HAIR TYPING: DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL?

We’ve been typing hair from the beginning of time, perhaps even more so in the past couple of decades. If I asked you for your hair type, you have so many options in answer. You could say 3C or 4C if you choose to use the one well-known hair typing system. If you choose to use a less well known method, you could say it is an “OS” or an “LS.”

While I, as a person and a hairstylist, am less interested in hair typing systems and much more on the care that we must all give to our hair regardless of our individual hair type, I am also aware of the fact that hair typing is important to many naturals because it helps us describe the way our hair looks and feels.

So what are the hair typing methods?

There are multiple hair typing systems, including the LOIS, the Andre Walker Hair Typing System, and FIA’s Hair Typing System.

In the following article, we will examine the hair typing methods in detail.

The LOIS Hair Typing System

This hair typing is very simple and user-friendly, which was the aim of the website that created it. Unfortunately, that website is no longer active. This system defines hair using three characteristics, which are pattern, strand size, and texture.

Hair patterns: According to the LOIS system, you have an L type hair if your hair is ruled by right angles and bends substantially with nearly no curve. Meanwhile, if your hair strand significantly coils or curls and appears to be shaped like the letter “O”, you have pattern “O” hair. You have a pattern “I” if your hair primarily lies flat against your head and has no distinctive bends or curls. You’re considered a pattern “S” if your hair has “S” shaped waves or curls with defined valleys and hills.

The LOIS hair typing method allows you to combine LOIS letters to determine your hair pattern if you notice that you have different hair patterns on your head. For instance, you can be an “OL” LOIS hair type where your hair primarily contains a combination of “O” shaped spiral curls and “L” shaped right angles.

Hair strand sizes: The LOIS system also classifies hair using hair strands. A piece of a frayed thread (such as a piece of sewing thread) is used as a proxy to decide the size of your hair strand. According to this hair typing system, a piece of thread is approximately the size of a medium sized strand of hair. If yours is larger than a piece of sewing thread, you have thick hair strands, and you have thin, fine hair strands if it is smaller than a piece of sewing thread.

Hair textures: According to the LOIS typing system, a thready hair texture has a bright shine and a low sheen when the hair is stretched. This hair texture has low frizz and gets wet easily. It also dries out very quickly. A wiry hair texture has a glossy, sparkly appearance and has low frizz and very little shine. Water beads up or bounces off this hair texture when it is wet, and it is more difficult to get fully wet.

The cottony hair texture has a bright shine and a low sheen when the hair is stretched. It typically tends to frizz, absorbs water very fast, but doesn’t get completely wet very fast. As for the spongy hair texture, water absorption is quick, shine is low and sheen is high. The silky hair texture has a bright high shine and a low sheen. Silky hair becomes completely wet very easily.

Determining your LOIS Hair Type: Make sure your hair has been washed recently, rinsed in cold water, and is void of any hair products. Examine a few strands of the most common types of hair that you have. Begin by checking the most common hair type of your head if you have multiple hair types within the LOIS system.

The Andre Walker Hair Typing System

The Andre Walker Hair Typing System is the one most of us know and are more likely to choose to type our hair.

Type 1: This is straight hair, but we have Type 1A, Type 1B, and Type 1C. While Type 1A hair is usually very thin, fine, and is often soft with a noticeable shine, Type 1B hair has more body than Type 1A hair and is medium-textured. Type 1C hair is a little coarser than Type 1A and 1C, even though it is also straight. It is a little more resistant to curly styling.

Type 2: This is wavy hair that isn’t overly oily or very dry. It is the bridge between Type 1 and Type 3 hair. It is also divided into three subdivisions. The first, Type 2A hair is fine, thin, and comparably easier to style because it can easily be curled. Characteristically, Type 2B hair has waves that are more likely to adhere to the shape of the head. Meanwhile, Type 2C hair is fairly coarse and frizzes easily.

Type 3: This is curly hair that has a definite “S” shaped curl pattern. This particular hair type is not as shiny as wavy or straight hair because the cuticle doesn’t lay flat. According to the Andre Walker Hair Typing System, this hair type is divided into two further types. Type 3A hair has loose curls, while Type 3B hair has a fair amount of curls that ranges from bouncy ringlets to tight corkscrews.

Type 4: This is tightly curled hair, popularly called kinky hair. It is full of tight coils, extremely wiry and very fragile. While appearing coarse, this hair is actually several thin hair strands packed densely together. This is the type of hair that is most commonly found in black people. This hair type is further divided into two subgroups. Type 4A hair has tight coils that have “S” patterns when stretched, very much like Type 3 hair. As for Type 4B hair, there is a less defined pattern of curls and the hair looks more like a “Z” because the hair bends at very sharp angles.

Three missing hair types from this classification: If you are familiar with hair typing, you will notice that Type 3C, Type 4C, and 4D hair types aren’t mentioned in the discussion above, and this is intentional. They are not included because they are not included in the original Andre Walker system.

Type 3C was added to the hair types by a community member at NaturallyCurly.com after Andre Walker released his hair typing system. The predominant thought was that Andre Walker left this hair type out, and Type 3C hair was defined as tight coils or curls that look like corkscrews.

Type 4C was also not included in the Andre Walker’s Hair System. According to Andre Walker, if there is a definite curl pattern to your kinky hair, you have Type 4A hair, and if there is no defined, specific curl pattern, you have type 4B hair. The types 4C and 4D hair types were thereafter created by members within the natural hair community to describe more tightly coiled “extension” of the 4B hair type.

FIA’s Hair Typing System

The FIA’s Hair Typing System expands on Andre Walker’s Hair Typing System while also incorporating components of the LOIS Hair Typing System.

This system classifies hair using three classifiers, which are curls definition, the appearance of the majority of your hair strands, and how voluminous your hair is.

First Classifier: This classifier defines hair type by defining the curliness of hair strands, similarly to the Andre Walker system. It classifies hair thus: Type 1 is straight hair, Type 2 is wavy hair, Type 3 is curly hair and Type 4 is really curly hair.

Second Classifier: This classifier focuses on how most of your hair strands appear, similarly to the hair strand sizes used within the LOIS system. According to this definition, there is F, which stands for fine, thin hair strands that almost feels like an ultra-fine strand of silk. Then, there is M, which stands for medium sized hair strands, which typically feels like rolling a cotton thread when rubbed. C stands for coarse hair that feels wiry and hard.

Third Classifier: This classifier measures the overall volume of hair. It needs you to place your hair in a ponytail. Even if your hair is on the shorter side, the thing is to include as much hair as possible in the ponytail. Once the majority of your hair is included in the ponytail, measure the ponytail’s circumference.

Thin hair has a ponytail circumference of less than two inches. Normal hair has a ponytail circumference between two and four inches, while thick hair has a ponytail greater than four inches.

So, which hair typing method should you use?

While the Andre Walker typing method is the most popular typing method (with the addition of the 3C, 4C and 4D of course), there is no hair typing method superior to the others. So go ahead, use whatever typing method that feels just right for you.

Within these different hair typing methods, you might actually find that your own hair type does not fit one box, and that you have different hair types on your head. Don't be let down if your hair type does not fit and exact hair type because hey, we are all different and unique in our own ways.

At the end of the day, the hair typing method is not as important as the care you give to your hair.

Remember to identify the general characteristics of your hair and the hair care regimen that works for you. And then follow that regimen. It’s the only way to a head full of healthy hair, no matter the hair type.

One last thing. No matter your hair type and no matter the hair regimen you choose to follow, never forget to keep your hair properly moisturised and preserving that moisture.