4 grades on 1 head? WTH?

Ok ladies, I've been all natural since Oct 25, 2009 and I love, Love, LOVE my natural hair. It is definately a lobor of love because it is some work involved in keeping it fly. The problem I'm having is that I have several differant textures on my head. The back is looser curls, middle thicker more corse, right side hella curly, and left side damn near straigth. I have no prob with the front and back but with my sides I find myself having to twist it, or put it up on one side to comoflauge the fact that one side is damn near straigth while the other side shrinks up into spiral curls. Am I alone with my mis matched hair? Any advice?

No this is quite common! I have 3 textures on mine!

Yup very common. I was actually told that I should never wear my hair pressed out and straight because my hair could become permanently straight and not revert back after wetting! I was told this by 2 different natural stylists. There are portions of my hair that are so straight, it sticks straight up in the air

I have at least 2 different types in my hair too...3c in the top, 4a along the sides and back....My advice is to not stress too much about it, I mean it is what it is, so find a way to embrace it.. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] . Instead maybe try styles like 2 strand twists/twist outs or braid outs. I found that these styles help to blend the different textures.

Hope that helps...

Another one pipping up to say that that is common. I was just reading A. Dickey's book "Hair Rules" and he acknowledges that reality too. To him, hair is either straight or non-straight (a spectrum of wavy, curly, kinky and frizzy). That spectrum can be found in the hair of four different women or on one head. I'm sure some parts can even be straight. I'm sure some curls can decide to just not participate on any given day. Ford Models has this youtube channel and one of their curly haired models admitted that.

I've been thinking about the image of curly hair that has been projected. When I look at Keri Russell or Ananda Lewis for example, I see these perfect, regular curls. I see the final product and think that that is their hair, when their hair is actually frizzy, curly, wavy -- half of it okay, the other half a mess -- but after a long session with a hairdresser, it takes a more regular shape. These women didn't wake up with curls looking like that, but it is so easy to think that way and think that my multi-textured, wild hair is weird. I'm starting to adjust my thinking. Maybe the work I need to do to get these curls in line is normal.

I have at least 4 or 5 hair types: I have mainly 4a, 4b and "sprinkles" of 3c and 3b and, what i can only describe as 1 (because it's thick and coarse and sticks straight up and has NO curl pattern whatsoever and appears to grow out of my scalp that way-weird [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] ). I also have strands that are fine, medium and coarse. I have not found a way around this yet. Since the other hair types are just a few strands randomly dispersed in my head and my hair is primarily 4a/b and medium, I just try to hide the 3c,3b by tucking them into the rest of my hair and I just snip the type 1 hairs that poke up since they're really coarse and stick up no matter what I do.

I have 3 in mine.. 3b in the front, 3 c in the back and 4a in the top.. I feel your pain..

My hair is the same. It is the wierdest head of hair lol..I have pieces that are nearly straight with a little a curl at the end. I also have hair that is pretty much straight. Wavy type hair. Curly..omg every type you think of is on one head. if you look all over its all different all over. Some parts grow faster than others. Others even look shorter but when pulled out is the same length. I feel the pain.