What's My Hair Type?
by Ms SNIPS

Hair is quite varied due to our genetic makeup which in many cases incorporates different races. However, this diversity which is responsible for the wide and beautiful range of hair types in African American women, can make proper hair care frustrating. To ease this frustration, some hair care professionals developed hierarchical systems to categorize hair types. Unfortunately, while those system extensively describe some hair types, it lumps African Americans into a single category unintentionally encouraging the old "good hair" "bad hair" mindset.
Here at OurHair, our goal is to encourage healthy hair as well as a healthy mindset which has led to the creation of a new system of hair typing called LOIS. We are very excited about LOIS because she incorporates all aspects of African American hair types, eliminates the need for a hierarchical system and breaks away from the "good hair" "bad hair" routine. Before you begin, please keep in mind that a healthy, undamaged, virgin hair strand, meaning one that is not processed, relaxed or colored, is needed.

Examine Your Hair Strand

Select a single strand of the most common type of hair on your head. Aim for the most common texture on your head if you have different hair textures. The hair should be freshly washed without products applied to it and rinsed in cold water. Or, gently rinse a single hair with a little dish detergent and rinse in cold water. Allow the hair to dry on a bit of paper towel so that you can look at the pattern without touching it.

Find Your Pattern

The bends, kinks and coils of your hair will resemble one of more of the letters L, O, I or S.

• L - If the hair has all bends, right angles and folds with little to no curve then you are daughter L. O - If the strand is rolled up into the shape of one or several zeros like a spiral, then you are daughter O. I - If the hair lies mostly flat with no distinctive curve or bend you are daughter I.
• S - If the strand looks like a wavy line with hills and valleys then you are daughter S.