The Official Multi-racial With Multi-textured Hair Thread

[rowie]

Hello Everyone! I've searched the forums including google with "THLC" in my search concerning a thread for people who are "Multi-racial" with "Multi-textured hair," and could not find one, unless there is a really old archive, but just in case this is a new thread (2012 edition) with a picture exhibiting my own multi-textured hair to start this thread, and for everyone to study and analyze (i'm feeling the courage to stand out for people with hair like mine, and the endless search of products, and care dealing with the difficulties this type of hair encompasses). I wish the boards or people in charge of TLHC can finally add a new hair type classification for people like me, like "multi-textured" or "universal" or something along that line because with the evidence I share proves that I do not fit into the usual numbering system.

** Most importantly, I wanted to start a thread for people who have explored endlessly all the LHC threads from the straight to curly, kinky, wurly threads. I've continued to look at all these threads, and I feel like I do not belong to any of these threads, so here is a thread for the multi-textured hair. Hairs that transcend the established 1-4 ABC threads here in LHC, and adding further complex questions to the issue of "hair typing." This thread seeks to compile the methods that works for us. Is there a universal product for this hair type? So far I've only encountered the Tangle Teezer. Do we have to accept that we have to use multiple products for the different textures? Do you have hair that no matter what style you do, it just kinda looks off or you have to put so much work and effort.

[rowie]

hmmm. It must be Sunday, and people are out and about. I just feel so awkward sharing this now.... but I wanted to get this out...it could make for an interesting discussion I suppose...But all are welcome to voice out their opinions.

[Madora]

hmmm. It must be Sunday, and people are out and about. I just feel so awkward sharing this now.... but I wanted to get this out...it could make for an interesting discussion I suppose...But all are welcome to voice out their opinions.

Rowie, I'm sure you'll receive replies to your interesting post. However, it is the weekend and things tend to slow down sometime. It can also happen during the week.

[rowie]

hmmm. I guess it's Sunday, and everyone is out and about. Well, I guess I'll go out for a short drive, we finally have some sunlight here in New Hampshire. I feel soooooo awkward posting this, but i'll check back later and see how this thread goes. Please feel free to voice out your opinions. Thanks Madora!!

[Madora]

hmmm. I guess it's Sunday, and everyone is out and about. Well, I guess I'll go out for a short drive, we finally have some sunlight here in New Hampshire. I feel soooooo awkward posting this, but i'll check back later and see how this thread goes. Please feel free to voice out your opinions. Thanks Madora!!

You have nothing to feel awkward about, rowie! It's only natural that you want to share your feelings.

I might suggest that if you wish to discuss the difficulties of being a multi-racial person, you start a thread on the Friendship Forum. I'm a combination of Ecuadorean, French, Dutch and American.

[Kina]

I'm mixed as well, African / Spanish / Taino

My hair has at the nape tight spiral curls, not buckshot, but not far off either, the crown is probably 1c and the layers in between 2a-2c.

Biggest problem I have with hair is the incessant tangling. I can comb my hair and completely detangle it, starting section by section, but by the time I'm done, the first section is tangled.

I have yet to find any way whatsoever to keep it from tangling. sigh.


Most people guess my ethnicity as North African, which except for the Taino bit, makes sense.

[Copasetic]

I'm glad you made this thread :) I am black, First Nations, and French. My hair is definitely full of different textures and curl patterns. Some parts, especially near my next are quite loose, others are tightly curled.

[Vintagecoilylocks]

Irish. Scotish, Native American, African american here.

For years I was stuck in trying to find the right product for my entire head. I realized after a huge 5 year shed that I had such a combination of textures. The shed let them emerge in distinctive parts of my head. So I began to try and make a one product to suit all. Did not happen. I had to except that I needed several products and routines for the different types. I have just finalized the three different regimines and product applications. It seems to be working. But who knows now that the shedding has stopped I may end up with a greater blend again and have to start from scratch.

My types are in my signature. I took this photo last year. You can clearly see how the change goes from the nape to the crown. The crown was an enemy to the lower hairs because they coiled and curled around the others causing massive tangles. It was dryer and the nape is cottony, wispy and soft.

My nape was always just gone due to knotting. My crown is slow growing and broke off. A few years ago I just told them since you can not get along then you will be separated and have worn it like that ever since. The nape grew longer then I have ever had. Now I have finally came up with the products to tend to each. So tangles are at bay and hopefully it will be able to grow with little stress and damage. We shall see.

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd465/vintagecoilylocks/nikonpixA839-1.jpg

[Silverbrumby]

Following this tread with interest. My soon to be 13 year old son has hair which drives me nuts. His father is french/islander and my sons is.becoming as thick and wiry as his and he wants to keep it long.

[rowie]

You have nothing to feel awkward about, rowie! It's only natural that you want to share your feelings.

I might suggest that if you wish to discuss the difficulties of being a multi-racial person, you start a thread on the Friendship Forum. I'm a combination of Ecuadorean, French, Dutch and American.

Thanks Again Madora! Interesting mix of nationalities in your genes. I've seen you many times around here in LHC and I'm glad to know a little more about you in this thread. I know you are famous for BBB'ing your hair, so I know a little of you hair care routine. Secretly, when I first joined LHC my hair was so short that I love the boar bristle brush, but now that my hair is growing and more prone to tangles, the bbb isn't working for my current shoulder length. Perhaps I'll give the BBB a try when I reach longer lengths.

[rowie]

I'm glad you made this thread :) I am black, First Nations, and French. My hair is definitely full of different textures and curl patterns. Some parts, especially near my next are quite loose, others are tightly curled.


I'm mixed as well, African / Spanish / Taino

My hair has at the nape tight spiral curls, not buckshot, but not far off either, the crown is probably 1c and the layers in between 2a-2c.

Biggest problem I have with hair is the incessant tangling. I can comb my hair and completely detangle it, starting section by section, but by the time I'm done, the first section is tangled.

I have yet to find any way whatsoever to keep it from tangling. sigh.


Most people guess my ethnicity as North African, which except for the Taino bit, makes sense.

I have the same problem with "incessant tangling" especially with the really coarse areas of my hair. Have you tried the tangle teezer? It works really well on my difficult areas. I have to admit the sound it makes sounds bad, but I don't feel like it is eating my hair because of its multi layered lengths of teeth.

I also find it interesting what people think my ethnicity is. sigh, but I guess that's what makes being multi-racial nice. I just don't like the idea of being attached to multiple stereo types. Le sigh!

[rowie]

Copasetic, I'm so glad you are on here. I love your textures on your avatar. How do you care for your hair or what works best for you?

[rowie]

Irish. Scotish, Native American, African american here.

For years I was stuck in trying to find the right product for my entire head. I realized after a huge 5 year shed that I had such a combination of textures. The shed let them emerge in distinctive parts of my head. So I began to try and make a one product to suit all. Did not happen. I had to except that I needed several products and routines for the different types. I have just finalized the three different regimines and product applications. It seems to be working. But who knows now that the shedding has stopped I may end up with a greater blend again and have to start from scratch.

My types are in my signature. I took this photo last year. You can clearly see how the change goes from the nape to the crown. The crown was an enemy to the lower hairs because they coiled and curled around the others causing massive tangles. It was dryer and the nape is cottony, wispy and soft.

My nape was always just gone due to knotting. My crown is slow growing and broke off. A few years ago I just told them since you can not get along then you will be separated and have worn it like that ever since. The nape grew longer then I have ever had. Now I have finally came up with the products to tend to each. So tangles are at bay and hopefully it will be able to grow with little stress and damage. We shall see.

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd465/vintagecoilylocks/nikonpixA839-1.jpg

OMG! Your tips are so useful to me! Thanks a million! I know now to "accept having to use multiple products" to work for my hair. :heart: Your hair is absolutely gorgeous along with all the people in this thread. So far I've been using a combination of coconut oil, and olive oil for my ends. On really humid days I would add some biosilk serum to the coarsest parts of my hair since they are so fragile to breakage. Shampoo products I like that are working for me is:

Tresseme soft and breakage control ( both shampoos and conditioners)
Mane N' Tail
Biosilk
coconut oil
EVOO

Hair utensils that work for me:
Hair claws
little black barrets
Tangle tezer for after detangling with a wooden comb, and before I use my wooden comb I finger comb my hair everywhere.

[MissHair]

Im multi-racial too. Father's got afro and mother's got fine blonde european hair. I got the black colour but very straight hair.

[rowie]

Following this tread with interest. My soon to be 13 year old son has hair which drives me nuts. His father is french/islander and my sons is.becoming as thick and wiry as his and he wants to keep it long.

Follow along. I hope you can learn a lot from this thread, just like i'm learning as well. You'll definitely be able to give good advice to your son. Good Luck!

[rowie]

Im multi-racial too. Father's got afro and mother's got fine blonde european hair. I got the black colour but very straight hair.

Interesting combination of nationalities, and to inherit the recessive genes of straight hair, wow. What works best for your hair care?

[Sister13]

Cherokee, Scottish, Black. My hair at the crown is finger-width wavy. At the nape and sides, silky straight. Oil and henna flatten my hair. Humidity, SMT and Nexxus products give me a wilted Afro.

People ask if I am Filipino, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Italian, Greek, from the Seychelles, Creole, from India, First Nations or just tan.

I love my hair though -- it's like sculpture.

[rowie]

Cherokee, Scottish, Black. My hair at the crown is finger-width wavy. At the nape and sides, silky straight. Oil and henna flatten my hair. Humidity, SMT and Nexxus products give me a wilted Afro.

People ask if I am Filipino, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Italian, Greek, from the Seychelles, Creole, from India, First Nations or just tan.

I love my hair though -- it's like sculpture.

I'll definitely stay away from Nexxus products. I have to agree with you about your hair like "sculpture," in a way I have so many hairs that are pliable and I can style it easily. However, I find that the maintenance of having multi-textured hair difficult because I have to use multiple products that work for each area around my head. I have to take really good care of the coarsest areas because they are more susceptible to breakage rather than underneath nape of my crown where it is straight. Oils definitely flatten my hair, except coconut oil which make it super curly on my coarsest areas.

[Kina]

I find it so interesting that the different textures need different products, even though it feels very much like "d'oh! why didn't I think of that!?"

And the imagery of the different textures fighting with each other makes such perfect sense to me!

I'm also interested in the fact that the textures are reversed, my nape hair is the tightest, curliest, and for y'all it's the straightest.

Genetics are amazing.

this is a picture of my nape hair behaving very nicely for a change: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1175185655869&set=a.1175183095805.28164.1114917084&type=3

and this is a good shot of the canopy: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1175168095430&set=a.1162772265542.26216.1114917084&type=3&theater

[rowie]

I find it so interesting that the different textures need different products, even though it feels very much like "d'oh! why didn't I think of that!?"

And the imagery of the different textures fighting with each other makes such perfect sense to me!

I'm also interested in the fact that the textures are reversed, my nape hair is the tightest, curliest, and for y'all it's the straightest.

Genetics are amazing.

this is a picture of my nape hair behaving very nicely for a change: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1175185655869&set=a.1175183095805.28164.1114917084&type=3

and this is a good shot of the canopy: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1175168095430&set=a.1162772265542.26216.1114917084&type=3&theater

Oooh girl I like your metaphor "of the different textures fighting with each other." You have hair that I envy. I've always been fascinated at how genetics really surprises me. Here's more exhibits for you all!

Exhibit B Degree of Hair textures when wet:
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h130/wilsoncraigr/IMAGE_F4C0DFD6-AAA8-4336-A60A-DF2B2F9E55F7.jpg

Exhibit C Air dried after being clarified
Notice the degree of kinky coarse hairs to waves, hard to see the straight hairs, and yes whenever I clarify, I get dry flakes. I did not put my EVOO and Coconut oil combinations because I wanted to capture the natural state of all my textures for you all.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h130/wilsoncraigr/IMAGE_67E560E5-EFE3-4F81-84FA-D9E2B9CC15A2.jpg

Exhibit D Hair half up to show more degrees of my multi hair textures

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h130/wilsoncraigr/IMAGE_1C9FE3EE-6397-43C6-B5C2-585C2301261D.jpg

This thread has been such a joy. It makes me realize that all of us in this thread transcend the notion of hair typing because we have them all in each of our individual heads, from kinky to straight. I've finally accepted that there will never be a universal product for my hair (except Tangle Teezer which claims to be universally for all hairtypes), and that I just need to continue to use multiple products that work for different parts or areas of my head.

[QueenMadge]

Portuguese, Welsh, Cherokee/Choctaw/English and ??

Nappy coily neck curls, straightish canopy and medium/fine hair with a few really coarse ones thrown in.

My niece who is African American and the rest of the family mixture with Irish thrown in has much curlier finer hair than mine. I envy her the ability to do twists that hold on their own. I cannot do that with mine because it unwinds almost immediately.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a264/Makeupmom/100_2564.jpg

[inertia]

Latvian and Japanese here. I've got everything from 1b to 3something on my head. The crown has a mixture of wavy and random stiff curly hairs, the inside is mixed straight and slightly wavy, and the nape is fine in texture and sometimes turns into ringlets.

I never wear my hair loose and natural. The randomly mixed-up curly hairs make it frizzy if I leave it and there's too much straight mixed in for curly-hair techniques to work. In winter I usually blow-fry it straight or curl it with an iron or rags. In summer the humidity turns it into awful frizz that nothing will tame so I've given up and just put it up non-stop from June through September.

[CurlyCap]

Yep yep. Mixed chick here! Black and Filipino. Awesome all the way through.

It's hard growing up with mixed hair, mostly because neither parent can quite identify with your hair. My mom always wanted to shampoo the badness away and my dad wanted to slap royal crown on it and forget about it. As a kid, all I knew was that my hair could be pretty, I just wished it would be that way while I was at school.

Thing is, I love my hair now that I've learned to work with it. I'm learning new things about it every year and quit wishing I had a different head of hair years ago. I love how it has enough give to be easy to style but enough texture to be architectural. I do sometimes wish it were a little thicker, but what I can I say? Both of my parents have thin hair. :D

As for the cultural issues, I'll chime in if you start a thread in the Friendship forum. It's hard being mixed, especially if you look predominantly like one parent. I'm half Filipino and was raised predominantly by the asian side of my family, but have medium/dark skin. I get very frustrated sometimes because it seems that people don't like to hear about the culture I'm familiar with because it doesn't fit the image they see.

[rena]

Thank you tons for starting this thread! You're not alone. I am quite mixed and it shows in my hair like you would not (or would) believe. We're talking a myriad of textures and thicknesses. I seem to have the whole spectrum of the hairtype system all together on my head. Invisi-fine, floaty-fine, baby fine, fine-fine, fine/medium/, medium/medium, medium/coarse, and coarse. These can all come as straight, straivey, loosley wavey, wavy, tightly wavey, curly, spiraling, and crinkly. All the coarse hairs are crinklies, but not all crinklies are coarse (huh?). It is truley amazing to me when I think about how crazy diverse it is up there.

As my hair grows out, I'm anxious to see who wins the battle, as in, what it will *appear* to be most like.

[HylianGirl]

Thanks for starting this thread! I totally understand what it is like to have more than one hair texture on you head xD My hair at the nape of my head is very straight (like 1b) it's also very soft and rarely tangles, at the back of my head it goes 2a, and the sides are 2c, with the hair in my temples being the curliest, about 3a, also the hair on my temples don't grow long, they always remain around 2 inches long no matter what... I wish I could make them grow longer, they annoy me when I make updos, because they keep sticking out, and they are not baby hairs, they are just don't grow, if anyone know any tips about them, I'd love to hear ^-^ good to find more people with more than one hair type =D

[Vintagecoilylocks]

OMG! Your tips are so useful to me! Thanks a million! I know now to "accept having to use multiple products" to work for my hair. :heart: Your hair is absolutely gorgeous along with all the people in this thread. So far I've been using a combination of coconut oil, and olive oil for my ends. On really humid days I would add some biosilk serum to the coarsest parts of my hair since they are so fragile to breakage. Shampoo products I like that are working for me is:

Tresseme soft and breakage control ( both shampoos and conditioners)
Mane N' Tail
Biosilk
coconut oil
EVOO

Hair utensils that work for me:
Hair claws
little black barrets

Tangle tezer for after detangling with a wooden comb, and before I use my wooden comb I finger comb my hair everywhere.


HI, Rowie, I gave up shampoos years ago and there was an huge improvement in my hair. It grew to hip length for the first time in my life. I still was on a journey though. Same for my daughter who is part me and Swedish heritage. Huge learning curve for her. I make her shampoo conditioner as she calls it. My first daughter has 2abc type hair when younger and has settled into a 2a ish. Lost all curls. Her hair is a mess now but she refuses to give up the shampoos. Its classic length. On top of all the types we all have very fine to fine hair. April 2011 I gave up the comb. I gave up the brush when I gave up shampoos. Huge improvement . The occasional split end being found and I think those are just on hairs that are now making it to the longer lengths.

Coconut oil is great . I use it only in my recipes though.

[Vintagecoilylocks]

Yep yep. Mixed chick here! Black and Filipino. Awesome all the way through.

It's hard growing up with mixed hair, mostly because neither parent can quite identify with your hair. My mom always wanted to shampoo the badness away and my dad wanted to slap royal crown on it and forget about it. As a kid, all I knew was that my hair could be pretty, I just wished it would be that way while I was at school.

Thing is, I love my hair now that I've learned to work with it. I'm learning new things about it every year and quit wishing I had a different head of hair years ago. I love how it has enough give to be easy to style but enough texture to be architectural. I do sometimes wish it were a little thicker, but what I can I say? Both of my parents have thin hair. :D

As for the cultural issues, I'll chime in if you start a thread in the Friendship forum. It's hard being mixed, especially if you look predominantly like one parent. I'm half Filipino and was raised predominantly by the asian side of my family, but have medium/dark skin. I get very frustrated sometimes because it seems that people don't like to hear about the culture I'm familiar with because it doesn't fit the image they see.

I can really under stand what you have said. My mom being mostly black had very fine cottony hair that she kept straightened. It was never longer than chin length. I remember her saying "hair was like clothes" you had to scrub it to get it so it will press nicely". She used Ivory flakes on my hair. :( I grew up with the attitude that getting you hair as straight as possible was doing your hair. If it wasn't straight it was not done, period. Kink was not acceptable. So even when I finally grew out my last relaxer I still was searching for a way to get naturally straighter hair using the press comb or blow dryer. It was a long journey for me to come to love my hair as it naturally was growing from my head. :o

[rowie]

Yep yep. Mixed chick here! Black and Filipino. Awesome all the way through.

It's hard growing up with mixed hair, mostly because neither parent can quite identify with your hair. My mom always wanted to shampoo the badness away and my dad wanted to slap royal crown on it and forget about it. As a kid, all I knew was that my hair could be pretty, I just wished it would be that way while I was at school.

Thing is, I love my hair now that I've learned to work with it. I'm learning new things about it every year and quit wishing I had a different head of hair years ago. I love how it has enough give to be easy to style but enough texture to be architectural. I do sometimes wish it were a little thicker, but what I can I say? Both of my parents have thin hair. :D

As for the cultural issues, I'll chime in if you start a thread in the Friendship forum. It's hard being mixed, especially if you look predominantly like one parent. I'm half Filipino and was raised predominantly by the asian side of my family, but have medium/dark skin. I get very frustrated sometimes because it seems that people don't like to hear about the culture I'm familiar with because it doesn't fit the image they see.

Thanks for sharing! Kamusta ka? I miss Filipino cuisines the moment I became vegetarian. I'm so glad you are on here and in so many ways I have so many things I can share with you culturally. I'm starting to research traditional Filipino hair care such as using "Gugo," I don't know if your Filipino side ever taught you this product. I think Gugo sometimes called "Gugo Shampoo" is extracted from a tree called Bark, extracted with virgin coconut oil. It supposedly smooths the kinks away. I don't know if it's true, but i'll let you know when I have tried it. I have relatives sending me some and if it works well I'd be willing to send you some!

[rowie]

HI, Rowie, I gave up shampoos years ago and there was an huge improvement in my hair. It grew to hip length for the first time in my life. I still was on a journey though. Same for my daughter who is part me and Swedish heritage. Huge learning curve for her. I make her shampoo conditioner as she calls it. My first daughter has 2abc type hair when younger and has settled into a 2a ish. Lost all curls. Her hair is a mess now but she refuses to give up the shampoos. Its classic length. On top of all the types we all have very fine to fine hair. April 2011 I gave up the comb. I gave up the brush when I gave up shampoos. Huge improvement . The occasional split end being found and I think those are just on hairs that are now making it to the longer lengths.

Coconut oil is great . I use it only in my recipes though.

Hey Vintagecoilylocks! It is always a pleasure to hear from you. I tried WO for a month and I had bad flakes, and my hairs started to feel like straw (even though I made sure to oil my hair). It just gave me a different sensation to all the textures of my hair, like no matter how much oil I gave my hair , it just gave my hair a sort of hollow like straw feeling. I do not know if this was a normal transition to water only. CO gave me massive buildups which made me return to clarifying shampoos. Hmm maybe when my hair gets past APL i'll try it again.

[rowie]

You all feel free to edit or give me re-editing tips for the opening statement of this thread. I had just re-edited the opening statements to reflect the issues happening so far in this thread. Keep it up y'all! And let's keep representing! That's right keep on working it, work it, work it! You all are fabulous to me!

[rowie]

Thank you tons for starting this thread! You're not alone. I am quite mixed and it shows in my hair like you would not (or would) believe. We're talking a myriad of textures and thicknesses. I seem to have the whole spectrum of the hairtype system all together on my head. Invisi-fine, floaty-fine, baby fine, fine-fine, fine/medium/, medium/medium, medium/coarse, and coarse. These can all come as straight, straivey, loosley wavey, wavy, tightly wavey, curly, spiraling, and crinkly. All the coarse hairs are crinklies, but not all crinklies are coarse (huh?). It is truley amazing to me when I think about how crazy diverse it is up there.

As my hair grows out, I'm anxious to see who wins the battle, as in, what it will *appear* to be most like.

Wow! I so believe you and in many ways can relate to you. What is your hair care, and what works for you?

[rowie]

Latvian and Japanese here. I've got everything from 1b to 3something on my head. The crown has a mixture of wavy and random stiff curly hairs, the inside is mixed straight and slightly wavy, and the nape is fine in texture and sometimes turns into ringlets.

I never wear my hair loose and natural. The randomly mixed-up curly hairs make it frizzy if I leave it and there's too much straight mixed in for curly-hair techniques to work. In winter I usually blow-fry it straight or curl it with an iron or rags. In summer the humidity turns it into awful frizz that nothing will tame so I've given up and just put it up non-stop from June through September.

Sadly, i'm in that kind of mindset right now. I usually just tie my hair into a bun or into a hair claw because my hairs just keep battling with one another. I have experienced some of my coarse hairs near the corner of neck turn into ringlets, one of those surprising moments I have thus far experienced with growing my hair.

[CurlyCap]

Thanks for sharing! Kamusta ka? I miss Filipino cuisines the moment I became vegetarian. I'm so glad you are on here and in so many ways I have so many things I can share with you culturally. I'm starting to research traditional Filipino hair care such as using "Gugo," I don't know if your Filipino side ever taught you this product. I think Gugo sometimes called "Gugo Shampoo" is extracted from a tree called Bark, extracted with virgin coconut oil. It supposedly smooths the kinks away. I don't know if it's true, but i'll let you know when I have tried it. I have relatives sending me some and if it works well I'd be willing to send you some!

LOL. Hi there.

Never used gugo. I've seen pictures of the plant but never used it because 1)It was used more as a shampoo in my family, very much like Aritha in indian hair care 2)My grandma doesn't believe in the bottled stuff.

My mom was a devotee of coconut oil, which I HATE because it always melts off my head and never really penetrated well. But it worked for her family and they thought it was awesome. Their oil was a bit different in that they would reduce it down over the stove over the course of the day, so it probably had more protein than the stuff in the store....but still. No. NO. :D

As for the kinks of different textures, I found that I could quit worrying about all of that when I quit brushing my hair. I let my hair air dry after co-washing, and it forms ringlets with very little frizz, even after sleeping on it. My dad was always fighting frizz because he wanted to brush it before putting it in a ponytail when I was little.

My current routine is co-wash with a low-silicone conditioner, squeeze out the excess water, add a bit of oil, and a leave-in conditioner. That's it unless I want it styled. My hair usually behaves and grows like a weed, so I don't really think that hard about it after that.

[rena]

Not sure if anyone else does this, but lately I've been in the habit of refering to the different parts of my head (where the textures differ) as "countries" or other things they make me think of. I guess like nicknames for the different groups. And they are deffinitely groups.

Currently the top to about half way down is "Europe" because its where most of the fine, straight stuff is, courtesy of mom. The hair to the sides of my head is "the 20s" because it resembles the fingerwaves that were popular during that time. The hair of the bottom half of my head is "curly country" for obvious reasons. My hairline from temple to temple is "the African coast" because its just about into the 4s and stands right up all by itself which looks pretty strange next to the flat hairs (Europe) on top, but thank you anyway dad. All the rest of my outer edge hair is super fine and I call it the "will o wisp" which alternates between being ringlets, waves and pin straight hairs.

Lets not forget the intermingling hairs scattered all around, such as, for example, a fine, loose strand in "curly country" or a coarse crinkly found in "Europe". I think of these hairs as tourists or immigrant hairs.

These areas are all so drastically different, it really does seem like they could be different countries. When frizz gets out of control, I can't help but think of it as curly country trying to invade and conquer its neighbors, then the rest of my head. So this is when the great negotiator, otherwise known as conditioner, must step in to return peace and harmony to the warring strands, that is, till next time.

Interesting world I live in, isn't it?

[rena]

Wow! I so believe you and in many ways can relate to you. What is your hair care, and what works for you?

Lately, I've been COing. I like the Garnier pure clean and sleek and shine conditioners. I stumbled across a rather ancient bottle of White Rain from before they started putting 'cones in it, and it worked pretty well. Now I've got an eye out for that if they have it without 'cones in the mix. Thinking of trying Suave too.

Build up does happen so I use Johnson's Baby shampoo because it hasn't any sulphates (those are veeery bad for my fine curly hair). Many say the ph of J's is too high so I think that if it really is, its a good clarifyer, and if it isn't, its still effective and gentle at the same time. Win win.

NO HOT WATER ON THE HAIR. Just lukewarm for cleaning and rinsing, and ice cold as a final rinse. Yes, cold rinses ARE effective.

After wash is over, while its still wet, I apply a little conditioner. I know they say not to use wash out conditioners, but in my experience, actual leave-ins feel like glue in my hair when they dry and its just a bother having to be super mindful of this when applying it. I've found wash-outs are much easier to work with. My fave so far is the Ganrier Fructise Triple Nutrition conditioner, cone free and hightly effective for me so far (its like the lonely rock I cling to in a sea of fried, damaged hair).

No towels or cloths of any kind for drying because my ends are so haggared, it would do more harm than good. Besides, I need some water in my hair to make applying the conditioner easier, and just sort of rub the excess water out when spreading it around. After that, I comb it back and forget about it till its dry, oh, and snap like a turtle at (or recoil in horror from) anyone who tries to touch it in the meantime. Honestly, when its dry and totally touchable, no one touches, but when it WET and needs to be undisturbed, everyone and my mama wants to run their hands over it. Sheesh.

Wow, this sure did turn into a lengthy post even though I intended it to be pretty quick, but there you go anyway. :) I hope someone can find something in my ramblings useful :o.

[LoveAngelBeauty]

Bumping this thread...it's really interesting. I'm not multi-racial but I do have multiple textures on my head, all in the 4 category.

[greywolf]

I'm white and asian. I had a difficult time typing my hair as well, so I just everything in the middle. Some of my hair is very straight, and some of it is very wavy, and sometimes it'll even depend on the day. I also have very find hairs to coarser hairs. Even the color is odd. It's very dark brown (nearly black) indoors, and a warm brown color in the sun.

[spirals]

I suppose I'll chime in. I have British, German, and native american ancestry. I ended up with fine, medium, and coarse hairs all over. At the nape and over the ears is 1b hair. The crown tends to be 2b or 2c, so it falls flat while the hair at the temples curls up into 3a. I have a tighter 3a spiral--tighter than any other curl on my head--at the nape on the left side, swimming in a sea of loose waves. My bone structure needs flatter hair alongside my face and volume at the back of the head, but I got the opposite. I compensate with layers and tucking the hair in front behind my ears. As far as care, I treat it all as if it were 3a. I blame the straight bits on my mom's side; they're the ones with the native blood. My dad's family is where the curls came from.

[VioletCurlyhair]

I don't know how recent it would to be for me to be considered multiracial, but to my knowledge, I have African, Native American, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.
I have all fine, medium and coarse hairs. My nape has fine hair and looser curls compared to the rest of my head. Just above it there are small, tight corkscrews and coils, medium to coarse thickness. At my crown, my hair tends to be frizzy and looser curled. And at the front, there are more coarse hairs and the curls are really loose at the roots, and usually corkscrew at the ends. Then there are hairs that have s shaped curls, and sometimes different sort of curls on the same strand. And I also have straight and wavy hairs all throughout, especially in the front. Oh yeah, and then my hairline is kind of kinky.
I just wonder what it's going to look like longer, with all the different shrinkages or lack of. :shrug: :)

[ladylowtide]

Me: Mexican (Native american/Spanish), German, Irish, English.

My hair is not of two minds when it comes to straightness, its all 1b, but I have mix of very resilient damage resistant M hairs that can take chemical and mechanical abuse, and then I have a bunch of very fine hairs that melt off with one bleaching, and are likely to become damaged is they aren't babied.

I have to admit its pretty hard to deal with two different types of hair. I have treat my whole head like it is fine most of the time. I use gentle sulphate free shampoos and I use a moisturizing cone free condishoner because the medium hair doesn't like cones. :P

In terms of color, both my parents had black hair and I ended of with dark brown...

My Mexican relatives have very straight hair so I think thats where I go it from, whereas my mom has wavy hair.

[tambalina]

I am Korean, German, Irish and a hint of Cherokee. I have 1a, 1b, 1c and 2as in my shedding. I also have F, M, *and* C. I attritute those Cs to my grays and my hormones after giving birth to my DS 10 years ago. Recently did a hair classification and I am collectively a 1b, but I can coax different waves with different products. I can also go "slick-straight" if I keep enough tension on my hair while it is drying.

My 100% Korean mother has 1c/C/iii gorgeous hair. I am soooooo jealous of her thick ponytails!!

[gthlvrmx]

My hair type seems to be around the same, just that its longer im losing the curl. But i noticed i have this light brown dirty blonde hairs everywhere that are finer than the rest. Im guessing im mainly medium to coarse, and the finer hairs are medium but i dont know what to compare it to! i dont really see fine hair, my family has coarse hair except i think my dad has finer hair but he has like 3c/4a curls. i got the light color and finer hairs from him, i was born with soft dirty blonde hair and eventually it started falling off in clumps and they shaved me. when it grew back it was thicker as in the strands were thicker, and brown. of course i had straight hair back then, my hair didnt change to curly until puberty hit. but i got left off with these light fine hairs messing around, and on the sides behind my ears to my neck is where i find the splits!! thats where i find the most! its like what. the thicker hairs are fine usually :)

[rowie]

My hair type seems to be around the same, just that its longer im losing the curl. But i noticed i have this light brown dirty blonde hairs everywhere that are finer than the rest. Im guessing im mainly medium to coarse, and the finer hairs are medium but i dont know what to compare it to! i dont really see fine hair, my family has coarse hair except i think my dad has finer hair but he has like 3c/4a curls. i got the light color and finer hairs from him, i was born with soft dirty blonde hair and eventually it started falling off in clumps and they shaved me. when it grew back it was thicker as in the strands were thicker, and brown. of course i had straight hair back then, my hair didnt change to curly until puberty hit. but i got left off with these light fine hairs messing around, and on the sides behind my ears to my neck is where i find the splits!! thats where i find the most! its like what. the thicker hairs are fine usually :)

That's cool, I can somewhat relate to you about my neck hairs. My neck hairs is actually what drives me insane because I have a mixture of different levels of coarsness , and so I end up with a huge tangled mess if i ever forget to oil it. Interesting hair colorations you have. I bet your hair looks wonderful in the sun! I was also the same way, I had 1C hair until puberty, and then I developed all sorts of textures, maybe because i'm just a heinz 57 ketchup boy? :D Thanks for sharing this!

[ankh222]

am half african half arabic,and my hair is mixed,between 2c and 3c ,i try every thing on my hair,oils,shampoos,and conditioner, but some of the products works good on part of my hair while the rest stays the same.

for hairstyling i always wear my hair in abun ,because i wear a head scarf,thats why i dont bother myself about it ;)

[Iaine]

I'm half African American and half Puerto Rican. My hair has a mix of all the 3s in it, and I just can't figure out what to do. It's like they're fighting a war in there.