What is the difference between 3c and 4a hair?

[JJamiah]

I don't quite understand - is their hair straight?
In that case it's not a 3 anything?

My hair has always been straighter when wet, even when I had a TWA.

For the people I know their curl is definately looser and the hair looks longer when wet (type 3s).

LOL @ your baby's hair! I bet it's really cute in spite of all the different textures. My hair was sandy brown when I was a child too, especially in the summers.

Kudos to you for dealing with so many heads of hair every morning!

Not that bad I could have had four girls! Thank heaven for little boys.

I best described it above, 3 hair isn't exactly straight it has form to it, , my 7 year olds hair is straight when wet and a wave pattern when dry.http://www.naturallycurly.com/hair-types
according to this chart it perfectly describes his hair, lol. I mousse his hair in the front to give it a little lip
My other sons hair 9 has a curl to it when towel dried kinda rough if anyone understands me please chime in. Other wise when I wash it, I can form a curl or lay it straight. The sides are always straight until it gets a little longer then his hair too has a bump, top is definitely a 3c no doubt about it. He is picture 3 my half and half actor. he usually enjoys his waves. LOL reminds me of wave caps and brushes! LOL

No 3c's b's or d's are going to act exactly alike. Same way I was questioning my son and my cousins 4a texture.

Oh yes the most I let their hair grow is 2 inches, I only let my son with 4a hair grow, because he wears twist in his hair. I can't form twist with the others so they suffer and go to the barber, yet they are dying for a set of twist, I just can't do it!

 

[drappedup]

Okay, so now that I think I understand the difference between 3C and 4A, and the differences between 4A and 4B......what about the differences between 3B and 3C? And what is 4C hair? Because I have seen hair kinkier than what 4B was said to be.

Yeah, I've googled and stuff on this before, but I can never seem to find a definite and concise answer with good pictorial examples.

 

[Nonie]

Okay, so now that I think I understand the difference between 3C and 4A, and the differences between 4A and 4B......what about the differences between 3B and 3C? And what is 4C hair? Because I have seen hair kinkier than what 4B was said to be.

Yeah, I've googled and stuff on this before, but I can never seem to find a definite and concise answer with good pictorial examples.

There's no such thing as 4C. What people call CNapp hair or 4C is really just manipulated 4B hair so that it appears to have no pattern.

I'm not sure about 3's (coz I tend not to bother my head with things that have little to do with me), but I've always thought that the move from A to B to C involves a tightening of the curl as well as diminishing in size.

So if I were to guess, I'd say 3B has bigger curls than 3C almost like 3A but 3B looks more like compact/compressed springs while 3A looks looser like stretched springs or corkscrews.

I'd guess these are 3A:

And maybe these are 3B:

Anyway this is so outside my league so I'ma pass the mike to someone in the 3's or anyone else who's paid attention to this type and is better qualified at explaining the differences within the group to us.

ETA: And if I were to guess, I'd say Corinne Bailey Rae is 3B/3C:

And on that note, I'ma dodge the tomatoes and promptly exit this post before I get hurt.

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[jupitermoon]

Nonie, don't leave, lol! Seriously. I like how you explain things with pictures included. I'm a pictures person, too.

I think hair typing becomes tricky when texture is considered. My hair is afro like but at the same time my hair feels smooth not cottony.

^^^Dry near naked hair with just a little EVOO for moisture and nothing else. No flash.

Curls sizes. Pictures taken with flash because my hair is very dark in color and doesn't show good detail without flash:

^^^Larger curls on top. Dry 3rd day hair with a little EVOO and Giovanni as a leave in.

My curls get smaller underneath:

^^^^ Dry 3rd day hair with a little EVOO and Giovanni as a leave in.

My smallest curls are underneath:

^^^^Dry 3rd day hair with Giovanni conditioner only as a leave in. My curls are more like "S"'s and less like spirals.

Even in this thread people are describing and percieving the hair types differently and I find it all interesting. This is why I'm not a fan of hair typing. I call my hair curly and highly textured.

 

[ckisland]

CelinaStarr, the pic where you're holding half of your hair up is soo cool!!! You have a ton of curl patterns going on and it makes your hair look so interesting .

I think to really know the difference between 4a and 4b (or 3c for that matter) you have to have dealt with them. I have all three (at least I believe so) on my hair and I think that there are obvious differences between 4a and 4b.

 

[Nina_deF]

Calling NONIE!

My hair is a mixture of textures and some parts don't seem to fit into a catagory at all.

Exhibit A:
S-top that will curl up for nothing

Exibit B:
Curls in back, topped up with (what I imagine to be) 3Z (FRIZZ)

No product, airdryed:
No I do not go out like this

I guess I need solutions more than typing but still....

 

[Eisani]

for whoever wanted to see 3c/4a....i am a 3c/4a with a mix of silky strands and not-so-silky strands. my 3c is around the perimeter, my 4a towards the crown. i have about 50-60% shrinkage. these are all WNG pics

I think we're hair twins, but que confusion! This is why I don't even get into the whole hair typing thing.

 

[JJamiah]

There's no such thing as 4C. What people call CNapp hair or 4C is really just manipulated 4B hair so that it appears to have no pattern.

I'm not sure about 3's (coz I tend not to bother my head with things that have little to do with me), but I've always thought that the move from A to B to C involves a tightening of the curl as well as diminishing in size.

So if I were to guess, I'd say 3B has bigger curls than 3C almost like 3A but 3B looks more like compact/compressed springs while 3A looks looser like stretched springs or corkscrews.

I'd guess these are 3A:

And maybe these are 3B:

Anyway this is so outside my league so I'ma pass the mike to someone in the 3's or anyone else who's paid attention to this type and is better qualified at explaining the differences within the group to us.

ETA: And if I were to guess, I'd say Corinne Bailey Rae is 3B/3C:

And on that note, I'ma dodge the tomatoes and promptly exit this post before I get hurt.

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Nonie, don't leave, lol! Seriously. I like how you explain things with pictures included. I'm a pictures person, too.

I think hair typing becomes tricky when texture is considered. My hair is afro like but at the same time my hair feels smooth not cottony.

^^^Dry near naked hair with just a little EVOO for moisture and nothing else. No flash.

Curls sizes. Pictures taken with flash because my hair is very dark in color and doesn't show good detail without flash:

^^^Larger curls on top. Dry 3rd day hair with a little EVOO and Giovanni as a leave in.

My curls get smaller underneath:

^^^^ Dry 3rd day hair with a little EVOO and Giovanni as a leave in.

My smallest curls are underneath:

^^^^Dry 3rd day hair with Giovanni conditioner only as a leave in. My curls are more like "S"'s and less like spirals.

Even in this thread people are describing and percieving the hair types differently and I find it all interesting. This is why I'm not a fan of hair typing. I call my hair curly and highly textured.

Calling NONIE!

My hair is a mixture of textures and some parts don't seem to fit into a catagory at all.

Exhibit A:
S-top that will curl up for nothing

Exibit B:
Curls in back, topped up with (what I imagine to be) 3Z (FRIZZ)

No product, airdryed:
No I do not go out like this

I guess I need solutions more than typing but still....

Nonie your great at explaining things me on the other hand get all tongue tied and blah blah blah, so don't exit

Ladies your hair beautiful lots of it, LOL!
Off to the dentist, have to make sure those are intact, no use having nice long hair without nice teeth LOL
GB and have a good day!

 

[Stiletto_Diva]

Nonie don't leave yet!! I need your expertise. I've never been able to figure out my hair type because my hair always looks different. I claim 4a/b cause I figure that's the "safe" thing to call it. My hair acts different on a daily basis. One day there are curls another day it’s just fluff. Please help me figure it out.

This is my hair freshly washed, still damp with no product

Hair pulled back into a puff. Puff only has moisturizer and oil on it. Next 4 pictures are the same puff just different angles and distance away from the camera.

Another puff picture with same products as previous puff. Notice the different look in texture and curl size.

Individual strands to show different curl patterns.

Any idea what my hair type is?

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

Okay, so now that I think I understand the difference between 3C and 4A, and the differences between 4A and 4B......what about the differences between 3B and 3C? And what is 4C hair? Because I have seen hair kinkier than what 4B was said to be.

Yeah, I've googled and stuff on this before, but I can never seem to find a definite and concise answer with good pictorial examples.

Here you go!

3A

3B

3C
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I think hair typing becomes tricky when texture is considered. My hair is afro like but at the same time my hair feels smooth not cottony.

^^^Dry near naked hair with just a little EVOO for moisture and nothing else. No flash.

I think in this pic your hair is big but I wouldn't say its afro like.....just poofy....afro textured hair would have more of a tendency to grow up and out....even when your hair is poofy it still hangs down and you can still kinda tell that its curly.

Curls sizes. Pictures taken with flash because my hair is very dark in color and doesn't show good detail without flash:

^^^Larger curls on top. Dry 3rd day hair with a little EVOO and Giovanni as a leave in.

My curls get smaller underneath:

^^^^ Dry 3rd day hair with a little EVOO and Giovanni as a leave in.

My smallest curls are underneath:

^^^^Dry 3rd day hair with Giovanni conditioner only as a leave in. My curls are more like "S"'s and less like spirals.

Even in this thread people are describing and percieving the hair types differently and I find it all interesting. This is why I'm not a fan of hair typing. I call my hair curly and highly textured.

To me your hair type is very clearly evident mostly 3c with maybe a touch of 3b at the crown

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Calling NONIE!

My hair is a mixture of textures and some parts don't seem to fit into a catagory at all.

Exhibit A:
S-top that will curl up for nothing

Exibit B:
Curls in back, topped up with (what I imagine to be) 3Z (FRIZZ)

No product, airdryed:
No I do not go out like this

I guess I need solutions more than typing but still....

I know you didn't ask me...but I love hair typing so I'll respond anyway I think you're a 3c/4a silky combo

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Nonie don't leave yet!! I need your expertise. I've never been able to figure out my hair type because my hair always looks different. I claim 4a/b cause I figure that's the "safe" thing to call it. My hair acts different on a daily basis. One day there are curls another day it’s just fluff. Please help me figure it out.

This is my hair freshly washed, still damp with no product

Hair pulled back into a puff. Puff only has moisturizer and oil on it. Next 4 pictures are the same puff just different angles and distance away from the camera.

Another puff picture with same products as previous puff. Notice the different look in texture and curl size.

Individual strands to show different curl patterns.

Any idea what my hair type is?

You appear to be 4a silky to me....pen spring sized curls and from what I can tell it seems your hair can easily be slicked into a wet bun or make waves you probably have finer strands that make this possible....anywhoo thats my take

 

[lux10023]

Celina you appear to be a great example of 3C
your hair and texture come to mind as in afro but loose springy curl pattern..when it hinkof 3C

 

[Nonie]

Nina_deF and CelinaStarr, you're mostly in the 3C group IMO. Now whether you have some 4A in there, I dunno. I'll let those who are 3C/4A chime on that note. But if I were to put you in just a group, I'd straight up say 3C.

Stilleto Diva, your hair is combed out in all those photos, so it's really hard to say (Do you have a WNG pic?) but if I were to guess, I'd say 4B. Your puffs look very much like mine does in this pic but you seem to have more clumping than I do (which could mean you're 4A):

Song of Serenity, you asked if gel can work on 4B. Work how? What are you hoping it will do? As far as slicking hair down, I think gel can slick down any fine hair and "glue" it down. I just hate sticky hair so I don't use gel. But maybe if you explain what you're trying to achieve with it, I might be able to tell you if I think it can do that on 4B.

 

[Nonie]

Here you go!
You appear to be 4a silky to me....pen spring sized curls and from what I can tell it seems your hair can easily be slicked into a wet bun or make waves you probably have finer strands that make this possible....anywhoo thats my take

BMP, I will trust your opinion coz you work with different textures more than I do. I do notice the waves on the slicked down part and they do appear bigger than would be formed by 4B, so you're probably right. I probably should retire from this typing.

 

[lala]

3c/4a...I'm not sure the folks who are confused (like myself) will be able to identify their hair type based on these illustrations. I've always identified as 4a (based on previous hair typing posted on LHCF), yet my hair texture is no where near the 4a types displayed in this thread . I'd been relaxing my hair for over 15+ years and was typing my hair with chemicals in my hair. Now, that I'm 8-9 months post, I see that my hair type doesn't fall into these categories. I'm just gonna say that my hair is textured because that's what it is.

 

[ms.blue]

My hair looks like geminigirl execpt the lower bottom half of head is silkier and the curls are slightly larger. Does texture also cause confusion in determining hair type?

 

[wavezncurlz]

This is fun!
Our hair is soo amazing! I love all the variety.

BMP - according to the pictures you've posted I'm a 3bc - maybe some 3a. I have mostly silky texture and it's fine but dense. Would you agree?

I agree with Flowergirl - my hair wet looks straight/wavy. It dries with curls.

Can ya'll help me with my girls?

DD2 - she's 2. Her hair is very curly. Here it is freshly washed and styled.

It doesn't stay that smooth though. As the day goes on, it gets fuzzy at the crown and the pigtails are more poofy:

DD1 is so far my hair twin:
Here is her hair in a wng

a different wng - different products- her curls are tighter here?!?

and hair styled in ponytails

If you look in my photobucket account in the folder called "experiments with my girls" (password in profile) you'll see how different their hair can look depending upon the style, product, and manipulation. What would you say their hairtypes are?



TIA!

 

[FlowerHair]

Wavez - your girls are soooo pretty!!!

I agree that DD1 is your hair twin, you both have a very silky type of 3b/c. DD2 looks more like a 3c/4a to me?

 

[Stiletto_Diva]

Stilleto Diva, your hair is combed out in all those photos, so it's really hard to say (Do you have a WNG pic?) but if I were to guess, I'd say 4B. Your puffs look very much like mine does in this pic but you seem to have more clumping than I do (which could mean you're 4A):

This is my "WnG" Lol. The only parts of my hair that have been brushed are the edges that are laying down. The rest of my hair hasn't been combed.That's why I was so confused as to how I could do the same thing on different days and get different results (one day having defined curls, the next just fluff).The first picture is me fresh out of the shower after washing my hair. The only manipulation in that picture is from me pat drying my hair.

I think I will just keep claiming both types because I probably have a little bit of both mixed on my head.

 

[FlowerHair]

I think my hair is a 3b/c, maybe leaning more towards a 3b?
The curls are fairly loose and big, but the texture is more like CelinaStarr's.

My naked hair (no products, just air dried):

A bright picture where you can really see the texture and curl size. Products: olive oil.

Dry hair brushed, it takes on a more fro-like texture:

 

[Nonie]

This is my "WnG" Lol. The only parts of my hair that have been brushed are the edges that are laying down. The rest of my hair hasn't been combed.That's why I was so confused as to how I could do the same thing on different days and get different results (one day having defined curls, the next just fluff).The first picture is me fresh out of the shower after washing my hair. The only manipulation in that picture is from me pat drying my hair.

I think I will just keep claiming both types because I probably have a little bit of both mixed on my head.

OK, then I will have to disagree with BMP and say you're 4B even with the sheen. I say that because your hair looks like Mandy's and the only difference is unlike Mandy's which is free, yours is pushed together into a compact mass. The ends clump like Afrokink's ends do...but the base does not, which is a characteristic of 4B.

ETA: Or maybe that's what people call 4A/B? Can we just talk about the weather? It's balmy in Hogwarts today!

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

/\ LOL! Nonie you wylin today....you know stilettodiva is a 4a silky her coils are larger and way more evident then yours....stop playin!

FlowerHair you hit the nail on the head with the self typing! Mostly 3b with possibly a touch of c

~*~*~*~ ​

This is fun!
Our hair is soo amazing! I love all the variety.

BMP - according to the pictures you've posted I'm a 3bc - maybe some 3a. I have mostly silky texture and it's fine but dense. Would you agree?

I agree with Flowergirl - my hair wet looks straight/wavy. It dries with curls.

You're right on the money 100% in agreement

Can ya'll help me with my girls?

DD2 - she's 2. Her hair is very curly. Here it is freshly washed and styled.

It doesn't stay that smooth though. As the day goes on, it gets fuzzy at the crown and the pigtails are more poofy:

DD1 is so far my hair twin:
Here is her hair in a wng

a different wng - different products- her curls are tighter here?!?

and hair styled in ponytails

If you look in my photobucket account in the folder called "experiments with my girls" (password in profile) you'll see how different their hair can look depending upon the style, product, and manipulation. What would you say their hairtypes are?



TIA!

Both those cutie pies appear to be 3c Your babies are absolutely gorgeous!!!

 

[blkbeauty]

Me too...and actually people always said that my hair texture is curly. I see it as kinky instead of curly and I have rated my hair as 4A instead of 3C. However from looking at the pics I am not sure.

Could there be an in between 3C or 4A?

 

[Stiletto_Diva]

OK, then I will have to disagree with BMP and say you're 4B even with the sheen. I say that because your hair looks like Mandy's and the only difference is unlike Mandy's which is free, yours is pushed together into a compact mass. The ends clump like Afrokink's ends do...but the base does not, which is a characteristic of 4B.

ETA: Or maybe that's what people call 4A/B? Can we just talk about the weather? It's balmy in Hogwarts today!

/\ LOL! Nonie you wylin today....you know stilettodiva is a 4a silky her coils are larger and way more evident then yours....stop playin!

And that's why I'm sticking to 4a/b lol. Even the experts can't agree on what my hair type is. Now I don't feel so bad about being totally confused about my hair type for the past few years.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

/\ Yea I think 4a/b is pretty accurate anyhow

 

[wavezncurlz]

thanks guys! I'm subbing to this thread.

 

[wavezncurlz]

Wavez - your girls are soooo pretty!!!

I agree that DD1 is your hair twin, you both have a very silky type of 3b/c. DD2 looks more like a 3c/4a to me?

I tend to agree. Thanks!

 

[lilsparkle825]

I think we're hair twins, but que confusion! This is why I don't even get into the whole hair typing thing.

Really?? I love your hair, but don't think I've ever seen too many pics of your texture!! This excites me!

I think hair typing only gets confusing when people try to incorporate things like density, porosity or thickness. Like BMP said earlier, this system only takes diameter into consideration. One person's 3c can look totally different from someone else's, especially if one is more silky than another or one person has more s-shaped waves than curls. For instance, I have both 3c curls and s-shaped things that never quite turn into corkscrews on my head....and while some are silky and reflect a lot of light, other areas are dull and sort of dry.

 

[jupitermoon]

Really?? I love your hair, but don't think I've ever seen too many pics of your texture!! This excites me!

I think hair typing only gets confusing when people try to incorporate things like density, porosity or thickness. Like BMP said earlier, this system only takes diameter into consideration. One person's 3c can look totally different from someone else's, especially if one is more silky than another or one person has more s-shaped waves than curls. For instance, I have both 3c curls and s-shaped things that never quite turn into corkscrews on my head....and while some are silky and reflect a lot of light, other areas are dull and sort of dry.

Agree. That's why I describe hair as straight, wavy, curly, or coily/kinky.

I've too noticed how curly hair can be s-shaped, spiral or corkscrew shaped. There's just too much variation that the hair typing system doesn't consider.

 

[Nonie]

/\ Yea I think 4a/b is pretty accurate anyhow

OK, we can agree on that.

You know BMP, when it comes to experience, you are the pro coz you handle other folks' hair (while Nonie only deals with her hair and her cats' fur) and so you can probably tell the types with your eyes closed. So I won't even take this outside with you.

I'd wait to hear BMP's take on this, blkbeauty, but personally I'd call hair that is in-between 3C and 4A, 3C/4A. That's what I see in LynnieB's hair.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

/\ lol thanks hun! You still give some of the most easy to understand comprehensive explanations around

blkbeauty I'd have to see some naked/and or wet hair pix to know