Some say the first thing a person notices about you is your hair. With so many creative ways to cut, style, and customize it, your hairstyle can immediately show off your personality in a matter of seconds. This is why it’s so crucial to understand why your hair is the way it is, and what you can do to safely treat it and manage it.
But before you can think of new and exciting aesthetics, you need to know the fundamentals. What hair type do you have, and is there any way to change it?
About hair types
Much like skin types, everyone has their own hair type. This is just a simple and generalized method of categorizing your hair, how it lies, how it grows, and the reactions it has to certain things. Let’s briefly go through all of the main hair types now.
Type 1: Straight Hair
Pretty simple, if you have straight hair that doesn’t naturally curl and remains relatively slick, you will fit under the type 1 group. Straight hair is usually strong, hard to damage, and almost impossible to effectively curl or wave. This is because straight hair is the oiliest of all hair types, and the sebum produced by your scalp makes it hard to style.
Type 2: Wavy Hair
Imagine a middle ground between super straight hair and curly hair and you’ll find yourself here. Wavy hair doesn’t curl tightly but can give you that windswept and interesting look. It tends to be prone to bouts of frizz and can sometimes be difficult to style, but not as hard as straight hair.
Type 3: Curly Hair
If you have luscious curls that resemble the letters “Z” & “S”, congrats, you have the hair many people desire. It’s not a walk in the park though is it, you may find your hair can get frizzed often, and is especially vulnerable and reactive to environmental elements. This can lead to damage so it’s very important to take proper care of your curls.
Type 4: Tightly Coiled/Kinky Hair
Tightly coiled hair is exactly how it sounds, extremely curled and scrunched. Despite being high density it can also be very fragile, and out of all the hair types it tends to get damaged the easiest.
Can I change my hair type?
Here’s the deal, your hair type is determined by one overarching thing and one thing only – your genetics. DNA is powerful, and while there are products available on the market that can temporarily alter your hair type for a few months like perms, it’s impossible to permanently change it.
You probably knew that answer was coming, and while it may be disappointing that’s just the way it is. Thankfully the hair-care market is growing all the time and there are more products than ever that can help you manage your hair type effectively.
Final word
Your hair is one of the most important parts of your body and must be cared for properly. Having a bad hair day can ruin your confidence or even inspire mockery, but don’t worry, with the right knowledge you can make the best product choices to keep your hair in the best possible shape.
All hair types are beautiful in their own way.
