How to know your hair type – find your ideal haircare

Your hair is subject to many stressors on a daily basis: rain, sun, irritating scarves and tight scrunchies are just a few examples. The right haircare routine can nevertheless help you to get the best out of your hair. Whereas curly girls have a hard job taming their crowning glory, people with finer hair are desperate for more volume. With our Find your hair type test, you’ll find out what your hair requirements are. The result: Shine, natural volume and slip.

To do the hair type test, your hair should be in as natural a condition as possible. This means: Wash your hair as usual with a clarifying shampoo. This removes any residue that could falsify your analysis.

Then allow your hair to dry naturally. You should neither comb your hair nor use leave-in products. Both could change the hair texture of your hair type and thus sabotage an accurate analysis.

Your hair type is composed of three factors: hair texture, thickness and volume. This results in different haircare requirements, which will give you the criteria that will allow you to quickly select the right products for you.

Generally, hair textures can be divided into four types: smooth, wavy, curly or coily. Here again three intensities can be distinguished. Compare your natural, unstyled hair with the hair type guide.

With straight hair, the cuticle lies flat. So every ray of light is reflected, creating natural shine. This means that most straight hair has little volume. It’s difficult to curl or create up-dos as individuals strands won't stay in place. Dry shampoo makes straight hair more manageable.

How can you give straight hair more volume? Foam styling mousse can help: Work it right into the roots and style the hair with a hairdryer and round brush. This will lift your hair strand by strand. It’s best to finish off with a leave-in conditioner or hair oil. But don’t apply straight from the bottle to prevent it from looking stringy. It’s better to rub the product into the palms of your hands and gently work it in with a brush from chin height.

Both of these hair textures have lots of movement and volume but not so much shine. Besides, curly hair often suffers from dryness as moisture is lost more quickly because of the raised cuticle. Despite the impressive volume, the hair may look blunt and weak.

The secret weapon for curly hair: conditioners and oils. Regular masks or treatments deliver smoothness and shine, while gentle hair-drying with a diffuser creates springier curls. As a general rule, with this hair texture, you should allow your hair to air-dry naturally, as heat takes away even more moisture.

The coily hair type tends to look unruly and fluff up. This is down to the dry texture and porous surface, which draws moisture from the air like a sponge. As a result, it literally swells up and sticks out uncontrollably. The best way to tame coily hair is with rich haircare and nourishing substances.

Match your shampoo and conditioner with plenty of balancing moisture. A regular hair mask also helps to keep your coily hair under control. Extra tip: It’s best to rinse the hair with lukewarm or cool water to smooth the cuticle.

Hairdressers have their own tools to clearly determine hair thickness. To do this yourself in front of your mirror at home, you should rely on your eyes and sense of touch. Human hair is divided into three thicknesses:

• Fine hair: up to 0.04 mm thick. It's hard to see an individual hair – even when you hold it up to the light. Try our test by rolling it between your thumb and forefinger. You can hardly feel it? Then you’ve definitely got fine hair.

• Medium thickness: up to 0.07 mm. If you hold up a single hair to the light, you can see it clearly. If you roll it between your fingers, it feels roughly the same thickness as cotton thread.

• Thick hair: from 0.08 mm. A single strand of hair from your head is easily visible. It even feels a little bit wiry when you roll it between your finger and thumb.

Normal hair is straightforward and is therefore forgiving when it comes to some haircare mistakes. Fine hair is often wonderfully soft but lacks the necessary staying power. Thick hair seems voluminous but often looks brittle and fluffy.

Fine hair likes light haircare, as it can easily look weighed-down. With the right technique, you can blow lots of volume into the roots with your hairdryer. You should also change your parting more often. This not only makes a change visually but also supports the hair roots and makes the hair look more voluminous.

Thick hair needs an extra dose of moisture for smooth styling. Once a week, treat your hair to a rich treatment and rinse it out with lukewarm water. Distribute nourishing oils through the lengths with a brush to allow unruly ends to smooth themselves out.

You can also determine the volume with a simple hair type test. To do this, simply tie your hair into a ponytail. Make sure you capture all the hair you can. The best position for this is in the centre of the back of your head. Now take a flexible tape measure and wrap it around your ponytail. The circumference will tell you the volume of your hair:

• Thin: less than 5 cm
• Normal: between 5 and 10 cm
• Thick: bigger than 10 cm