Multi Racial Hair:

The shape of a hair depends on several factors, including the shape of the hair follicle and its opening; these vary from one person to another and also between races. As keratin is hardening it is compressed into the shape of the hair follicle. The hair is then held in shape by the pattern of the chemical bonds within it. Of these, the disulphide bonds are the strongest. They can only be changed by chemical methods such as perming or relaxing. But within each hair the keratin chains are also linked by bonds of a different kind, called hydrogen bonds. There are far more hydrogen bonds than disulphide linkages. The hydrogen bonds are much weaker than the disulphide linkages and more easily broken, and they give hair its flexibility. Hydrogen bonds are broken apart whenever the hair is wetted, and form again as it dries; when they break, the shape of the hair changes. If the wet hair is then wound onto rollers it will form a new shape, and if it is dried on the rollers it will keep this shape. This is the basis of the setting process. The change in shape is only temporary. It is lost when the hair is dampened, because the new hydrogen bonds are broken again.

Hair Dimensions: People describe their hair as being thick or thin, coarse or fine. What they are usually talking about is the amount of coverage their hair gives to the head. This coverage depends on two things: how many hairs there are, and the thickness (diameter) of each hair shaft. People vary a lot in how many hairs they have, and also in how closely together they grow. The 'average' person has around 100,000 hairs, but people with very dense hair may have as many as 150,000. The diameter of the hair shaft varies too. It is usually around 57-90 µm in Europeans. This is much less than in Asians, in whom it can be 120 µm. (These are general figures, representing a wide range of values.) Hair that is both dense and thick looks completely different from that of someone who has fewer and finer hairs. Fine hair is not only at risk for breakage and absorption of chemicals, it is also more likely to be wooly or frizzy.

Wooly hair syndrome is a condition affecting a small percentage of persons of Caucasian and Asian heritage. It is characterized by extremely frizzy and wiry hair that looks almost wooly in appearance. Wooly hair is a rare defect in the structure of scalp hair. This hair is either present at birth, or appears during the first months of life. The curls, with an average diameter of 0.5cm, lie closely together and usually make the hair difficult to comb. In addition, the hair may be more fragile than usual. The syndrome usually lessens in adulthood, when wavy hair often takes the place of wooly hair. Wooly hair syndrome was first observed in a European family in 1907 by Gossage. The difference between wooly Afro textured hair and the extremely frizzy and wiry hair found in non-Africans with the syndrome is that African hair lies typically separate and is tightly coiled or spiraled, while the curls of the Wooly hair syndrome tend to merge. This type of hair often only covers portions of the skull.

Cornrows are a traditional style of hair grooming of African origin where the hair is tightly braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to produce a continuous, raised row. Cornrows can be formed, as the name implies, in simple, straight lines; or, in complicated geometric or curvilinear designs. Often favored for their easy maintenance, cornrows can be left in for weeks at a time simply by carefully washing the hair using a stocking cap or hair net and then regularly oiling the scalp and hair. Corn rowed hairstyles are often adorned with beads or cowry shells, in the African tradition. Depending on the region of the world, cornrows can be worn by either men or women.
An afro, sometimes called a "natural" or shortened to "fro", is a hairstyle in which the hair extends out from the head like a halo , cloud or ball. This may or may not include wearing such afros long, to several times the diameter of the head. An afro requires curly hair and often, but not always, Afro textured hair, which typically people of indigenous African descent naturally have. The ancient Africans known to us as the ancient Egyptians were known at times to wear their wooly hair in this style. Anyone of any ethnic background is capable of acquiring an afro if they have curly hair especially if they have some African ancestry. With naturally kinky hair, the spiraling, tightly coiled curls can be straightened out somewhat, giving the hair added volume and length, by first braiding the hair, then separating the coils using an wide-toothed comb.