Hair typing is the easy way to determine what type of curls you have. Although it is obvious enough that natural hair varies in texture, hair typing is a system that makes it easy to point out what category your strands fall in. Hair typing is a big thing in natural hair and while the verdict is out on whether it truly figures it all out for you, many still subscribe to it in aiding in hair product purchases and how to care for one’s own curls.
Is Frizzy Natural Hair A Bad Thing?
There is more than just one hair typing system and while many may favor one over all the others, all bring some very vital information to the table. I’ve listed a few that you should get to know and you can then figure out which best suits your hair’s needs.
Andre Walker Hair Typing System
Photo courtesy of Andrewalkerhair.com
In his book, Andre Talks Hair!, Andre Walker divides hair into these categories: type 1- straight hair, type 2- wavy hair, type 3- curly hair and type 4- kinky hair. Each of these categories also have sub-categories that divide them into different segments depending on texture and curl pattern. This is probably the most popular hair typing system that most naturals gravitate to.
Photo courtesy of Naturallycurly.com
This is Naturallycurly.com’s adaptation of the Andre Walker method and many are very familiar with this and find it quite helpful.
LOIS Hair Typing System
This typing system determines hair type depending on its pattern, strand size and texture. If your hair falls in right angles with no obvious curve, it is considered an L. If your hair forms tight curls resembling an O, it is considered as O. If your hair has no bend and lies flat on the head, it is considered an I. If your hair has S shaped curls, it is considered an S.
You can find out more about hair typing (and the rest of this article) on my other blog Natural Hair For Beginners.
Sabrina
