DO YOU KNOW YOUR CURL PATTERN?

DO YOU KNOW YOUR CURL PATTERN?

8th Dec 2021

Loose curls

Natural hair

Tight curls

Your hair is as unique as you are - every person is born with a hair type that is all their own.

Back in the 90s, Oprah Winfrey's stylist Andre Walker came up with a classification system that helps to understand hair type.  Walker’s pattern classification isn’t perfect but it’s a useful tool to help us understand our hair better.

  • Curly/kinky is Type 4A, 4B or 4C. Type 4 can resemble small spirals the diameter of a crochet needle, or be tightly coiled. Curly/kinky is at the greatest risk for breakage because of the curl pattern and needs consistent moisture.
  • Curly is Type 3A, 3B or 3C and can range from loose ringlets to slightly more tightly defined, spiral curls the size of a pen.
  • Type 2 is wavy hair, with variations ranging from 2A to 2B to 2C - with 2C being the most wavy within the 2 category of wavy hair.
  • Straight hair is classified as Type 1. Straight is the strongest of all hair types and is generally harder to hold a curl.

Many of us may have various curl patterns on our head! The crown could be 3b while the nape of the neck is 4a for example.

So what's your hair type?