We are all in awe with curly hair because they really look gorgeous and stand out in the crowd.
On today’s date you will see many women with curly hair every now and then, but are they all natural?
Study says naturally curly hair is very rare, is it so?
Let’s find out in this article…..
Table of Contents
What are the types of curly hair?
Before moving on to the percentage of women with curly hair in the world, let’s first know about curly hair in detail.
Different regions of the world have different climatic conditions and also a certain gene trait is dominant in people living in specific parts of the world.
This makes even curly haired people different from each other. Yes, not all curly hair looks the same. There are in fact, 6 types of curly hair, which are as follows:
Type 3:
This hair type is curly but not coiled. Curls may vary in size and shapes with loose or tight curls. This type of hair is further divided into 3 distinct types:
Type 3A:
This type of hair has loose curls with less frizziness and more shine.
Type 3B:
This type of hair has medium curls that are springy in look. They are prone to frizz and shine less than type 3A curls.
Type 3C:
This type of hair has tight curls that define the curls. They are coarser than the rest and are prone to frizz.
Type 4:
This hair type is defined by coiled or what you call the kinky curls. These curls are so coarse in texture that won’t change their shape irrespective of their dry or wet state.
Type 4A:
This type of curls have a springy and tight pattern. They are coarse and hard and you will never know that hair has grown in length unless it’s almost 2 years past (haha).
Type 4B:
This type of curls are more crimpy in definition and are less coarser.
Type 4C:
This is perhaps the most unusual of all curls that are densely packed hair that doesn’t even fly with the wind.
Which type of curly hair is the rarest?
Amongst all these types of curly hairs, the rarest of all is the type 4C. You will not see it generally in any other population but in African tribes (that too very rarely).
Type 4 curly hair is rare across the globe and is especially definitive of African Americans.
Type 3 curly hair is scattered round the globe. But amongst the subtypes of type 3 curly hair, type 3C is the rarest and type 3A is the most common.
How rare is curly hair?
Studies show that about 11% of the population around the world have naturally curly hair. But when it comes to the Type 4 of the curly hair that’s in ringlet or coiled, only 2% of the population have this type of hair.
So, is naturally curly hair rare?
Yes, definitely naturally curly hair is very rare. What is not hair is wavy hair which is sometimes mistaken as curly hair. Yet, loose curls are still dominant in various parts of the world but not the coiled curls.
Is curly hair rarer than straight?
According to the American Journal of Human Genetics, Research on hair morphology shows that in people of European ancestry, 45% of the population have straight hair, 40% have wavy hair and only 15% have curly hair.
See also: Does Curly Hair Look Better Short or Long?
Why is curly hair rare?
Let’s get into the biology behind this!
Your gene structure has 4 alleles that ultimately give you the traits. Where do they come from?
Well, 2 alleles come from your father’s DNA and the other 2 alleles come from your mother’s DNA. Now alleles carry dominant and recessive genes.
Suppose the 2 alleles from your father are the dominant genes and the two alleles from your mother are the recessive genes wherein your mother has straight hair and your father has curly hair, chances are that you will be born with the dominant gene of curly hair.
But there are also some other factors like nutrition, lifestyle, ethnicity, hormonal imbalances that affect the hair texture throughout life.
See you soon!
Hope this piece of article was sufficient information for you on curly hair origin and distribution round the corner of the world. Stay tuned for more special pieces of write ups. Till then…..
Keep it simple, keep it fashionable!
