Curly hair is not certain to a race or ethnicity, it appears all over the world in many forms. White, brown, black and everything inbetween! There is also a scale on which curly hair is classified (2a-4c).
The story of human migration and evolution is written in hair DNA. In sub-Saharan Africa, genes favour tight, curly hair. But in east Asia, mutations have led to straighter, thicker hair. In Europe, other mutations brought wavy and straw-coloured hair.
The gene for curly hair in Caucasians
It has been long established that curly hair is a dominant trait in Caucasians and straight hair is recessive.
With Caucasians, research shows that “45 percent of European people have straight hair, 40 per cent have wavy hair and 15 per cent have curly hair.” Curly hair is not exclusive to one race and it does not mean you have to be mixed raced to have curly hair. It's actually not rare for Caucasians to have curly hair.
Afro-textured hair, or kinky hair, is a human hair texture originating from sub-Saharan Africa. Each strand of this hair type grows in a tiny, angle-like helix shape. The overall effect is such that, contrasted with straight, wavy, or curly hair, afro-textured hair appears denser.
The African hair is generally curly or frizzy, and grows almost parallel to the scalp. It has the slowest growth rate of 0.9 centimeters per month due to its spiral structure which causes it to twist on itself as it grows. African hair has a flattened shape.
Hair texture.
Caucasian hair usually appears thicker since it is more difficult to see through the scalp than other ethnic hair types. However, Asian hair is the thickest and coarsest hair of any ethnic group.
Yes, only 11% of the population have curly hair.
Type 1A hair is very straight and fine, with no hint of wave or curl. As it is so straight and fine, when the natural oils travel to the ends, it tends to cause it to look like oily hair. It is the rarest hair type and is common among women of Asian descent.
Genotyping results show that 94.9% of Black people have curly hair. Additionally, 12.7% of Europeans and 12% of Asian people have curls. Biracial hair is a complicated term, and it does not refer specifically to one hair type or shape.
Hair morphology is one of the more conspicuous features of human variation and is particularly diverse among people of European ancestry, for which around 45% of individuals have straight hair, 40% have wavy hair, and 15% have curly hair.
Curly hair is often associated with a fun-loving, warm hearted and outgoing personality. If you have curly hair you are perceived as being courageous, outspoken, and spontaneous. You are probably someone who likes to challenge perceptions and norms.
Many Asians have naturally straight hair, but there is a significant group of us who do have naturally curly or wavy hair! However, because it's the norm to see straight and sleek hair, curly haired boys and girls tend to think that their hair is some kind of unruly straight hair that isn't behaving.
Lots of traits are statistically rare: Left-handedness (just 10 percent of the population!), curly hair (11 percent!), and blond hair (4 percent!), to name a few.
Textured hair is a fast-growing market: an estimated 65% of the U.S. population has curly, coily or wavy hair.
In fact, more people prefer curly hair to straight hair. Though beauty is seen differently by everyone, one thing is for sure; curly hair is getting a lot of love lately. In fact, in a survey conducted by StyleCaster, a surprising 58% of guys thought curly hair was sexier than other hair textures.
Hair type 1A is super-straight. It doesn't even hold a curl! 1A is the rarest hair type. It is usually found on people of Asian descent.
Your hair is naturally voluminous
Curls adds volume to your hair effortlessly, and you never have to worry about it being flat, limp and lifeless like those with straight hair. Even on days when you straighten your curls, there is always going to be that little amount of volume that will make others go green with envy.
Out of all the hair types, types 4A, 4B and 4C are the curliest. They tend to form a compacted Z pattern, plus they have a high density that requires creams, gels and custards to hold their shape and reduce volume. Plus, due to the lack of cuticle layers, coily hair also requires extra moisture.
Curly hair is dominant, so someone is more likely to have curly or wavy hair if at least one of their parents does. Recent research points to trichohyalin, a protein in hair follicles, as having primary influence over hair curl. However, there are many genes contributing to hair curliness, most of them unknown.
Curly hair is vulnerable, the twists and turns in the structure make the cuticle weaker and also increase the amount of tangles. An exposed cuticle makes the hair more prone to damage, so make sure to use a heat protectant when you're doing any type of heat styling.
Thick (Coarse)
Thick or coarse hair texture is the strongest hair texture and typically feels coarse or thick to the touch. Coarse hair contains all three hair layers – the cortex, cuticle and medulla.
Caucasians have the highest hair density among the ethnicities studied. Black people have the lowest. Asian people have hair density that falls somewhere in between.
Asian hair shows the fastest growth rate in comparison to the other two hair types. African hair has the lowest growth rate.
Caucasian, Asian and Indian hair samples were put to the test for the World's Best Hair study. Their results put an end to any splitting of hairs over the issue: in terms of health, the Indian hair is the best, topping other ethnic groups on all four counts.