While you cannot fundamentally alter your genetically determined hair type, you can significantly impact its appearance and texture.
Understanding Hair Type
Hair type is primarily determined by genetics, influencing factors like curl pattern, thickness, and porosity. However, external factors can alter how your hair looks and feels.
How to Alter Your Hair Texture
The reference confirms: Your hair texture can be impacted by the products you use.
Here’s how you can influence your hair’s appearance:
- Product Selection: Certain shampoos, conditioners, and styling products can make your hair feel different.
- Softening: Products with moisturizing ingredients can soften coarse hair.
- Coarsening: Products with proteins or volumizing agents might make your hair feel thicker and coarser.
- Encouraging Curls: Specific curl creams and gels can enhance natural waves or curls.
- Loosening: Using straightening products can temporarily loosen curls.
- Surface Texture: The surface texture you feel can be modified by these treatments.
- Chemical Treatments: Hair relaxers and perms can alter the basic structure of your hair.
- Relaxers break down the bonds in curly hair to straighten it.
- Perms do the opposite, creating curls or waves in straight hair.
Temporary vs. Permanent Changes
It's crucial to remember that many product-induced changes are temporary.
| Change Method | Longevity | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Product Use | Short-term | Shampoos, conditioners, and styling products can alter texture temporarily. Results will disappear when you stop using or rinse product out. |
| Chemical Treatments | Semi-permanent | Relaxers and perms cause long lasting structural changes, but new hair growth will always revert to your natural hair type. Treatments need to be repeated as the hair grows out. |
Summary
You can't fundamentally change your hair type at a genetic level, but the texture and appearance can be modified significantly through the products and treatments you use. Your natural hair will always grow out according to your genes.
