Help Me Type My Hair (redux, with pics)

[Flynn]

After my rather unfair pictureless initial request (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=24008) for help, I have now managed to get my hands on my brother's 'phone, which contains a camera! (Joy! Hurrah!)

I therefore ask you all, how would you type my hair?

I initially thought 1c/2a, but closer inspection when it is air-dried only reveals that it does not form nice coherent waves, but either twisty waves or spirals. Pictures follow. Tell me what you think.

Unbrushed, brushed (yes, I brush):
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b106/maccallister/unbrushed.jpg http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b106/maccallister/brushed.jpg

Two randomly selected unbrushed "clumps", a randomly selected single strand, lower half, adjusted for better visibility, intended to show spiralling shape (didn't come out so well....)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b106/maccallister/Strand1.jpg http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b106/maccallister/Strand2.jpg http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b106/maccallister/onehair.jpg



ETA: Hm, looking at that, maybe it's time to stop brushing my hair... Additional question: what's your favourite method of detangling your hair while it's still wet? ;p


ETA 2: Would you call that hip length? I thought it was only waist...

[kwaniesiam]

Try a wide toothed comb, or just do not detangle when it is wet. Brushes are notorious for breaking up wave patterns. Based on the pictures I'd say 2a/2b, but maybe if you can fingercomb it when freshly washed and leave it alone to airdry you'll get a better representation of it.

http://hairsense.com/bonecombs.htm

I love those combs, they're sturdy, well made, smooth, and can be used in wet hair. I've had one since shortly after joining LHC and dropped it hundreds of times. It has yet to break or fail me yet!

Regardless of the type, your hair looks beautiful :flowers:

[manderly]

Your hair is too wavy to be brushing :) Time to get a nice comb.

I'd say 2a/2b as well.

[CindyLea1]

I'd say you pegged it at a 2c.

My favorite way to detangle is to use a wide tooth comb in the shower, while it has conditoner on it. Detangle, then try not to fling it around too much rinseing it out. Then I put it up in a towel while I get dressed. I take it out from the towel, and hit it abain with my fingers, or the wide tooth comb again. Then, leave it airdry and do it's thing.

[Flynn]

kwaniesiam Yeah, normally brushing is a good choice for me, because I just wear it braided all the time for safety and practicality reasons (science student, in the lab all the time), and I like it smooth, but I really had no idea what it looked like from behind.

I might have to invest in one of those lovely combs for when I do want to wear it out...

Are they really bakelite? That's so cool! XD *Chemistry geek*

CindyLea1 2c was Spidermom's guess from my description. Last time I dried it loose, I think the "twistiness" was even more pronounced... today's pretty dry.

Thanks... I'm really scared of running anything through my hair while it's still wet, so a detailed description helps ^__^

manderly: Yeah, I really hadn't realised. I don't often look at the back of my own head! *Laughs*


All I didn't fingercomb or anything after washing. I just gave it a quick squeeze with the towel when I got out of the shower and left it wet and slightly dripping.

[manderly]

Oh, and I comb my hair out after I towel dry and put all my leave-ins in. You can then scrunch or twist to bring the wurls and curls back :)

[Flynn]

Oh, and I comb my hair out after I towel dry and put all my leave-ins in. You can then scrunch or twist to bring the wurls and curls back :)

Which reminds me of something I've heard from hairdressers, but never quite believed: do leave-ins make any curl and wave more pronounced? My intuition was that the extra "weight" would kill it, particularly in my reasonably fine hair.

ETA: What do you actually mean by "scrunch"?

[Jules diamond]

2c looks about right. Your hair's beautiful by the way! and you reminded me, I've got to get one of these myself. :b

[Flynn]

Jules diamond Thanks ^__^



So, tally:

2a/2b: 2
2c: 2

Conclusion so far: it's wavy. >_o

[manderly]

Which reminds me of something I've heard from hairdressers, but never quite believed: do leave-ins make any curl and wave more pronounced? My intuition was that the extra "weight" would kill it, particularly in my reasonably fine hair.

ETA: What do you actually mean by "scrunch"?

I think you could definitely go to 2c, but I think your hairtyping photo is pretty pulled out.

I think that's a load. Curls thrive on moisture. Scrunching is when you start from the bottom and squeeze your hair upwards in your fist, squishing the curl back into it. Does that make sense?

Here is my hair with lots of oil and leave-in, scrunched:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/astrauser/CIMG2139.jpg

Here it is brushed:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/astrauser/CIMG1906.jpg

And here is is "regular":
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/astrauser/CIMG1901.jpg

As you can see, waves can vary greatly just by what you do to manipulate them :)


ETA: Here's a thread I recently posted about wavies and hairtyping. Sorry to hijack your thread :oops:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=23849

[tiny_teesha]

I'd say 2b..... Becuase i see there is a wurl, but the curls is so stretched out. Try, (this is better on a REALLY HOT summer day) to wash and do not even scrunch it to get out the drips. On a 40 degree day your hair will dry in as little as an hour from SOPPING wet, I bet you that your hair will be 2c/3a if you don't manipulate it at all.
But from and over all look at your hair it seems 2a/b. But 2b might be a fairer representation of it.

[Flynn]

Manderly Okay, that's good to know ^__^

Yeah, I saw that thread, and thought "that's really true". I know that my hair can drop to almost dead straight (and mum's does go from curly to serious 1a straight, but it's baby-fine and seems to change really easily) when a real dry westerly comes up.

Tiny_teesha That's exactly what was throwing me. It is like what I thought was a 2a/b, but with twisties -- "wurls", I take it -- not flat, coherent waves like I've been seeing on others.

[jivete]

I would say 2a.

[Flynn]

Thanks.

Tally again :

2a: 1
2a/2b: 2
2b: 1
2c: 2

Conclusion so far: it's still wavy. >_o

The average view at this point is 2b.

[PatGear]

I'd say 2a.

[Flynn]

So the consensus seems to be that it doesn't matter that it it's "wurly", rather than flat waves, it still definitely types in the wavy range.

[Nat242]

I'd say 2a/b. Your texture is similar to mine(1c/2a - I was definitely a 2a before henna) but your waves pattern is more consistent. You're solidly a wavy or wurly, but I wouldn't place you in the curly category - the waves are too stretched out.

[Flynn]

Yeah, I'm definitely not a 3 anything... it may be spirals, but its certainly not true curls! What was confusing me, though, was most of the wavies I've seen here, and the hairtyping pictorial guide had properly 2D S-shaped waves, where mine are anything but that.

How do you mean "consistent"?

[Ryanne]

I'd say 2a/2b.

[spidermom]

With waves and spirals, it's 2C. When I want my natural texture at its best, I comb conditioner through in the shower, and then I'm very careful not to mess it around while it dries.

[AnneAdeline]

I'm thinking 2b/2c.
And that's definitely hip. You're even getting close to tailbone.
Your hair is very pretty. :)

[lapushka]

I'm thinking 1c, possibly 2a.

[Furiana]

Tiny_teesha That's exactly what was throwing me. It is like what I thought was a 2a/b, but with twisties -- "wurls", I take it -- not flat, coherent waves like I've been seeing on others.

That's how mine is, too!! :cheese: I'm 2c/3a in wet climates, even 3a in the very wettest. Where I live now, it's rare for my hair to curl like that. I still don't have flat, coherent waves (don't I wish I did!), but the "wurls" are so stretched out that they're more like waves than curls.

So. In other climates, those wurls of yours will probably turn you into a 2c or 2c/3a. But at the moment, your hair looks like 2a/2b to me.

HTH! :flower:

[Flynn]

Ryanne, lapushka Thanks! Yeah, in the brushed pic particularly it's really rather 1c, isn't it?

Spidermom: Thanks; it looks like my original description wasn't too bad after all, then? >_o

AnneAdeline: Thanks ^___^ Yeah, I wear my hair out so rarely, and don't really try to look at the back of it... photographing it has given me some real surprises! *laughs*

Furiana: Yeah, my mum's hair does that too, over the course of the year. It really, seriously goes from sometimes even a 1a to probably a 3b depending on the weather -- dead straight when there's a really hot, dry westerly blowing, very curly when there are those heavy summer storms. (She was a true curly before she had my brothers... now her hair is a lot finer than it used to be, and it used to be fine, which mught be a contributing factor there...) I don't think mine changes quite that dramatically, but once it starts getting humid again, well, we'll see XD These pics were on quite a dry day. Dry enough that my skin was noticing it.

[Furiana]

1a to 3b?! Holy cow! :shocked:

[Flynn]

Deadset. She wears it a little past chin length, and like I said it is really fine, and rather thin (she's probably only a i). When it's humid, as it has been for the past couple of weeks, it springs up into these gorgeous curls -- almost like Shirley Temple gone brunette. When it's really dust-dry, it will drop to dead straight and smooth. It's a home humidity meter! Yesterday, I suspect you guys would have put her somewhere between a 1b/1c and a 2a. Haven't seen her yet today.

ETA: I'm in Sydney, Aus, and depending on the time of year and wind conditions, we go through a very large humidity range, from steam-rising-off-the-road, borderline-tropical damp to duststorm-in-the-desert dry.

[hennaphile]

I type it as "pretty!" :D

[Flynn]

Aw, thanks! ^__^

[Furiana]

Deadset. She wears it a little past chin length, and like I said it is really fine, and rather thin (she's probably only a i). When it's humid, as it has been for the past couple of weeks, it springs up into these gorgeous curls -- almost like Shirley Temple gone brunette. When it's really dust-dry, it will drop to dead straight and smooth. It's a home humidity meter! Yesterday, I suspect you guys would have put her somewhere between a 1b/1c and a 2a. Haven't seen her yet today.

ETA: I'm in Sydney, Aus, and depending on the time of year and wind conditions, we go through a very large humidity range, from steam-rising-off-the-road, borderline-tropical damp to duststorm-in-the-desert dry.

Ohh. Say no more! That's an insane change in humidity. But hey, if you ever want to make meringues (humidity=meringue death), you can always check your mom's hair first! :D Or your own, failing that. ;)

Well. I'm going to have to agree with hennaphile here: type it as "pretty" and be done with it! As soon as you get us to all agree on something, your hair's gonna change anyways! :silly:

Or else you can keep switching your hairtype with the seasons.

Or else you can warn everybody in your signature! WARNING: My hair might look like THIS http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:NXMFB_5AB3XIQM:http://www.redhillsalon.com/images/deion4.jpg or THIS http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:5d28kbNDl598kM:http://celebhairstyle.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/gisele-long-wavy.jpg or THIShttp://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:_SlkgCy3zvV66M:http://z.about.com/d/beauty/1/5/B/H/curls4.JPG!

[Flynn]

*Laughs* Yeah, I haven't been paying enough attention to know how much mine does change with the weather... Like I've said, it lives in a braid pretty well all the time.

I'm keeping an average of people's views to decide, though I'm tempted to revert to Spidermom's original opinion of 'if it has spirals, it's 2c, regardless of how stretched-out they are' (paraphrased).