we all hated it. And those who didn't have 4b had "good hair" and I was told over and over that I had "bad hair". We had at least 3 different kinds of 4b hair though. We had one kind we called "regular" that was like mine, which is kinky very fine strands, a kind called "super-coil" that could shrink hair as long as 12 inches down to half an inch when wet, and a kind we called "steel wool" that was real coarse.

It wasn't until I read the infamous book by Oprah's hair stylist, "Andre talks hair" that I ever heard my hair be called "kinky" and "fine" instead of nappy and bad. I am a true 4b or 4z. 4b is one of those hair types like a dark skin tone that people grow up being told is "bad" until you finally learn to love yourself and your hair.

The bolded part of the above statement brought me close to tears! The rest of it, especially if written by descendants of slaves (i.e. folks from the U.S., Caribbean, and/or South America) is pretty typical ... But it's SOOO disturbing to me that this SAME discourse is going on in AFRICA where dark skin and nappy hair is INDIGENOUS/ORIGINATES! If there were any other place on EARTH that black folk should be able to "let their hair down" and/or accept their natural selves, it SHOULD be there! A SAD testimony IMHO...What are we gonna do yall? erplexed

 

[msa]

Umm, nope. Your 4b looks nothing like my 4b. I don't have 4b all over my hair, especially in the back. But where it is located, its true 4b. 4b hair is not waves or curls. Point blank period. If you see that, you don't have it. There is no if I ______, then waves appear. Thats not 4b hair. I don't understand the big deal though. Just move to the next hair type or just avoid typing your hair.

See this is the confusion right here.

Clearly some people believe 4b has no waves, curls, or coils. If it lacks waves/curls/coils then it must be straight. In which case, it may as well be type 1 hair, but just type 1b (ie kinky straight).

But this isn't the case. 4b hair forms a fro because it isn't straight. It has some type of "texture" to it. The thing is, no matter what, everyone's 4b is not going to look the same or have the same exact characteristics.

I truly believe that 4b hair can have:
-waves (or zig zags or kinks as some call it) ie kinky straight
-coils, but very very small and not separate/defined like those who have 4a hair
-a mixture of both

What defines 4b is not the "lack" of something...it's the size of it. 4b's are characterized by tiny crinkly waves or tiny coils. If you think about it the hair typing chart goes from straight...to loose waves...to tighter waves...to loose curls...to tighter curls...to coils...to tiny little coils/waves/crinkles/kinks.

 

[Junebug D]

If pressed I would honestly define Nonie's hair as 4a. It kind of reminds me of my sisters. Her curl diameter is tinnnny (probably smaller than Nonies in a lot of places) but it needs just about ZERO coaxing to see some sort of coil definition. She's mentioned finding zig zag strands.

See, my hair looked like Nonie's after *only* after it was being DC'd on a regular basis, and it was months afterwards too. I've been weekly DC'ing since November of last year, and my hair only started to do what Nonie's does in the last 2 months.

And the thing is... it ONLY does that when it's wet and post DC. And I don't think wet hair pics are the best representative of hair texture you claim anyway. It's clean, DRY hair where I would feel comfortable determining type. As soon as it is dry, even left totally unmanipulated, those coils disappear entirely. And I know because that's all I did for the last 3 weeks.

As an aside, my hair could never look like Jennboo's, or Mook's, for that matter. I do believe our hair is much more complicated and varied than Andre or anyone's system has devised thus far.

And it also even may be just the various things we use on our hair. Do 2 different conditioners provide the same results? Everyone's hair is kinda in a different state at a different time, if you think about it. That may be so-and-so's wet 4b hair, but so-and-so's wet 4b hair looks different because maybe her hair is a little less healthy or has some microscopic damage from the sun or something? Like I used the Joico K-pak Reconstructor a couple weeks ago, and it "healed" a heat-stretched section of my hair that I'd had since June. So maybe even just the things that you condition with affect the shape of your strands.

 

[Desarae]

After seeing your hair, it is DEFINITELY nothing like 4b and very curly and a pretty big size and easy to see. After reading this thread, I realize that perception is everything and everyone simply does not see the same things. I will just stick to pictures to judge how similar to mine someones hair is, when it comes to trying products, regimens, etc. My description will just be big curls, small curls, etc. The typing is simply something that most will not be able to agree on.

Is there anyone who has 4b hair according to your perception?

And for the people who claim to have no curl pattern/wave/kink/coil do you have pics/closeups i'm curious to see what 4b is from anyone who says i'm not.

 

[Neith]

I think we have similar hair...not that our coils look the same...but that we have 4a hair with 4b behavior. That's why I say I'm 4a/b because though I clearly have coils, the way they act with each other is just like how people with 4b hairs interact. If that makes sense.

I think a 100% 4a is very rare. I know there's one on this site but I can't remember her name. But she literally has all 4a coils and they are all separate and distinct.

While I'm detangling and while my hair is wet, I clearly see my coils and they do clump together like type 3 hair. If I really went through and reinforced every little coil, I could coax my hair into little tiny spirals.

I tried it on a section of my hair, but it's SO time intensive, it's really not worth it for me

Wash day is soon, maybe I'll do a section up and take pics.


If I leave my hair to do it's own thing, it basically comes out like this:

You can see coils, but they are definitely not playing nice

If I dry combed this out, or didn't wet it daily, it'd look nearly identical to 4b hair.

That's another thing I tried out, but my hair is so uneven it looks too weird to take pics. Don't want to show my lopsided afro. lol

So yeah, 4a can be a little funny. There is a lot of variety in 4a and 4b hair

I consider myself 4a. Who knows, maybe there is some 4b in there along for the ride.

I think being "pure" anything is a little bit more rare than having a mix too.

 

[Nonie]

The bolded part of the above statement brought me close to tears! The rest of it, especially if written by descendants of slaves (i.e. folks from the U.S., Caribbean, and/or South America) is pretty typical ... But it's SOOO disturbing to me that this SAME discourse is going on in AFRICA where dark skin and nappy hair is INDIGENOUS/ORIGINATES! If there were any other place on EARTH that black folk should be able to "let their hair down" and/or accept their natural selves, it SHOULD be there! A SAD testimony IMHO...What are we gonna do yall? erplexed

I grew up in Africa. Left there when I was 18 and I swear to you I never heard negativity toward 4B hair living there. We all had it; most of us anyway and it was all we knew. We have Arab people living in Kenya. We have mixed people living in Kenya. So you could sorta say we have quite a spectrum of types there. But never in all my life, had I come across our hair being bad. I'm not saying that just to appear special or like I'm above negativity. Maybe if I had grown around the same negativity as some, I'd feel like a lot of people do. But I never did. I went to a boarding school where black people wore from straight perms to curly perms aka jheri curl to bald to natural TWAs to long "stretch-to-BSL" natural hair, you name it! The only thing I remember admiring and wishing I had was long hair. Not even long flowing hair or bouncy hair. I wanted a big puff like Sonce can make. I had a friend who could make a puff like MizzBrit and I envied her so coz I couldn't. Unless this is a new African trend of hating 4B, or unless it was common elsewhere, I never came across it. And I grew up in the city, and went to a national school where people from all over the country would go, so it's not like I lived in seclusion in a bush where we knew nothing else but our own.

BTW, my mom came to visit me last year and she was tickled pink that type 3 hair is such a hit here (Of course she found me talking hair more than she remembers ). Her comment (no offense 3's) was "Really? And how much we hate that slimy hair back home." I'm not sure who "we" was (maybe her generation, maybe the community I grew in), but definitely not me. I never cared one way or another about anyone's texture. Maybe I'm so self-absorbed and content that I really didn't wonder about stuff that wasn't about me. I did one time feel sorry for my mixed friend with long type 3 hair that wouldn't cooperate when I tried to style it like mine (I thought it'd behave like Barbie's (Cindy was what our Barbie was called) but it just flopped all over the place and didn't curl from brushing or hold a braid ). Otherwise I swear hair was such non-issue in our minds that when Mwedzi talks about how she never even realized her hair was any different or whatever it is she once wrote, I wondered for a minute if she might've grown up in Africa. Coz that's just how it was.

BTW, please don't think I look down on people who are uncomfortable with 4B hair. I can't imagine what it's like growing in an environment where that's looked down on and where your hair becomes such an issue. 400 Hundred Years Without a Comb really helps put things into perspective.

 

[*Happily Me*]

interesting thread

I didn't know 4b hair had coils.

 

[Nonie]

See, my hair looked like Nonie's after *only* after it was being DC'd on a regular basis, and it was months afterwards too. I've been weekly DC'ing since November of last year, and my hair only started to do what Nonie's does in the last 2 months.

And the thing is... it ONLY does that when it's wet and post DC. And I don't think wet hair pics are the best representative of hair texture you claim anyway. It's clean, DRY hair where I would feel comfortable determining type. As soon as it is dry, even left totally unmanipulated, those coils disappear entirely. And I know because that's all I did for the last 3 weeks.

As an aside, my hair could never look like Jennboo's, or Mook's, for that matter. I do believe our hair is much more complicated and varied than Andre or anyone's system has devised thus far.


And it also even may be just the various things we use on our hair. Do 2 different conditioners provide the same results? Everyone's hair is kinda in a different state at a different time, if you think about it. That may be so-and-so's wet 4b hair, but so-and-so's wet 4b hair looks different because maybe her hair is a little less healthy or has some microscopic damage from the sun or something? Like I used the Joico K-pak Reconstructor a couple weeks ago, and it "healed" a heat-stretched section of my hair that I'd had since June. So maybe even just the things that you condition with affect the shape of your strands.

You mention that your hair did that when it was DC'd. I am yet to see hair that wasn't in better condition after DCing which means that your hair behaves as itself best when it's been given all the nourishment it needs. If you were not eating right, I guarantee you your hair would behave differently and appear different.

If your hair looked curly wet, I bet my bottom dollar that if you leave it alone, it will dry curly. It may shrink up but the curls are there. Problem is I know you didn't leave it alone untouched and unmanipulated. You combed it or brushed it or braided it. 4B hair cannot be left alone for 3 weeks without turning into locs or one big matted carpet. So I'm sure you didnt see your coils because you did something to your hair. 4B hair doesn't lose its curl when it dries. It loses its curl when you do something to it.

You may be right about the spectrum being wider than Andre thought.

I don't think products like different conditioners would change texture. In the pics I've shown curls I've used different conditioners and still same coils. But I do think that some leave-in products can make your hair feel different. Shea butter if applied to my hair and then combed then braided would give the CNapp/no pattern look to my hair with little shrinkage and my hair would feel hard/rough. S Curl on the other hand when applied to my hair and combed then braided would give the look of circles all crammed together and shrink and be soft to touch. I also agree damage be it physical, thermal or chemical can make hair behave differently. I can tell when my ends are in bad condition--the plight of ends anyway--because the ends do not curl like the rest of the hair. If I don't snip them off, in a few weeks the hair thins badly on a larger portion of that end as if it's extending further down the strand. It's as if when the hair tears open, it loses it's ability to shrink and just hangs.

 

[Skiggle]

BTW, please don't think I look down on people who are uncomfortable with 4B hair. I can't imagine what it's like growing in an environment where that's looked down on and where your hair becomes such an issue. 400 Hundred Years Without a Comb really helps put things into perspective.

I agree with your posts. I have know problem
with being uncomfortable with your hair
type, it just frustrates me when
I see someone in denial about their hair type
. I see people
trying to define all their CURLS
with all the gel/mousse in the world..
when this task fail and there is know definition they
blame the products.. I've been in too
many arguments/confrontations about this hair type thing
...the females at my university all claim 3c or higher...erplexed..
All I can do is smh.. this make me the only type 4 in my group..
Literally this action makes me sick...
They way I see it around here * my area* if you
wanna be popular claim something higher..*so called good
hair category*
no one wants to be in the reject category *4b*..

 

[almond eyes]

Give me a break, I have seen many 4B hair that is gorgeous twa and long. That hair is very easy to straighten and looks straight when air-dried. The thing is that most women with that hair texture think it cannot grow so they constantly cut it or don't use the right products to make it more moisturised. I am always jealous of my friend who only has to braid her hair into several plaits and she has hair that looks like it was blown out.

Best,
Almond Eyes