How do I find out what hair type I have?

Updated by Aleksandra

Diameter of Hair Strands/Hair Strand Texture

The best place to start in determining your hair type is to begin by measuring the diameter of a single strand of hair. Take one strand of hair between your fingertips. Don’t feel anything? This is a sign of thin/fine hair. If you do feel the strand, your hair is of medium width, and if it feels thick or textured, your hair is likely thick/coarse.

Another strand test includes taking one single strand and laying it on a flat surface. If it’s barely visible, it is thin/fine. If it looks textured and thick, your hair is coarse. Anything in between is medium. Setting a single strand of hair next to a piece of thread can also help you gauge the diameter or width of your hair; if it’s about the same width, your hair is medium. If it is thicker than the thread, your hair is thick. Similarly, if it is thinner, your hair is thin/fine.

Hair Density/Thickness

People often confuse diameter and hair density to be one and the same. A person may have a thin strand width but have a thick amount of hair. Essentially, hair density refers to how much hair you actually have – the number of strands themselves and not how thick each one is. Thin diameter does not always equal thin density, nor does medium diameter equal medium density. More often than not, people will have differing densities and diameters.

The method to determining your hair density is simple; take a handful of hair from the front of your head and gently pull it to the side. Is a lot of your scalp visible between the bunches of strands? If so, this means you have thin density, if you can barely see your scalp at all, your hair’s density is thick. Anything in between is medium/average density.

Unsure about which weight to select for your hair density? Click here.


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