Hair type chart

The system is simple once you see the two parts. The number names the pattern family. Type 1 hair grows straight. Type 2 bends into S-shaped waves. Type 3 forms springs and loops. Type 4 grows in tight coils and zigzags. The letter says how strong the pattern is inside its family: A is the loosest, B sits in the middle, and C is the tightest. So 2A is barely wavy, 2C is almost curly, and 4C is the tightest coil pattern there is.

The pattern itself starts under your skin. Each hair grows from a tiny pocket called a follicle. A round follicle grows a straight strand, and a flatter, more oval follicle grows a strand that bends. That shape is set by your genes. Heat and chemicals can change the pattern for a while, but the natural one always grows back.

Stylists and the natural hair community built this chart up over the past few decades, and it stuck because it is easy to use and easy to share. Hair researchers describe texture with other measures, so treat the chart as a helpful shorthand, not a lab result.

Type 1 hair grows straight from root to tip with no bend. It reflects light in one clean line, which is why straight hair reads as the shiniest type. The sub-types split by body rather than by curl. 1A is completely straight, fine, and soft, and it tends to lie flat against the head. 1B is straight with more body and a slight bend at the ends, and most straight hair falls here. 1C is straight but coarse or heavy, with enough body that a few loose bends show, and it can frizz in damp air.

All three share the same behaviours. Oil from the scalp slides down the smooth strand quickly, so straight hair turns greasy faster than any other type. And it drops a curl within hours, because the strand wants to return to flat. If this is you, the straight hair guide covers volume tricks, the best cuts, and how to make a style actually hold.

Type 2 hair bends into an S-shape along the strand. It sits between straight and curly, and it can lean toward either depending on weather, product, and handling. 2A is nearly straight at the roots with soft, wide waves toward the ends, and it flattens easily under heavy product. 2B has a clearer S-shape from the mid-length down. This is the classic beach wave, and it starts to frizz on top in humidity. 2C has strong S-bends that begin near the roots, with a few real curls mixed in, usually underneath. It is the wave most often mistaken for curly hair.

Wavy hair's main struggles are flat roots, frizz, and a pattern that changes day to day. The full wavy hair guide explains how to read your sub-type and how to bring the wave out on purpose instead of hoping it shows up.

Type 3 hair grows in defined springs and loops, and the sub-types split by the width of the curl. 3A curls are loose and wide, about the width of a piece of sidewalk chalk. They shine easily but lose definition fast if you brush them out. 3B curls are springy and tighter, closer to the width of a marker. 3C curls are tight corkscrews about the width of a pencil, packed close together, with lots of volume and the most shrinkage in this family.

All curly hair shares one key fact: the bends in the strand slow your scalp's natural oil on its way down, so the ends run dry. That is why every good curly routine is built around moisture and gentle handling. The curly hair guide covers cuts, washing, and frizz control for this whole family, including why cutting curls dry gives a better result than cutting them wet.

Type 4 hair grows in tight coils and sharp zigzags. It has the most volume and the most shrinkage of any type. It is also the driest and the most fragile, because oil struggles to travel down the strand and every bend is a point where the strand can snap. 4A forms small, springy coils with a visible curl pattern. 4B bends in tight z-shapes with sharp angles instead of round loops. 4C is the tightest and densest pattern, and its coils are so small the pattern can be hard to see until you stretch a strand.

Coily hair rewards a routine built on moisture, sealing, and low-tension styling, and it holds sculpted shapes no other type can. The coily and type 4 guide walks through wash day, protective styles, shrinkage, and the cuts that suit this texture best.

You cannot judge your type from styled hair, because heat, brushing, and product all hide the real pattern. Use the wash test instead. Wash your hair with a gentle shampoo, condition, and rinse. Add no product at all. Do not brush it, rub it with a towel, or touch it. Let it air dry completely, then look in a mirror.

Read what you see. Hair that dries flat with no bend is type 1. A soft S-shape through the length is type 2. Defined loops and springs are type 3. Tight coils, zigzags, or dense hair with heavy shrinkage is type 4. Then place the letter by strength: barely there is A, clear is B, and strong or tight is C.

Check more than one spot, because the pattern often differs around your head. If you sit between two labels, act on the curlier one, since it needs more moisture and gentler handling. And run the test on a normal-weather day, because very humid or very dry air can push the result a step in either direction.

Almost nobody is one clean type from ear to ear. Looser waves at the front with real curls underneath is common. So is a 4A crown with 4C edges, or a straight top layer over a wavy under-layer. This is normal, and it does not mean the chart failed. It means your follicles vary across your scalp, which is simply how heads work.

Here is how to handle a mixed head. Care for the driest, curliest section, because it sets the moisture bar for the whole routine. Style for the section people see most, usually the top and front. And tell your stylist about the mix before a cut, because a stylist who knows your under-layer curls tighter can adjust the shape so the cut works everywhere. If your patterns sit far apart, say wavy on top and coily underneath, read both matching guides and combine them. In practice that usually means the wash routine of the tighter pattern paired with the styling of the looser one.

Product advice that ignores hair type is close to useless, because the same cream that saves one head flattens another. The rule of thumb: the straighter the hair, the lighter the product, and the tighter the pattern, the richer the product.

Type 1 hair needs almost nothing: light sprays, mousse, and dry shampoo, with oils kept away from the roots. Type 2 wants light creams and wave sprays that add hold without weight. Type 3 needs real moisture: leave-in conditioner plus a curl cream or gel. Type 4 needs the most of all: leave-in, cream, and an oil to seal, layered in order.

The reason is oil flow. Scalp oil coats a straight strand within a day or two, so adding more richness makes it lank. On bends and coils the oil never arrives, so the product replaces what nature cannot deliver. Dryness is also behind most frizz, which the frizzy and dry hair guide covers, and how easily your strands absorb any product depends on their porosity.

The same haircut lands completely differently on different types, so your type should be in the room when you choose. Straight hair shows every line, which makes precise, blunt cuts look sharp and hides nothing. Wavy hair wants layers that release the S-shape instead of a heavy block that drags it straight. Curly hair springs up as it dries, so it is best cut dry, in its natural pattern, with shrinkage planned in. Coily hair holds sculpted shapes no other type can, from tapered cuts to rounded afros, and it also benefits from dry cutting.

One warning applies across the board: thinning shears behave differently by type. They can slim a heavy straight bob nicely, and they can wreck a curl pattern by cutting coils at random points. A stylist who works with your texture regularly is worth seeking out. Whatever your type, the cut still needs to suit your face, which is where the face shape quiz comes in.

The chart reads pattern and nothing else, and pattern is only one of the things that decide how your hair behaves. Density is how many strands you have. Strand width is how wide each one is, from fine to coarse. Porosity is how easily your hair takes in and loses water. Two people with identical 2B waves can need opposite routines if one has fine, low-density hair and the other has coarse, dense hair.

So after you find your type, check the rest. The hair density and thickness guide has simple tests for how much hair you have, and the porosity guide covers absorption. If your strands run skinny, read the fine and thin hair guide. If your hair is heavy and bulky, the thick hair guide is for you. Hair also changes with life: grey and mature hair often grows in coarser and drier, colour-treated hair becomes more porous, and a drop in density belongs in the thinning hair guide. The chart is the start of the map, not the whole map.