Fia's Hair Typing System

In the past two weeks we've gone over both the Andre Walker Hair typing system and the LOIS hair typing systems. There is one other hair typing system that has several women on natural hair forums that are advocating it. It's called Fia's hair typing system.

Fia's Hair Typing System appears to expand on Andre Walker's Hair Typing System and incorporate components of the LOIS Hair Typing System also. The system defines hair using three classifiers: (1) the definition of your curls (think Andre Walker), (2) the appearance of most of your hair strands, and (3) the overall volume of your hair
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First Classifier: Curl Definition
The first classifier which defines your hair type by determining the curliness of your hair strands (or the lack thereof - if that's the case) is analogous to Andre Walker system utilizing the 1-4 numbers as well as the a-c designations

1) The straight ones
1a - stick straight
1b - straight but with a slight body wave, just enough to add some volume, doesn't look wavy
1c - straight with body wave and one or two visible S-waves (e.g. nape of neck or temples)

2) The wavy ones
2a - loose, stretched out S-waves throughout the hair
2b - shorter, more distinct S-waves (similar to waves from braiding damp hair)
2c - distinct S-waves and the odd spiral curl forming here and there

3) The curly ones
3a - big, loose spiral curls
3b - bouncy ringlets
3c - tight corkscrews

4) The really curly ones
4a - tightly coiled S-curls
4b - tightly coiled hair bending in sharp angles (Z-pattern)

Second Classifier: Appearance of Strands
The second classifier focuses on the appearance of the majority of your hair strands. Actually, this classifier is very similar to the hair strand sizes used within the LOIS system, but there are some minor differences in terminology.

    F - Fine: Fine, thin hair strands that feels almost like an ultra-fine strand of silk.
    M - Medium: Medium sized hair strands, which generally feel like rolling a cotton thread between your thumb and index fingers, are ones that simply fall in between the fine and coarse categories according to Fia's Hair Typing System.
    C - Coarse: Think hair strands that feel hard and wiry.

 Third Classifier: Volume
The third classification of Fia's Hair Typing System measures the overall volume of your hair.
To do this, place your hair in a pony tail, including as much hair as possible. Once you have the majority of your hair in a ponytail, measure the circumference of the ponytail. You can use a soft tape measure or another method that won't damage your hair to measure the circumference of your ponytail.

Wrap the soft tape measure around your ponytail below the elastic used to hold the ponytail together.  The number shown on the tape measure/string is used to determine whether your hair fits into the thin, normal or thick according to Fia's Hair Typing System.

    Thin - The circumference of the ponytail is less than 2 inches (less than 5 centimeters)
    Normal - The circumference of the ponytail is between 2 - 4 inches (between 5-10 centimeters)
    Thick - The circumference of the ponytail is greater than 4 inches (greater than 10 centimeters)

Note: The circumference is simply the measured distance around a circle or edge of an object that is roughly

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