What is 'good' hair?

[SheenaVee]

And I mean the 'other' definition.

Yeah, we know that good hair is simply healthy hair, but that's not what a lot of people outside the hair boards think.

So what is 'good' hair and what is 'good' hair dependent on?

Is it dependent on the size of curl, (large v small) texture of the hair, (silky v cottony) length of the hair (long v short) or maybe a certain combo of all three? e.g. large curls, silky texture, long hair.

Or can someone just have one of the 'good' attributes and still be considered to have good hair?
e.g. small curls, silky texture, short hair.
or large curls, cottony texture, short hair.
or small curls, cottony texture, long hair.

Discuss?

 

[Amerie2304]

 

[Qualitee]

Healthy hair.

 

[LadyRaider]

Google "good hair" and you come up with a picture of my hair. Oh yeah... I got that good hair!

 

[MissDarcei]

I always thought that "good hair" was hair that had big curls or waves. Hair that didn't need a relaxer and could be easily straightened with heat. It is perceived to be very manageable and very easy to grow like "mixed girl hair". You HAVE to be mixed to have good hair btw

 

[pookaloo83]

 

[SheenaVee]

^^^ Lol. No, but seriously.

I never knew the term 'good hair' till the boards. Just wanna discuss what people actually mean or think of when they think of 'good' hair.

 

[SmileyNY]

Sent from my iPhone 4 using LHCF

 

[aquajoyice]

Healthy hair is good hair IMO

 

[BraunSugar]

I'm leaving this thread riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight now!

 

[belldandy]

good hair is hair that is on your head.

 

[mzteaze]

I've always heard others basically call hair that is manageable and easy to style without lots of chemical intervention - "good hair".

Recently my mother told me I had "good hair" because it was soft and had a "cute" natural curl. Internal *side eye*

 

[SheenaVee]

C'mon guise! LOL! Stop with the GIFs and give me some actual responses.

And yes, good hair is healthy hair. We all, on this board, agree on that. What I'm asking is, what are people's opinions of the other definition of 'good' hair, basically the ignorant definition.

 

[Amerie2304]

I'll jump in the line of fire...outside of this hair board, most people I know (especially guys) consider "coolie" hair = good hair, meaning hair that has a silky texture. I think it's more dependent on hair texture opposed to size of curl/length and realistically speaking, most people with large curls have silkier type hair textures along with long hair.

 

[LadyRaider]

good hair is hair that is on your head.

That's what I said. Good hair is on my head.

I google Good Hair and this is the first pic I got that didn't have anything to do with Chris Rock.

Here it is.... good hair.

 

[pookaloo83]

Pictures of 'good' hair.

 

[pookaloo83]

Oh and looking at your hair OP, you fall under the 'good' hair category.

Don't be acting like you don't know what good hair means OP

 

[Qualitee]

Im going to be real. A lot of people think that anything lower than type 4 hair, especially when its silky textured is considered to be 'good hair'.

 

[Spiffy]

I'm leaving this thread riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight now!

I snorted!

 

[Shadiyah]

what she wants to know is when you are out in the world and people say " good hair" what do they mean by that.... my mother just used that term some weeks ago when my brother brought over a new girlfriend and she was trying to tell me about her and she said and she has good hair.... to her and my great grand mother good hair is that hair that don't get perms that is straight or is wavy or big curls don't have any kitchen. their edges lay without doing anything they can do anything they want with their hair.

So this is what so called good hair is.

 

[LadyRaider]

You know you have good hair when people have told you that all your life. If no one has ever looked at you and said, "You have good hair" then you know... you don't have it.

 

[pookaloo83]

Healthy hair.

Healthy hair is good hair IMO

good hair is hair that is on your head.

Stop trying to be PC. Ya'll know what she means.

 

[SheenaVee]

Oh and looking at your hair OP, you fall under the 'good' hair category.

Don't be acting like you don't know what good hair means OP

LOL! I'm not saying I don't, I have my own opinion I wanna see others.

Because people with long hair say they get the 'good hair' comments. As do people with large curls AND people with small curls. And people with silkier textures too, but then there are others with cottony textures that say they get told they have 'good' hair because they have curls or whatever so obviously people have varying definitions of what they think 'good' hair is.

 

[SmileyNY]

Here's what the New York Times has to say about the subject:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/fashion/27SKIN.html?pagewanted=all


Sent from my iPhone 4 using LHCF

 

[SheenaVee]

Im going to be real. A lot of people think that anything lower than type 4 hair, especially when its silky textured is considered to be 'good hair'.

But people with 4a are considered 'good' haired too, no? See, this is why I'm asking. People have varying definitions.

 

[mzteaze]

C'mon guise! LOL! Stop with the GIFs and give me some actual responses.

And yes, good hair is healthy hair. We all, on this board, agree on that. What I'm asking is, what are people's opinions of the other definition of 'good' hair, basically the ignorant definition.

Here is a decent article about people trying to answer this question as well: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/oct/25/tangled-issue-g/

Some quotes taken from the comments section of the article:

HAIR THAT IS SOFT TO TOUCH WITHOUT THAT GREASY LOOK.

The 'mixed' response: "My mom had good hair. All she had to do was wash it. She'd get it cut into a style every now and then. Otherwise she would let it grow out long and pull it into a pony tail or cut it into a short style. I never saw her with rollers in her hair. She had an older sister with hair like that too. I believe she had some Blackfoot indigenous American blood on her maternal side of the family and that's from where she got her good hair."

 

[Skiggle]

Sheena284 I just asked a male friend and he pointed directly to your hair and few others in this thread.

LOL, he just asked if you're single!

 

[pookaloo83]

But people with 4a are considered 'good' haired too, no? See, this is why I'm asking. People have varying definitions.

Yes. 4a is good hair too. When you start getting to 4b then...... Goes downhill from there.

 

[MissDarcei]

OP, I think that when people see someone with long hair they automatically think "Oh she must have that good hair" regardless of what her hair even looks like. Because that's the only way it could be long right?

 

[Aireen]

I'm sorry... Why can't the OP ask her question without all the popcorn pics? Also, she's asking what's perceived as good hair, not your personal definition. I could understand all these gifs the thread went south but it's already popping up in the first page? Dang... erplexed

OP to actually answer your question, what I've noticed as the public's definition of good hair can be all of these or some of these in combination:

- Hair that is loosely curled in texture; hair in the 3s rank.
- Long hair that grows with ease — doesn't need oils, moisturizers, relaxers, leave-ins to ease handling.
- Straightens easily in heat and can mimic hair that is in the 1s rank without sign of much texture.
- If relaxed, doesn't need too much care or handling and grows past SL — APL and beyond usually.
- If you're a natural that's 4a or 4b, you usually have to have it very long, shiny, and thick to be considered to have 'good hair'. Think, HairCrush. (Although, people usually debate about her texture even though she's stated it already... )

EDIT: Like others said, your hair would fall under the category of 'good hair', OP.