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

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let me have a try lol :blush:

Twist and mix I'm sorry I can't really tell from the pic, I would have to admit I am guessing 4a (maybe some wet hair pics)

Curly reese I think you have type 3c hair but as your hair gets longer I can definately see it being a mix of 3b/c as the weight stretches it. but just judging by the pics you gave i'd say 3c.

Please tell these poor ladies If I have completely missed the target :lachen:
 
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BlackMasterPiece said:
/\ Nonie gives the most comprehensive explanations:yep:

Hair typing is ONLY about curl diameter...nothing else. We shouldn't expect it to tell us about porosity, density, thickness of strands shine or forecast our good hair days or bad hair days....only curl diameter.

I think alot of people on the board are under the mistaken impression that 4a is within the curly range......and its not. 4a is the first sub-set of the kinky hair textures....if you comb 4a hair out it will look like an indistinct cloud.....however if you moisturize 4a hair....you can see some coils with the naked eye.....with 4b hair and above.....even if the hair is moisturized....the coils are sooooo tiny that it will still appear to be an indistinct cloud even with product.
Click to expand...

I've found out that you can define 4b curls with only some gel and some finger manipulation I will post pics soon.
 
Getting this type of hair to blow dry straight is more challenging than for 3a or 3b, but it usually can be done
 
Sapphire_chic said:
let me have a try lol :blush:

Twist and mix I'm sorry I can't really tell from the pic, I would have to admit I am guessing 4a (maybe some wet hair pics)

Curly reese I think you have type 3c hair but as your hair gets longer I can definately see it being a mix of 3b/c as the weight stretches it. but just judging by the pics you gave i'd say 3c.
Please tell these poor ladies If I have completely missed the target :lachen:
Click to expand...

Thanks, it just gets so thick sometimes I wonder myself. Hair type isn't that important to me, but the curiosity is becoming too much..lol
 
Sapphire_chic said:
let me have a try lol :blush:

Twist and mix I'm sorry I can't really tell from the pic, I would have to admit I am guessing 4a (maybe some wet hair pics)

Curly reese I think you have type 3c hair but as your hair gets longer I can definately see it being a mix of 3b/c as the weight stretches it. but just judging by the pics you gave i'd say 3c.

Please tell these poor ladies If I have completely missed the target :lachen:
Click to expand...

Thanks Sapphire_chic,
I believe 4a, yes, until I see other pictures posted here that do not resemble my hair then I'm confused all over again. Can't decide. I guess I expect too much. :look: And maybe I should concentrate on growth rate, but I'm just so tied into this. Did you see this site?
 
ycj1 said:
I have never heard of anything like that before in my life! Look at SEMO's hair! I guess yr friend would have a fit if she saw her's! It does not matter what the skin color of a black person is regarding hair type.

I've seen the most beautiful heads of hair on dark skinned people! Da** she really needs to be educated on different hair types and not different skin tones!
Click to expand...

I know that was so funny...My 25 y/o niece has a beautiful dark chocolate complexion and she has natural hair like 2b/2c .....It is almost completely straight with a few waves here and there...and my sister is black and so is her father
 
LaFemmeNaturelle said:
^^By beautiful you mean.....well taken care of and healthy looking riiiiight?


SMH!
Click to expand...
Of course I do! Healthy, strong. Not necessarily has to be down a person's back to be beautiful. I used SEMO's as an example because of her skin tone being gorgeous as well but you don't have to be light skin to have gorgeous hair is what I am saying! That's all
 
softblackcotton said:
I've found out that you can define 4b curls with only some gel and some finger manipulation I will post pics soon.
Click to expand...

That is something we 4B's know. It's called shingling. It's the only way to define curls on 4B. It involves stretching the hair and then letting it spring back down. The strethching opens up the coils so that when they spring back down they cup those beside them to form a more clearly seen spiral. It takes a lot of work. And it is necessary for the tiny curls of 4B hair.

4A on the other hand can just be defined with a simple WNG. So can 3's. And that's because their coils are bigger and easily cup each other without the need to be opened up.

Tkj25 has nice photos of his shingled 4B hair so we have seen it before.

When it comes WNGs though, from close up, you can see the coils on 4B, but from far it looks like an uncombed mess.
 
Boujoichic said:
Nonie could you help me with typing I think Im 4A\3C
I posted in the type thread here is a link with pics
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?p=11597966&highlight=#post11597966
I think Im 4A in the front with 3C in the middle and back. My hair kinda S waves in the front with a little curl on the end then in the middle and back I get big curls a little bigger than a pencil in diameter like pinky sized and they feel very silky
Click to expand...

My guess is you're right, 3C/4A. You hair looks like LynnieB's hair and she's my idea of 3C/4A.
 
Alas, I was cursed with having both on my head. 3C at the front, edges, nape and crown, 4A in the back.

So I can't wear an afro all by itself anymore (only when I had short hair after the BC). I can only do a puff, which takes a lot of manipulation because I have to set it way back, comb out the curls up front and press them down a lot to get them to appear as compact as the ones in back.

I also can't really do a WNG because while the front of my hair falls in looser curls with length and definition, the back shrinks up more and the curls have tighter spirals. So it always looks really uneven and short in the back, and up front gel makes it hang too long and nearly straightens the curls out.
 
BlackMasterPiece said:
I posted the pictures of her comb coils to simply make her coil diameter more obvious since it hard to tell in the pics I posted :) .....when you do comb coils on someone you're simply defining their natural coil diameter....it doesn't alter the width of the coils like setting it in rollers would.

Hair typing is all about curl diameter and nothing else....thats the most important thing to keep in mind. Really the biggest point that was made here is that 4a is the widest coil of the kinky hair types and the coils get smaller from there:yep:
Click to expand...
i thought 4b and C are not coily .:spinning:
 
nikolite said:
Alas, I was cursed with having both on my head. 3C at the front, edges, nape and crown, 4A in the back.

So I can't wear an afro all by itself anymore (only when I had short hair after the BC). I can only do a puff, which takes a lot of manipulation because I have to set it way back, comb out the curls up front and press them down a lot to get them to appear as compact as the ones in back.

I also can't really do a WNG because while the front of my hair falls in looser curls with length and definition, the back shrinks up more and the curls have tighter spirals. So it always looks really uneven and short in the back, and up front gel makes it hang too long and nearly straightens the curls out.
Click to expand...

Could you go to a hair salon that specializes in curls to get it evened out a bit and cut in a style you might want for WNG purposes?

My hair has various textures as well and another trick I use for drying is to wear it on a bun high up on my head (this stretches out the back).

HTH!
 
I'm so subbing to this thread. I wanted to know what my hair type was, but I'm still transitioning so it might be difficult to decipher even though my NG has some defined curls to them. Oh to be patient :rolleyes:
 
I'm soooooo curious and confused now but on the other hand I haven't done a wash and go in a loooong time... I thought I was 3c/4a but by some of these pics I think I'm 4b.
 
Nonie said:
16incCurlyLW-1.jpg
Click to expand...


This actually resembles my fro alot :giggle:
 
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