For those that consider themselves 4a ONLY....

[honeycomb719]

not to discrimenate, but i need clarifacation.
Ok, I have noticed, that some that consider themselves 4a, have different looking hair. Is it because the hair type 4a comes in different variations, or is it that some folks are wrongly typing their hair?
Just to name a few, but if you look at so1913, and Divastate hair for an example, the curls to their natural hair look much looser than Pittgurl06 or my 4a hair. Whats the deal w/ that?
Im I not a 4a? Or, what going on here.


Please help clarify..... If you consider yourself 4a ONLY not 4a/b please reply to this thread. Pics would be nice so we can take note to the different types of 4a hair.

 

[Porsche19]

I don't have pics but I have finally concluded that I have mostly 4a hair with a little 3c in the back. I don't have any 4b. (hope you don't mind me replying)

Anyways, I think that one can have tight to loose 4a. The tighter 4a is coffee stirrer diameter, while the looser 4a is about the diameter of... well I don't have a good example.

I guess to put it a better way, the tightest 3c hair is about the diameter of a pencil. So 4a hair has a range of diameters from just under the pencil, to the coffee stirrer.

You're not alone, I have been trying to type my hair forever. I have medium 4a curls and tight 3c ones.

 

[honeycomb719]

Is curl diameter size NOT a factor when typing hair?

 

[PittGirl06]

hmmmmm.....I dunno.....I am guessing on my hair type. I will have a better idea once I am fully natural and have more new growth.....I am probably mixed with some other type...

 

[Porsche19]

It is the main factor I think.

 

[so1913]

I thought I was 4a, then some people here tell me I'm a 3c...I don't know. I really don't bother too much these days trying to type it, it is what it is :-D

ETA: Keep in mind (if you look at my photos) that I do have heat damage from my transition in some areas at the front/top of my hair where my hair no longer holds a curl pattern, but more I have more of a "wave" thing going on.

 

[LookieLoo]

I am 4A (with a teensy-tiny sprinkling of 3C at the crown). I think 4A's are similar to 3C's but with a tighter curl pattern. My curl diameter is very small ... like a straw.

To my knowledge, 4B's don't have curls.

 

[PretteePlease]

this is my daughters hair http://public.fotki.com/msportugal/child_transition/804new.html
this is my hair http://public.fotki.com/msportugal/me_natural/text-stitched-01.html hopefully these links work otherwise try the album.
i think it just boils down to this typing thing being a general guide but not an exact science.

 

[nurseN98]

I consider my hair 4a. I always thought it was the size of your curls or coils. I have coils about the size of a pencil, some are a bit smaller. I consider myself 4a but it seems like everybody has a different perspective anyway. The only reason I find it useful is to find ppl with similar hair types to compare products & regimens.

 

[Nanyanika]

I consider my hair mainly 4a, tights coils/curls size of pen spring and 3c at the back. here are pics: these are of my natural hair in 2003.

see the pattern on the ends 4a (note curls are slightly strecthed as it is damp)

see the looser pattern at the back 3c (sorry for the blur, i tried to get in close enough)

 

[Victorian]

I think 4a covers a certain range of curl sizes. I don't think my hair could really be classified as anything besides 4a because it has very definite coils that are very small in diameter. Some people have curls that are a bit bigger than mine, but I would still consider them 4a. Then there is sort of a nebulous transition into the 3's. I think it's the folks in this inbetween range that have the hardest time deciding on an official hair type.
Hair types are just arbitrary general guidelines. It's to be expected that a lot of people won't fit definitely into one or the other.

 

[EbonyEyes]

I consider myself 4a only. The curl hair on the back of my head is slightly tighter than the curl in the front of my hair, but both are 4a. I wouldn't go as far as calling myself a 3c.

-Ebony

 

[jd_bdfly]

I consider my hair 4a. I always thought it was the size of your curls or coils. I have coils about the size of a pencil, some are a bit smaller. I consider myself 4a but it seems like everybody has a different perspective anyway. The only reason I find it useful is to find ppl with similar hair types to compare products & regimens.

Nurse98, I think me may be hair twins. Your texture looks a LOT like mine, and the way your braidouts come out is exactly like how mine look. I used to think I was a 4a/b, but from being on this board I'm realizing that I'm probably a 4a only.

 

[Jenai]

I consider myself to be a 4a because the coils of my newgrowth are very small -- about the size of a coffee stirrer. I have a patch of hair in the back that has looser curls. but still consider it 4a hair.

 

[PittGirl06]

i need some good side by side comparison photos of raw 4a vs 4b vs 4a/b combo!

 

[ximenia]

Deni, I think you're 3c. If your hair produces waves when you oil, brush it and pull it back into a bun, you're a tight 3c. You're hair looks like my 3c patches. It's totally different from my 4a sections because it's much silkier/softer and finer. it also flops when wet. My 4a sections coil up and the hair is fine and soft but it doesn't hang like my 3c parts when wet.

 

[honeycomb719]

Thanx ladies so much for the replies...
I was getting somewhat confused on what truly a 4a hair of hair looks like from some of the albums I was looking at. GiGi, my hair looks like your when wet and somewhat laid down, although my hair will not remain flat to my scalp unless I added some serious product to it .
BlackCardinal, my hair looks like your (clean) shot pic in your album after I've freshly washed mine.
MsPortugal, your daughters ringlet is a PEFECT example of how my curls look, but not as well defined. And, that imagine is the original imagine I had in mine when I thought of 4a hair.
Is guess, I was thinking that the curl size of 4a's wouldn't be any bigger than thos of MsPortugal's daughters ringlets, but then I started seeing curls the size of those fat crayons the preschoolers use to color w/ then my mind went huh :scratchch , maybe I'm wrong. But your ladies have clear that up for me.

Thanx

 

[Country gal]

I could never figure out the hair typing. I think we are so diverse that it would be hard to label us with 4 types of hair types.

 

[PittGirl06]

found this on accident....

http://www.myindianhair.com/Moreinformation.html

Scroll to the bottom and they give you good pics of hair types....my hair is definitely more 4a than anything else.

 

[Jenai]

Exacty my thoughts, Sbaker. Honeycomb I think one of the things with type 4 hair is the amount of frizziness in the hair. My hair has ringlets but they are not as defined as you would say. It frizzes up easily unless there is some product on it. Black Cardinal's hair is how mine looks after washing. I think hair will look different at different lengths too because my hair would not lay down as much when it was shorter LOL.

 

[Divastate]

I'm late to this thread. I consider myself 4a because although my hair has varying sizes of coils/curls I can still easily get a true thick/dense afro. 3c hair (in my opinion at least) is more likely to hang down or out unlike my hair which is gravity defying. This has nothing to do with Andre's definitions or what have you its just something I've noticed.

 

[nurseN98]

Nurse98, I think me may be hair twins. Your texture looks a LOT like mine, and the way your braidouts come out is exactly like how mine look. I used to think I was a 4a/b, but from being on this board I'm realizing that I'm probably a 4a only.

jd, you don't know how long I've been looking for a hair twin. I saw one person once but it wasn't on this board so of course I never saw the page again and can't remember the person. I thought maybe I was 3c but when I see other 3c ladies I realized my 'coily wonder' was a 4a instead

 

[honeycomb719]

I'm late to this thread. I consider myself 4a because although my hair has varying sizes of coils/curls I can still easily get a true thick/dense afro. 3c hair (in my opinion at least) is more likely to hang down or out unlike my hair which is gravity defying. This has nothing to do with Andre's definitions or what have you its just something I've noticed.

, that phase sounds like my hair

 

[harigeek]

I know I'm a 4a by the process of elimination - I know what my hair does not look like. It definitely is not any of the 3s since to me they look shiny, have even length generally, and they seem to have volume. 4b hair looks compact and dense (high volume) to me. Truly 4b is what my brother has - you cannot see or touch his scalp without some effort trying to push the hair out of the way.

Also my hair straightens really easily when I take out cornrows or braids. It looks like I blowdried it. Also I have a lot of thin, silky strands and most of my hair is not the same length. My hair snaps easily and it doesn't have a lot of volume.
HTH!!

 

[kombov_dymond]

Deni, I think you're 3c. If your hair produces waves when you oil, brush it and pull it back into a bun, you're a tight 3c. You're hair looks like my 3c patches. It's totally different from my 4a sections because it's much silkier/softer and finer. it also flops when wet. My 4a sections coil up and the hair is fine and soft but it doesn't hang like my 3c parts when wet.

Very good explanation.

 

[harigeek]

Here's an excellent 4a example - Roshini!


http://www.roshini.net/journal/2004/2004_3.htm

 

[divine]

Here's an excellent 4a example - Roshini!


http://www.roshini.net/journal/2004/2004_3.htm

I consider myself mostly 4a, and my hair doesn't get like that when I wash or dry it.
hmmmmmmmm

 

[Nanyanika]

Deni, I think you're 3c. If your hair produces waves when you oil, brush it and pull it back into a bun, you're a tight 3c. You're hair looks like my 3c patches. It's totally different from my 4a sections because it's much silkier/softer and finer. it also flops when wet. My 4a sections coil up and the hair is fine and soft but it doesn't hang like my 3c parts when wet.

I agree with what you said, when wet my 3c section when would be loose defined curls, it has a silky texture which doesn't hold well when i do two strand twists my 4a sections it coils up doesn't have much shine, and hold styles better.

 

[honeycomb719]

Here's an excellent 4a example - Roshini!


http://www.roshini.net/journal/2004/2004_3.htm

Her hair is really beautiful. She has a nice shape to her hair line too...

 

[CurlyCrly]

honeycomb, I think the differences arise because people on hair forums added their own definitions to what andre' Walker meant by the different hair types. For example, in his book, which is where the 4a came from, I do not recall reading anything about comparing the specific size of the curl (pin spring, pencil, chalk, etc.) to determine what hair type a person was. It seems that many people are using objects and comparing them to the size of their curls (if they have curls) to determine their hair type. I believe he said something like a 3B can be tight corkscrews like cree summer or loose ones, like nicole kidman. Also, the 3c is something that was "invented" on the hair forums too. That is not a type he used in his book. All of these additions to his VERY general hair typing info has increased the confusion over the years.

Also, I really think it is very difficult to compare yourself to another's hair by looking at a picture because you do not know what they did to get their hair that way. You can't feel it or see how fine the strands are. For these reasons, I do not compare my hair to anothers and take it seriously. Just my 2 cents.