The first time I tried to commit to the natural hair life was in 2015. It had been three years since my last relaxer and I had been rocking sew-ins faithfully. Once I saw how much hang-time my hair had, I wanted to go full throttle in embracing its curls. I watched more than enough YouTube videos and stocked up on all things natural haircare, from twisting creams to co-washing shampoos. I knew nothing about how to find my hair type, let alone how much it mattered.
To me, as long as I was using products for natural hair, they were one and the same… until I was faced with the reality of shrinkage and failed with every twist-out I tried. After doing a little research (and learning that flourishing curls weren't built in a day), I learned that the golden ticket was knowing my hair type.
What Is My Hair Type? A Guide To Your Natural Hair Curl Pattern
First Things First, What Are The Curly Hair Types?
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When it comes to hair, there are nine different types, according to Naturally Curly. Bone straight hair is Type 1. Wavy hair, a.k.a. Type 2 is broken into three categories 2A, 2B, 2C, with 2A being the loosest and 2C the tightest. Type 3 is curly hair and also divided into three categories: 3A, 3B, and 3C, going from loosest to tightest. The final part, Type 4, is for coily/kinky/afro hair -- 4A, 4B, and 4C. And you guessed it, that also goes from loosest coil pattern to tightest.
Knowing your hair type opens the floodgates of truly caring for your natural hair, whether you wear it out after a wash-and-go or wear protective styles like braids and wigs. Below is everything you need to know about each hair type and how to properly nurture yours.
Type 2A Hair
If your hair has very little volume at the root, is fine, and easy to straighten, you could have Type 2A hair. The good thing about 2A hair is that you can use products like styling foam to add a little extra something at your roots for fuller-looking locks. But you have to be careful using a ton of products. Too much can weigh down your tresses.
Type 2B Hair
Raise your hand if your hair is flatter at the top with S-shaped waves toward the middle. If so, you most likely have Type 2B hair. The strands are typically a little thicker than 2A, making it tougher to straighten. For those who want their loose waves a little more defined, you can use a sea salt hairspray. Be sure to opt for one that doesn't make your hair stiff or crunchy.
Type 2C Hair
Is this you? Your waves are thick and you typically have to navigate through frizzy strands. Unlike Type 2B, 2C hair's waves don't start in the middle. Instead, they're going strong from the root. Experts recommend using a leave-in conditioner to show off your natural pattern.
Type 3A Hair
Your hair has bypassed wavy and is instead a texture complete with large and loose curls. While there are tons of curl creams to use before letting your hair air dry, you want to steer clear of using your hands, a brush, or a comb from loosening your hair. It will definitely have a frizzier outcome than you want. To keep your curls, you can find hair milk or spray to freshen up your curls when needed.
Type 3B Hair
If you have ringlets that spring, 3B is all you. The tricky thing about 3B hair is that it can get a bit drier than other types. So when looking for products, look for humectants so the hair and moisture can mesh properly. Use any product when your hair is wet to avoid any undesired frizziness.
Type 3C Hair
These are curls that are similar to tight corkscrews. With 3C hair, you don't lack volume thanks to your strands being super-close together. Still, frizziness is a problem for you, so be sure to use a co-wash product that's creamier and has no sulfate. It's also best to use a layering mousse (like curling mousse) instead of a defining styling cream when your hair is still wet. This cuts down on drying time.
Type 4A Hair
If you have 4A hair, chances are your hair is full of volume and has springy S-patterned coils. Wash-and-gos are your friend, and a curling cream is a necessity to keep your coils defined.
Type 4B Hair
4B hair is typically defined as a dense pattern featuring zig-zag strands. Because of the thicker strands, it's typically best to use multiple products (one that stretches your strands and another that defines them) for easier styling.
Type 4C Hair
There's a special place in everyone's heart for those with 4C hair. It's said to be one of the most difficult patterns to work with as it's prone to shrinkage, drying out, and has more fragile strands. But unlike some folks out here would like you to believe, 4C hair is not unmanageable, nor is it impossible to style. Using a leave-in moisturizer helps fight the dryness. A stretching product is often used against shrinkage.
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Featured image by Shutterstock
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A Goddard College graduate, who earned an MFA from Pratt Institute and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Marymount Manhattan College, Mahogany offers unapologetic realness with a side of grace and empowerment. "I started touring locally. I started creating chat books so that those poems will go in the hands of the people who were sitting in the rooms," she shared.
"And then I started facilitating poetry workshops, so I used my chat books as curriculum. And that, in turn, allowed me to further invest in my art and show the community and people who were hiring me that it wasn't just a one-off, that it's not just, you know, a fly by night—that I am invested in this art as much as I am invested in your community, in your children's learning, in our growth."
Mahogany has a special way of moving audiences, and her superpower sparks shifts in perspective, post-performance introspection, and strengthening of community bonds, especially among Black women. (One can undeniably recognize her gift for arousal of the spirit and mind merely from her listening to her insights from the other side of a Google Hangout call. I can only imagine the soul-stirring, top-tier sensory encounter when watching her perform in person.)
In this chat with xoNecole, Mahogany reflects on sustaining a creative career, the aftermath of writing a banned book, and using poetry for both healing, community-building, and activism.
Anthony Artis
xoNecole: What are three key things that have laid the foundation for a sustainable creative career for you?
Mahogany L Browne: What has helped me is that I'm willing to go in being an expert at knowing poetry and knowing the way in which art can change the landscape of our lives, not just as a poet, but also as a poetry facilitator. How you move through classes, those things are mastered, right? So when I go into another space that's maybe tech-heavy, I don't mind learning and being, you know, a student of the wonder of how we can make this magic, work together.
Two, you’ve got to know how to pivot. Sometimes we say, ‘Alright, this is what my life is going to be. I'm going to be a New York Times best-selling author. I'm going to, you know, have an album that's Grammy-nominated. And then, say you get dropped from your record label. That doesn't mean you can't make an album anymore. You can also still create an album that can be submitted to the Grammys. So, what does a pivot look like as an artist who doesn't have an institution behind them? Pivot being a student of the wonder.
Relationships also really help. How do I serve the community? And in turn, that tells me how the community can show up. For me, I have long-standing ties with a community that will outlast my one life. So, what does it mean to create space where these relationships can develop, can be nurtured, can be rooted, can be cultivated? Creating space—it happens through relationships.
xoN: With today’s economic challenges, what does your current creative process look like, and what are you working on?
MB: I’m always thinking five years ahead. I just reviewed the pages for two children’s books and recently released a YA novel. I’m drafting an adult fiction manuscript now.
Anything I create is founded with the root of poetry, but it can exist in captions. It can exist in commercials. It can exist as a musical. So that's where I’m at now.
xoN: You started performing "Black Girl Magic" in 2013, had an acclaimed performance of it via PBS and the work went on to viral success shortly after. Talk more about the inspiration. And what do you think about the continued relevance more than a decade later?
MB: I wrote it as a rally cry for the mothers who had been keeping themselves truly in harm's way by, you know, being a part of the community right after the death of their child or their loved one. They are usually mothers of victims of police brutality—and just seeing how they showed up in these community spaces, they are devout to the cause but obviously still grieving.
"I wanted this poem to be just a space of reclamation, of joy and of you, of your light, of your shine, of your brilliance, in any which way in which you fashion. Every room you enter is the room you deserve to be in. What does it mean to have a poem like that that exists?"
And the first time I did the poem, the Weeping that occurred, right? It was like this blood-letting of sorts. The next time I performed it, I'm moved to tears because I'm seeing how it's affecting other women who have just been waiting to hear, ‘You belong. You deserve. You are good. We see you. Thank you, despite everything that they said to make you regret being born in this beautiful brown, dark-skinned, light-skinned, but Black body.’
Black women are the backbone—period. Point blank. And so, that that poem became a necessity, not just to the fortitude of Black women in the community, but like you know, in service of healing the Black women.
xoN: One of your books was banned at a school in Boston, and it was later reinstated due to parental and activist support. What was that experience like?
MB: Well, I think it happened because they were racist. That's it. Point blank. The reversal of it was empowering, right? I realized, oh, I thought we just had to sit here and be on a banned book list. But no, parents are actually the leaders of this charge.
So to see that, the parents said, ‘Nah, we're not gonna let you take this book out of my baby’s school just because it's a Black kid on the front saying, ‘Woke’ and they're talking about being a global citizen. They're talking about accountability. They're talking about accessibility. They're talking about allyship, and you don't want them to have compassion or empathy or have even an understanding, right? So no, we rebuke that, and we want this book here anyway.’ To see that happen in that way. I was, like, reaffirmed. Absolutely.
xoN: You recently organized the Black Girl Magic Ball at the Lincoln Center in New York. Honorees included author and entrepreneur Rachel Cargle and National Black Theater CEO Sade Lythcott. What impact did it have and what expanded legacy do you hope to leave with your creative works?
MB: I was really interested in not celebrating just the book, but celebrating the community that made the book possible. And so I gave out five awards to women doing that thing, like, what does it mean to be a Black girl in this world?
I just thought it was gonna be an amazing time. Everybody's gonna dress up—we're gonna celebrate each other. And boom, I then realized that it responded to like a gaping hole. There was a missing thing for Black girls of all walks of life, all ages, right?
"It's very intergenerational. That was intentional to come together and celebrate just being us."
You have all these instances where just being you is either the butt of a joke or it's diminished and not worthy of a specific title in these larger institutions. So what does it mean to just to be loved up on and celebrated?
It felt like a self-care project at first. You know, for the first couple of years, folks were coming and they were getting that sisterhood. They were getting that tribe work that they were missing in their everyday lives.
I love the Black Girl Magic Ball because we got us. If I go out with a bang, they'll remember that Mahogany worked her a** off to make sure all the Black girls everywhere knew that she was the light. We are the blueprint.
For more information on Mahogany L. Browne, her work, and her future projects, visit her website or follow her on IG @mobrowne.
Featured image by Anthony Artis
