How to Style Mixed Curl Patterns { into a Mohawk Fro }

Natural Hair Styling

Honestly? I’m so over the hair type/texture conversation, only really because I know that the same reasons society may marginalise my identity, are the same reasons I know the conversation on texture and type have made it an extremely tiresome experience, to discuss and to live through.
I remember when I first did a big chop in 2010, and after extensive braiding and trimming ( and a terribly healthy diet might I add 😉 )my hair grew to bra length at the back and chin length at the front in three years. After my curly hair awakening and new found love for my actual long lost natural reflection, I did what bad girls do and went back to my old ways  with wild hairstyles, dying, shaving and heat styling without a second thought or consideration for my tresses?! I was feeling spoilt and couldn’t handle it…
I needed to live again !?


Well aesthetically I was spoilt but really… I was so over the 4 hour wash and conditioning routine and twist outs over double hour documentaries and protein heavy meals. I cut it again and again and again. In fact honesty, it was a  relief! Curly hair in cold climates is a chore and when you have to figure it out alone the journey is much harder. Nowadays the conversation is more nuanced with Natural hair bloggers moving comfortably in to the internet space to showcase their own narratives.

So I guess I’m back at square one. I chopped it off again for a healthy start, well quite frankly I’ve had to restart the chop about six times since April 2017. So here we are now!
And thanks to sites like Naturally curly.com I can live another day knowing I’m not mad for discovering that in fact I not only have mixed curl patterns but I now know about Texture, Porosity Thickness & Density, giving me a well rounded synopsis to my coily-curly narrative!

Click the link HEREto take the Texture Type quiz!

3c : “This often is referred to as curly-coily and tends to be very dense, tightly packed corkscrews that are the circumference of a pencil or a straw. Type 3c hair tends to experience the most volume, but also the most shrinkage of curls.”

Type 4 coily hair is fine and thin or wiry and coarse, with densely packed coils. Coily hair may seem robust, but it’s actually the most fragile hair texture because it has the fewest cuticle layers to protect it from dryness. Its top concerns are maintaining moisture, avoiding tangles and counteracting shrinkage.


4a: Your dense, springy coils are either wiry or fine, and have the circumference of a crochet needle. They are tightly coiled, with a visible S pattern.

4b: Instead of curling or coiling, your hair bends in sharp angles like the letter Z. The curl is tighter and less defined – about the circumference of a pen – with strands that range from fine and thin to wiry and coarse.

4c : Your densely packed hair is similar to a 4b, but experiences less definition and more shrinkage. The tightly coiled strand texture ranges from super fine, thin and soft to wiry and coarse. It is very delicate.

I like to use thick to medium, creamy to liquid based products, that leave a light finish but retain oils and natural coil spring.

I say I’m a combination of 3c, 4a, 4b and 4c curls, with loose curls to micro coils and the random minority patches of wavy strands that do not respect me or the macro. Stand in your authority I say. As I do, walking in my truth, in a world that hates the idea that I find and feel pride in my hair’s Natural state.

Check out my Instagram for a cute little montage of my hair through the years!

 

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