Is wavy/curly hair shinier than straight hair?

[Larki]

I have (mostly) straight hair - it looks flat-ironed if I just brush it. And I wouldn't normally consider my hair shiny at all, it's "just hair". But when I have braid waves, or cocoon curls, my hair is suddenly WHOA, SHINY!! I think I heard or read somewhere that straight hair is supposed to be the shiniest because of how it reflects light, but I really don't think that's true. Does anyone have any opinions/science/experience with this?

[MINAKO]

I would say there are different types of straight hair, like one would be very sleek, where all strands lay really flat and close to one another, so that they all reflect light at the same angle. The other kind would be more voluminous and have a bit of fluff to it, hair would apper slightly thicker, but not all strands are paralell and reflect light at various angles, so its diffused and not that visible. Wehn you braid those and bringt them all together to chance direction at the same point, it might change somewhat and make it shinier.
Also i would say, that some of the shine can get lost on lighter hair colors, dark hair of the exact same texture would always appear to have more gloss to it (think black polished car in the sun vs. white polished car in the sun, if that makes sense)

My hair is black and has quiet some shimmer to it, no matter if i leave it natural or straighten it, but it's never getting that super high shine that you would see on other hair, like 1a very slippery asian strands.

[MadeiraD]

From what I understand straight hair tends to reflect more light, but perhaps the way your braid waves work makes the hair more prone to catching light to reflect it (like the contrast between the bits in shadow and the bits in the light is greater so the shine is more noticeable)

[jeanniet]

Curly vs. straight hair strands are different shapes and reflect light differently, so when you curl your hair it isn't "curly" hair, it's "curled straight" hair and doesn't reflect light the way true wavy/curly hair does. Straight hair strands are round; the more wave/curl, the flatter/more oval the strands become. The tighter the curl, the less light reflected, so yes, it's true that wavy/curly hair is less shiny than straight, but to some extent it depends on the individual hairs, level of curl, etc.

[sarahthegemini]

I've always thought that wavy hair is shinier than straight or curly but I guess it varies.

[Nadine <3]

I thought fine hair would look shinier and more sleek while course hair wouldn't be as shiny. Also, I find that having braid waves makes my hair look dull for some reason...

[Hootenanny]

Double post, bah!

[Hootenanny]

One factor that influences the shininess of curly hair is whether or not the hair is also kinky. What I mean by "kinky" is that each hair has a torsion twist: http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2011/05/curly-vs-kinky-what-is-difference.html .

A head of hair that is tightly kinky, or that has kinks on all strands, is less likely to be shiny. This is due to the fact that light is reflected in many directions, both by the twist and by the curl. Quite a few (but by no means all) people with curly hair also have at least some kinks. This explains why a person who curls their straight, non-kinky hair is likely to have curls that are more shiny than naturally curly people.

[Wisé]

I think there are maybe more factors than the pattern, bc. everyone here seems to have very different experiences.

For my hair, it has a lot of shine when curly, but next to none when straightish (I only straightened once in my life -> album, the rest s stretching from combing and wearing braids).

Right now I am in Japan and here I see a lot of shiny coarse & straight hair, but my own hair is fine & curly & shiny.

I think it depends a lot on strands lying in the same direction, so that there is more area in one place that will reflect in the same direction. So straight hair & well defined curly hair - for both of which this holds true - should both reflect well, while brushed hair is more likely to shine not as much if your hair has enough texture to try to defy it.
And while straight hair will reflect light coming from a certain direction a lot better, curly hair will reflect any light around to at least some amount, because of all the different angles in the hair. So I pressume it also depends on the kind of light your having, too.

So far my thoughts on this.

[jocelyn anne]

It depends on the hair product. I have this Korean friend, who use some "essence" on her curly hair. and it looks amazing!

[Mimha]

Shine is also related to the surface of each strand of hair, and its keratin quality. Virgin undamaged hair, with a natural sebum cover, looks far shinier than bleached / heat dried or heat treated / often backcombed hair. And shine is very different from one day to another on the same person too, depending on how much the "scales" on the surface are opened or closed (climate, temperature and humidity, just washed or several days later, use of oil/conditioner or not, etc.). I mean shine is not only linked to its waviness/curliness of to the lack thereof.

[Entangled]

This is interesting. Another thing to consider is that wavies' and curlies' hair can usually take more shine inducing products like oil and still look good, compared to straight hair which can get stringier more visibly. I also think fine versus course plays a huge part, as my medium top hairs are far more shiny than my very course underhairs.

[Hairkay]

I'd say porosity plays a part in shininess too. Low porosity hair types mean the hair shafts will look smoother therefore shine light better than medium porosity and high porosity hair strands.

[languagenut]

My hair is wavy, but not very shiny. But then, it does get rather rough treatment. I'm far too lazy, careless, and impatient to treat my hair "like antique lace". It just grows there, and I have more important things to worry about. So maybe if I pampered my hair it would be shinier.

[lapis_lazuli]

Shine could be attributed to oil as well :) Curlies often oil their hair more than people with straight hair because their natural oils have a harder time making it all the way down the strands. That could be a factor :)

[LongCurlyTress]

Shine could be attributed to oil as well :) Curlies often oil their hair more than people with straight hair because their natural oils have a harder time making it all the way down the strands. That could be a factor :)

Yep! Absolutely correct!! ;)

[Key]

Wavies definitely get different angles of light that can amplify any shininess, I think any advantage over straight hair isn't actually there but just the physics of light hitting the waves.

[yahirwaO.o]

I never really had issues in the shine department to be honest. But my hair look less shiny when I have braid waves.

When I BBB my natural straight texture it magically turns mirror light shiny! I think my natural sebum turns my rather poofy mid ends hair into a sleek curtain thing!

[parkmikii]

I think it depends on the light? For example on a sunny day hair is shinier than on a rainy day, as well as it happens with camera flash. But it can also depend on whether the hair is or isn't oiled, I guess.
I also found that my hair looks shinier when I use silicone products.

[sanari]

My hair is pretty shiny.

http://s7.postimg.org/6f8hm2jkb/image.jpg

[sanari]

The above photo is after a wash, with no oils because I am lazy.