The Strand Test

The easiest way to determine your hair texture is by taking a single strand and laying it flat on a white piece of paper.

If your hair is not easy to see or feel between your fingertips, appears thin, and may not hold styles well, you have fine hair texture.

If your hair is visible, not hard to feel between fingertips, appears full, and holds styles fairly well, you have medium hair texture.

Lastly, if your hair is highly visible, easily felt between fingertips, appears very full, and holds styles very well, your hair texture is considered coarse.

When we say 'hair texture' or 'curl texture', we refer to the thickness or width of the individual hair strand, better known as fine, medium or coarse. That's because waves, curls and coils can be fine, medium or coarse. Curl pattern, which we reference as waves, curls and coils, speaks to your strands' shape.


No matter if you have waves, curls, or coils you can have fine, medium or coarse texture.

We believe knowing your curl pattern is important — however, at DevaCurl® determining your hair texture is even more important in finding what your waves, curls or coils need.

Simply stated, hair porosity refers to how easily your hair absorbs moisture. There are three levels of porosity: low, medium (or normal), and high.

Low porosity hair has a compact cuticle — which means it forms a bit of a barrier against moisture, but once it's in there it, the barrier helps retains it

Medium porosity hair has a slightly raised cuticle that allows more moisture to be absorbed, which means it also has a more balanced moisture retention rate.

High porosity hair has a raised cuticle which lets a lot of moisture in. It also loses moisture easily and is usually considered to be dry.

Place a few strands of clean, loose hair into a bowl of water and let sit for a few minutes. If the hair sinks to the bottom, it means it easily absorbed the water and is most likely high porosity. If the hair doesn't absorb much water and seems to float in the middle of the bowl, it most likely has medium porosity. If the hair floats on top — you guessed it — it means it didn't absorb any (or very little) water, and it most likely has low porosity.

Density describes how much hair per square inch is present on your scalp. There are three main levels of density: thin, average, and thick. To find your hair's density, gather the front area of your hair, and pull over to the side. If the scalp is clearly or highly visible through your strands, you have thin density. If the scalp is neither clearly visible nor hard to see, you have average density. Thick density is if the scalp is not clearly visible or easy to see.