What's your hair type?

If you have done any research on natural hair, I am sure you have come across something that says "4b hair" or "3c hair" and you, like myself, may have thought "what does that mean?" Well, I'm here to help.  Andre Walker, Oprah's hairstylist, was the first to come up with this hair typing guide.  There have been several variations, but they all stem from the same concept.  The numbers and letters are referring to hair types. Basically it is a breakdown of the different types of curls ranging from 1a (straight) to 4c (kinky) and everything in between.  Knowing your hair type can be very beneficial when choosing products or when trying to achieve a certain look.  It is also important to note that no two heads are the same and you may have a mixture of different hair types on one head.

The picture above gives examples of the different types of hair.

1. This hair is straight and has no wave or curl pattern.

2a. This is wavy hair that has a slight "s" pattern.

2b. This hair is wavy and creates a defined "s" wavy pattern and tends to be frizzy.

2c. This hair is wavy curly.  The "s" pattern is clearly defined and the hair is bouncy.

3a. This hair consists of big, loose curls about the size of sidewalk chalk.
3b. These curls are the size of a sharpie marker and can range from loose to tight and springy
3c. These curls are tight and about the size of a pencil and need lots of moisture.
4a. This hair curls in defined spirals about the size of a crochet hook and the curls bounce back when pulled.
4b/c.  This hair has more of a zigzag pattern than an "s" and has major shrinkage (meaning it appears to be way shorter than it's true length).  The only different between 4b and c is that 4c hair is so tightly kinked, it's hard to see any pattern definition at all.
(I paraphrased most of the curl descriptions from naturallycurly.com)