Hair Type Quiz
Answer six questions about what your hair does when it dries with nothing in it. The quiz gives a likely place on the hair type chart that runs from type 1 (straight) to 4C (tightly coiled). It is a styling label, not a scientific measurement.
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Answer for clean hair that dried in the air with no product, and for your natural texture if your lengths are straightened, permed or bleached.
Answer all 6 questions to see your likely hair type.
How it works
The chart has four families: type 1 is straight, type 2 is wavy, type 3 is curly and type 4 is coily. Types 2, 3 and 4 are split into A, B and C, from the widest pattern to the tightest. It is usually called the Andre Walker system, after the hairstylist who made it popular in the 1990s.
The family comes from three answers. What your hair does when it air-dries counts 2 points, the shape of one strand counts 2 points and how much the hair shrinks as it dries counts 1 point. Saying there is no bend anywhere adds 1 point for straight. The family with the most points wins. If two families are level, the air-dry answer decides, and the result tells you the other family your answers pointed to.
The letter comes from how wide the wave, curl or coil is: wide is A, medium is B, tight is C. Two smaller answers can move it one step: a pattern that starts right at the root and a thick strand both point tighter, while a pattern only at the ends and a fine strand both point looser. The letter only moves if both of these answers point the same way.
This chart is a convention made for styling, not a classification from science. It has been criticised for reading like a ranking, with straight hair first and coily hair last. No type is better, healthier or easier than another, and this quiz treats the numbers as names only. Researchers who study hair shape use measured systems instead, such as one that sorts hair into eight shapes by curve diameter and number of waves.
What it cannot tell you
- The result is a likely type from your own description, not a measurement. Two people can look at the same hair and choose different letters.
- Most heads have more than one pattern. The hair at the nape, the crown and the hairline often differs, so you may be two or three neighbouring types at once.
- The type says nothing about strand thickness, density, porosity, damage or scalp health, and it does not tell you which products to buy.
- Heat styling, chemical straightening, perms and bleach change how hair dries. Answer for your natural new growth if your lengths are treated.
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Common questions
The hair types from 1 to 4C are a styling chart with four families: type 1 straight, type 2 wavy, type 3 curly and type 4 coily. In types 2, 3 and 4 the letters A, B and C go from the widest pattern to the tightest. The chart describes shape only.
To find your hair type, wash your hair, leave out all products and let it dry in the air without touching it. Then look at the shape of single strands from a few places on your head and compare them with the chart. This quiz asks about the same things in six questions.
Yes, most people have more than one hair type on the same head. The pattern at the crown, the nape and around the face is often different. It is normal to describe your hair as a mix, such as 3B with some 3C.
No, the 1 to 4C hair typing system is a styling convention, not a scientific classification. It was made popular by a hairstylist and is based on how hair looks. Published research uses measured systems instead, for example eight shape groups defined by curve diameter, curl index and number of waves.
4C hair is one kind of coily hair. Coily hair is type 4 on the chart, and 4C is the tightest pattern in that family, with coils or sharp angles that can be hard to see until a strand is stretched. 4A and 4B are also coily.