That’s My Type

The texture of our hair is mainly determined by our DNA. But what causes curly, coily and wavy hair in the first place? When hair grows, it comes out of hair follicles. The texture of a person’s hair is determined by the shape of their hair follicles. Your follicle shape is partly determined by what genes you have. Your DNA might cause you to have round follicles. In this case you would have straight hair. Or your DNA might cause you to have oval-shaped follicles, leading to curly hair. You might have a little bit of round follicle DNA and a little bit of oval follicle DNA. In this case, your follicles would be a little bit in the middle! You would have wavy or textured hair. More likely we have a combination of all types and then density or the thickness of your hair comes into play as well. You can have highly textured fine or thick hair and the product choices you use will change according to how thick or fine the hair is and also the curl type or pattern.

Does this sound complicated? Let’s simplify it for you, starting with identifying what type of hair you have. Then it becomes natural to choose a KEVIN.MURPHY product that’s perfect for you.

With type 3A hair, S-shaped curls often form loose loops. Think of it this way, curls have a circumference a little wider than the end of a brush.

CURLY

Type 3B curls have a circumference about as wide as the barrel of a crayon. Curls spring from the roots and have volume regardless of the density

MORE CURLY

These curls are tight and springy — they would possibly coil perfectly around a drinking straw. To preserve the definition in these often corkscrew curls, take a hands-on approach.

MUCH MORE CURLY

The curl pattern for 4A hair is a S-shaped coil you could wrap around a chopstick. Regardless of how thick or fine it is, almost all type 4 hair is fragile. Perhaps the most fragile of all the hair textures.

COILY

The curls in 4B hair zig-zag

MORE COILY

Type 4C coils are the tightest and most fragile. It’s really easy to break them if you comb roughly or too often, and it’s vital to frequently nourish the hair with moisture rich products.