If you were on the train, bus or any public place, you would see different types of hair- long short, curly, dead straight, kinky and also a lot of extensions. You would also see an array of different colours, some have one colour and some mixture of colours. There are only three different ethnic types of hair texture in the world. The rest is a mixture of these three. The types are African / (Afro/Caribbean), Oriental/Asian and European (Caucasian).
Afro hair- African hair in general looks like a corkscrew in shape and mainly black/brown in colour. It is unique because it is the first hair that appeared on humans’ head and the only type of hair that does not seem to have length. This type of hair is mainly found in pure African people and is extremely delicate therefore difficult to work with. However, you can also find this type of texture in some Afro Caribbean and African America people, if their hair has not been adulterated by other texture. It means that this type of hair has not been mixed in any shape or form, therefore pure. It sometimes looks very short, and greyish looking, probably dull looking. I often call it the Savanna type hair just like the Savanna vegetation found in the Sub-sahara. It is also the only type that is neither straight nor wavy in the world. Even some dark-skinned Asians have straight and wavy hair. Some people think that Afro hair is very harsh and tough, and some people might be scared to even touch it, but that is not the case. In fact, this type of hair is fragile and vulnerable and because of that, it is difficult to groom and style. So people with this type of hair spend a lot of time and money on nursing and managing it. Since this hair is the weakest and most delicate of the three types, a lot of people do not understand it. Sometimes even the owners of this hair type do not understand why it appears unruly, stubborn and difficult to manage and also different. The society especially in the West, resented its texture throughout history because it is different from the two types. That is why we need to learn about each other’s hair because all these differences can be appreciated because hair is a wonderful organism.
You might think that cork screw type hair is unique to Africans, but even though it’s rare in the other two types, it can be found in Caucasians and Asians and it will be called “Woolly Hair Syndrome”. This hair is hereditary, but there is little information about it. I have only come across it once and is characterized by dry, spiral curls which are fibre like. People assume that Afro type hair does not grow but it actually grows just like other hair types, however, its length is often misjudged because it shrinks one third of its length unless it is stretched and because of the nature of its frangibility, it breaks a lot more than the rest of the types, therefore losing any growth. Even though Afro hair has the same texture, it is important to know that within Africa, the texture is different. Those from the North of Africa have more Arab textured hair tends to be wavy or straight, for example, Egyptians, Tunisians, Libyans and Moroccan. Then as you come down towards the Equator, people from Ethiopia, Northern part of Somalia and Eretria have Arabic blood in them, therefore, their hair is stronger and appears softer and longer. But when you come close to the Equator, the temperatures are extremely high and makes it very difficult to keep the hair moist, therefore, the hair is often dry and therefore breaks a lot. So most countries which are landlocked and not near the sea have tight corkscrew looking texture. Those living near the sea such as West and Eastern African countries have much stronger and thicker hair. The curls are not too tight, therefore does not get too dry because the temperatures are not too high. So the hair does not break as much as the other one. It is also important to note that there is a lot of fish because they are close to the sea. All these factors give the hair the potential to be long because the hair does not break as much as those in the dry open land. Even though the Congo and countries are not near the sea, they have huge lakes and rivers which supply them with the fish which is excellent for strengthening the hair. I believe that people with Afro hair feel the cold more than the other two types because they do not have long hair to give them enough insulation. That is why they tend to wrap themselves up more than those with long thick hair.
European or Caucasian hair - This hair type has probably a wider variation of texture and colour than any other type. This is mainly influenced by the mixture of genes from parents and ancestry. This type of hair also appears to grow longer than Afro / Afro Caribbean. It varies from completely straight to tight curls and from fine and flyaway to coarse and frizzy, giving widely different behaviour patterns depending on the person’s heritage. However, Caucasian hair covers all the European hair and all the Scandinavian countries and all the Eastern European people. The reason why I am breaking these up is that even though they have Caucasian hair type, the texture and density can vary a lot. For example, Greeks, Italian, Jewish and Portuguese just to name a few have very thick hair which could be a challenge to hair stylists and the owners. Scandinavian people and some Eastern Europeans have blonder than any other Caucasian hair.
This hair shows its length because obviously, it is straight. But this also depends on how strong the hair is. I find this type of hair very easy to work with and it is very resilient in general because it goes through a lot of styling and in some cases probably less care. It is usually obedient and follows what the owner or stylist wants it to do, unlike the other two types. It is also versatile and can be played with if the owner is creative. You can raffle it, curl it straighten it, cut it. Colour it without a big problem. You can be very creative with it both men and women and it can keep its length in most cases.
Oriental / Asian – Asian hair which is mainly very straight, very thick, and is normally very dark coloured is the strongest of the three types. Hence it shows its length because the ends do not break as much as the other two types. It is very rare to see curly Asian hair unless the owner inherited the curls down the line. Studies indicate that the East Asian hair type arose during the past 65,000 years, when early humans were migrating ‘Out of Africa’ into Europe, then Asia that is if you believe in history and evolution. This hair is not so demanding, it needs very little done to maintain it, but because of its length and thickness, it might cause a few problems for the owner. Some stylists might find this hair the most difficult to style and cut especially men because it is too straight and thick and hard to handle. However, if you follow its growth pattern when cutting it, you will be alright. I find that all it wants is to be left alone to just grow but it is the easiest hair to blow-dry because it is already straight, therefore you do not need a lot of heat. It is not happy to be interfered with in terms of creativity and style and it is very resistant to colour and other chemicals. When you cut it, straight pieces of hair fall on the floor and they go everywhere just like the Caucasian type. It can easily be lethal because it can cause infection if it penetrates either in your toes or fingernails. That hair can grow below the bum and more if left to its devices and the reason is simply that the ends are so strong, therefore, they do not break. However, if it is left without shampoo and conditioning, it can tangle so much that it can take a few people and many hours to detangle.
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