Waves, Kinks, Curls, and Coils: The Ultimate Guide to Hair Typing

More and more, the hair industry is setting its sights on the natural hair community with the goal of providing products made specifically for our curls. But finding your hair type seems to be complicated, especially for us who are just beginning our natural hair journey. And there are so many different methods available to try and help naturalistas distinguish and determine their curls – or lack thereof.

I’ve compiled all of the typing systems that are available and tried to simplify them so that we can type our hair.

Andre Walker Hair Typing System

Andre Walker’s hair typing system is the trademarked industry recognized way to determine the best care for your hair. It is also the typing system that is deemed hierarchical because of its intentional placement of kinky hair at the bottom, or worst, category. His opinion on Type 4 hair is as follows:

"I always recommend embracing tour natural texture. Kinky hair can have limited styling options; that's the only hair type I suggest altering with professional relaxing."

This was the main motive that set others out to categorize their hair by other systems. But, up until his statement in 2011, everyone swore by this system and it’s the first one that I came to understand.

Walker divides hair into categories – labeled 1 through 4. Each of the categories have sub-categories that divides the hair based on its texture and curl pattern – labeled A through C.

TYPE 1: STRAIGHT HAIR – Type 1 hair is generally thought to be straight, however Walker categorizes it into separate segments. 

• Type 1A hair is described as fine and very thin with a noticeable shine.
• Type 1B hair is described as medium-textured and has more body than Type 1A hair.
• Type 1C hair is the coarsest of the straight hair; this hair is the most resistant to curly styling.

TYPE 2: WAVY HAIR – Type 2 hair is wavy hair that isn’t too oily or very dry. The notion is that Type 2 hair falls right in the middle of Type 1 and Type 3.

• Type 2A hair is fine and thin. It is relatively easy to handle because it can be easily straightened or curled.
• Type 2B hair characteristically has waves that tend to adhere to the shape of your head.
• Type 2C hair will frizz easily and is fairly coarse.

TYPE 3: CURLY HAIR – Type 3 hair is curly and has a definite “S” shaped curl pattern. Since the cuticle does lay flat, you will notice that curly hair isn’t nearly as shiny as Type 1 or Type 2 hair types.

• Type 3A hair is very shiny and loose.
• Type 3B hair has a medium amount of curls, ranging from bouncy ringlets (spiral like curls of hair) to tight corkscrews (spiral-shaped corkscrews curls).
• Type 3C hair isn't apart of the Andre Walker Hair Typing System.

TYPE 4: KINKY HAIR - Type 4 is kinky or more appropriately full of tight coils (tightly curled hair). Typically, Type 4 hair is also extremely wiry and fragile. Often, it appears to be coarse, however it is really very fine, with several thin hair strands densely packed together.

• Type 4A hair is full of tight coils. It has a “S” pattern when stretched, much like Type 3 curly hair.
• Type 4B hair has a less defined pattern of curls and looks more like a “Z” as the hair bends with very sharp angles.
• Type 4C hairs isn't a part of the Andre Walker Hair Typing System. 

Type 3C and Type 4C are not included or recognized by the Andre Walker Hair Typing system. A community member at NaturallyCurly.com recognized that the hair typing system left Type 3C out and subsequently gave the 3C curl its own description and characteristics. 4C hair was also created by a member of the natural hair community, as Walker believed that the presence of a curl pattern was Type A and the absence of a curl pattern was Type B; what could he say for type 4C? Especially after his comments on the kinky hair type.

L.O.I.S Hair Typing System

The LOIS Hair Typing system's origins are known to be from a now inactive website, by a naturalista who wanted to make a classifying system that was user friendly. Prior to examining you hair, make sure that it is washed, rinsed with cold water, and without product. the LOIS hair typing system, defines hair using three characteristics: pattern, strand size, and texture.

HAIR PATTERNS

The LOIS system separates its hair patterns by using the letters of the name, L.O.I.S.

• L – If your hair is dominated by right angles and substantially bends with nearly no curve, then you’re considered to have a “L” pattern. → ZIG-ZAG
• O – If your hair strand curls or coils significantly an appear to be shaped like the letter “O,” then you’re considered to have an “O” pattern. → CURLY
• I – If your hair has no distinctive curl or bend, and it lies primarily flat to your head (i.e. straight hair), then you’re considered to have an “I” pattern. → STRAIGHT
• S – If your hair strand has “S” shaped curls or waves with defined hill and valleys, then you’re considered to have a “S” pattern. → WAVY

Your hair might have a combination of the letters, with on being more dominant than the other.

HAIR STRAND SIZES

There are three strand sizes for the LOIS system. You can begin to identify your strand size by comparing its thickness to that of a strand of sewing thread. According to the system, a piece of thread is approximately the size of a medium sized strand of hair, so…

• If your hair is thinner than a piece of sewing thread  → THIN/FINE HAIR STRANDS
• If your hair is the same size of a piece of sewing thread → MEDIUM HAIR STRANDS
• If your hair is thicker than a piece of sewing thread → THICK HAIR STRANDS

HAIR TEXTURE

Hair texture is a bit more confusing, which is why I used the picture as a reference point. Texture is depicted as being thready, wiry, cottony, spongy, or silky – but is based off the hair’s sheen, shine, and frizz.

• THREADY - This hair texture has a low sheen and bright shine when the hair is stretched. This hair texture should have low frizz and get wet easily. Even though this hair texture absorbs water easily, it will dry out very quickly.
• WIRY - This hair texture has a sparkly and glossy appearance with very little shine and low frizz. When the wiry hair texture is wet, the water will bead up or bounce off the hair strands. This hair texture is more difficult to absorb water.
• COTTONY - This hair texture has low sheen, a bright shine when the hair is stretched, and is usually very frizzy. This hair texture absorbs water very quickly.
• SPONGY - This hair texture has a high sheen and low shine. This texture absorbs water very quickly, like a sponge.
• SILKY - This hair texture has low sheen and a bright high shine. The level of expected frizz with this hair texture can vary substantially. Silky hair becomes completely wet very easily.

Fia’s Hair Typing System

The Fia’s Hair Typing System seems to be an expansion of the Andre Walker system with the incorporation of components from the LOIS Hair Typing System. The Fia’s system defines hair using three classifiers: definition of your curls, the appearance of hair strands, and the volume of your hair.

FIRST CLASSIFIER – The first classifier defines your hair type by the curliness of your strands. In this aspect, it’s is comparable to Andre Walker’s system.

·         TYPE 1 –Straight hair

·         TYPE 2 – Wavy hair

·         TYPE 3 – Curly hair

·         TYPE 4 – Very curly hair

SECOND CLASSIFIER – The second classifier focuses on the appearance of your hair strands. This aspect is comparable to the LOIS system when comparing strand sizes. The differences appear in this system’s terminology.

• FINE (F) – Fine, thin hair strands that feel like ultra-fine strands of silk.
• MEDIUM (M) – Medium hair strands that feel like rolling a cotton thread between your thumb and index fingers, it is neither coarse nor fine.
• COARSE (C) – Thick hair strands that feel hard and wiry.

THIRD CLASSIFIER – The third classification measures the overall volume of your hair. To do this, you’ll need: a soft tape measure and an elastic hairband.

Place your hair in a ponytail, including the majority of your in the band. Then, measure the circumference of your ponytail by wrapping the soft tape measure around its base (below the elastic). The result is used to determine whether your hair is classified as: thin, normal, or thick.

• THIN – The circumference of the ponytail is less than 2 inches (less than 5 centimeters)
• NORMAL – The circumference of the ponytail is between 2 – 4 inches (between 5-10 centimeters
• THICK – The circumference of the ponytail is greater than 4 inches (greater than 10 centimeters

Mizani’s Curly Typing System

Mizani is one of the hair companies to come out with their own hair typing guide to help their customers choose product best suited for their hair type. Mizani classifies hair type by texture, growth pattern, body/volume, elasticity, and porosity. It separates them into eight categories.

CURL TYPE I – STRAIGHT TO MINIMAL WAVE

• TEXTURE – Thin to thick
• GROWTH PATTERN – Grows down from the scalp
• BODY/VOLUME – Lack of body or volume
• ELASTICITY – Marginal stretching with return
• POROSITY – Compact to slightly raised cuticle; less prone to frizz

CURL TYPE II – OPEN WAVE

• TEXTURE – Thin to thick
• GROWTH PATTERN – Grows down from the scalp
• BODY/VOLUME – Some body, volume or end-wave curve movement
• ELASTICITY – Marginal stretching with return
• POROSITY – Compact to slightly raised cuticle; less prone to frizz

CURL TYPE III – WAVY

• TEXTURE – Thin to thick
• GROWTH PATTERN – Grows down from the scalp
• BODY/VOLUME – Some body, volume or end-wave curve movement
• ELASTICITY – Moderate stretching with moderate return
• POROSITY – Slightly raised to raised cuticle; prone to frizz

CURL TYPE IV – CURLY

• TEXTURE – Thin to thick
• GROWTH PATTERN – Grows down from the scalp
• BODY/VOLUME – Body volume and bounce
• ELASTICITY – Moderate stretching with moderate return
• POROSITY – Slightly raised to raised cuticle; prone to frizz

CURL TYPE V – VERY CURLY

• TEXTURE – Thin to thick or combination
• GROWTH PATTERN – Grows down from the scalp, then curls
• BODY/VOLUME – Reduced volume with some movement; prone to be compact
• ELASTICITY – Stretching with minimal return
• POROSITY – Raised cuticle; likely to frizz and tangle

CURL TYPE VI – COILED

• TEXTURE – Thin to thick or combination
• GROWTH PATTERN – Grows up and away from the scalp, then curls
• BODY/VOLUME – Some volume with less movement; likely to be compact
• ELASTICITY – Stretching with minimal return
• POROSITY – Raised cuticle; some frizz; tangled

CURL TYPE VII – VERY COILED

• TEXTURE – Thin to thick or combination
• GROWTH PATTERN – Curls directly from the scalp
• BODY/VOLUME – Minimal volume, some compaction, no movement
• ELASTICITY – Stretching with minimal return
• POROSITY – Raised cuticle, frizzy, tangled and prone to knot

CURL TYPE VIII – ZIG-ZAG COILED

• TEXTURE – Thin to thick or combination
• GROWTH PATTERN – Curls directly from the scalp
• BODY/VOLUME – Compact with no movement
• ELASTICITY – Stretching with minimal return
• POROSITY – Raised cuticle, frizzy, tangled with some knots

Curly Girl Method (CGM)

The Curly Girl Method was invented by Lorraine Massey and designed specifically to care for naturally curly hair. She writes about it in detail in her book Curly Girl, the Handbook. Its classifications separate hair types into three categories: wavy, curly, and coily.

What’s most important about the CGM is that it uses the same idea of specifying certain types of products for certain types of hair, like Mizani. But it encompasses a routine for your washday alongside other provisions that must be made. It consists of no shampoos, no heat, and other damaging habits that must be avoided.

Naturally Curly has an awesome article by Cristina Cleveland that explains the method step-by-step, with the do’s and don’ts to follow this technique successfully. You can find it here.

So, in the End…

So, what have we learned? I’ve learned that it’s all perception.

I’ve always known that I have 4C hair according to Andre Walker’s system.

According to the LOIS system my hair classifies as: O (curly) and spongy with medium hair strands.

Fia’s typing system classifies my hair as Type 4, coarse, and thick.

Mizani considers my hair to be Type VIII, and the CGM classifies it as coily.

Ultimately, my hair seems to fall within the same range in every type of system. Now that I’m completely informed, which hair typing system would I choose to base my hair care routine? I think that I like the LOIS system better. The specifics of the classifications of the hair types help me to understand the types of products that I should use along with the way that I should maintain my kinks and coils.

I hope this is helpful for determining your hair type and to understanding your natural curls.

HAPPY HAIR GROWTH!