How do I know my hair type?

When looking at hair products have you ever noticed that it may say it’s for fine, medium, or coarse hair? Have you ever then thought which one is my hair? Even though you can say your hair is big and crazy, or flat and lifeless, it’s the diameter of your hair that really matters when choosing a product for you.  Don’t confuse hair density with diameter; people with fine hair can still have a ton of it but still be considered fine.

Hair Thickness

Hair thickness actually refers to the width of one single strand of hair. You can have either thick, medium, or fine  – or a mixture of all three types!

To find out your hair type, all you need to do is a strand test! First start by taking a single hair in between your fingers, if you can’t feel the hair between your fingers then you have fine hair. If you can feel the hair a little then you have medium hair. If you can feel a thick strand then your hair is considered coarse.


If you’re still struggling to determine your hair type, you can also do a thread test. Pull a single hair from your head and lay it next to a piece of sewing thread (putting it on a surface that's the opposite color of your hair will help). If it’s the same width as the thread, your hair is medium, but if it’s thinner or thicker, so is your hair.


Hair Density

Just because the diameter of your hair is fine doesn't mean you can't have a thick head of hair and vice versa. There is a simple test for eyeballing your strand density: Standing in front of a mirror, grab a handful of hair at the side of your head and notice the space around that 'clump.' Can you easily see your scalp? Your hair is likely thin. No scalp visible? Probably thick. If you’re in the middle, you likely have hair of medium density. Determining both your diameter AND density will help narrow down the types of product you should use. Someone with dense, coarse hair will need smoothing products. While someone with less dense but still coarse hair will need a volumizing product.


Once you have determined your hair type and density you’ll be able to choose your hair products and know that they will work great in your hair. Most brands label there products with which hair type they are designed for, so you will be much more confident mixing and matching across systems to create your perfect routine.