Anthony Dickey's Four Main Hair Texture Types

Anthony Dickey's Four Main Hair Texture Types

Profiling hair and creating specific categories became a big deal with Oprah's hairdresser, Andre Walker, who wrote a book on the topic.  Since Walker provided his own categories, many other celebrities hairstylists from Ouidad to the experts at Mizani have stepped up to the plate and provided their own hair texture profiling systems.

One famous celebrity hair texture expert is Anthony Dickey, founder of NY-based Hair Rules Salon and Line.  Dickey has created his own hair texture typing.

Dickey says “Knowing your own hair texture and the current health of your hair is the next step in realizing what styling options you have."

Four Main Hair Textures

Listed below are the four main hair textures and Dickey's guide to caring for them:

Kinky:

This type grows in densely packed, tight zigzag formation. It’s deceptively fragile, according to Dickey, since the more coiled the hair shaft, the more fragile the hair. Therefore, this texture needs extra TLC. He recommends not washing it every day, but still giving it plenty of hydration to avoid shrinkage.

Sulfate shampoos like sulfate-free Twitter won’t strip hair of needed sebum.  “Styling with a moisturizing product will help define tresses and banish frizz,” he adds. Style with a moisturizing product like Twitter, which will define tresses and banish frizz."

Curly:

Spirally and loopy, this texture has a defined S-pattern. “It can be denser with tons of strands, fine and light, coarse and ropy, or soft and springy,” explains Dickey. “It grows in a coil rather than a wave because the cuticle layers don’t lie as flat as those of wavy hair.” Moisture is always the key with curly hair, so daily deep conditioning (think leave-in) is the way to go.

Daily deep conditioning with the the Twitter should be a standard part of your regimen. Try styling with Twitter, which tames frizz, leaving hair soft and supple."

Wavy:

Wavy hair also has an S-pattern, but lies closer to the head. “It can be described as fine, flexible texture with lots of buoyant light curls or thicker, loosely defined waves.” Use a gentle shampoo to remove product build-up so waves don’t get weighed down. For styling, Dickey suggests a lightweight, non-greasy styling cream to naturally set the hair without leaving residue.

For maximum definition and sheen, use a gentle shampoo like Twitter regularly to remove product buildup without stripping hair of its essential oils. Try a lightweight, non-greasy styling cream like Hair Rules Wavy Mousse to naturally set your hair, without leaving a sticky residue."

Straight:

“All straight isn’t created equal,” says Dickey. Avoid heavy conditioner that will make hair look greasy. Choose a light conditioning formula like Hair Rules Quench Ultra Rich Conditioner to hydrate hair without weighing it down. Try polishing your look with Hair Rules Hydrating Finishing Cream to give hair shine and infuse hair with essential moisture, keeping it soft and shiny."

More About Anthony Dickey

Dickey’s mission during his 20+ year career as a hairstylist has been to dispel myths about beauty that are deeply rooted in historical and social experiences.

Dickey feels the issues surrounding textured hair should be less about social division and more about defining standards and products so that the mainstream perception about beauty can evolve and reflect the real world.

Iconic Hairstyles

Mastering the mystery of textured hair, Dickey has created iconic hairstyles for designers, advertisers, photographers and celebrities alike. Sarah Jessica Parker, Minnie Driver, Alicia Keys, Kelis, and Andre 3000 are just a few of the notables he has styled.

He has contributed editorial imagery to magazines including Vogue, Vanity Fair, Essence, Vibe, The New York Times Magazine, Glamour, and Allure.

Dickey’s clients range from high-powered executives to stay-at-home moms, further refining his technical wizardry. Working with this diverse clientele, Dickey discovered a universal truth shared by all women with textured hair: women with kinky, curly, wavy or straight hair have had to compromise.

Whether through product choices or services prescribed by professionals to manipulate their hair into behaving a certain way, these women compromise – both literally and figuratively – time and time again.

Because of a lack of understanding by the hair-care industry on how to properly and healthily manage hair via a texture-specific approach rather than an ethnic-specific approach, and to empower the consumer, Dickey authored Hair Rules!: The Ultimate Haircare Guide for Women With Kinky, Curly or Wavy Hair, pioneering a new standard of hair care and styling solutions for a multi-textural world.

Inspired by the success of his book and the enthusiastic response from women around the world, Dickey launched Hair Rules, a solutions-oriented line of cleansers, conditioning treatments and styling aids specifically geared to the special needs of kinky, curly and wavy hair.

His hope is to encourage people, once and for all, to embrace their natural beauty.

More Information

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