Many people think that “hair texture” is simply how their hair feels. Maybe it feels dry or oily—or maybe it feels so good that you want to run your hands through it all day long. But the truth is that “dry”, or “greasy” is not technically hair texture, it simply describes the state of your human hair extensions. Hair texture and hair type for that matter is something you’re born with.

What is Hair Texture?
Hair texture describes the circumference of your hair. There are three different hair texture types—fine, medium and thick. Each hair texture type has its own traits that set it apart from other hair textures and influence the care or treatment it may need.

Fine hair is the most fragile hair texture. Each individual hair is thin and only has two hair layers; cortex and cuticle. If you have this hair type, you might find it hard to keep your remy virgin hair in a style, or it might get oily easily. And, as you probably know, too much product will weigh this hair texture down, making it break easily.

Medium hair is what most people have, and is thicker than fine hair. The individual hairs have the same two hair layers that fine hair has, but may also have the third one – the medulla. Medium hair can keep hairstyles better, looks thicker and is more resistant to breaking.

Thick or coarse hair has all three hair layers; cortex, cuticle, and medulla. Thick hair gives the impression of a fuller head of hair, and it can hold a hairstyle well. If you have thick hair texture, your hair is more tolerant to heat, styling products, hair dye and breakage than fine or medium hair. But this also means that your hair takes longer to dry and can get frizzy in humid weather.

It’s easier to visualize the different hair texture types if you look at a hair texture chart. With a hair texture chart, you can more easily see how the fine hair type compares to the medium hair type or thick hair type. Unfortunately, the creators of the hair texture chart might themselves not know the difference between hair texture and hair type.