Curl Pattern
The natural shape and curvature a hair fiber forms, ranging broadly from straight through wavy, curly, and tightly coiled forms.
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Curl pattern describes the geometry or visible shape of the hair fiber. Hair can range from relatively straight to increasingly curved, curled, or tightly coiled forms, with considerable variation both between individuals and across different areas of the same head. Modern research supports describing hair according to measurable fiber geometry rather than assuming that a particular hair shape belongs exclusively to a racial or ethnic group.
Popular systems such as numbered and lettered curl types can provide convenient visual language, but curl pattern does not by itself determine porosity, density, strand thickness, moisture needs, damage level, or overall hair health. Coded Coil therefore treats curl pattern as one characteristic within a larger Hair Decode, not as the person's complete “hair type.”