Hair Texture: Everything You Need to Know & Product Guide

One of the challenges of curly hair is creating a hair care routine that keeps it looking beautiful and healthy. Becoming an expert in your own hair is the best way to find the products that will help you achieve your hair goals, whether that’s long, beautiful tresses or the perfect curl clumps.

One of the main characteristics you need to know about is hair texture. Together with your hair type, porosity, and density, understanding your hair texture will help you decide the best way to care for your tresses. 

In this guide to hair texture, we’ll explain what hair texture means, what the three different hair textures are, and how to work out which texture you have. 

We’ll also provide some simple pointers on picking the right products for your hair texture. You can also click through to our individual hair texture guides for more detailed advice on curating your hair care routine.

What Is Hair Texture?

The term ‘hair texture’ describes the thickness of individual strands of hair. We describe hair texture as being fine, medium, or coarse, and scientists can use a microscope to measure the diameter or thickness of individual hair strands:

• Fine hair: Less than 60 microns
• Medium hair: 60-80 microns
• Thick/Coarse hair: Wider than 80 microns

Hair texture sometimes gets confused with hair density because people often describe both high density hair and coarse hair as thick hair. So, here on Holistic Enchilada, we keep things clear by talking about coarse hair texture and high density hair.

Can You Have Different Hair Textures At The Same Time?

Many people find their hair has a mix of textures rather than one single texture across their full head of hair.

You might find that most of your hair is fine textured, but you have some coarse hair around your crown, or you might have medium texture hair in most places and just a few fine hairs around your hairline.

A mix of hair textures can make it harder to pick the right products for your hair, but the best solution is choosing products that suit the hair texture you have the most. Then, you can dilute your products with water or apply more to suit the different textures. 

Not sure which curl texture you have? Take our Quick Curl Type Quiz to find out.

What’s The Difference Between Hair Texture And Hair Type?

It’s important to remember that hair texture and curl pattern are not the same thing. The width of the hair strands determines your hair texture, and the shape of your hair follicles is what creates your hair type or curl type.

So, it’s possible to have any combination of the different hair types with straight, wavy, curly, or coily hair. 

Remember that creating your ideal hair care routine depends on knowing your hair texture and type of hair, alongside other factors like hair porosity and density. ​

What Causes Different Hair Textures?

Several factors can affect your hair texture, including genetics, age, and changes in hormone levels.

Ethnicity

Studies have shown that different genes influence the hair texture of people from different ethnic backgrounds

• The diameter of Black hair fibers tends to be the smallest, with an average of 55 microns. 
• Caucasian hair strands are a little wider, averaging 65 microns wide.
• The width of Latinx and Hispanic hair strands is generally between 65 and 80 microns.
• Asian fibers have the widest diameter, usually from 80 to 120 microns wide¹.

However, whether you have straight hair, wavy hair, or curly tresses, your hair is unique to you, and these averages are only a guideline.

Age

Cells in your hair follicles called melanocytes produce the melanin that gives hair its color. A lot of people develop gray hair as they get older because the number of these hair cells falls, so less melanin is produced². 

Gray hair often feels coarser and can seem more curly than before it lost its color.

Hormones

Hormone changes during pregnancy and at menopause can change your natural hair texture and make it feel coarser. 

Your hair can also be affected if you are taking medication that contains hormones, such as birth control.

What Are The Three Different Hair Textures?

There are three main types of hair textures: fine, medium, and coarse. Each texture type has characteristics you can spot in your own tresses.

Fine Hair

Fine hair is the most fragile hair texture, with delicate, fine strands that are easily damaged without special care. 

Fine-texture hair can be quite oily because your scalp’s natural oils easily coat the fine strands, and you might struggle with a lack of volume. It’s also hard to style so if you curl your fine texture hair, the curls usually drop out quickly. 

On the plus side, fine-textured hair takes on hair color easier than the other texture types, and your styling products can go further on fine hair. However, it’s important not to weigh down your hair with too much product or damage the strands with chemical processing. 

Coarse Hair

Coarse hair has substantial strands that are thicker in diameter than fine or medium strands. You might also find they feel brittle or wiry, so giving your coarse strands plenty of additional moisture is essential. A good deep conditioner will be your hair’s best friend.  

The thicker strands of coarse-textured hair means that even low density hair can look like a full, voluminous mane. It holds a style well and is less prone to chemical or heat damage. 

However, depending on your porosity, coarse hair strands can take longer to dry. They’re also prone to frizz in humid weather, and you might find that hair colors don’t take well. 

Medium Hair

As you’ve probably guessed, medium hair falls between fine and coarse hair. It often feels smooth, not wiry and brittle like coarse hair, and isn’t damaged easily like fine hair. This texture is easy to style and will hold a curl well. 

Medium-textured hair can be prone to frizz, but it doesn’t break as easily as fine hair. It can sometimes be slightly resistant to hair colors and treatments, but not as much as coarse hair.  

How To Determine Your Hair’s Texture

There are a few ways to check your hair texture at home. For best results, always test a clean and product-free hair strand so that your results aren’t affected by hair products or natural oils. 

Many people have a mix of hair textures, so it’s a good idea to check the texture in different areas of your head.

For the first step, you can use the strand test. This is an easy way to test your hair texture by rolling a single hair strand between your fingers to see whether you can feel it:

• Fine hair can hardly be felt at all.
• Coarse hair feels thicker and wiry, like a piece of thin thread.
• Medium hair falls between the two.

Next, try laying a single strand of hair on a white piece of paper:

• Fine hair is hard to see, especially if your hair is a light color.
• Coarse hair is easier to see, and the thick strand may look dark even if you have blonde hair.
• Medium texture is visible on the white paper but isn’t as easy to see as coarse hair.

Finally, think about how well your hair holds a style:

• Fine hair is difficult to style and doesn’t hold a curl well.
• Coarse hair is very full and holds styles very well.
• Medium hair is easy to curl or pin up but needs a little help to hold the style.

How To Select Products Based On Texture

When choosing products for your curly hair routine, you need to consider various characteristics like hair type, hair porosity, and hair density. Your hair texture is just one of these essential factors that help you choose the best products for your hair. 

Depending on your hair texture, you might need to select lightweight or heavier products. You might also need to vary the protein content in your hair care products to suit your texture. 

Remember that if you have a mix of hair textures, you can usually dilute a product to use on finer areas or add a little extra product to areas of coarse hair.

Choosing the Best Products for Fine Hair

Heavy products can easily weigh down fine hair strands. Choose lightweight sprays and foams, a light styling cream, or water-based gel, and avoid thick, creamy products that contain rich moisturizing ingredients like shea butter or coconut oil.

This will help you create volume at the roots and avoid flat, limp curls. 

Fine hair texture has strands that are easily damaged, so strengthening products containing protein will help support the thin structure of fine hair.

You’ll find more product recommendations in our Guide to Fine Texture Hair.

Choosing the Best Products for Coarse Hair

Coarse or thick hair often feels dry and brittle, so boosting moisture is essential. Oils and butters will help make your hair feel softer and give extra hair slip to make detangling easier.

You generally don’t need to add protein to coarse hair as coarse strands are already fairly substantial and strong. Look for protein-free products to help maintain a healthy protein-moisture balance. 

Learn more about selecting the right products for your texture in our Guide to Coarse Hair.

Choosing the Best Products for Medium Texture Hair

Medium-textured hair can use lots of different products, depending on your hair goals. If you want to give your hair maximum volume, selecting lightweight products will help. Using sulfate-free shampoos will avoid drying your hair out, and you can freshen up between washdays with a dry shampoo.

Maintaining the balance between protein and moisture in your strands is essential for healthy hair. Alternating between products with and without protein will avoid too much protein or excessive moisture, which can lead to hygral fatigue. 

Find out more about medium hair products in our Guide to Medium Hair.

FAQ

Looking for more answers about hair texture? Check out these frequently asked questions to find out more. 

Why Is My Fine Hair Going Coarse?

Hair might become more coarse due to certain medications like steroids or birth control, hormonal changes such as pregnancy or menopause, heat damage from hot styling tools, or repeated exposure to environmental factors like UV from sunlight or humid conditions. 

Can You Have A Mix Of Fine And Coarse Hair?

Yes, it’s very common to have various textures across your full head of hair. For example, you could have medium hair over most of your head, coarser hair around the crown, and fine hair around your temples.

Are Fine Hair And Thin Hair The Same Thing?

Although they’re often confused, fine and thin are used to describe two different characteristics of your hair. 

Fine hair describes your hair texture and the thickness of individual strands of hair, while thin hair describes your hair density and how close the strands are to each other. 

How Does Hair Texture Change With Menopause?

Estrogen levels affect your hair’s growth cycle, the health of your hair follicles, and your scalp’s natural oils. 

As your estrogen levels fall at menopause, you might find that your hair becomes more coarse and wiry, or you experience other changes like loss of hair density. 

The Bottom Line

Whether you have straight, wavy, curly, or kinky hair, understanding characteristics like hair texture is the first step to creating an effective hair care routine. 

Knowing whether you have fine strands, coarse wiry hair or something in between will help you choose the best products and avoid damage from chemicals, heat styling, or other environmental factors.

Of course, there’s more to great hair care than understanding hair texture. If you want beautiful, healthy locks, you also need to consider your curl pattern, hair density, and hair porosity. 

Getting to grips with your hair’s natural texture is a vital step towards ensuring you have more good hair days in the future!