Back in middle school I went for my first hair cut which was ultimately a disaster.  I wanted layers and I walked out looking like a poodle but I digress.  When the stylist began cutting my hair, she commented on how much hair I had.  

My aunt who'd accompanied me replied, "Yes, her hair is very thick."  

The stylist replied in turn, "No, her hair isn't 'thick.'  She just has a lot of hair."

I'd always been told my hair was thick and after the cut, my aunt and I spoke briefly about how I would never return to the stylist because she didn't know what she was talking about.  Well, the stylist damn sure didn't know how to cut hair but she knew exactly what she was talking about regarding my hair not being "thick." 

What she meant was my individual hair strands are not thick.  And they aren't.  I do however have a lot of strands of hair on my head.  This leads us to understanding Hair Stranding Typology or Texture and volume.

The 3 Hair Textures

When you look at hairs under a microscope, they will have varying degrees of thickness.  How thick, how wide around or in other words, the circumference of a particular hair strand is dependent upon a number of factors.  Age, Ethnicity, the region from which the hair was obtained all come into play.

Not to gross you out but WOO-WOO hair will typically be coarser than hair on your forearms.

For most people, eyebrow hair will be coarser than nose hair. 

A man's facial hair will be usually be coarser than head hair. 

So when you we say that one's hair is fine or coarse, what we're really saying is, how wide it is around and the bigger the individual hair strand is, the rougher (coarser) the ha
ir will feel to the touch.

Type F - Fine
If upon looking at your hair very closely it appears thin and almost translucent (see-through) when held up to the light, it's classified as "Fine."  Another common term for the way this type of hair appears is "peach-fuzz."   Look at the hair on your upper arm/bicep area.  For most people, this hair appears thin and translucent or Fine.  Where Fine head hair will be thicker than hair on your upper arm, it serves as a guideline for comparing Fine hair strands to the other types.  Still confused?

If you do indeed have fine hair on your upper arm (or other parts of your body (thighs, abdominal region for women, etc), let's compare it to areas where you might have coarser hair.  Compare the fine hair to hair in your WOO-WOO region, under your arms, on your knuckles, toes, legs, eyebrows.  These regions tend to have heavier/darker/more weighty strands of hair. 

Pluck a hair from what you think might be a Fine hair region, pluck one from an area that's Coarse.  After you're done tearing up, hold each strand up to the light and compare.  The one you can almost see through, the one that seems to change color when held against the light, that's the one that's "Fine."  Fine hair is the most fragile.

Type M - Medium
If upon looking at your hair very closely it appears neither ultra-light and feather (Fine), is not translucent and is not rough or thread-like, you have Medium strands.  Medium strands are similar to arm or leg hair on those of us that have arm/leg hair.  They will hold their color better than fine hair when held against the light and its texture will be similar to a piece of cotton thread.

Type C - Coarse
If upon looking at your hair very closely it appears to be neither ultra-light or feathery (Fine), is solid to the touch but not cotton-like, solidly holds it color when held up against a light source and is clearly visible when held up to a solid background, you most likely have Coarse hair strands.  Coarse strands are far more solid/hard to the touch when compared to Type M. 

Coarse hair is evident in most all people in the WOO-WOO region, along the happy trail (the hair that leads from your navel to your WOO-WOO), bearded regions for men, eyebrows and female whiskers (those hairs that grow in your chin area that you dont want anyone to know about).  In comparison to the other types, coarse hair has greater tensile strength (able to withstand stress and pressure).

WHAT IS YOUR TYPE?  WRITE IT DOWN.