Type 4b hair: Musician Esperanza Spalding
The first step in the battle to love your natural hair and treat it with tender care is knowing your hair type. I have always heard about 1a, 2b, 3a and 4b when describing hair type and curl patterns, but I have finally taken the time to discover mine. This not only helps in the maintenance of loose hair but in understanding how your hair will be when loc'd (if that is your goal one day).

I am a mixture 4a-4b

4 Facts

• Type 4 is kinky, or very tightly curled, with a clearly visible curl pattern
• Circumference: Crochet needle or even smaller
• The hair is very wiry, very tightly coiled and very, very fragile
• Type 4 hair can range from fine/thin to wiry/coarse with lots and lots of strands densely packed together
• Type 4 hair has fewer cuticle layers than any other hair type, which means that it has less natural protection from the damage you inflict by combing, brushing, curling, blow-drying and straightening it
• Type 4 hair is known to shrink up to 75% of the actual hair length
• There are two Type 4 subtypes:
•4a: Tightly coiled hair that, when stretched, has an "S" pattern, much like curly hair. It tends to have more moisture than 4b; has a definite curl pattern
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