Hair type confusion

[Rosalaun]

Hi all, I'm currently stuck on exactly what type to class my hair as!
The top section tends to just have a few loose body waves (I think 1b or 1c? left photo)
Whereas the underneath has loose spiral curls that go the entire length of the hairs, and some of them tend to form twisted ropey spirals (bottom right).
It's almost as though I just have one layer of curls underneath and the rest is lightly waved.

I really have no idea what to make of it, it's nothing new, it's been doing this definitely for the last year at least (didn't pay too much attention before then) but it does make it a bit confusing as to what I should say my hair is.



Thanks in advance for any ideas

[DarkCurls]

It's not uncommon to have different hair types. The top of my hair is curly, whereas my underlayer is barely wavy, almost straight. And while it annoys me some days, there's not much I can do about it. I could type myself as a 2a according to my underlayer, but that would be ridiculously inaccurate. I type myself as curly because anyone looking at my hair for 2 seconds would say I have curly hair.

On the other hand, someone seeing you IRL would not think "Oh, she has curly hair." You have to choose an "overall" type, which is usually the type of the majority of your hair or the type of the top layer. Looking at the pictures in your signature as well as the ones you've posted, I would type you as a 1c because of your hair's tendency to wave or even "flip," even on the top layer (it's not completely straight). But it's totally possible to have 1b hair on top, and 2b underneath, or the other way around, so I guess... you can just call it whatever.

I feel your confusion.

[Rosalaun]

Sounds like we're opposites on the typing front then
I suppose going for what can be seen on top from behind makes more sense than trying to fuss with the under curls. But yes, a 1c to match the top layers is probably the best idea, thank you!

The signature photos are all just before washing so they're super greasy, but because my hair type varies a lot - even a tiny bit of handling to stop it going in my face might make it more curly or straight, so it's much easier to measure when it's all pulled more straight with its own oils xD

[DweamGoiL]

Sounds like we're opposites on the typing front then
I suppose going for what can be seen on top from behind makes more sense than trying to fuss with the under curls. But yes, a 1c to match the top layers is probably the best idea, thank you!

The signature photos are all just before washing so they're super greasy, but because my hair type varies a lot - even a tiny bit of handling to stop it going in my face might make it more curly or straight, so it's much easier to measure when it's all pulled more straight with its own oils xD

To type your hair you need freshly washed hair with no product in it. I have a suspicion you are a 2a and have been fighting your waves. When you freshly wash it, you should comb it once to detangle and then hands off until it dries. That will tell you your actual hair type.

[neko_kawaii]

My hair is also slightly wavy on top and has nice curls underneath. I don't bother with the curls most of the time but it is fun to pull out a few short nape hairs, spritz them with water and magically have little curls under my bun.

[Rosalaun]

Yep the posted photos (non signature) are all brushed first, then washed with a strong shampoo, my normal coney conditioner and then left down my back to dry without any wet combing - I did tuck the sides behind my ears but the main bulk at the back was left alone, didn't even put a jacket on or anything that it might have gotten caught up on

The thought of possibly being in the 2's is quite exciting though. I'm not sure how I might have been fighting waves... But I'm wondering if it'd be worth trying switching back to cone-free conditioners again, I tend to use cones because they make it really silky, but I've not tried cone-free since I bleached out my henna and I have noticed some people mentioning cone-free tends to encourage more... I think texture is the closest word I can think of right now.

I see you've also gone with your top layers for typing Neko_Kawaii, seems to be the main train of thought on here. Now that is an excellent idea of how to use the curls, I'd not thought of that, thanks for the tip

[ravenheather]

I would call you 1c.

[DweamGoiL]

I discovered my hair was wavy when I decided to try the Curly Girl method. That also turned me on to being cone free once again. I decided to go all out and get rid of SLS in my shampoo as well. I discovered that with a little gel; I use DevaCurl gel and some scrunching my hair actually can get pretty outright curly. I could not do entirely without shampoo though. My fine hair got weighed down and my scalp felt disgusting so I do use shampoo, but still follow a lot of the Curly Girl principles. The more I encouraged the wave, the more defined it became. I don't think you will have a super dramatic change, but I definitely think that with some encouragement, your hair's wave will be more prominent. As it stands right now, based on the pictures you posted, I do agree that you are a 1C. However, I do feel there is potential for your waves to be more defined.

[ExpectoPatronum]

You and I have almost the same hair. Straight/barely wavy on top, but spirally wavy on the bottom. I went ahead with 2a as that's a little wavier than 1c and my 2b waves end up smoothing out to a 2a not long after my hair is dry anyway (though if I add gel, I could keep them if I wanted to).

You could very well be a 1c/2a. I'd experiment with the curly girl method. Your hair might even be curlier than that! Mine certainly was.

The CG method in a nutshell is where you use a cone-free conditioner to wash your hair instead of shampoo. There's more to it, but I think that's the biggest thing.

[Rosalaun]

I've not heard of the curly girl method before, I'll definitely have to go and research that - I'd love to see if I do actually have more waves/curls hiding in there somewhere. ExpectoPatronum - yay somebody else with the same mix
So yes, general consensus - 1c for now, but worth trying a different method and maybe a possibility of being a little more wavy.
Thanks all ^^