Curly hair for beginners | Hair types

This is a highly requested topic that I will breakdown into several categories in a hope that your curls benefit from my advice as much as possible. This post is targeted to women who want to style their naturally curly hair without using a curler though they don't know how to start, what to use, where to go, why on earth do we have to struggle!

First step is to know your hair characteristics so as to know what exactly you need. It is important to know your curls so as to provide the right care. One product from a specific brand will not suit everybody and two products from the same brands will not have the same result on you.

Type(s) of curls

This classification made by the American hairdresser Andre Walker will help you determine your type of curls, provided that you can have different types at the same time and that curls get naturally loose if you have got long hair.

As you can see above, hair types are broken down into 4 categories from straight to kinky. Then each category is divided into 3 subcategories.

How to proceed: you must analyse your curls after shower once completely dry and free from any product. For reference, I am somewhere between 2B and 3A. It is important to know because the curls look different with products (I am 3A and 3B after I applied a leave-in conditioner).

And for your record, some brands like Shea Moisture offer different product ranges depending on the hair type, which make it easy when you don't really know what to purchase.

Density

It literally means how much hair you have got. Hair density constantly changes depending on various factors such as internal disorders, illness, aging etc. It can be a symptom of some health issue that you need to check with a doctor.

How to proceed: analyse your scalp. The more you can see your scalp, the less density. A high density will allow you to use rich products such as natural butters or coconut milk. On the contrary, you will have to use light-weight products if you don't have too much hair.

Dryness

As a matter of fact, curly hair naturally tends to be dry because of the spirals that do not let the sebum which is coming from the scalp to reach the ends. Yet sebum actually protects the hair from getting dry. I already wrote an article about some easy-to-find hydrating products that you can check here. If the concept is a bit blurry to you, check my article about the difference between moisture and hydration.

Thickness

This step is more interesting for those who want to grow their hair long but I believe it is always good to know. It is easier to grow your hair if it is thick because thin hair is particularly fragile. If your hair is thin, you should know that a protein-based care can help.

Porosity 

Porosity refers to the level of humidity your hair can absorb and retain and hence the level of hydration. A low porosity means the cuticles are so tight the products hardly penetrate the hair fiber which makes it difficult to hydrate. A high porosity is the opposite: hair takes too much of moisture which leads to frizz and this foam-like hair when there's humidity in the air. Obviously the ideal is somewhere between low and high. There is a way to evaluate porosity and techniques to improve it that I will talk about in a separate post.

How to proceed: take strands of  clean hair from your brush and drop them into a glass of water. After a few minutes, if your hair sinks, it is signs of high porosity. If it floats at the surface, you've got a low porosity. Medium porosity is in between.

(Pinterest)

Now you are good to go! See you on the next chapter. :)