A hair type quiz matches your strand pattern to the right products, but the result only works if it also measures porosity, density, and texture. Most quizzes stop at curl shape, which is why the same "Type 3B" recommendation leaves one person’s hair greasy and another’s still dry. The Andre Walker system runs 1A through 4C, and each code needs different moisture levels, product weights, and application techniques to actually perform.
Straight Hair Types
The Andre Walker Hair Type System labels straight hair as Type 1, and three subtypes separate what looks like one category into genuinely different experiences. Type 1A is fine, wispy, and very sleek; natural oils travel from scalp to ends without any curl pattern to slow them down, which keeps 1A hair shiny but also leaves it prone to oiliness faster than other types. Type 1B carries more volume and thickness while staying fully straight, so it holds styles a bit longer and doesn’t flatten against the head by midday. Type 1C bends occasionally, sometimes showing a wave or two, which gives it the most texture of the straight group but also the most resistance when you’re trying to force it into a curl that isn’t there.
All three share one structural reality: no shrinkage means straight hair appears to grow faster, since the length you see is the length you have. The tradeoff is that curls and waves fall out quickly, and styles slip unless you prep with texturizing spray or dry shampoo before you start. A brush with natural bristles helps distribute oil along the shaft on finer 1A and 1B types, while 1C benefits from lightweight products that won’t fight the slight movement it already has.
Wavy Hair Types
Type 2 hair sits between straight and curly, with S-shaped patterns that grow more pronounced from root to tip. Most type 2 hair is thicker than straight hair, carries more bounce, and frizzes easily in humidity, sometimes changing its look entirely based on the weather.
2A waves are loose and tousled, barely there enough that they often pass for straight hair with body. These waves are the easiest to style and the least prone to fighting back against a brush or heat tool.
2B waves form a clear, pronounced S-shape that starts to curl more distinctly as the strand moves away from the scalp. This is where frizz becomes a real factor, and where the wrong product can flatten what should be movement into something limp.
2C waves are voluminous and well-defined, dense enough that they border on curly territory. The S-pattern is tight and consistent, and the frizz risk is highest here of all the wavy types.
Porosity matters as much as pattern for all three. Low-porosity waves resist moisture and do better with lightweight, water-based products and heat during deep conditioning. High-porosity waves soak up product fast but lose it just as quickly. The float test, dropping a single strand in water, gives a rough read: floating means low, hovering means medium, sinking means high.
For daily care, squeeze-dry with a soft t-shirt instead of rubbing, keep hands off once styled, and reach for mousse over heavy creams that can drag the wave down.
Curly Hair Types
Curly hair breaks into three subtypes under the Andre Walker system, and each one behaves differently enough that product choice shifts with it. Type 3A forms loose, bouncy curls about the width of sidewalk chalk, with a defined S-pattern that starts right at the root. These curls need lighter moisture; heavy butters drag them flat by day two. Type 3B tightens into dense, springy ringlets with more volume but also more shrinkage, so length looks shorter than it actually grows. Type 3C pushes further into corkscrew territory, with strands that feel coarse and pack together so tightly that dryness hits faster than the A or B variants.
Porosity matters as much as pattern here. Low-porosity 3A hair resists absorption, so leave-ins sit on the surface unless heat opens the cuticle during conditioning. High-porosity 3C absorbs fast and loses it just as quickly, which means richer, sealing formulations win. Density and strand width finish the picture: fine 3B strands collapse under the same creams that coarse 3B strands drink in. A hair type quiz that stops at curl shape and skips these four variables, porosity included, will steer you toward products that underperform no matter the price.
Coily Hair Types
Coily hair sits at the far end of the texture spectrum, where natural oils struggle most to travel from scalp to tip and moisture loss happens fast. The Andre Walker system breaks this category into three subtypes, and knowing which one you land on changes almost everything about how you handle your wash day.
4A coils form defined S-shapes roughly the width of a chopstick, which gives them more spring and visible curl definition than their tighter cousins. That extra structure means 4A hair can handle lighter layering of product without losing its shape entirely.
4B shifts to tight Z-shaped coils with noticeably less definition. The angles are sharper, the strands bend more abruptly, and the resulting texture is prone to serious shrinkage and tangles because each strand has so many points of interruption. Protective styles like twists or braids become less optional here, more a way to keep hair from knotting on itself between washes.
4C carries the smallest Z-shaped strands of the three, with the least definition and the highest density. It is the most fragile of all hair types, not because the strands themselves are weak, but because the extreme tightness makes mechanical damage almost inevitable without deliberate handling. Detangling only while wet is non-negotiable for 4B and 4C; dry combing will snap strands you cannot afford to lose.
Porosity and density matter as much as pattern here. High porosity 4A can absorb a heavy butter without issue, while low porosity 4C will sit under the same product looking greasy on the surface and dry at the core. A lightweight leave-in used daily between washes helps lock moisture in without the weight that flattens coils at the root.
How to Determine Your Hair Pattern
The Andre Walker Hair Typing System assigns 1 for straight, 2 for wavy, 3 for curly, and 4 for coily, with each category split into A, B, and C subcategories based on pattern tightness. A sits loosest, C sits tightest. Straight hair runs 1A through 1C, wavy spans 2A to 2C, curly covers 3A to 3C, and coily stretches 4A to 4C.
Figuring out your exact type takes more than a mirror check. The system was built on hair in its natural, product-free state, so anything you have in from yesterday’s routine will skew the read. Wash with a gentle cleanser, skip the conditioner and stylers, and let your hair air-dry without touching it. What forms as it dries is the pattern the numbers describe.
The 2A-to-3C stretch trips people up most often. Wavy hair carries an S-shape that stays loose, while curls show defined loops or corkscrews. If you’re stuck between two letters, the tighter pattern usually wins; your products and technique should target the more textured grade, since the looser one will handle that care without complaint.
Finding Your Hair Density
Density sits right next to thickness in conversation, but the two measure different things. Density is the count of strands growing per square inch of scalp, and that number shapes whether your routine finishes heavy or light.
The mirror check takes thirty seconds. Part your hair where it naturally falls and look at the scalp showing through. Little to no scalp visible means high density; scalp clearly visible means low. Most people land in the medium band between those two.
High-density hair has more total surface area to coat, so the same dollop of product that disappears into medium hair can sit on top and flatten the shape. Light layering or mousse application through sections works better than a single blob at the crown. Low-density hair, on the other hand, drinks less and shows buildup faster; a pea-sized spread is usually enough.
Reading Your Hair Texture
Rolling a single strand between your fingers tells you more than most quizzes bother to explain. Fine hair barely registers, like rubbing silk thread. That near-invisibility comes with a cost: the cuticle layer is thinner and the cortex underneath has less structural material, so heat tools and chemical processing hit harder and the damage shows faster. I learned to spot fine texture first because clients with it were the ones whose ends frayed after one round of highlights they swore they’d done safely before.
Medium strands you feel distinctly, a slight ridge as they pass. This is the middle ground where standard formulations usually perform as labeled, neither too heavy nor too light.
Coarse hair pushes back against your fingertips with real presence. The strand diameter is wider and the cuticle layers sit more thickly, which means the shaft can take more mechanical stress but also needs richer conditioners to penetrate past those outer layers. A lightweight mousse that gives medium hair workable volume will sit on coarse hair like water on wax, doing almost nothing until you switch to something with more oil or butter in the base.
Testing Hair Porosity
The water float test still works, though it takes more patience than most online tutorials admit. Drop a clean strand into a glass and watch for whether it stays on the surface or sinks within two to four minutes. Floating means low porosity: cuticles lie tight and flat, so water beads up rather than entering the shaft. Hair like this dries slowly without heat and can feel like it sits under product instead of absorbing it. High porosity behaves the opposite way. The strand sinks fast, and hair drinks in conditioner but loses moisture just as quickly, often feeling dry again by afternoon. I learned the timing matters more than I expected. A strand with oils or residue from yesterday’s dry shampoo will lie about its true behavior, so wash first and let it air dry before testing.
Hair Density and Product Choice
Product weight matters more than most people realize when they take a hair type quiz and move on to building a routine. Density, the count of strands per square inch of scalp, decides whether that cream sits on top or actually reaches the hair that needs it.
High-density hair can swallow an impressive amount of product before it shows any effect. The mistake is dumping it all in one spot. Work in quarter-sized amounts, one at a time, raking from underneath in sections so the bottom layers get the same coating as the crown. Otherwise you end up with greasy roots and dry ends that tangle by noon.
Low-density hair is the opposite problem. The same dollop that disappears into thick hair will weigh finer strands flat against the scalp and leave them looking oily by evening. A pea-sized distribute through wet palms first, then a scrunch rather than a rake, keeps the lift at the roots intact.
Neither case responds well to guessing. The mirror check for density, parting hair to see how much scalp shows, is only useful if you actually adjust the amount that follows.
Texture and Damage Risk
Fine hair strands have almost no protective outer layer to buffer heat or chemical processing, which is why a single bleach session can leave them sheer at the ends while coarse hair shrugs off the same treatment. The strand test from a hair type quiz puts this into measurable terms: roll one hair between your fingers and if you barely feel it, your texture is fine and your damage threshold is low. That same fineness means lightweight oils and leave-in conditioners absorb too heavily and flatten the shaft, so sprays and milks win over butters. Coarse hair, the kind you can feel distinctly between your fingers, needs the sealing power that finer textures cannot handle: the Cocoa Vanilla and Avocado Curl Definition Butter or a weekly Mint and Cocoa Ayurvedic Butter Treatment sits on that wider diameter without weighing it down. Heat styling follows the same split. Fine hair loses moisture fast under a diffuser; coarse hair takes the blast but air-dries for hours and frizzes without product weight to lock the cuticle.
Porosity and Moisture Retention
Low porosity hair sits on water rather than sinking into it, and that same resistance shows up every wash day. Product pools on the surface, conditioners slide right off, and the strand stays wet for hours. Heat opens the cuticle enough for moisture to enter, which is why a warm rinse or a heated cap turns a useless deep-conditioning session into one that actually softens the hair. Without that step, the same cream that saves high porosity hair does nothing for low.
High porosity hair drinks water fast and loses it just as quickly. The cuticle is already lifted, so the problem is not getting moisture in but keeping it. Heavy sealants, butters, and oils that would weigh down low porosity strands become necessary here, slowing the escape so the hydration lasts past noon.
A hair type quiz that skips porosity is only telling half the story. The curl pattern might look right, yet the recommended routine fails because the product was built for the opposite absorption speed. Matching porosity to formulation matters more than matching brand to curl number.
Matching Care to Hair Goals
A full assessment pays off the moment you pick up a shampoo bottle. Low porosity hair resists absorption, so heavy butters sit on the surface and build up; high porosity hair drinks in moisture but loses it just as fast through gaps in the cuticle. The float test clarifies which camp you’re in. Hair that floats has low porosity. Hair that sinks slowly reads balanced. Hair that drops immediately signals high porosity.
Density and strand width complete the picture. Thin density means a quarter-sized dollop of product becomes grease at the roots. Coarse individual strands need richer formulations than fine ones can support without snapping. A 2A wave and a 2C wave share the same curl family but need different quantities and weights entirely.
The payoff is eliminating the guesswork that wastes money. Without knowing where you land on porosity and density, you are choosing between the Cocoa Vanilla Waffle Moisturising Shampoo Bar and the Mint Chocolate Strengthening version based on packaging or someone else’s review. With the full picture, you know whether your hair craves moisture above all else or needs protein repair for weakness and breakage. The same logic applies to conditioners: weekly deep recovery with the Mint and Cocoa Ayurvedic Butter Treatment only makes sense if your porosity and damage level actually call for it.
The quiz flags technique too. Diffusing versus air drying, co-wash frequency, whether a silk pillowcase matters for your frizz pattern; all of it becomes specific instead of generic.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know my exact hair type?
The Andre Walker Hair Typing System sorts hair into four main categories: 1 for straight, 2 for wavy, 3 for curly, and 4 for coily, each with A, B, and C subcategories from loosest to tightest. To get an accurate read, wash with a gentle cleanser, skip conditioner and stylers, and let your hair air-dry without touching it. What forms as it dries is the pattern the numbers describe.
What is my hair pattern?
Hair pattern gets a number for straight (1), wavy (2), curly (3), or coily (4), plus a subcategory letter (A, B, or C) for tightness. A sits loosest and C sits tightest, so straight hair runs 1A through 1C, wavy spans 2A to 2C, curly covers 3A to 3C, and coily stretches 4A to 4C. If you’re stuck between two letters, the tighter pattern usually wins because the looser one will handle that care without complaint.
How can I determine my hair density?
Part your hair where it naturally falls and look at how much scalp shows through. Little to no scalp visible means high density, scalp clearly visible means low density, and most people land in the medium band between those two. High-density hair needs light layering or mousse in sections, while low-density hair drinks less product and shows buildup faster.
What does it mean if my hair floats in water?
Floating hair has low porosity: the cuticles lie tight and flat, so water beads up rather than entering the shaft. Hair like this dries slowly without heat and can feel like it sits under product instead of absorbing it, so lightweight, water-based products and heat during deep conditioning work best. Hair that sinks fast signals high porosity, which drinks in moisture but loses it just as quickly and needs heavier sealants.
