Which hair type are you?
Ever lusted after curly hair? Or wanted to be blonde but you’re naturally dark brown?
Our hair type and colour is mostly determined by our genes.
Genetics will dictate the shape of the hair follicle. A round follicle will result in straight hair and oval shaped follicles result in curly or wavy hair.
Hormones and age will cause temporary changes.
There are generally thought to be 4 different hair types
- Type 1 straight – no natural curl
- Type 2 wavy – S shaped pattern
- Type 3 Curly – Defined loops
- Type 4 Coiled –Tight dense Z patterns
Hair texture and thickness describe the diameter of an individual strand. The hair may be fine, medium or coarse.
Density is the number of hairs per square inch on the scalp.
Porosity is the hair’s ability to absorb and retain moisture.
Factors that might alter hair texture
- Hormones have a big influence on hair. Pregnancy, some birth control methods, the menopause and thyroid issues may change the hair to a different texture.
- Chemical Treatments.
- Straighteners, perms and lighteners can temporarily change the texture of your hair.
- And finally, the ageing process can make your hair finer or slightly coarser.
It is human nature to want to change something about ourselves that we believe will make us look or feel better. Luckily for us, even though our heritage will give us the inherited hair type we were meant to have – we still have many options to change or enhance anything that we don’t like!
We can only change the actual hair that grows from the follicle. This means that the follicle shape stays the same.
We can perm our hair to make straight hair curly.
We can straighten our curly hair and we can dye the colour of our hair to virtually any other colour our hearts desire.
It must be remembered that any chemical changes to the hair may compromise the condition but there are many fantastic products that will help to limit the damage!
