It might surprise you to discover that human hair can be found in 10 different varieties. There are 4 main hair types and each one of those can have up to 3 subtypes. All that variety can lead to confusion when it comes to buying the proper hair styling products.

The first hair type is straight hair which is not easy to style or shape. The reason is the cuticles that form the hair itself are lined up in such a way as to keep the hair straight and stiff. That extra protection is what gives straight hair resistance to styling. If straight hair does get damaged, from being over styled for example, it normally is dry and easily broken.

There are 3 varieties of straight hair. They are fine, medium and course. Fine hair is shiny soft and usually very thin. Medium hair has a good amount of body and texture. Course hair is the thickest and as such is most resistant to being styled.

Wavy hair is the next kind of hair. It is kind of hard to classify but normally is can be thought of as not quite curly yet not quite straight. An easier way to detect it is to examine a single strand on a table. The individual strands will form S shapes when dry (unstyled). Oddly enough wavy hair can be difficult to style or curl.

Wavy hair is like straight in that it also has 3 subtypes. Course wavy hair is very prone to the frizz and really resists being styled differently. Medium wavy hair is a bit more easily styled but it also gets frizzy. Lastly, fine wavy hair usually is soft enough to be styled and can even be straightened.

Curly hair is our next type. It quite often is ‘loopy’ and makes a very distinct S pattern when you look and individual strands. It often has a lot of bounce, is soft and can be quite fine. The cuticles are formed smoothly and that yields a less shiny hair than straight or wavy. When wet, curly hair often straightens and oddly enough when the humidity gets high the curls get even tighter and frizz.

When it comes to curly hair, there really are only 2 different kinds; loose and tight. Loosely curled hair can have large often shiny curls when grown long but when cut short it can almost pass for straight hair. Tightly curled hair, on the other hand, forms tight almost cork screw type curls. What is seldom known is that many people with curly hair will have both subtypes at the same time.

The last kind of hair is called kinky hair. It is curled really tight, can be wirey and it almost always is very fragile. Kinky hair is not very shiny but it can have a subtle sheen to it. It is very soft and very easy to break because it has a low amount of cuticles. All of that adds up to hair that is quite difficult to grow long.

There are 2 kinds of kinky hair subtypes. First is the tightly coiled S pattern hair. When stretched out, the hair forms an S pattern and has a bit of moisture to it. The second is the tightly coiled Z pattern. This hair forms a Z pattern when stretched has the least amount of moisture of any hair type.

There you have it. Ten unique and distinct hair types. Now, knowing this, it should be easier for you to decide exactly what specific type of hair you possess. That is important because you will get better styling results if you work with what nature gave you rather than against it. For example, if you have tight curly hair but you love the look of straight hair, you may not get the best results with a hair straightener. Or, if you have coarse straight hair but want to get tight curls, knowing that your hair will resist this type of styling helps you decide the best hair style for you.

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