Well since we on it, why is hair typing so important?

S

~Sparklingflame~

New Member
Why does it matter?

What point does it serve?

Do you think products wont work on certain types of hair? It could be diff products wont work for different people regardless to the type.
 
it doesn't matter. and it's pretty pointless, esp. since no1 can agree on it...and no 2 heads are alike, so regardless of "type", not all products and/or techniques will yield the same result for different people.
 
Im personally a bit on the fence about it, when i first decided to go natural last year i didnt know anything about the natural hair community or what i was doing was "going natural". i was big on using all natural products for my children and i had transitioned my household to a more environmental friendly one so the next logical step was for me to stop using chemicals and processed stuff on myself.

Silly me started out looking for an all natural perm i remembered one for late 90's when i didnt find that i decided to just shave my head and when it grows enough i would dread it then i started to do research online and figured out i was going natural and i had bc'ed from then i started reading about different hair types.

Long story short knowing what i thought my hair type was help me with with all my confusion it gave me a bit of focus and it redirected me.

Now that i have been really figuring out what works for me its really not important anymore just like my life my hair is only limited to my own imagination but i wont discredit the system all together cause i must have did 10,000 searches for such and such product for 4b hair or 4b this and that and i fount a lot of great and helpful tips and inspiration along the way.
 
Personally.. in the beginning it was important because I knew nothing about natural hair.. had no idea where to even start.. so for me to find someone whos hair type was supposedly like mine.. it gave me a starting point

NOW that Ive realized what works for some may not work for me.. its pretty pointless :look:
 
It really doesn't matter all that much, in olden LHCF days we didn't care about it as much as it is all over the board in current LHCF days.

I think it has become such a huge deal because of the current natural trend. People are seeking ways to make their new found hair easier, more acceptable to them, People use typing to Judge what products and techniques will work for their hair instead of just getting to know their individual hair.

Using hair typing to decide what to do to ones hair is the easy way out. Instead of doing research all up and through the board, many just search for someone with their hair type, and copy their regimen and products for the quick and easy solution. Not sayin that approach is good or bad, just stating my opinion.
 
I don't really think it matters that much.

Perhaps there are slight differences between thin and thick stranded hair types. It seems that people with thin strands need to detangle more often and be more careful not to get tangles.

As long as you treat your hair gently and add moisture and oils in the proportions that your particular hair seems to need, you should be fine.
 
~Sparklingflame~ said:
Why does it matter?

What point does it serve?

Do you think products wont work on certain types of hair? It could be diff products wont work for different people regardless to the type.
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Quite honestly, I think that hair typing is so important to some people because most people (in real life) think that a certain hair type is ugly and can't grow (4B).

I think some women want validation that their hair is a "prettier" hair type. 4A and up into the 3's. While those who have accepted that they have 4B hair, but their hair looks bad, claim that the other person who has managed to make their kinky hair look nice, obviously does not really have that hair type.

As far as the products, different products work for different people no matter the obvious hair type, meaning curl pattern. People who have no vitamin and mineral deficiencies or medical problems and who take vitamins tend to have better feeling, looking and acting hair; no matter the hair type.

Honestly, some people's hair just look better because they take better care of themselves internally. These people tend to require less things to make their hair appear healthy.

All just my opinion.
 
i understand why alot of people can't stand hair typing, but i find it quite helpful in figuring out what styles may look good on my hair.

for example, type 3s can usually get away with wash and gos but I'm a type 4 and my hair just doesn't do wash and gos. it likes to flex it's kinky muscles :lol:

type 2s can expect their hair to start growing "down" by the time they hit 5 inches. i'm a type 4 and judging from other type 4s experiences, i know it will be a long long time (if ever) that my hair will consider bowing to gravity :yep:

and so on and so forth. for me, it's not about judging or comparing. it's about giving me a starting point for knowing where my best bet is. even though my head of hair is unique to me, i will try washing my hair the way Nonie or Rustic Beauty do before i try the techniques of a type 1, 2, or 3 :yep:

besides, it feels good to know that there are other people out there that can somewhat relate to my hair because our hair types fall in similar ballparks

HTH
 
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I'm relaxed so it doesn't matter to me. People may need to know so that they can determine what styles that they can achieve.
 

For me I look at any advice/tutorial on different hair types. However when it comes to styling I tend to pay more attention to those with similar hair types. For example wash n go/ edge smothing reggies for a 3b/c does nothing on my 4ab hair. I find a lot of times its more the techniques I have to be aware of rather than the products. So yes, its good for me to know my hair tyoe esp at the beginning of my hair journey.
 
alive said:
i understand why alot of people can't stand hair typing, but i find it quite helpful in figuring out what styles may look good on my hair.

for example, type 3s can usually get away with wash and gos but I'm a type 4 and my hair just doesn't do wash and gos. it likes to flex it's kinky muscles :lol:

type 2s can expect their hair to start growing "down" by the time they hit 5 inches. i'm a type 4 and judging from other type 4s experiences, i know it will be a long long time (if ever) that my hair will consider bowing to gravity :yep:

and so on and so forth. for me, it's not about judging or comparing. it's about giving me a starting point for knowing where my best bet is. even though my head of hair is unique to me, i will try washing my hair the way Nonie or Rustic Beauty do before i try the techniques of a type 1, 2, or 3.

besides, it feels good to feel like there are other people out there that can somewhat relate to my hair because our hair types fall in similar ballparks :yep:
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I don't go by hair type here. I have to see pictures of the hair to see if it is similar to mine. There are so many variation of 4B. I feel like 4B is like a badge of honor here.
 
iri9109 said:
it doesn't matter. and it's pretty pointless, esp. since no1 can agree on it...and no 2 heads are alike, so regardless of "type", not all products and/or techniques will yield the same result for different people.
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Concur - since I stopped trying to figure out what my hair type is, my hair has been kicking the booty, because I buy things based my hair behavior rather than how it looks.

Even regarding texture....for instance my hair is med/coarse, but it's low porosity, so usually on coarse hair people may use heavier moisturizers because it's more difficult to soften the hair, but due to my LP heavier stuff does not absorb, so I have been using more water based products for fine hair and they work awesome! I moisturize frequently (daily when I do wngs) so I don't have issues with the moisture not lasting. I also try to keep protein to a minimum (just a dash here and there) in order to avoid build up on my strands that will keep the products/moisture from absorbing.
 
I think it was meant to be a guide and a starting point and it just went left being over-analyzed. I don't think it was ever meant to be inclusive, but the hoopla happens when people feel like some one "MUST" fit into one category or the other.
 
At first hair typing was beneficial for me cause it helped me to locate other naturals with similar hair like mine for styling options and products rather than looking at type 2s and
3s wondering why my hair didn't do what theirs does.

Now that I understand regardless of race there are a ton of hair types and even a type 4 may not like the same products as me, hair typing has become useless because it only refers to curl size and not texture.
 
I think hair type matters. I get most of my technique and product recommendations from women with similar hair types/textures. It cuts down on a lot of the guesswork when trying to nail down a solid regimen.

I firmly believe hair characteristics in general matter... people constantly criticize Andre's system and mention porosity, fine/medium/coarse strands, etc. If we agree that these things should be taken into account, why should hair typing be excluded?

ETA: I'm not hell bent on making people fit into a type. If someone claims type X and I don't agree because nothing about their hair seems to fit my type X, I dont get crazy. Its fine, I just know their methods/techniques/products may not work for me.
 
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I don't know why hair typing is so important to hair boards. If you look at someone's hair you can see whether their hair is similar to yours or not. I have always known that their were differences in people's hair. The good hair/bad hair mindset makes it clear that there are different hair types.

These arguments about hair type sometimes reminds me of the good hair/bad hair mess. Instead of saying good/bad hair we are saying curl pattern and type 1,2,3,4. If your 4b then your hair is unmanageable, can't grow, coarse, and every other negative thing hair can be. But if your hair looks good, is long, manageable then you are anything but a 4b. This seems to be the mindset of some posters. It's like hair typing is used to put people in a box and tell them what they should and shouldn't expect from their hair. And once someone's hair appears to be outside the box then their hair can't possibly be a 1,2,3,4 or whatever. :ohwell:

Hair typing isn't important to me. And the debates on hair type are pointless and just something I read to pass the time.
 
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I think of hairtyping like the pirates code, 'Its more of a set of guidelines'. Taking porosity and strand diameter in consideration does not exclude andre's system...andre's system only specifies curl diameter.

When I first started to transition, hairtyping was very helpful.

I'm not sure why people are equating hairtyping to the 'good hair/bad hair mentality'. That mentality was around before hair typing and it'll be around after it. Thats something completely different.
 
Rei said:
I think of hairtyping like the pirates code, 'Its more of a set of guidelines'. Taking porosity and strand diameter in consideration does not exclude andre's system...andre's system only specifies curl diameter.

When I first started to transition, hairtyping was very helpful.

I'm not sure why people are equating hairtyping to the 'good hair/bad hair mentality'. That mentality was around before hair typing and it'll be around after it. Thats something completely different.
Click to expand...

I don't really think it's all that different. I think it's PC way of saying good hair/bad hair for some people.
 
Hair typing is for the birds. I don't know how I keep getting sucked into these hair typing threads....I actually hate hair typing :look:

LOIS all day everyday for aesthetics, but if you really trying to find out usable info, it is best to find out strand size, density, and porosity to find a true "hair twin."
 
knt1229 said:
I don't really think it's all that different. I think it's PC way of saying good hair/bad hair for some people.
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yeah it probably is, but thats not really inherent in hairtype. if the hairtyping system wasn't around it would still be called 'good hair' or if not then 'the type of hair that curls up' or some other descriptor. my point is mostly that people who have that mentality don't really need andre's system to feel superior (or inferior) to others with different hairtypes. so its not really a failing on the part of the hair typing system but more like a failure on the part of people's mindset, which remains the same no matter what kind of system we use (or don't use)

hair typing has been convenient to me when I use it as a general guideline and not just a rule. /shrug strand size and porosity is important as well but my hair is not going to act the same as a 2 or32b if we have the same strand size and porosity, especially when it comes to detangling techniques and tools etc. So I don't think its completely useless, I just think people take it to be the absolute law and that is the wrong stance to take
 
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It was important to me in the beginning of my transition, but now that its been almost 4 years I realize that even when I see other 3C's my hair just might not act the same. I also learned that my hair is moody and does whatever the hell it wants.

I can't even say hair typing helps me to buy products either. My hair is dry and I need products that provide lots of moisture.
 
It's not. It all comes down to you mastering and knowing your own hair. Complex factors such as genes, diet, nutrition, metabolism, hormones etc play a part in your "hair type". This creates too much diversity to narrow down to a 9, 10, 11 ... sub categories of hair types.
 
I think hair typing comes into play when trying to style hair or looking for a "hair twin". Other than that, your hair will behave however it wants. To base your whole hair journey on hair typing is just asking for trouble imo.
 
Its not important per se, but i have found it helpful to be able to tell what kinds of looks i can or cannot achieve with my natural texture. Andre's system is not the only hair typing system either and i found the ones that include more factors are even more helpful.

I thing hair typing is fun.its fun to see all of the different types of hair and catogorize them.like catching butterflies or something lol
 
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