What is the difference between 3c and 4a hair?

[Mandy4610]

Wait....I'm confused.....the first pics look like what was just said to be 4b....at least I think I can tell between 3C and 4A now, lol. erplexed

Yea, the first 2 pics look 4b to me.

I am confused too. I too thought those first two pics looked more 4b. So what about 4c?
Lawd, this is why I stay far away from hair typing, I get more confused the more information I get lol.

Ladies, I know your explanations are thorough, I am just generally confused and mystified by hair types

 

[JJamiah]

I think your confusion is you assume 4B doesn't have coils coz they don't show from afar. The photo you are talking about that I just posted is what anyone with 4B hair would look like if they clarified their hair (Please do this on a small section or you'll have a nightmare to deal with) then conditioned and combed through, then during rinsing, used fingers to separate strands (please be sure to stretch strands when separating or you'll knot your hair up). In other words, open the springs up and then pull the strands apart or let the weight of the water provide that stretch for you so you can separate strands.

That same hair I posted that you think looks like 4A seen here beside real 4A hair, as I posted before:

Notice the ends of the Turner's hair in the 4A pic look like the hair of the chick BMP posted.

And for another perspective of the difference in coil size between 4A and 4B, the ends of my twists show you the size of my 4B coils which are way tinier than 4A coils:

I love cornrows and braids that have the curls at the bottom NICE!

 

[worthy2b]

I'm confused which one looks like cotton? The front of my hair won't curl no matter what I do to it, twists, plait nothing it just looks like a black cotton ball. The back and sides of my hair have pen spring coils I love that. I think the back is 4a right?

 

[jupitermoon]

Nonie, I know I've probably said this before but I love how you break it down when explaining things. I enjoy looking at your hair pics too.

I think hair typing is kind of subjective plus there are so many factors that make up our hair such as strand size, density, porosity, etc.

 

[Nonie]

I am confused too. I too thought those first two pics looked more 4b. So what about 4c?
Lawd, this is why I stay far away from hair typing, I get more confused the more information I get lol.

Ladies, I know your explanations are thorough, I am just generally confused and mystified by hair types

There's no such thing as 4C. People who've never seen the coils in their hair coz they never let it shrink up to its "resting phase"--a smart move if you ask me--assume that their hair has no form so came up with 4C or CNapp. Those are just nicknames for manipulated 4B hair.

4A hair can be combed to look like 4B hair, and I do agree it can be confusing. But the difference comes in that 4A hair can be worn in a very clearly clumped WNG look because of the size of curls while 4B hair would just look like an uncombed mess. Also when you look at the two hair types side by size, you would clearly know the difference. So maybe WNG should be the test?

When I tried a WNG puff, my hair was probably as long as Turner's. But while hers looks like this:

Mine looked like this:

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

/\ Nonie gives the most comprehensive explanations

Hair typing is ONLY about curl diameter...nothing else. We shouldn't expect it to tell us about porosity, density, thickness of strands shine or forecast our good hair days or bad hair days....only curl diameter.

I think alot of people on the board are under the mistaken impression that 4a is within the curly range......and its not. 4a is the first sub-set of the kinky hair textures....if you comb 4a hair out it will look like an indistinct cloud.....however if you moisturize 4a hair....you can see some coils with the naked eye.....with 4b hair and above.....even if the hair is moisturized....the coils are sooooo tiny that it will still appear to be an indistinct cloud even with product.

 

[Nonie]

I'm confused which one looks like cotton? The front of my hair won't curl no matter what I do to it, twists, plait nothing it just looks like a black cotton ball. The back and sides of my hair have pen spring coils I love that. I think the back is 4a right?

Worthy, could you shampoo a section of hair in the front, then DC it (Emergencee or GPB) then shampoo again, condition...up to this point, feel free to comb through. Then when you rinse out the conditioner, use fingers only and then leave well alone. Post both pics if you can.

Kinda like I did here:

First with conditioner:

And then rinsed out and finger combed to separate:

​

And you may see your true pattern. I say may coz sometimes our styling methods can affect how our hair in the front behaves, especially if we wear it pulled back a lot, so it may take time of leaving it alone to see what it really is like. Sometimes we just happen to have different textures on different parts of our head. (I think it's Kbragg who had a photo of her son with all sorts of textures on his head as a baby. Just giggle-inducing priceless and cute. )

 

[Mandy4610]

Worthy, could you shampoo a section of hair in the front, then DC it (Emergencee or GPB) then shampoo again, condition...up to this point, feel free to comb through. Then when you rinse out the conditioner, use fingers only and then leave well alone. Post both pics if you can.

Kinda like I did here:

First with conditioner:

And then rinsed out and finger combed to separate:

And you may see your true pattern. I say may coz sometimes our styling methods can affect how our hair in the front behaves, especially if we wear it pulled back a lot, so it may take time of leaving it alone to see what it really is like. Sometimes we just happen to have different textures on different parts of our head. (I think it's Kbragg who had a photo of her son with all sorts of textures on his head as a baby. Just giggle-inducing priceless and cute. )

Cute coils Nonie. I will post a pic of my hair later and see if you can help me figure out what my hair type is. Judging my the pics I see here, I am starting to think I am predominantly 4a with a hint of 3c, I used to think I was predominantly 4b with a hint of 4a. I was not planning to wash my hair today, but I might do it just to show yall.

 

[worthy2b]

Worthy, could you shampoo a section of hair in the front, then DC it (Emergencee or GPB) then shampoo again, condition...up to this point, feel free to comb through. Then when you rinse out the conditioner, use fingers only and then leave well alone. Post both pics if you can.

Kinda like I did here:

First with conditioner:
​

And then rinsed out and finger combed to separate:
​

And you may see your true pattern. I say may coz sometimes our styling methods can affect how our hair in the front behaves, especially if we wear it pulled back a lot, so it may take time of leaving it alone to see what it really is like. Sometimes we just happen to have different textures on different parts of our head. (I think it's Kbragg who had a photo of her son with all sorts of textures on his head as a baby. Just giggle-inducing priceless and cute. )

Thank you I will once I take out these braids. What you said made sense when I wear it out I do pull it back alot.

 

[Nonie]

Cute coils Nonie. I will post a pic of my hair later and see if you can help me figure out what my hair type is. Judging my the pics I see here, I am starting to think I am predominantly 4a with a hint of 3c, I used to think I was predominantly 4b with a hint of 4a. I was not planning to wash my hair today, but I might do it just to show yall.

You don't have to wash all of it, if you were not planning too. I wasn't washing my hair when I took those pics. I was trying to answer a certain post so I undid my twist bangs to demonstrate.

Not sure how you're wearing your hair, but don't get it all shrunken and matted just to learn about your hair type. Test a small section. Or if you have photos of your hair that you've worn out before, just post those.

 

[Taina]

After reading all the post, thanks very much for your comments Nonie and BMP. I think that my hair type should be a 4a. Now i have a question. Are there any differents 4a hair? Let me make myself clear. Is it possible that a person could have a full head of 4a hair but the hair acts different in some places of the head?

Cause most of the time when the hair is different in some areas we automatically think there are places with some 3c or some 4b, but can that happend, diferent ways that a hair type can act?

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

/\ Yes it is possible....if you ever go on youtube and see a channel called familygoingnatural.....the mother on that channel is type 4a silky which is a hair type that can easily slick down with little more the stroke of a hand....it has very high sheen and can easily look curly but when naked it has type 4a diameter coils....another example of this hair type is robot's professor....however in my opinion from the looks of your signature pic and your fotki pix you appear to be 3c

 

[LadyRaider]

Nonie rules. I think Snape is a good avatar for her. (Smart!)

I thought "the community" invented 3c and there's no such thing "officially."

My hair looks exactly like my mom's except that her hair was silky and my texture is fine, but not silky (I don't know the opposite of silky, as my hair is not coarse... it's fine.) But the curls are the same. In that sense, I get the feeling that curl diameter doesn't really say much about how your hair should be treated/handled.

 

[Taina]

/\ Yes it is possible....if you ever go on youtube and see a channel called familygoingnatural.....the mother on that channel is type 4a silky which is a hair type that can easily slick down with little more the stroke of a hand....it has very high sheen and can easily look curly but when naked it has type 4a diameter coils....another example of this hair type is robot's professor....however in my opinion from the looks of your signature pic and your fotki pix you appear to be 3c

I will check that channel thanks.
About my type, i dont get the curls that you mention and show at the begining of the thread, also i can get an afro style and it was said before that 3c hair can`t or difficulty can do that.

After all i still confused

 

[JayAnn0513]

I think I've said this before but Nonie you for 100% my daughters hair twin.

 

[Geminigirl]

After reading this thread I know I am a 4a. I have shrinkage but not like Nonie. I can wear WNG and my coils are noticeable...I think.

Here is my hair freshly conditioned

This is pretty much the texture of all of my hair. I heart it. Or is it 4ab?

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

/\ BINGO! You got it Geminigirl! Youre my texture twin!

I will check that channel thanks.
About my type, i dont get the curls that you mention and show at the begining of the thread, also i can get an afro style and it was said before that 3c hair can`t or difficulty can do that.

After all i still confused

I guess we'll just haveta see in a coupla months Either way your hair is beautiful.

 

[LadyRaider]

Your hair is so pretty, Geminigirl!
I wish I could get a good picture like that! (sigh!)

 

[Nonie]

I will check that channel thanks.
About my type, i dont get the curls that you mention and show at the begining of the thread, also i can get an afro style and it was said before that 3c hair can`t or difficulty can do that.

After all i still confused

Have you seen LynnieB's hair? I think she's 3C/4A, IIRC. Maybe you have that sort of hair.

Someday, post your pics and then we will be able to tell you.

 

[Nonie]

I was trying to see if there's a way to very clearly differentiate between 4A and 4B and I see it really isn't that easy. I think someone with 4B hair can very clearly see the difference.

When I was learning to draw, one of the things I was told when drawing African hair is not to just shade in a black block moving pencil to and fro, but to shade in using circles. It didn't seem to make sense since after all you will shade it in completely, but trust me, it makes a difference. Try it.

Draw my little afro head in my siggy and then color in the 'fro using a back and forth pencil movement then do it again using circular motions. You'll see the difference in textural appearance.

I think 4A and 4B differ in a similar way from those two ways of shading. 4A has a look of having been created by many circles packed together. If you were to drive a car on the edge of a 4A afro like BMP's friend's hair, you'd go over bumps as if the road were made of pebbles, so you'd be rocking back and forth as you rode over it.

While with 4B hair, it'd feel less bumpy and more like driving over fine gravel, expecially if combed into a perfect 'fro like the bottom pics in the 4B set I post below. I think it takes a while to start to see the difference...but if you have 4B hair, you will know it. It doesn't clump like Geminigirl's hair.

ETA: In the photo I posted of my 4B WNG hair, I used S Curl Gel to stretch the hair so it'd hang and be bouncy like my 4A haired friend's, but instead of the hair stretching, it just curled back on itself. I don't know if that's another feature of 4B hair, or not, but I do know that my hair doesn't show any hint of length with product. Maybe something heavy like Bentonite Clay...but just the same product y'all use for WNGs? They are shrinkage catalysts for my hair.

 

[lushcoils]

For once, 4b hair is described with a positive connotation!

Like driving over fine gravel, I like that.

 

[mjdaisy]

Geminigirl - What kind of conditioner do you use?

 

[Nonie]

For once, 4b hair is described with a positive connotation!

Like driving over fine gravel, I like that.

Girl, I love 4B hair so much that I have never thought of it negatively. In fact, I have to be careful that I don't come off a bit haughty talking about it.

But I do know it baffles a lot of people because it does seem to have a mind of its own. And for one not prepared to deal with it--especially because natural hair of this kind was never the norm for most people who lived with only relaxed hair--it can be quite the unruly child. But once you figure it out, it can be blast to live with it. Sonce, Mwedzi, Sera...are some of my sheros in showing the versatility of the hair. And one day when my hair is as long as theirs, I'ma wear it in all it's many faces and help to show what a joy it is to have.

 

[Embyra]

would keisha knight natural aka rudy huxtable hair be 4a?

 

[Geminigirl]

Geminigirl - What kind of conditioner do you use?

In this picture I had used Skala Avocado conditioner and mask. It made my coils very defined and soft.

 

[Gleek]

Can someone please show me what a combo of 3c/4a looks like?

 

[JJamiah]

I will check that channel thanks.
About my type, i dont get the curls that you mention and show at the begining of the thread, also i can get an afro style and it was said before that 3c hair can`t or difficulty can do that.

After all i still confused

To me It depends on your length 3c hair when short does get a little afro when combed out.

AND YES it annoying flops when it gets longer,

 

[Nonie]

would keisha knight natural aka rudy huxtable hair be 4a?

Not really sure. I think she could be 3C/4A. Her hair reminds me of LynnieB's hair:

I don't know if it's pressed here but it looks that way to me:

​

 

[JJamiah]

Not really sure. I think she could be 3C/4A. Her hair reminds me of LynnieB's hair:

I don't know if it's pressed here but it looks that way to me:

​

I love RUDY Huxtable

 

[BillsBackerz67]

I havent read the thread but for my hair it just all comes down to the size of my curls. Texture wise Its cottony, not at all silky, and fluffy. But curl wise they are a little bit larger in diameter compaired to the 4a hair Ive seen.