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View Full Version : I've been mulling this over



HazelBug
May 16th, 2014, 10:10 PM
I wonder why a 4" is considered thick for all hair types when a fine haired individual will have much more hair than a coarse haired individual.

Does anything like that make you wonder?

Nadine <3
May 16th, 2014, 10:23 PM
That's an interesting point... I wonder if my 2 inch pony IS thick just because my strands are so fine...Hmm...

Sarahlabyrinth
May 16th, 2014, 10:50 PM
Yes I have wondered about this. Maybe no one has thought up a thickness measurement system which takes into account that there are fineys and coarsies.

Symphony
May 16th, 2014, 11:01 PM
Maybe it is more about the VOLUME of hair, rather than actually how many strands where are.

I have medium-fine hair that is about 3 inches thick, and perhaps if I had coarse hair It would be 4-5 inches, but it is what it is.

Calaelen
May 16th, 2014, 11:21 PM
My hair is very fine, but I have a ton of it. Generalizing, but it is known that blondes often have the highest number of hairs on their scalp averaging about 140 thousand. While brunettes average 108 thousand, and redheads average 90 thousand.
Of course, the hair type does play a part in the overall thickness. Many darker haired cultures have coarser hair, just think of all the beautiful thick heads of hair that are often seen in Asia, and certain European parts of the continents. Texture plays a big part too in making hair fuller, and results in thicker circumference.

MINAKO
May 16th, 2014, 11:28 PM
Good luck finding out the exact number of strands. ;) I also thought it's called thickness because of the Pony circumfence. Is there any way a type C iii would be cosidered thin?

Tall Blond(ish)
May 17th, 2014, 12:25 AM
Isn't that the reason for classifying hair texture (f/m/c) and volume (i/ii/iii) separately? Obviously no one is going to count hair strands (thought I'm sure sure I'd put it past some people here lol) So, we acknowledge that hair is either fine or coarse, thick or thin and they are two separate things.

florenonite
May 17th, 2014, 06:31 AM
Maybe it is more about the VOLUME of hair, rather than actually how many strands where are.


It is. That's why strand thickness (F/M/C) is separate. They're two independent traits.

The point of hair-typing is to give others an idea of your hair's characteristics so they can better understand the difficulties you face and make better recommendations for fixing them. A common issue many people with iii hair face, for instance, is trying to make comfortable, secure updos. It doesn't matter how many strands are on your head or their individual thicknesses; what matters is that the hair is simply too thick to coil into, say, a lazy wrap bun at APL.

There are cases where strand thickness and overall thickness can both contribute to a particular overall trait of an individual's hair. I strongly suspect that part of the reason my hair takes so long to dry is that it's both fine and thick, so there's a LOT of individual strands, and more water gets trapped between them. However, the same can be said for any pairing of hair type characteristics. Thick and curly hair, for instance, tends to have more volume than fine and straight.

RingletedManiac
May 17th, 2014, 08:21 AM
You have to take in account the volume of the hair. Feel your hair, if there's a ton of it, then you're hair may be somewhat thick.

Larki
May 17th, 2014, 09:47 AM
My hair is very fine, but my ponytail circumference is 3.5 inches. Not really thick, but not super thin either.

DweamGoiL
May 17th, 2014, 10:50 AM
I have fine hair and my ponytail thickness is 3.75, but I definitely consider my hair as thick:

http://i987.photobucket.com/albums/ae360/dweamgoil/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/DryHair-2014_zpsc8c47b32.jpg (http://s987.photobucket.com/user/dweamgoil/media/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/DryHair-2014_zpsc8c47b32.jpg.html)

This is with layers in it. When I had it all one length, it looked even thicker.

Salmonberry
May 17th, 2014, 11:06 AM
Texture can factor in as well. You can have a small circumference, but if your hair is curly it will look thicker when it's down.

meteor
May 17th, 2014, 06:12 PM
I've seen so many threads on measuring hair thickness it detail, it's so confusing, and by now, I wonder if the exact circumferences even matter that much from a purely pragmatic point of view. To me, thick hair is the kind of hair where hair dressers always charge you extra for the sheer amount of hair, any heat styling would take forever, and air-drying takes hours, twisting it into a bun is really hard without sectioning, your hair tends to spit out combs and hair toys of normal sizes. If the hair is very easy to manage but it's always a serious struggle to make hair look voluminous and all braids looks tiny, then maybe that hair is thin? And anything in between is normal, healthy thickness?


Generalizing, but it is known that blondes often have the highest number of hairs on their scalp averaging about 140 thousand. While brunettes average 108 thousand, and redheads average 90 thousand.
Yes, and interestingly, the coarseness has the opposite situation going on, on average:
blondes are more likely to have fine strands, brown/black - medium, red - coarse. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_hair)

florenonite
May 18th, 2014, 06:00 AM
I've seen so many threads on measuring hair thickness it detail, it's so confusing, and by now, I wonder if the exact circumferences even matter that much from a purely pragmatic point of view. To me, thick hair is the kind of hair where hair dressers always charge you extra for the sheer amount of hair, any heat styling would take forever, and air-drying takes hours, twisting it into a bun is really hard without sectioning, your hair tends to spit out combs and hair toys of normal sizes. If the hair is very easy to manage but it's always a serious struggle to make hair look voluminous and all braids looks tiny, then maybe that hair is thin? And anything in between is normal, healthy thickness?

I think you're onto something here. We have specific criteria for different hair types (and not just in terms of thickness), but after you've gotten to know your hair it's not necessarily relevant. I've got myself typed as 1c, even though I'm probably technically a 2a; if I air dry with no manipulation the hair around my face gets spirals (though the hair at the back never gets more than stretched-out S-waves), but because of my hair's thickness I have to towel dry and at least finger comb in order to get it to dry in a reasonable time frame. And that's why, even though once or twice I've measured at a hair under 4", I keep my iii indicator, because my hair, quite simply, behaves like iii hair. My braid is a good 1.5" in width, my hair takes the better part of the day to dry, and I'm past BSL and can only coil my hair enough to do two buns (and one is a disc bun, so technically sectioned).