Silky 4a vs. Coarse 4a

[AmyRose92]

Hi everyone!

I am still confused as to what hair type I really am. I don't know if my texture will remain the same or change in the next year or so since it's been over a month since I BCed (YAY! ) after transitioning for about a year. I like to think that I'm a 4b but I'm not entirely sure.

But my question is how can you tell the difference between a silky 4a and a coarse 4a? Sometimes, when I see a silky 4a, I tend to think it's a 3c instead but I recently met a girl who had coarse 3b hair, so now I'm confused.

 

[westNDNbeauty]

I didn't know there was such a thing as silk and course when it comes to hair typing. Someone enlighten me too.

But I do think it would necessary to see your hair while its wet to determine your true curl parttern.

 

[LaFemmeNaturelle]

Only thing I can tell you is that a silky 4a can easily brush their hair into a smooth silky wavy looking ponytail..not the pony but the edges and hair on top...idk how often a styling aid is used. I used to use gel when I was natural to get that smooth shiny look. As I'm transitioning, I've realized I just need oil so blackmasterpiece told me those are characteristics of silky 4 whereas, she's a coarse 4a and cannot slick her hair into a pony. She explained it in that thread "what is the difference between 3c and 4a" so if you search for it, it should be like on the last page. Also you could search "silky type 4" which is what I did last week and got a couple of pics of examples.

Apparently silky is more finer in texture which gives it the feel and appearance, idk. MY hair isnt really fine but it isnt thick or coarse either.

 

[NikStarrr]

Yea, that hair typing is more geared towards curl size, and doesn't take into account hair texture. I'm a 4a--but I do have a somewhat of a silky texture (not super fine tho), which confuses some into thinking I'm 3c. But then again, my curls have stretched over time from length, so who knows. But, when it comes to products and styles--sometimes texture trumps hair type. So a silkier 4a may behave/respond similar to 3c hair, or if it's a coarser 4a--their hair may respond to products more similar to a 4b.

 

[ms.blue]

My hair below the crown is a silky 4a and the rest is 4a coarse/b and there is a difference. The silky 4a is easier to comb, texture is smoother, it hangs a little better, and it doesn't really need that much product. I also noticed it straightens easier even w/ a blowdryer.

 

[SEMO]

Yea, that hair typing is more geared towards curl size, and doesn't take into account hair texture. I'm a 4a--but I do have a somewhat of a silky texture (not super fine tho), which confuses some into thinking I'm 3c. But then again, my curls have stretched over time from length, so who knows. But, when it comes to products and styles--sometimes texture trumps hair type. So a silkier 4a may behave/respond similar to 3c hair, or if it's a coarser 4a--their hair may respond to products more similar to a 4b.

I completely agree with this explanation, and have found the same things to be true. Parts of my hair, esp at the crown, are sorta silky and lay down easier when pulled into a ponytail. While other parts, like around my front edge, are coarser and take more to lay down. I've also noticed added hair weight stretches my curl pattern from more 4a looking to more 3c looking in places.

 

[Janet']

OP,

Here is the link that Femme was referring to:

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=464028

According to BlackMasterpiece, I am a 3c/4a, but I am DEFINITELY one of the thicker headed ones. My hair is not one of those "add water" heads...I have to use gel and it has got to be a good, thick gel as well to slick the front of my head down.

My hair is not fine, but I don't know if I would categorize it as coarse- it is THICK though-and I agree with NikStar, most times, texture does trump hair type because although I have curls, it definitely does NOT behave the way the fine textured ladies' heads behave...

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

Coarse 4a's are like me and have thick strands. Silky 4a's overall tend to have fine strands.

One of the most obvious distinctions is coarse 4a's have hair that cannot easily be slicked down with water or gel, it also always grows " up and out", even when I achieve waistlength I'll have a gravity-defying round fro. This hair type seldom has "hang" without being manipulated into a style. Coarse 4a's cannot wet-bun and magnetic rollers are not effective on this hair type.

Silky 4a's share many characteristics with those of the type 3 category (except they have coils rather then curls). They will often have "hang", many of them can slick their hair down and get shiny waves with no more than a swipe of their hand, they can easily smooth their wet shrunken hair into a ponytail with a bun. Their coils are more defined and often tend to clump. Many of them can actualy rollerset on traditional rollers and get a smooth result because their hair is much more easily manipulated.

I copied and pasted two perfect examples from the whats the difference between 3c and 4a thread....hope its okay by the two posters.

Here's my hair (last year) w/ no product:

Here's a WNG (earlier last year):

Here's a puff w/ gel on the sides:

Here's a bun pic:

Latest WNG (December):

Here's a pic of two strand twists:

Now contrast that with my coarse coils: The only way my hair can lay relatively close to my scalp is if I divide it in 4 pony's for a fro-hawk and fasten each ponytail holder somewhat tight. I do not hve skiny waves along the sides and there are coilies that just chill along my edges and will not lay down without an uncomfortably tight scarf all night the night before lol.

Here's my friend who is also 4a coarse

Hope that helped AmyRose

 

[virtuenow]

Well answered, BMP (and others). I call mine a dry 4b rather than coarse, but that is fitting as well b/c the strands are thick. It shouldn't be hard to tell if you are one or the other. if you can slick your hair down and your hair has a pattern, u might be a silky smthg. If you cannot lay hair down and do a pony period, then you are a coarse 4b. This hair does not lay down flat to your head and it may appear drier (though very moisturized). When let loose, if you can see coils visibly clumped together (without the use of a microscope), ur probably a silky 4a/b. If instead, you have a big fluffy cloud on your head then you are probably a dry/coarse 4a/b. IF you have a cloud with coils only on the very end of your hair, then you are probably a dry/coarse 4a/b

 

[Sade]

Op thanks for asking this question because lately I have been wondering what hair type and texture I am. I was confused but question kinda answered some of the questions I had.

 

[AmyRose92]

Thank you BMP and virtuenow! Now I can say that I am definitely a coarse 4-something (I still can't figure out if it's 4a or 4b, but I'm leaning towards 4b)

 

[Sharpened]

This silky/coarse thing is too narrow. My hair is neither. On the LOIS system, I would be spongy. Maybe we can combine all of these typing systems into one comprehensive one that would take in all quantifiers. For example, if I combine the Andre, LOIS, and Fia hair typing systems, here is the result for my hair:

Virgin, 4a/b, OS, spongy, m, ii-iii

Now the breakdown:

Virgin: hair that has never been chemically processed, colored or touched by direct heat
4a/b: the size of my coils, from pencil-width and smaller
OS: my shed hair form circles or Zs
spongy: no baby hairs or bee-dee-bees, does not get wet quickly, goes somewhat flat in water, high sheen
m: medium meaning strand density is neither fine nor coarse
ii-iii: overall thickness is greater than average, but not quite voluminous

Now, what other quantifies do we need?

(And, no, I do not have any recent pictures )

 

[♦K.O♦]

I've noticed that some of the very tightly coiled sections of my hair are much silkier than some of the looser coiled/curled sections.

Interesting thread.

 

[virtuenow]

This silky/coarse thing is too narrow. My hair is neither. On the LOIS system, I would be spongy. Maybe we can combine all of these typing systems into one comprehensive one that would take in all quantifiers. For example, if I combine the Andre, LOIS, and Fia hair typing systems, here is the result for my hair:

Virgin, 4a/b, OS, spongy, m, ii-iii

Now the breakdown:

Virgin: hair that has never been chemically processed, colored or touched by direct heat
4a/b: the size of my coils, from pencil-width and smaller
OS: my shed hair form circles or Zs
spongy: no baby hairs or bee-dee-bees, does not get wet quickly, goes somewhat flat in water, high sheen
m: medium meaning strand density is neither fine nor coarse
ii-iii: overall thickness is greater than average, but not quite voluminous

Now, what other quantifies do we need?

(And, no, I do not have any recent pictures )

Yeah, thats alot of quantifiers. I don't get the "OS" though? What does it stand for/what does it mean? I guess I'll have to look up all these typing systems to get this right

 

[GaiasDaughter24]

Thanks BMP! My hair looks A LOT like loulou82. I can lay down my edges with ease. Is she a 4a/4b mix? That's what I classify myself as but my hair looks like hers when dry.

 

[Alta Angel]

Ok, that makes sense. I thought my oldest daughter was possibly a 3c because of the shine and silkiness of her hair. Now I think that she is a silky 4a, while my younger daughter and I are course 4as.

 

[Sharpened]

Yeah, thats alot of quantifiers. I don't get the "OS" though? What does it stand for/what does it mean? I guess I'll have to look up all these typing systems to get this right

The "O" is what most of my shed hairs look like, little circles or spirals. The "S" ones are little crinkly waves that look more like "Zs".

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showpost.php?p=10864552&postcount=199

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showpost.php?p=10874884&postcount=214

 

[Keen]

To me, proudnapps is 3c because her her is wavy not kinky. I don't know if there is a such thing as silky 4 hair type. That's just my opinion...

 

[knt1229]

It doesn't make sense to me that someone's hair can be silky only in the spot where they have gel or some type of product. According to the LOIS hair typing system cottony hair can appear shiny when pulled taunt. I believe these folk are more likely cottony and when pulled back it has high shine that makes more sense because silky hair should be from root to tip not just in one spot with gel or product.

http://www.tytecurl.com/v02/hairtypes.htm

 

[Morenita]

Yea, that hair typing is more geared towards curl size, and doesn't take into account hair texture. I'm a 4a--but I do have a somewhat of a silky texture (not super fine tho), which confuses some into thinking I'm 3c. But then again, my curls have stretched over time from length, so who knows. But, when it comes to products and styles--sometimes texture trumps hair type. So a silkier 4a may behave/respond similar to 3c hair, or if it's a coarser 4a--their hair may respond to products more similar to a 4b.

Now I'm super confused erplexed I always considered you a 3c. Even in your B/C photos you look 3c, but you say 4a silky. Does that mean I'm 4a silky too? My curls are about the size of yours, but I've never really thought of my hair as "silky." It's mostly fine, but my hairline is more coarse and the very edge of it needs gel, so I figured cottony 3c, now idk... I give up lol

 

[purplepeace79]

Proudnapps is my hair twin!!! FINALLY found someone with the SAME hair as me!!! wooooooohoooooo Now where is she??? I'mma stalk her

 

[purplepeace79]

Here's the thing about this hairtyping business. It's confusing as HELL lol

The strip in my siggy shows my hair fully shrunken. Thats after washing, no product, letting it sit for a few hours. It shrivels up into the tightest coils imaginable. The larger picture is my hair, wet after a cowash, with some moisturizer run through it. It shows the texture, which is more of a wavy s-curl.

But then, when I do puffs (usually from braid outs) my hair turns cottony soft

When I slick my hair back into buns, there are waves.
/ponytails

I can also slick it very straight if I use a boars hair brush, and it lays flat and looks silky.

That same hair can look as dry as a brillo pad when shrunken.

What have I learned? I dont focus on the type so much. I experiment with products and see how my hair reacts. I've learned that products like KCCC make me look like I have a jherri curl

I've learned that wet looks = tangles so I stretch my hair most of the time, usually via braid outs.

Whatever my hair type is, I'm not complaining. Its pretty easy to comb, doesnt require a lot of product, and doesn't take long to style.

If anyone has any idea about it, feel free to weigh in, but I just say its 3c/4a *shrug*

 

[Lynnerie]

Is it possible to be in-between a silky/coarse 4a? I can slick my hair back with ease but I don't think I would ever attempt to rollerset my hair on magnetic rollers although I have good results using perm rods but thats not the same is it?. I just don't think it would work for me.

The first pic is my hair blown out, the 2nd is picked out with an afro comb.

The last 3 are wash n go's. I think i am inbetween. Any ideas?

 

[Janet']

/\ Pretty hair!!!

 

[lesedi]

I still think the vast majority of 4a's on the board are actually in the 3 group. I didn't think that hair in the 4 category could be easily slicked back to the point where it could look wavy. JMO

 

[ladychoong]

It is possible to have a silky type 4a, Nisus is an example
of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHpCQFKqqgs&playnext_from=TL&videos=gUaJOG1ZIE0

She also has a fotki....I just love her hairrr!

 

[tatiana]

Is it possible to be in-between a silky/coarse 4a? I can slick my hair back with ease but I don't think I would ever attempt to rollerset my hair on magnetic rollers although I have good results using perm rods but thats not the same is it?. I just don't think it would work for me.

The first pic is my hair blown out, the 2nd is picked out with an afro comb.

The last 3 are wash n go's. I think i am inbetween. Any ideas?

yes it is possible to be in between it is refer to as being satiny

 

[ChristmasCarol]

It is possible to have a silky type 4a, Nisus is an example
of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHpCQFKqqgs&playnext_from=TL&videos=gUaJOG1ZIE0

She also has a fotki....I just love her hairrr!

I would have guessed she was 3c.

 

[ladychoong]

I would have guessed she was 3c.

If you look at her blog and fotki there's many more pics of her hair, her curl size is more 4a with some 3c, but her hair texture makes it is easier to be manipulated and slicked down.

http://www.itsjusthair.com/

http://members.fotki.com/Nisus/about/

That's why hair typing for me can seem like a waste of time at times because really it's more about hair texture, than curl size

 

[Ediese]

To me, proudnapps is 3c because her her is wavy not kinky. I don't know if there is a such thing as silky 4 hair type. That's just my opinion...

I think since her curl diameter is so small, she's classified as 4a. 3c is a bigger curl.