Hair types and the real world.

[Hollyfire3]

Now we all know that here at Long hair Community we have a special way (or ways) to type hair. Curly, thickness and strand type. I am wondering, what does the real world think when they look at your hair. I'm not talking technical i'm saying the people you see everyday, what do they see hair as. I know many people think curls=thickness in the real world, this is not always true. They think all straight haired folks have thin hair unless the hair is visibly volumized. Many also think APL of maybe even SL is considered long. We know most of this not to be true. Curlys and straight haireds can have both thick or thin hair and yes, wavy does exist without heatstyling. Tell me what the real worl thinks your hair is like, especially if you know different. For instnace, a person with F hair can also have iii hair (but it may not look it to the average person)Also, what category (i, ii, ii/iii, iii) is considered "thick" to the average person and what is considered "curly" (2 or 3?) or "straight" (1 or maybe even 2?)(many say my hair is curly but its only 2b/2c).

[spidermom]

I used to see curly, wavy, or straight, and thick or thin.

[jojo]

same here curly is curly, straight is straight and wavy is wavy! i dont see how being on LHC can change what you see? or am i reading this wrong??

eta- probably length wise people would see apl as long yet after seeing all the long hairs on here my perceptions have changed. But texture wise my views are still the same!

[Hollyfire3]

same here curly is curly, straight is straight and wavy is wavy! i dont see how being on LHC can change what you see? or am i reading this wrong??


sorry what i mean is that we tend to get more technical on here. I am not trying to ofend anyone, sorry if this is going to i'll just delete the thread....no i am asking if people ever assume your hair is different then it is. Like, someone with type 4 hair that is i looks iii because of the volume, so most people see it and call it thick. Also, because some do not get technical about curls, they call waves curls where on here, they are waves, not curls. Does this make sense?

[irishlady]

People tell me my hair looks thick. And in the past they've said it looked "poofy", that was because I was trying to straighten it when it's wavy, which meant lots of frizz.

My hair however is not thick, it's actually quite fine and there's not a whole lot of it. It's also very wimpy and I have to be careful how I handle it :rolleyes:

But if it looks thick to the non-LHC person then I must be doing something right :p

[Hollyfire3]

People tell me my hair looks thick. And in the past they've said it looked "poofy", that was because I was trying to straighten it when it's wavy, which meant lots of frizz.

My hair however is not thick, it's actually quite fine and there's not a whole lot of it. It's also very wimpy and I have to be careful how I handle it :rolleyes:

But if it looks thick to the non-LHC person then I must be doing something right :p

Thank you, someone gets this thread. Lol yeah, i understand the poofy thing, i get that alot, and i wasnt trying to straighten it. I'm sure your hair is beautiful, it looks it in your avatar.

[moon2dove]

My hairdresser always said my hair looks thick, but feels fine and I have a lot of it!

[Hollyfire3]

My hairdresser always said my hair looks thick, but feels fine and I have a lot of it!

I like fine hair because its sooo soft, and thick to boot, awsome!

[Shebelina]

People always assume my hair is thin because it is fairly straight, They also think it's ridiculously long. Both of which I know to be untrue.

One of my bast friends has hair almost as long as mine, with a similar hair type. Everyone thinks it's much thicker than mine, when in fact it is thinner. The difference is, hers is far more damaged and therefore is prone to more frizz.

[pepperminttea]

I think most people would describe my hairtype as frizzy, since it's not properly wavy or straight, and the strands are fine-ish so it's flyaway and floaty.

I just wish people wouldn't use fine as another word for thin. I remember someone asked me about my hair once, and I said "It's fine-" (about to say "and thick") and she cut me off and said "Your hair isn't thin!" ... Thanks, but if you just let me finish... :o

[Hollyfire3]

I think most people would describe my hairtype as frizzy, since it's not properly wavy or straight, and the strands are fine-ish so it's flyaway and floaty.

I just wish people wouldn't use fine as another word for thin. I remember someone asked me about my hair once, and I said "It's fine-" (about to say "and thick") and she cut me off and said "Your hair isn't thin!" ... Thanks, but if you just let me finish... :o


Lol yeah, fine/thin another confusion...fine is smaller, delicate strands, (but many people have ALOT of em) where as thin is thin, no matter if the strands are C. I think when i was little, i would have been told i have thinnish hair, because i never took care of it and it was much curlier and overall in bad condition (i think i even used to combine the shampoo and conditioner from seperate bottles and use it! Then, i ripped a brush through wet hair, and called it done, or i blow dryed it till it poofed. But, apparently, my hair has always been thick. Well now it is ridiculoulsly wavy and poofy and thick, and people's perception has since changed alot! I think its funny how the world works like that sometimes...

[CurlyCap]

Yep.

I have super thin hair like my mom. However, my hair tends to make sharpie-sized curls. Very little is needed to attain the vertical. :D

People also think my hair is black. It's actually dark brown, but people only see that when it's straight. It's really frustrating because one would assume I know the color of my own hair, but no one believes me.

[Hollyfire3]

Yep.

I have super thin hair like my mom. However, my hair tends to make sharpie-sized curls. Very little is needed to attain the vertical. :D

People also think my hair is black. It's actually dark brown, but people only see that when it's straight. It's really frustrating because one would assume I know the color of my own hair, but no one believes me.


Oh yeah! Hair color is another factor, many people confuse black and dark brown and dark blonde and light brown. I have seen you hair, and though you say its thin, i understand why someone would call it thick. It is very beautiful!

[MissManda]

I just wish people wouldn't use fine as another word for thin. I remember someone asked me about my hair once, and I said "It's fine-" (about to say "and thick") and she cut me off and said "Your hair isn't thin!" ... Thanks, but if you just let me finish... :o

This.

It drives me batty at times, but I am beginning to accept it as a fact of life. :p Often when I say that I have thick, fine hair, people tend to get confused so I say that I have fine hair but LOTS and LOTS of it. Even then, I'll get responses like "You may have a lot of hair, but it's still thin," "You still don't have that much hair," or a tone of voice/facial expression that seems to say that I must be delusional. :bigeyes: It's pretty difficult to convince them, so I just gave up. :shrug: This happens a lot when I'm having straight, non-fluffy hair days when my hair goes super sleek and silky, but then if I wear my hair in a braid or wavy/curly, all of a sudden my hair gets described as being "really thick."

Before I found LHC, I thought my hair was 1a/F/i/ii.

It isn't related to hair type per se, but this topic reminded me that the rest of the world seems to think that fairytale and/or uneven ends are all split ends. When I was a kid, my parents would let me go several months without a trim and when they told me I needed to get my hair cut, they'd say that it was because I had split ends, and I felt confused. My hair didn't tangle like it does when I get damage/splits and for some reason no one could point out a single split to me when I asked.

[Hollyfire3]

This.

It drives me batty at times, but I am beginning to accept it as a fact of life. :p Often when I say that I have thick, fine hair, people tend to get confused so I say that I have fine hair but LOTS and LOTS of it. Even then, I'll get responses like "You may have a lot of hair, but it's still thin," "You still don't have that much hair," or a tone of voice/facial expression that seems to say that I must be delusional. :bigeyes: It's pretty difficult to convince them, so I just gave up. :shrug: This happens a lot when I'm having straight, non-fluffy hair days when my hair goes super sleek and silky, but then if I wear my hair in a braid or wavy/curly, all of a sudden my hair gets described as being "really thick."

Before I found LHC, I thought my hair was 1a/F/i/ii.

It isn't related to hair type per se, but this topic reminded me that the rest of the world seems to think that fairytale and/or uneven ends are all split ends. When I was a kid, my parents would let me go several months without a trim and when they told me I needed to get my hair cut, they'd say that it was because I had split ends, and I felt confused. My hair didn't tangle like it does when I get damage/splits and for some reason no one could point out a single split to me when I asked.


I hate the thin/fine confusion, its kinda funny that people just dont get it Missmanda. And personally, i don't like fairytaile ends, but on some, they are beautiful. I LOVE your hair btw!

[KatMq5150]

No such thing as wavy hair? Wavy hair is always used as an example of an exemption to Mendelian genetics. Example: people used to think that our offspring were the results of our DNA (though they didn't know what DNA was) blending, however Gregor Mendel disproved this with his pea plant experiments. However wavy hair is an exception, like snap dragons (white bred with purple produces light purple in first generation) in that DNA from parent says "straight" while the other says "curly" and the result is a compromise. If your interested in this look up Gregor Mendel's pea-plant experiments or genetic phenotypes (what we see on the outside) and their genotype (what's going on the inside to create the phenotype).

[KatMq5150]

*disproved with pea plant experiments and discovered the concept of dominant versus recessive genes.

[SheaLynne]

I had the curly=thick and straight=thin issue, since all the years I permed everyone said how thick my hair was, and now that I leave it natural (mostly straight), I am never, ever told that, even though I still have a ponytail circ. of 4.5 inches. DD7 who has naturally curly hair always gets the thick comments now LOL!

[julliams]

Well I figured people had a curly or straight attitude. So I mentioned something to my husband about me having curly hair and he looked confused and said "but you don't have curly hair". I was totally dumfounded. "Well what is it then?" and he said "I don't know, maybe wavy but it's not curly".

I was surprised. So that's coming from a person who has no interest whatsoever in anything to do with the beauty industry, who calls it how he sees it.

So maybe people do notice degrees of curliness. To me growing up, curly hair meant anything from wavy to kinky.

On the thick/thin thing I think people think of it as volume. If you have alot of hair they will call it thick and if you don't have as much, they will call it thin.

[girlcat36]

I have been accused of having thick hair in real life.
It is actually very fine and thin, i/ii. My ponytail is only 2.25 and quickly tapers down to nothing.

[jacqueline101]

I still look at peoples hair the same in some ways thin thick and long and short.

[Amber_Maiden]

People probably look at my hair and think thick with a slight wave. I used to also look at people's hair and think "thin" or "thick", "straight" or "wavy" or "curly".

[KwaveT]

Most people would before LHC think my hair is black, thick, and straight. Since I have started growing it out my hair is full of sweeping S waves. This is my true natural hair but it was hidden through the short hair length.

[luxepiggy]

Most of the world seems to think my hairtype doesn't exist naturally - they assume it's straightened with a flat iron! You wouldn't believe the number of dubious looks I get when I try to explain that it just grows this way (^(oo)^)v

[Hollyfire3]

No such thing as wavy hair? Wavy hair is always used as an example of an exemption to Mendelian genetics. Example: people used to think that our offspring were the results of our DNA (though they didn't know what DNA was) blending, however Gregor Mendel disproved this with his pea plant experiments. However wavy hair is an exception, like snap dragons (white bred with purple produces light purple in first generation) in that DNA from parent says "straight" while the other says "curly" and the result is a compromise. If your interested in this look up Gregor Mendel's pea-plant experiments or genetic phenotypes (what we see on the outside) and their genotype (what's going on the inside to create the phenotype).


I know what you mean, and yes i understand the genes subject. What i mean is that many look at a slightly curly girl (type 2c) and might call them curly haired when in fact they are just type waves. I am not refering to obious "waves" that are more easily identified.

[Hollyfire3]

Most of the world seems to think my hairtype doesn't exist naturally - they assume it's straightened with a flat iron! You wouldn't believe the number of dubious looks I get when I try to explain that it just grows this way (^(oo)^)v


Lol i thought this at first too about your hair luxepiggy. What's the story behind the name? I LOVE cats IRL, so i understand it, i absolutly love that you have are fond of pigs so much, makes me not feel so wierd.
/\_/\
(=O.O=)
(#) (#) my cat siggy if your wondering:D

[Tabihito]

I do know that most people see my 2b/2c-ish hair as being curly. I've only had one or two people really call it like it is, wavy. I think that anything past 2a, people regard as being curly, and a 3a would be "really, really curly!"

[elbow chic]

No such thing as wavy hair? Wavy hair is always used as an example of an exemption to Mendelian genetics. Example: people used to think that our offspring were the results of our DNA (though they didn't know what DNA was) blending, however Gregor Mendel disproved this with his pea plant experiments. However wavy hair is an exception, like snap dragons (white bred with purple produces light purple in first generation) in that DNA from parent says "straight" while the other says "curly" and the result is a compromise. If your interested in this look up Gregor Mendel's pea-plant experiments or genetic phenotypes (what we see on the outside) and their genotype (what's going on the inside to create the phenotype).

I am always trying to explain this to people. Even educated people. :eek: My DD has solid 3a curls, while mine is 2bish. "Did your hair used to be curly like that?"

No...

"did she get it from her dad?"

Well, his hair is wavy too, so two wavy people can produce a wide range of hairtypes...

"but if you both have wavy hair, shouldn't your kids have wavy hair too?"

Genetics is more complicated than that...

:headdesk:

[ladonna]

I consider my hair on the short side, between APL and BSL. I asked my dh if my hair is long yet and he said my hair was longer than most peple's hair.
On the genetics deal... my DH has very tight curl's (he's balding though) and my hair is curly and wavy. So our DD7 has very straight hair that's starting to wave as she ages, my DD3 has very curly hair but the curl's start at her chin or maybe her hair is growing out straight, I'm not sure, and my DS1 has DH's same tight curls and my thick hair.

[dwell_in_safety]

I've always seen thick, thin, and average in thickness, and wavy, curly, and straight. What has changed in my perception is the difference between thin and fine. As pointed out, to most people those seem to carry the same meaning. Not so in my mind anymore. :p

[Mesmerise]

Hmm interesting question. I'm not sure my view of hair has changed much since joining LHC. Except length a bit...I used to consider waist length hair "long" and now... well it's still long, but compared to tbl to classic and beyond, waist seems sort of medium long lol.

As for straightness. I saw straight hair as straight... I guess anything with a bit of wave I saw as wavy (so maybe I'd see 1c as wavy even though it's considered one of the "straights"). Any hair that had a full ringlet curl I'd call curly, even if it was fairly loose (so some 2c hair might fall into that category).

I consider my hair "curly underneath" because it does form actual curls, but it's not 3 hair.

As for thick vs thin... well same thing, although LHC has drawn my attention to it a little more. I mean, I really pay attention to people's pony circs now!!

[Diamond.Eyes]

I used to consider hair as straight, wavy, curly, and thin or think. I never really thought about hair being fine or course though :shrug:.

[Audrey Horne]

The fine/thin confusion really annoys me! "You have big thin hair" or "Of course, your hair is thin" and you never understand what they mean. For them fine=thin... always.
Also wavy seems to be fairly non-existent because it's either straight or curly. If you let your hair be as it is then your waves are most likely to be a product of curlers and styling products. Curls often mean freezies to people... so do baby hairs! :shrug:
Also long hair=damage and whole lots of splits, short hair=healthy. So untrue.

[blondie9912]

I find people ALWAYS misuse the term 'thick'. I hear 'my hairdresser tells me I have such thick hair'. Sorry sweetie, but you have a large volume of fine hair :rolleyes:

[MissManda]

I find people ALWAYS misuse the term 'thick'. I hear 'my hairdresser tells me I have such thick hair'. Sorry sweetie, but you have a large volume of fine hair :rolleyes:

Um, "thick" means having a large volume of hair. Having hairs that are large in diameter is "coarse." The two get confused a lot. ;) So yes, a large volume of ine hair is thick. :)

[noelgirl]

I think it's relative to what the person speaking has. A coworker with type 4 hair has referred to my hair as "straight," but my roomie, who has very fine, straight hair always says that I have "hair that can choke a b****."

[lacefrost]

People see my hair as "big" "long" "kinky" and "fake."

Big through kinky make sense. Fake doesn't. But people assume it is because it's big, long (to society's standards), and hypercurly.

I used to just see hair as long, medium and short. Straight, wavy, curly. I also saw coarse and fine. Just because my hair has always been coarse and been described negatively as coarse my entire life. I causes lots of eyerolling. Yes, my hair is coarse, yours is fine, those are facts. And?

I never really though about super long hair. Classic as a hair length never occurred to me because I'd only even seen it in cartoons.

[lacefrost]

erm. . .total duplicate of my previous post. . .

[auburntressed]

I... tend to refrain from commenting on people's hair. Really.

The way that hair is classified here is pretty much how I have always understood hair when it comes to the fine/coarse and thick/thin definitions. I have never paid much attention to curl classification since my own hair is quite straight now, and in the past never got beyond about a 2b/2c in its curliest days. So that never seemed relevant to me personally.

Folks can get VERY easily offended by innocent comments like, "You have fine hair." They will rage and declare they do NOT have fine hair! They have VERY THICK hair! When fine doesn't even mean they don't have thick hair. Or if one innocently comments that they don't have long hair, they will fume over it. I have seen this happen enough to just keep my mouth shut, because it seems that hair is something that a lot of people are far more emotionally invested in than they care to admit.

The LHC standard of "thick" hair as being a pony of 4" in diameter or greater sits logically with me, so that is gratifying. Most of the people I know who protest that their hair is SO THICK and SO HEAVY probably have a measurement of roughly about 3", give or take a tad. To me, that has never seemed thick. But I do understand that they, along with a large portion of the population, consider it to be "thick." So I don't argue with them. If they think their hair is thick, well, they are the ones who are handling their hair and caring for their hair after all. Their own perception is more important than mine, since that is what they are basing their hair care routine on, one would think.

Even when they try to insinuate or flat out tell me that their hair is thicker than mine, with my 5" of pony, I don't contradict them or make any comments. Which... for some odd reason, I get that a lot? I'm not sure why... but it seems like I very often encounter girls or women who think their hair is so much thicker than mine try to lord it over me... and I look at their braid or their pony and am like... "Ummm...? Glasses?"

The one thing that I have an issue with, though, is determining whether my hair is fine, medium, or coarse. I understand the classification, and I have always understood what it meant. My problem is evaluating my own strands according to that classification. Most of the time, I think my hair is sort of coarse. Sometimes, I think it is fine. This probably means I have "medium" textured hair... But the real problem is that I haven't run my hands through enough other people's hair to get a good feel for the differences that span fine to coarse.

[CurlyCap]

Realized more things that I think and just never really thought about:

1. Coarse to me doesn't mean a large diameter hair strand. It means an unevenly thick hair strand that feels bumpy down it's length.

2. I never consider anyone who isn't a 3 a curly, and have to check myself from "hmmphing" when type 2s complain about their curly hair. Maybe their family is all 1s and they are just as confused about their hair as I was as a kid.

3. People weren't trained as a kid to think about hair the way I was. My dad would always point to long, thick ponytails and mention how healhthy or shiny it looked. It made pretty hair a big deal to me. So usually my hair standards are way off of most peoples.

[CurlyCap]

Realized more things that I think and just never really thought about:

1. Coarse to me doesn't mean a large diameter hair strand. It means an unevenly thick hair strand that feels bumpy down it's length.

2. I never consider anyone who isn't a 3 a curly, and have to check myself from "hmmphing" when type 2s complain about their curly hair. Maybe their family is all 1s and they are just as confused about their hair as I was as a kid.

3. Fine hair isn't healthy. I don't know why people think this. I also don't understand why people don't get the concept that thick, quick growing head hair is often correlated with thick, fast-growing hair EVERYWHERE. So the lady with the long, thick hair gets crap for her bushy eyebrows, while the lady with the thin hair gets crap for limp hair and praise for her lack of body hair. What?

3. People weren't trained as a kid to think about hair the way I was. My dad would always point to long, thick ponytails and mention how healthy or shiny it looked. My dad could have helped found LHC, if it weren't such a "girly" thing to him. His ideas made hair a pretty big deal to me. So usually my hair standards are way off of most peoples and I get really confused when people say they want better hair but don't want to do anything to get it.

[Nevvie]

I don't hear as many people describing their fine hair as thin as much as I hear them describe their thin hair as fine. A good friend of mine has hair that is obviously (to me) text book medium hair that's just a bit on the thin side (I'd guess almost or just barely grazing ii but she'd never let me measure to find out, lol) yet she constantly refers to her hair as 'baby fine' hair that couldn't possibly handle the products I recommend. And I'm not talking about anything exotic here - I'm just trying to get her to deep condition and try a hot oil treatment after the weekly to bi-weekly hair dye sessions (which apparently her hair is NOT too baby fine for). I haven't even worked up the nerve to mention protein yet. I'd also bet that her hair would thicken up considerable without the dye, 3X a day heat and rough brushing. But at least she's somewhat happy with it. So long as she's allowed to refer to it as 'fine' and blame all her problems on said hair type, of course. :P

I hear much the same from one of my cousins who has amazingly coarse strands that feel at least as thick as fish line, very likely thicker. Not a split in sight (ever) and I don't think she could damage it if she tried. I could probably drop a bomb on that hair and not even phase it. But because the strands are rather sparse she's convinced her hair is 'fine'. I think she just isn't ready to hear the word thin. I don't understand why people think that thin is such a bad word, but they do.

My mother also thinks that 'coarse' refers only to rough, brittle hair. When my Father's hair was coming in after chemo finished he was having a bit of trouble during an awkward phase and was talking to me about it. I can't remember exactly what I said but I used the word 'coarse' when referring to his hair and my Mom went nuts. She thought I was insulting him! I tried to explain but she wouldn't even listen.

In the outside world anything past about apl is definitely long and apparently anyone with hair that is 'too thick' or 'too thin' should not have it. Also, my just barely iii hair falls into the 'too thick' category, especially when not straightened. According to at least half a dozen worried family members the fact that my hair is dark, 'long' and 'thick' means I'm at risk of suffering heat stroke in the summer. In Michigan. Yes, even if it's up.

And on humid days when my hair frizzes, it's damaged and time for a haircut. Even if it was smooth and healthy yesterday. It's also much 'healthier' when it's either very curly or very straight (so long as it's smooth!) yet for some unknown reason my hair is damaged when wavy. If you haven't realized it yet, obviously my family members are experts on hair (and everything else that involves critiquing me). I very rarely receive hair related comments from anyone outside of my own family. Heh, gotta love them.

[MissManda]

I... tend to refrain from commenting on people's hair. Really.

The way that hair is classified here is pretty much how I have always understood hair when it comes to the fine/coarse and thick/thin definitions. I have never paid much attention to curl classification since my own hair is quite straight now, and in the past never got beyond about a 2b/2c in its curliest days. So that never seemed relevant to me personally.

Folks can get VERY easily offended by innocent comments like, "You have fine hair." They will rage and declare they do NOT have fine hair! They have VERY THICK hair! When fine doesn't even mean they don't have thick hair. Or if one innocently comments that they don't have long hair, they will fume over it. I have seen this happen enough to just keep my mouth shut, because it seems that hair is something that a lot of people are far more emotionally invested in than they care to admit.

The LHC standard of "thick" hair as being a pony of 4" in diameter or greater sits logically with me, so that is gratifying. Most of the people I know who protest that their hair is SO THICK and SO HEAVY probably have a measurement of roughly about 3", give or take a tad. To me, that has never seemed thick. But I do understand that they, along with a large portion of the population, consider it to be "thick." So I don't argue with them. If they think their hair is thick, well, they are the ones who are handling their hair and caring for their hair after all. Their own perception is more important than mine, since that is what they are basing their hair care routine on, one would think.

Even when they try to insinuate or flat out tell me that their hair is thicker than mine, with my 5" of pony, I don't contradict them or make any comments. Which... for some odd reason, I get that a lot? I'm not sure why... but it seems like I very often encounter girls or women who think their hair is so much thicker than mine try to lord it over me... and I look at their braid or their pony and am like... "Ummm...? Glasses?"

The one thing that I have an issue with, though, is determining whether my hair is fine, medium, or coarse. I understand the classification, and I have always understood what it meant. My problem is evaluating my own strands according to that classification. Most of the time, I think my hair is sort of coarse. Sometimes, I think it is fine. This probably means I have "medium" textured hair... But the real problem is that I haven't run my hands through enough other people's hair to get a good feel for the differences that span fine to coarse.

I learned this the hard way when I was talking with someone a few years ago and I noted that they had fine (and very lovely) hair and they got very upset. I had no clue that a mere observation like that could offend someone so much, but then again, I was told that my hair type was a bad thing, soooo yeah.... I felt horrible about it and have been very careful not to comment on people's hair ever since. :o I wish our culture was more accepting of all hair types and textures.

[jojo]

sorry what i mean is that we tend to get more technical on here. I am not trying to ofend anyone, sorry if this is going to i'll just delete the thread....no i am asking if people ever assume your hair is different then it is. Like, someone with type 4 hair that is i looks iii because of the volume, so most people see it and call it thick. Also, because some do not get technical about curls, they call waves curls where on here, they are waves, not curls. Does this make sense?

Heck no you didnt offend me, i just didnt fully understand what you was asking!:) I see what you mean. Yeah I suppose the one that sticks out for me is people think fine hair= thin hair, when on here we go more into detail looking at individual strands and then the volume. Im sorry if my reply came over a bit arsey to you, id hate to think ive upset anybody:blossom:

[jojo]

My hairdresser always said my hair looks thick, but feels fine and I have a lot of it!

exactly what i always got told too!

I think the main thing with the real world is we are so used to seeing hair straightened and people are not used to seeing hair in its natural state, like it has shorter hairs which naturally stick up, it has more movement and not all natural unmessed about with hair shines, like hair which has had the straighteners run through it, this is why breaking heat is so hard, regardless to what it does to hair it can make it look lovely!

[blondie9912]

Um, "thick" means having a large volume of hair. Having hairs that are large in diameter is "coarse." The two get confused a lot. ;) So yes, a large volume of ine hair is thick. :)

I suppose we utilize different terminology, then :shrug: Coarse hair, IMO, is (like someone who posted after us stated) hair that is thick, stiff, and almost bumpy down the length. I wouldn't considet thick and coarse as synonymous. To me, coarse seems more 'extreme', so to speak, just like I wouldn't describe all fine hair as 'baby- fine'.

I always consider strand thickness to be qualitative qualities like baby-fine, fine/thin, medium, thick, and coarse, while I use quantitative descriptions to depict the volume of one's hair, like 'a large amout of strands' or 'narrow ponytail circumference'.

Ive seen both ways on LHC. I wish we could all agree to one, because it gets rather confusing sometimes :p Fortunately, I don't care all that much about someone's hair statistics...if they have nice hair, they have nice hair! :)

[auburntressed]

I learned this the hard way when I was talking with someone a few years ago and I noted that they had fine (and very lovely) hair and they got very upset. I had no clue that a mere observation like that could offend someone so much, but then again, I was told that my hair type was a bad thing, soooo yeah.... I felt horrible about it and have been very careful not to comment on people's hair ever since. :o I wish our culture was more accepting of all hair types and textures.
I think it just has to do with... hair, like everything else, is subjected to society's very narrow standards, whatever that standard happens to be at the time. Like in our culture, thin is in and fat is bad. The difference is that when it comes to hair, the narrowly-defined standards of beauty are not so narrowly defined. Everyone has their own idea of what is considered "pretty." So messing with a person's idea of what is pretty can really upset them.

I honestly don't think I have known too many people whose hair is thin enough to fall solidly into the i category, but I can see how having hair that thin might cause issues with styling (and therefore be considered "bad" to some folks). Anything that is even slightly ii and up, though, and I don't see what anyone has to worry about. People just have triggers, for whatever reason, and hair seems to be a BIG trigger.

[lacefrost]

The one thing that I have an issue with, though, is determining whether my hair is fine, medium, or coarse. I understand the classification, and I have always understood what it meant. My problem is evaluating my own strands according to that classification. Most of the time, I think my hair is sort of coarse. Sometimes, I think it is fine. This probably means I have "medium" textured hair... But the real problem is that I haven't run my hands through enough other people's hair to get a good feel for the differences that span fine to coarse.

Your hair can be all three. I have fine hair by my ears even though most of it is coarse. To me, coarse hair tends to resemble sewing thread. It's noticeably thicker than the hair on your knuckles (which is fine). It also makes a sounds if you roll it between your fingers. If your hair strands are somewhere between a thread and the hair on your knuckles, it's probably medium.


I suppose we utilize different terminology, then Coarse hair, IMO, is (like someone who posted after us stated) hair that is thick, stiff, and almost bumpy down the length. I wouldn't considet thick and coarse as synonymous. To me, coarse seems more 'extreme', so to speak, just like I wouldn't describe all fine hair as 'baby- fine'.

I always consider strand thickness to be qualitative qualities like baby-fine, fine/thin, medium, thick, and coarse, while I use quantitative descriptions to depict the volume of one's hair, like 'a large amout of strands' or 'narrow ponytail circumference'.

Ive seen both ways on LHC. I wish we could all agree to one, because it gets rather confusing sometimes Fortunately, I don't care all that much about someone's hair statistics...if they have nice hair, they have nice hair!

I think we by and large use Fia's hair typing system. In the Fia system we have curl type 1-4 (straight through hypercurly); F (fine) M (medium) C (coarse); i-iii (thin through thick). So in my case I have hypercurly hair, coarse strands (they're smooth but very thick like thread) and a large volume of hair. It's also possible to have fine and bumpy strands because I have a few of those, whereas my coarse strands are smooth as wire.