April 9, 2012
Posted In: Blogfest

H is for Hair Types

I have very fine, straight hair. It’s so thin that when I stick my hair in a ponytail, the diameter measures just under a half inch. I always fool the ladies at Regis and Tony and Guy–they think I don’t have a lot of hair and then they start cutting it and it takes them twice as long as they expected.

However, as much as I love my hair, I secretly wish I had curly hair. My mom caved into my begging and let me perm my hair in kindergarten. I loved it, but my hair was fried and within three months my hairbrush resembled a long-haired guinea pig. I’ve permed it twice after that and sadly the curls went flat, both within < one month>.  The same thing happens when I dye it.

In novels, it seems like there aren’t many curly haired protagonists–and that makes me sad because I feel it’s an under-represented, hair type that deserves to be glamorized more.

So here’s some quick tidbits about various hair types for women–and beard styles for guys–because most guys don’t grow their hair out long enough to notice these sort of patterns.

Also, did you knot that each type is further classified by the letters A, B, and C? They define the thickness and tightness of the hair strand. Finer hair with a looser curl is A, B is in the middle, and C is thicker with a smaller curl pattern.

Straight hair is classified as type 1.
It’s hard to damage and next to impossible to curl. Tends to be the most oily type of all.

Wavy  hair is classified as type 2. This hair type forms waves and has loose tresses.

Type 3 hair is curly. Has a definite S shape. This hair type is full bodied, and may become frizzy depending on the climate.

Why, Taylor, why? :_;

Type 4 is Kinky hair. This tightly coiled hair appears wiry, but is actually fine and very delicate. Each strand usually has a zig zag pattern. It appears to grow slower than the other hair types because it breaks so much easier.

22 Comments

  1. Jackie

    I have wavy hair and blow dry it straight almost everyday. 🙂
    Great post!

  2. S.P. Bowers

    I always wanted curly hair too. Mine has just enough of a wave to it that it isn't straight. It's long and thick and won't curl unless I layer and thin it obsessively.

  3. Weaver

    I've always had straight hair, too, though it's thicker than yours, I guess. And I've always wanted curly hair. Why is it when someone has straight hair they want it curly and when someone has curly they want it straight?

  4. Michelle

    My hair has a wavy-curly thing going, but I straighten it everyday! Funny when I let it loose and just spay some spritz or something to hold the curl- I always get compliments?! But I like having it straight. 🙂 Interesting tidbits! 🙂

  5. Dani

    I have naturally curly and straighten it everyday. Well almost. Every once in a while when I don't feel like doing anything to it, I let go crazy.

  6. Creepy Query Girl

    ah, the grass is always greener isn't it? I always wanted curly hair too but then when I had a perm, I wanted it straight again and started straightening it. Now I just put in cotton rollers if I'm in a curly mood and accept my striaght locks for what they are;)

  7. Luana Krause

    Awesome post! I have naturally straight hair, which I love. I've only had two perms in my life, both in the 80s when big curly hair was in style. I decided to work with what I had, so in the 1980s I copied Barbra Streisands pageboy bob. It worked! It's all about the cut! Now that I'm older, I keep it just above shoulder length and use Diane Keaton as my model.

  8. Botanist

    I feel slightly out of place at this discussion 😀

    I do give some of my male characters distinctive hair styles. Can't think of any curly ones though.

  9. Kimberlee Turley

    I included the facial hair chart because I've heard guys wish they could do X with their beard/facial hair just like how girls wish they had straighter or curlier hair.

    For guys, it seems either it doesn't grow in the right direction, doesn't grow thick enough, or it has gray hair stubble that ruins the effect, or they have a double chin so it looks bad…

  10. Alex J. Cavanaugh

    I guess I'm in between the first two – it's straight but with body.

  11. vic caswell

    i have very curly hair. and i have strong opinions about the almost stylistic discrimination against it in recent times.
    it seems as though curly hair has been getting a bad rap for awhile- being a sign of frizzy, unkempt, almost dirtiness… i think that a lot of people associate it subconsciously with laziness and low-breeding, which is CRAZY racist when it comes down to it, but i think it's true.
    i work a blue collar job. most of my coworkers have curly hair, whether permed or natural. every single woman in leadership at our hospital has straight hair whether straightened or not.
    i can't tell you how happy it makes me to see strong, beautiful women embrace their curly hair. i spent so many years being ashamed of mine.
    but every single frickin' time i see a beauty makeover with a curly haired person, her locks are straightened or relaxed and it's damn offensive.
    sorry for ranting. it's a touchy subject for me.
    i think all hair types have their own beauty, but please do us curly-haired girls a favor and DO write yourself a curly haired character! 🙂

  12. Judy

    I wanna be type 3! And I wanna look like her too!!

  13. Connie Keller

    I have the exact same type of hair as you do. And I tried the perm thing too–when spiral perms were cool. Big mistake. Then I decided I'd stick with what I was born with. But I still secretly wish I had naturally curly hair.

    (The female MC in my novel has curly hair.)

  14. Jaycee DeLorenzo

    I'm straight with underlying waves.

  15. Peggy Eddleman

    This was awesome! It's a subject that people just don't talk about nearly enough for how much fun it is!

  16. Margo Berendsen

    Mine is wavy, thick and wiry. I just came from a salon where I had them massively thin it out so I wouldn't have so many headaches! I do love curly hair, when mine was long (and before I had kids and more time) I would put it in hot rollers and feel like a Princess afterwards.

  17. Melodie Wright

    My oldest has gorgeous curly blond hair. It's so perfect, the only time his hair gets combed is before it gets cut. I wish my daughter had the same…:(

  18. Anonymous

    Type 1 it is. :o(

  19. Anonymous

    We always want what we don't have!

Who is Kimberlee Turley?

Kimberlee Turley grew up in California where she earned a degree in Fashion Design from FIDM in 2005. Soon after, she married her husband, who was neither Mr. Darcy nor Edward Cullen, but he’d read her atrocious first novel and said it was “good” with a straight face.

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