The last post was on Hair Typing, putting a label to the curl pattern in your hair--and also, the amount of care that needs to be given to it. A type 1a can get away with a shampoo once-twice a day only, with little to no conditioning or moisturizing needed, but not easily manipulated by heat for curling or shaping.
But this kind of Type has to do with the amount of process that has been done to your hair.
It's not really a rating system, more like the level of chemical that is in the hair and defining or correcting the hair pattern.
Types of Hair:
~Virgin Hair: Has NEVER been exposed to any chemical processes, as well as some forms of heat.
~Natural: Is not treated by any chemicals, in it's natural state without any processes. Virgin hair also falls under this category.
~Relaxed or Permed: Generally, most black women have RELAXED hair, chemically straightened with products and chemicals. It is rare to find a African American who perms, or chemically curls their hair as it is naturally curlier than most.
~Texlaxed/Texturized: Relaxer is mixed with oil or butters and used for a shorter amount of time to loosen the curl of the hair but maintain texture, where an undiluted relaxer would make the hair nearly bone straight.
~Color treated: Dyeing the hair in order to change or correct the color.
~Locks*: Hair that has been formed into nearly permanent sections of matted hair. I will not elaborate here, as it is not a hair type/process I find normal.
~Transitioning: Between the natural and any chemically treated hair types.
*I have this extreme dislike for DREADLOCKED hair. I have classified it here as a hair type, because there is nothing like it and no matter how anyone tries to explain it otherwise, it is NOT Natural.
This is a terrible metaphor but imagine getting a hair cut, then using the clipping and glueing it to your chest. You now have chest hair. None if it is attached to your body, or grows from your follicles, but it's chest hair... technically.
That is not natural, and neither is letting your hair break and mat and dry and bind. Having dead hair attached to living hair isn't having long hair, it's having add-on's, equivalent to a weave. Just a lot more tacky.
I won't even post a picture of it, as I find it quite offensive. Hair mats, yes, and when it does it can usually be attributed to natural occurrences and reactions followed by rapid drying. Example, my hair is naturally very thick and very curly. When it's wet it shrinks by more than half and coils into a bit of a mop. If I don't quickly get moisture/conditioner into my hair before it dries, it will dry shriveled and tangled, sticking to itself and as the warm wet hair becomes cool and dry quickly, the shafts themselves tend to bind. It mats and it takes a lot of time and care to get the solid mass mat out.
Locked hair has been dried out critically, terribly damaged and broken WITHOUT chemical treatment. Dreadlocks are not good for anyone, and the amount of damage that needs to be done to Caucasian hair to loc it is just sickening.
Enough Ranting on Dreadlocks, on to another section.
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Relaxed hair is damaged hair. The chemicals, Guanidine or Sodium Hydroxide strip the hair shaft, thinning the cortical layer down. This chemical, not only damages the hair, but also the scalp. There are many rules, one of which is to not scratch your scalp before or after a relaxer as it would lacerate and burn your scalp, most likely causing it to blister and bleed.
Relaxed hair breaks. It is weak, fragile, and has been robbed of its elasticity. Nearly any process put on top of relaxed hair (heat, color, brushing even) can do even further damage and cause large amounts of breakage--even a "chemical crew out". This is where, to my knowledge, the hair falls out in big chunks and can't handle even the simplest handling. This is when someone would, and most do, decide to Transition.
Transitioning is usually when someone with relaxed hair decides to revert to their hair's natural state. Relaxing hair is PERMANENT, therefore they have to maintain their relaxed hair as well as their new growth (natural hair at the roots), and protect the sections and their joints. What I mean is, natural hair is generally strong, thick, has it's coil pattern intact, and the shaft and cuticle are whole and complete. And when relaxed hair, thinned drastically and bone straight is connected to coiled hair, the joint (line of demarcation) is very fragile and breaks off easily. Someone transitioning would keep the hair in styles that would protect it (buns, braids, wigs, extensions).
Another option in Transitioning is called the "BIG CHOP," where we cut off all of the hair that is relaxed, going from some length to nearly none at all--usually one inch or less. This is where Natural hair and it's care comes in, which requires an entirely new post... A whole blog even! But I'll do my best to illustrate the needs and treatment of Natural hair over time, as I have Natural hair, have experienced relaxed, texlaxed, and transitioning and natural hair, and basically know what I'm talking about.
I have a good amount of length so I must be doing something right, hey?
***I have referred to some terms from Nappturality.com, found (here).
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