What is Your Hair Type

Before we go into diagnosing problems with your hair and following a hair regime, you need to understand what your hair type is and how porous it is. Hair types are there as a visual aid and in conjunction with texture and porosity (your hairs ability to retain moisture or product) assists with which products and regimes work best for you.

Did you know there are 11 hair sub-types of hair?  These sub-types fall into 4 main hair types, which are Types 1, 2, 3 and 4.  Within these main types, there are sub categories that determine the texture of your hair. It is important to recognize what your hair type is so that you will know which methods/routines would work best for or against you. This doesn’t change the standard hair routine that should be followed, but will affect how you treat your hair and what products you use.

Type 1 - Straight

1a - stick straight

1b - straight but with a slight body wave, just enough to add some volume, doesn't look wavy

1c - straight with body wave and one or two visible S-waves (e.g. nape of neck or temples)

Type 2 - Wavy

2a - loose, stretched out S-waves throughout the hair. Very fine, thin and fairly easy to handle. Is easily straightened or curled.

2b - shorter, more distinct S-waves (similar to waves from braiding damp hair). Medium textures and resistant to styling, has a tendency to frizz.

2c - distinct S-waves and the odd spiral curl forming here and there. Normally thick and course textured and resistant to styling and frizzes easily.

Type 3 - Curly

3a - big, loose spiral curls, usually shiny

3b - bouncy ringlets, medium curl to loose corkscrews

3c - Tight corkscrews, kinky, tightly curled with lots of strands packed together.

Type 4 - Curly / Kinky

4a - tightly coiled S-curls when stretched

4b - tightly coiled hair bending in Z angles, prone to shrinking up to 75% of actual hair length.

Porosity

Porosity is the hairs ability to absorb moisture.  So the more porous your hair, the more open your cuticles are which means it’s easier and quicker to get color or product into the hair shaft. The cuticle is the overlapping hair scale on the hair shaft. However it also means that moisture leaves your hair just as quickly. You are thus prone to dry, brittle looking hair. If your hair is not that porous, it means your cuticles lie flatter, your hair retains its moisture for longer, and generally your hair is healthier. Only proper care over a period of time will slowly close the cuticle and make your hair less porous.

Low Porosity = Flat cuticles, difficult to get moisture, product or color into hair

Normal Porosity = Slightly raised cuticle, retains moisture, harder to get product and color into hair

High Porosity = Very raised cuticles, loses moisture quickly, easy to get product and color into hair

High porosity hair is the most prone to damage and dryness. The best thing for high porous hair is Apple Cider Vinegar rinses (recipe further on), which closes the cuticle thus locking in hairs moisture.

To determine whether your hair is low or high porosity - feel it. If it feels dry and crunchy when dry and rubbery when wet it is probably due to high porosity and will benefit from deep treatments and Apple Cider Vinegar rinses as well as acid (pH) balancing conditioners.