Discover Your Natural Texture: interesting article

[brave]

Discovering your natural texture. (http://healthycurls.net/2011/01/06/quick-and-easy-steps-to-discovering-your-natural-texture/)

Thought this was an interesting read. It's almost the complete opposite of how we do hairtyping here, really.

What're people's thoughts? Do you think your "natural" hair texture is the one you get after clarifying? Or is it your hair when it's well moisturized?

[Elithia]

I think it depends on your hairtype. For straighter or wavy people clarifying is how you do it. But for curlies I don't think it works. Like, if I were to clarify without moisturizing, my hair would turn into a giant poof with no curl definition whatsoever, and people would probably tell me I was a wavy. But fully moisturized, I get lots and lots of spiraling ringlets. So yeah, I would say my natural hairtype is my hair when it's been well moisturized. (It took about six-eight months after I stopped shampooing for it to reach its full curly potential.)

[DarkCurls]

Hm.

I think my natural texture is the one I have after I let my hair air-dry, whether it be after WO, CO, or shampoo. :p CO and WO give me less frizz than shampoo, but the curl pattern is more or less the same -- maybe a bit more springy with shampoo. I've never clarified to type my hair and I don't see why I would, because I want to know what my hair looks like most of the time and I don't clarify, ever.

The article seems to apply mostly to wavies and curlies. I don't think this is the ideal way to type your hair because "scrunching" seems to encourage clumping and curling, which may give you something a little higher than your natural pattern (though not so much that it would matter, I guess).

However, I love the Before & After CG thread that was linked to. :) It made me decide to start CO a couple months ago.

[patienceneeded]

I recently did a proper hairtyping (according to LHC) and was surprised to find there was not too much difference in texture after it had dried. It was drier and tangled easily, but the wave/curl definition was pretty close to normal. I do get more spiral curls at the end when well moisturized, but a 2C is about right for me, sometimes 3A.

[XcaliburGirl]

I don't really think there's such a thing as a very specific and uniform "natural" hair texture. It's more like a range of patterns that hair can take on in reaction to various environments.

As for the article, I don't really see how scrunching is any more natural than brushing (for example) since the purpose is to encourage the curls versus separating the strands. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing this test to see how your hair reacts to this treatment, though.

Plus, it's possible to have different textures on one's head. For example, I have some strands that are very curly and others that are practically straight. Overall I get a wavy (and frizzy) pattern.

[earthnut]

It's possible for one's curl to change depending on the moisture levels and how long your hair is. Some people's hair doesn't change, some changes a lot.

I think you should type your hair using your current regime. Typing it using a foreign regime might be interesting, but not useful on a practical level for day-to-day styling.

[Elithia]

I guess that the test in the linked article is sort of "how curly can you get"? rather than "what is your hairtype without treatment?" if that makes sense. I don't know if it's more or less valid, but yeah, different. Today, after 6 years CO, my hair could probably withstand a clarifying treatment and still appear in the low 3 range, but I suspect that when I was first starting out -- with thirsty hair damaged by the brush -- moisture was the only way to show that it had much curl potential.

[sumidha]

Somehow, soaking your hair in conditioner and scrunching the heck out of it while it dries doesn't seem very 'natural' to me...

ETA: Really I guess it's more of an article about how to bring your natural curls pattern back from being straight ironed every day.

[CurlyCurves]

My hair seems to be the same either way. It depends more on manual manipulation, for me. If I just completely leave it to do its thing, it'll dry into ringlets. If I mess with it while it's wet = poofy with a couple ringlets and spirals.

ETA; I always wonder how people can stand to leave CO in their hair. My hair feels horrible if I leave anything in it ..

[haibane]

My hair seems to be the same either way. It depends more on manual manipulation, for me. If I just completely leave it to do its thing, it'll dry into ringlets. If I mess with it while it's wet = poofy with a couple ringlets and spirals.

ETA; I always wonder how people can stand to leave CO in their hair. My hair feels horrible if I leave anything in it ..

The trick for me is... don't feel it. ;)
I put the CO on and then just... don't touch it. It actually got me out of a pretty bad habit of constantly finger combing, because I'd get icky conditioner residue on my fingers.

[ravenheather]

One thing I think is interesting. On lhc in the article on hair typing, it doesn't say to clarify. It says to wash as you normally do. I just checked this the other day since I was confused as everyone said to clarify first. However I do see the need to clarify if you are a heavy silicone user. I think a properly washed and conditioned curly or wavy head of hair is better to tell curl pattern than dried out, frizzed out from baking soda or sulfate shampoo.

[earthnut]

ETA; I always wonder how people can stand to leave CO in their hair. My hair feels horrible if I leave anything in it ..
My hair absorbs conditioner as it dries. I never leave enough that I feel it when my hair is dry! :P I wouldn't like that either. It just makes my hair feel satiny.

[CurlyCurves]

The trick for me is... don't feel it. ;)
I put the CO on and then just... don't touch it. It actually got me out of a pretty bad habit of constantly finger combing, because I'd get icky conditioner residue on my fingers.

I don't know how you stand that :laugh: I get freaked out if I feel any sort of residue on my hair. I'm so picky. It has to look right and feel right for me to consider it a good hair day, even if others think it looks nice. I like the curls to be well defined, but soft and silky with natural moisture. When my hair is conditioned and left to air dry without the wind blowing it every other direction, this happens and I am a happy girl :)


My hair absorbs conditioner as it dries. I never leave enough that I feel it when my hair is dry! :P I wouldn't like that either. It just makes my hair feel satiny.

I keep meaning to try it again. For the frizz-busting properties :D