Help me type my wurlies please.

[Rosa Harris]

Ok. here is another set of hair typing images for curlies and wurlies-

http://www.naturallycurly.com/hair-types

I want others opnions on this - below are some up close and personals of my fluff without any jell or anything - just co and go.
What ya'll thinks? 3a? 3b? perhaps 2c? I'm leaning more toward 3a myself now. I don't think the curl patern is quite tight enough for 3b. It seems to be much more than I have it currently typed as to me.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7317/13990452172_2842a87503.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/njhJ1C)damflintriver 015 copy (https://flic.kr/p/njhJ1C) by rosarl13 (https://www.flickr.com/people/121893704@N04/), on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7411/14088158455_c1d03041a9.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nsVuFH)damflintriver 0262 copy (https://flic.kr/p/nsVuFH) by rosarl13 (https://www.flickr.com/people/121893704@N04/), on Flickr

You can see how it bumps up trying to curl in the canopy in the above

.https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7444/13901590718_82901dfca2.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nbrhAA)damflintriver 023 (https://flic.kr/p/nbrhAA) by rosarl13 (https://www.flickr.com/people/121893704@N04/), on Flickr

[Charybdis]

To my mind, I would say no curlier than 2c -- for hair in the 3s, I would expect to see more ringlet formation and more poofiness when brushed (based on other photos you've posted). But your hair looks happy and well-cared for! Hard to believe it's i thickness! :)

[lapushka]

Looks like 2a/2b ish to me. If there's a ringlet or two in there, might be 2c.

[Kina]

Rosa, I have the same issue with my hair. I tried the cg way of squeezing the product into my hair, and it went up to shoulder length. I love the curls, but hate how short it feels.

I permed my hair a long time ago, and started using the cg method at the time. Perm grew out but my hair stayed curly. I hadn't realized how curly my natural texture was until after the perm grew out, I'd been treating my hair as if it was straight and didn't realize that I was just combing out all the curls and waves.

Right now, I've reverted to just smoothing product on so that I don't feel as if my hair is short.

Your texture will still be there when you feel like your ready to embrace how curly it can get, you don't HAVE to push the curl if you don't want to lose the length to shrinkage.

Also, you noted that you applied henna. My understanding is that henna often can loosen the curl. Something to keep in mind if you are looking to push it, or alternatively, a way to reduce the amount if you're more comfortable with wavy.

[Rosa Harris]

To my mind, I would say no curlier than 2c -- for hair in the 3s, I would expect to see more ringlet formation and more poofiness when brushed (based on other photos you've posted). But your hair looks happy and well-cared for! Hard to believe it's i thickness! :)

I need to actually hunt down the measuring tape and see for real if it is a i or not. Its kinda like a cotton ball.

It's quite a fluff for what is there and that's why I do not brush it - brushing = disaster! Anything other than smoothing down with my hands is a disaster and when he couldn't stand it anymore the day mattlock took the pics above and go my fingers in it it went cavegirl on me.

However there really are no ringlets unless i finger form them while drying. Scrunching creates an almost zig zag - more than an s pattern but not ringlets. My son's ringlets would just pop up as soon as wet. BANG!

Th e flat ones are carefully finger combed out and smoothed continuously till they dry. The sig pic the first is smoothing out with a boy of coconut butter - the second is smoothed out and down after oil treatment with water-only wash and lightly hot ironed (i know that is a no no but I was wanting a pretty picture) - there is still a lot of oil in it to hold it down which is why it looks so dark.

BTW - love Rumi

[Freija]

Hm, I'd say somewhere between 2b and 3a, but you'd need other pictures to tell properly - it's hard to see your curl pattern when you're outside in the wind (and it's hard to tell from just one part of one day, too)!

I will say that you, like me, have cherub curls, and that makes a big difference to hairtyping - cherub curls can be well into the 3s but not often look it, because they are so fine and delicate (and wispy, and prone to flyaways and one almighty halo!) that they can't hold their ringlets/spirals properly without gel and quick diffuser drying (and probably being cut shorter than your hair or mine is). They get stretched out straight so easily by the weight of long hair, or by the weight of water in wet hair left down to dry, that they look less curly than they really are.

Case in point: when it's very long and one length, my hair falls almost straight but it frizzes a lot; only the ends start to spiral and none of it clumps well. With long layers, it will look very wavy and full of body, not nearly so frizzy, and the ends will be flippy (and if I use product and a diffuser, it spirals loosely). When it's much shorter and layered, though, it spirals quite tightly, I get a lot of shrinkage, and I have the most amazing ringlet curls if I plop or diffuser-dry it.

Also, hair 'poofiness' when brushed isn't a good measure of how curly it is when unbrushed. Some curl patterns will go fluffy, usually when hair is towards the medium and coarse end of the spectrum (because then the individual strands are strong enough in their curl pattern that they will hold on to it regardless of brushing/combing). But some wavy patterns will also go fluffy. Other curl or wave patterns (like mine, and probably yours) will fall much straighter and even flatter, regardless of how curly they were to start with. I find I can be a strong 2c right after washing, but look barely 1c by the time I've combed my hair and maybe slept on it once or twice.

[Rosa Harris]

Hm, I'd say somewhere between 2b and 3a, but you'd need other pictures to tell properly - it's hard to see your curl pattern when you're outside in the wind (and it's hard to tell from just one part of one day, too)!

I will say that you, like me, have cherub curls, and that makes a big difference to hairtyping - cherub curls can be well into the 3s but not often look it, because they are so fine and delicate (and wispy, and prone to flyaways and one almighty halo!) that they can't hold their ringlets/spirals properly without gel and quick diffuser drying (and probably being cut shorter than your hair or mine is). They get stretched out straight so easily by the weight of long hair, or by the weight of water in wet hair left down to dry, that they look less curly than they really are.

Case in point: when it's very long and one length, my hair falls almost straight but it frizzes a lot; only the ends start to spiral and none of it clumps well. With long layers, it will look very wavy and full of body, not nearly so frizzy, and the ends will be flippy (and if I use product and a diffuser, it spirals loosely). When it's much shorter and layered, though, it spirals quite tightly, I get a lot of shrinkage, and I have the most amazing ringlet curls if I plop or diffuser-dry it.

Also, hair 'poofiness' when brushed isn't a good measure of how curly it is when unbrushed. Some curl patterns will go fluffy, usually when hair is towards the medium and coarse end of the spectrum (because then the individual strands are strong enough in their curl pattern that they will hold on to it regardless of brushing/combing). But some wavy patterns will also go fluffy. Other curl or wave patterns (like mine, and probably yours) will fall much straighter and even flatter, regardless of how curly they were to start with. I find I can be a strong 2c right after washing, but look barely 1c by the time I've combed my hair and maybe slept on it once or twice.

Interesting. My hair is very light and almost floats. Its almost not there feeling. Its fine like cat hair - I never notice the shed till I sweep the carpet because I never see he hairs - or find one i my dinner after getting it all the way in my mouth - or someone else's.

What is your fav gells? I'm thinking about running out this morning and grabing me some. The last I got was way too heavy - I got the stuff used for pin ccurling and setting. It scruched up nice but dried very crispy and hard.

[Rosa Harris]

A side note - I know it changes - but my baby pictures up till I was about 5 I had ringlets all over but my hair was short fine fluff. Mom always said they just 'went away'.

[Freija]

Same! I have fine, light, almost translucent ringlets in all of my baby pictures, but they turned into longer waves and odd spirals once my hair started getting long. I know what you mean about the 'not-there' feeling, too. It's such a shock whenever I use anything with silicone these days, because that's the only time my hair ever feels remotely heavy. Just looking at your pictures now, my gut says you'll probably be a 3a when you get your routine down - but as I said, I can't be sure. : )

I'm in the UK, so most of my product recommendations wouldn't help much, I'm afraid - my favourite gels are Umberto Giannini Curl Friends Flirty Curls Scrunching Jelly (but I can't stand the smell!), and Boots' own brand Essentials Purple Firm Hold Gel. Flaxseed gel might work well for you, though, and can be made at home - I'm sure there are threads/recipes for that somewhere here.

Otherwise, I've heard good things about the DevaCurl Light Defining Gel, which you can get in the US; about Bioterra gel, and about something called 'Aura Hypoallergenic Styling Gel' which you can get from Sally's, apparently - lots of people with fine hair on NC.com seem to rave about it, at least!

I've also used plain aloe vera gel in the past, with some success. I live in a very damp climate, though, and aloe vera is a humectant - if it's drier where you live, you might find that it doesn't work so well and even makes your hair dry.

With gel, and cherub curls, the thing is to use as little as possible the first time you try it - just a tiny blob in the palm of your hands - and slowly increase the amount you use each time if you feel you need to. It's so easy to use too much product with such fine, light hair, and it just goes straggly then. You also probably won't need all the creams, butters and lotions that people market to curlies. I get my best hair when I'm using a very mild shampoo and a light 'cone-free conditioner to CWC, followed by a little bit of leave-in conditioner on my (soaking wet) lengths and ends, and then a little gel squeezed in. : )

[Weewah]

Interesting. My hair is very light and almost floats. Its almost not there feeling. Its fine like cat hair - I never notice the shed till I sweep the carpet because I never see he hairs - or find one i my dinner after getting it all the way in my mouth - or someone else's.

What is your fav gells? I'm thinking about running out this morning and grabing me some. The last I got was way too heavy - I got the stuff used for pin ccurling and setting. It scruched up nice but dried very crispy and hard.

When the gel dries crispy and hard that's when you can scrunch your hair while dry to release the gel cast. It's called "scrunch out the crunch", and it gets rid of all the hardness and leaves you with nice defined waves. Gel is great for styling, however I quit using it for the time being because you need to wash it out of your hair before you attempt to detangle. The gel basically glues your hair together so you'll be ripping your hair apart. That's why the curly girl method states that hair is only to be detangled in the shower while covered in conditioner.

But if you wanna try gel, I like the curl scrunch gel by garnier that's found in drugstores, it doesn't build up. Other popular favorites are l.a. looks sport gel, and eco styler gel. A more expensive option is Jessicurl Spiralicious which gives me the best uniform waves, but it can build up and I can't dry detangle with it. My favorite right now though is Kinky Curly Curling Custard because it's less gel-like and more gentle on my hair. I really like finger detangling while dry and the KCCC allows me to do that.

Also, I'd say you are 2b! Like me :)

[spidermom]

I'd say 2A.

[Rosa Harris]

ok fresh pics for this

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5119/13905771198_b3e8757176.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nbNHiQ)curlshenna 007 (https://flic.kr/p/nbNHiQ) by rosarl13 (https://www.flickr.com/people/121893704@N04/), on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7330/13905760330_897ef06488.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nbNE5s)curlshenna 010 (https://flic.kr/p/nbNE5s) by rosarl13 (https://www.flickr.com/people/121893704@N04/), on Flickr

[lapushka]

Yep, definitely sticking to 2a, possibly 2b.

[MINAKO]

I would say it's a 2b. Myself being a 2c i dont have waves ans thighter than that, just deeper with a few more ringlets. 2a on the other hand would be straighter than Rosas hair. Just my opinion. Personally, i wouldnt stress myself to much about the second classifier, most of the curly/wavy heads can go through like 3 different textures in between washes.

[Annibelle]

I would say 2a. Using gel and scrunching will make your hair curlier, whereas your hair is still closer to straight than curly. :) I am 2b, and when I treat my hair as if it's straight, it looks like 1c/2a, and when I treat it curly (meaning doing curly girl and gel), it looks 2c/3a. So your true texture is likely straighter than it appears when you use gel. With gel, I'd say you look 2b. Without, I'd say 2a. Your pattern looks similar to mine, but a bit more stretched.

BUT! If you're new to curly girl, your hair may get wavier with time. When I first started CO washing and using no cones, my hair looked like your most recent pics, but then I started forming ringlets after a couple of months.

Either way, I'd say you're a 2, which means you will probably find ways to wear it straight, wavy, OR curly-- whatever you decide. :)