You mean I don't have straight hair??

[RadiantNeedle]

I used to have practically pin-straight hair. When I was pretty young I wore it very long, and never blow dried it. Then when I was a teen and had some layers put in and varied between chin length and waist length, I dried it so that it would stay styled and look smooth and frizz free.

I continued blow-drying up until very recently, but still believed I had straight hair. I didn't know anything about hair typing, and believed that my hair 'gets all weird and wavy and curly if I leave it to air dry'. When I brushed it, it would lose the curls, retain about 5% of the waves, and gain a fair amount of volume. And frizz. Soooo my coney serums and hair drier were essentials!

Then I went through a lot of ill health and grew my hair very long, dying it, bleaching it, leaving it alone for many months at a time save for a weekly blow dry. It got so dry, so tangle-prone, and was falling out at an alarming rate. I started learning about sulphates, silicones, etc, and long story short, here I am on this forum.

SO!
I'd originally estimated my hair to be 1b, before I really understood how to hair type. I've tried to let my hair air dry without touching it several times over the last few weeks, but I keep getting impatient! It takes forever! My hair clumps and then won't dry for hours unless I carefully finger comb it or brush it.
So, in this photo my hair is only MOSTLY dry. The under-layers are still piecey and damp. My hair is baking soda clarified with some TRESemme Radiant Care conditioner after, followed by an ACV rinse (which is giving that blonde streak an increasingly brassy glow!).

I seem to have a fair amount of gentle wave, and some of the ringlets that form can start quite high up, particularly around my face. They aren't easy to see here because I didn't flip it all over my shoulders. Its also hard to see the mountain of frizz! Its a bit humid today.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=6184&pictureid=87926

So what's the verdict, ladies and gents? Something in the 2 range, I'm pretty sure. 2a? Do I have enough curl for 2c?

[Barniie]

Id say a 2a seems about right. Maybe even branch to a 2b? But beautiful hair may I add :)

[Lianna]

Your hair is like mine when it was longer. I call myself a 2c because of some few curls at the bottom. I think you're 2b.

[DragonLady]

I don't know much about typing, but your hair is gorgeous! :)

[Roscata]

It looks like 2b to me.

[Sammich]

Your hair is gorgeous, love the colours. I'd say about 2b. :)

[Yozhik]

I'd give it 2a.

And very pretty, too! Enjoy your newly-found waves. :)

[ericthegreat]

Well, you said that your hair was still somewhat damp in this picture, and that you are guilty of handling it, so its hard to tell if this picture is even your true hairtype. If you want to really know your true hairtype, washing your hair again like usual but after washing, don't apply ANY other products in it whatsover. Also, don't comb it out, brush it, and really try your best to not touch it, that way your natural wave formation can fully happen without any interference.

[torrilin]

Agreeing with Eric here...

Now that a hint of natural wave has shown up in my hair and I'm slooooowly learning to work with it, I can make it look like I'm a 1c, maybe even a 2a. Or I can go the other way and go back to looking like a 1a (which is what I thought I was).

The big thing to watch is that as you get better at coping with your natural hair, the tangling will lessen. In my hair, once I realized the clumping was protective for the pitiful amount of natural wave I have, it made a huge difference. Trying to break up the clumps causes a little bit of mechanical damage.

[Lady Mary]

:waving: Totally unrelated but... I adore your hair, the colors are fantastic!

[GRU]

Try CO-washing and leaving in some conditioner afterward, and you might find even more wave/wurl/curl!

[feralnature]

Your hair is beautiful. Mine used to be very straight and is wavy now too, especially a few days after being washed. My siggy pic was taken a few hours after washing so it looks pretty straight.

[RadiantNeedle]

Well, you said that your hair was still somewhat damp in this picture, and that you are guilty of handling it, so its hard to tell if this picture is even your true hairtype. If you want to really know your true hairtype, washing your hair again like usual but after washing, don't apply ANY other products in it whatsover. Also, don't comb it out, brush it, and really try your best to not touch it, that way your natural wave formation can fully happen without any interference.

Oh! I didn't realise it reads like I left product in, finger combed it, handled it, etc!
In that picture I barely touched it at all, only enough to caaaarefully put the majority over my shoulders (layers like to slip forward). I didn't finger comb or brush. I just let it hang down my back while I worked at the computer, and tried not to squish it.
I didn't put a single thing in it after my ACV rinse and after that I rinsed well with cold water, which I don't normally do. I normally blast the length with some cold water but leave the ACV on my scalp.

But! I will try this again and see if I can be patient enough to dry completely. With the weather heating up this will get easier.

[ericthegreat]

Oh! I didn't realise it reads like I left product in, finger combed it, handled it, etc!
In that picture I barely touched it at all, only enough to caaaarefully put the majority over my shoulders (layers like to slip forward). I didn't finger comb or brush. I just let it hang down my back while I worked at the computer, and tried not to squish it.
I didn't put a single thing in it after my ACV rinse and after that I rinsed well with cold water, which I don't normally do. I normally blast the length with some cold water but leave the ACV on my scalp.

But! I will try this again and see if I can be patient enough to dry completely. With the weather heating up this will get easier.

That sounds like you are doing the right thing :). The purpose of hairtyping is that you want to find out your true natural hair texture, without any added stuff to it. Its sounds easy enough, but its actually very hard because we naturally like to neaten up our hair to make it look nice and presentable. We like to comb or brush it out, or at least finger comb it and then apply a little bit of leave-in product or oil. With hairtyping, you can't do any of that. Hairtyping usually means a "bad" hair day for most people, because its what your hair naturally does without you doing anything to make it look nice.

[DavidN]

Oh, yes, RadiantNeedle, your hair is definitely wavy, and I would say at least a 2a! You have wonderful thickness and shine too!

[Anje]

With those ends, I'd say you're wavier than 2a. Probably 2b, maybe even 2b/2c.

[Intransigentia]

no verdict, just another wow.

[Jenn of Pence]

I, too, thought my hair was pretty straight, but I was just in denial I guess. ;) My philosophy about hairtyping is that, while it's good to know what my hair type is, my hair rarely looks like that because I condition it and detangle/comb out of the shower. ;) So in a way it doesn't quite tell the whole story, but it's good to know, especially if you want to swap ideas with someone with a similar hairtype.

[RadiantNeedle]

That sounds like you are doing the right thing :). The purpose of hairtyping is that you want to find out your true natural hair texture, without any added stuff to it. Its sounds easy enough, but its actually very hard because we naturally like to neaten up our hair to make it look nice and presentable. We like to comb or brush it out, or at least finger comb it and then apply a little bit of leave-in product or oil. With hairtyping, you can't do any of that. Hairtyping usually means a "bad" hair day for most people, because its what your hair naturally does without you doing anything to make it look nice.
Yeah, that's why I didn't wait the full 5 hours or however long it would have taken to be mostly dry. I was itching to comb and braid it and get it out of the way so I could work. Long hair = water colours = awkward!

Thank you for all the wonderful compliments, people! That really made me feel better after a yucky day (I have a cold >.<)
So I think I'll stick 2b/2c down for now, at least until I get the patience to try again!