Turn on a good light in your bathroom so you can get a good look at your hair. Alternately, have someone hold a lamp or flashlight above your head to give you more light.
You’re not counting individual strands, but you can get a sense of how dense your hair is by how much skin you can see. Thick density: If you don’t see much scalp at all, you have thick hair density. Medium density: If you see some scalp, you have medium density. Thin density: If you see a lot of scalp, you have thin hair density.
Get a friend to help you look at the back of your head. Ask them to take a picture so you can see it more clearly.
Choose a time when you will not be exercising or creating a lot of extra sweat in your hair, which can alter your results.
Your hair should be dry, and have no styling products in it. It is best to leave styling products out of your hair while you’re testing it to get the most authentic results.
Thin hair: If the hair strand’s thickness is thinner than the thread piece, you have thin hair. Medium hair: If your hair strand is about the same thickness as the thread, you have medium hair texture. Thick hair: If the hair strand is thicker than the piece of thread, you have thick hair.
Low porosity: If your hair feels almost dry, your hair has not retained much moisture and you have low porosity. [2] X Research source Medium porosity: If your hair is pretty wet but not sticky, then your hair retains a medium amount of moisture and you have medium porosity. High porosity: If your hair feels sticky, as though the water will take a long time to leave your hair, then you have high porosity. Your hair retains a lot of moisture.
Low porosity: If the strand floats and does not sink at all, you have low porosity. Medium porosity: A strand that sinks after a while will indicate medium porosity. High porosity: If the strand sinks to the bottom of the bowl quickly, you have high porosity.
Choose a time when you will not be exercising or creating a lot of extra sweat in your hair, which can alter your results.
Do not add any products to your hair, as this can alter your results.
Oily hair: If there is oil residue on the tissue, then you have oily hair. Medium hair: If you see a trace of oil on the tissue, you have medium hair. Dry hair: If there is nothing at all on the tissue, then you have dry hair. Combination hair: If there was no oil from one spot, but a lot of oil from another spot on your scalp, then you have combination hair.
Your hair should be dry, and it can have styling products in it. It is best, however, to leave styling products out of your hair while you’re testing it in order to get the most authentic results.
Don’t stretch it quickly or else it will break too soon. The strand of hair will snap eventually, but you want to see how much it will stretch before it breaks. [5] X Research source
High elasticity: If you can stretch the strand a long way before it breaks, you have high elasticity and very strong hair. Medium elasticity: If you can stretch the strand somewhat before it snaps, you have medium elasticity. Low elasticity: If the strand breaks almost immediately when stretching it, you have low elasticity and your hair may not be very strong. The strand may also stretch like bubbly gum, and when it breaks it may curl up.
1 (straight): Hair has no curve in it at all. 2 (wavy): Hair is wavy but does not curl much. 3 (curly): Hair is curly with an S shape and holds a definite curl pattern even when unstyled. 4 (coily): Hair is tightly coiled or kinky, often with a definite Z pattern. It can be stretched out and will return to its curled shape when released. Type 4 hair might shrink up to 75% of its actual length.
1A: Hair is soft and cannot hold a curl. 1B: Hair does not curl but has more volume. 1C: Hair does not curl and is rather coarse. 2A: Hair is wavy, resembling the letter S, and is coarse. 2B: Hair is often frizzy with a definite wave. 2C: Hair is very frizzy with thick waves, and is the coarsest of this category. 3A: Curls are about the same diameter as sidewalk chalk, or pretty loose curls. 3B: Curls are about the same diameter as a sharpie, or medium-sized curls. 3C: Curls are about the same diameter as a pencil, or corkscrew curls. 4A: Curls are very tight, about the same diameter as a needle. 4B: Curls resemble a zigzag pattern, looking like the letter Z. 4C: There might not be a curl pattern to this hair type. It has a tight zigzag with an uneven pattern, so it is harder to define.
L: Your strand looks like the letter L, with right angles, bends and folds. This is kinky, zigzag pattern hair. O: Your strand resembles the letter O or spirals into several Os. I: Your strand is straight with little to no curves or waves, resembling the letter I. S: Your strand is wavy and curves back and forth like the letter S. Combination: Your strand might have a combination of two or more of these letters. If this is the case, check a few more strands of hair from all over your head to see if one of the letters is more dominant.
