Ask three people what their curly hair type is and you’ll usually get a shrug, a guess, and someone confidently wrong. Yet the 2a-to-4c typing system — for all its quirks — remains the fastest shorthand we have for explaining why one person’s waves need a feather-light mousse while another’s coils drink butter-thick cream and ask for more. Understanding where you sit on that spectrum saves you money, wasted products, and years of fighting your own hair.
How the System Actually Works
The typing system most people use today grew out of stylist Andre Walker’s original classification and was expanded by the online curly community. It has two parts:
- The number (1–4) describes the overall pattern: 1 is straight, 2 is wavy, 3 is curly, 4 is coily.
- The letter (a–c) describes how tight that pattern is: ‘a’ is the loosest version, ‘c’ the tightest.
Two honest caveats before we go through the types. First, almost nobody has one uniform type — it’s completely normal to be 2c at the crown and 3a underneath. Second, the letters are a description, not a ranking. There is no “best” curl type, only the one growing out of your head.
Type 2: Waves
2a — loose, barely-there waves
A gentle S-shape that starts away from the root. Easily weighed down; lightweight products only, applied mostly through the lengths.
2b — defined S-waves
Clear S-bends from the mid-length down, with a tendency to frizz at the crown. This is the most common “I didn’t know I had wavy hair until I stopped brushing it dry” type.
2c — strong waves flirting with curls
Thick S-waves that begin at the root, with the odd ringlet mixed in. 2c hair frizzes readily and benefits from genuinely curly-hair routines rather than “normal hair” ones.
Type 3: Curls
3a — big, loose ringlets
Shiny, springy curls roughly the width of a wine cork. Definition comes easily but so does stringiness if you use too much product.
3b — bouncy, marker-width ringlets
Tighter, voluminous curls with noticeably more dryness — scalp oils have a harder journey down each spiral, so conditioning becomes the heart of the routine.
3c — dense corkscrews
Pencil-width corkscrews packed tightly together. Huge volume, significant shrinkage, and a real need for moisture layering and gentle detangling.
Type 4: Coils
4a — soft, springy coils
Coils about the width of a crochet needle with a visible curl pattern. Retains moisture better with regular deep conditioning and protective styling.
4b — sharp Z-angles
Strands bend in tight zig-zags rather than spirals. The angles make hair fragile at each bend, so handling matters as much as product choice.
4c — the tightest coils
Densely packed coils with maximum shrinkage — hair can be half its true length when dry. Thrives on rich moisture, minimal manipulation and low-tension styles.
How to Identify Your Curly Hair Type at Home
You don’t need a salon consultation — you need one honest wash day. Cleanse gently, skip every styling product, and let your hair air dry completely without touching it. What you’re looking at once it’s dry is your real pattern; anything you usually see through a filter of gel, heat or brushing is a performance, not a baseline.
Then check three things. First, where the bend starts: at the root suggests 2c and upward, from the mid-lengths suggests looser waves. Second, the shape of the bend: a stretched S means type 2, a spiral you could wrap around a finger means type 3, a tight coil or zig-zag means type 4. Third, shrinkage: gently stretch a dry strand and let it go — the more length it swallows back, the tighter your true pattern. Check the crown, the nape and the sides separately, because they will very likely disagree with each other, and write down the mix rather than forcing yourself into a single label.
Why Your Type Is Only Half the Story
Curl pattern tells you the shape; it doesn’t tell you how your hair behaves. Two other factors matter just as much. Porosity — how readily your hair absorbs and loses water — decides whether products sink in or sit on top. Density — how many strands you actually have — decides how much product you need and how much weight your style can carry. Treat your type as the starting point of the experiment, not the conclusion. If you’re building a routine from zero, the beginner curly routine guide is the logical next read.
Matching Products to Your Curly Hair Type
Once you know your pattern, product choices get simpler. Wavy types want cleansing that doesn’t strip and moisture that doesn’t flatten; curlier and coilier types want as much gentleness and hydration as they can get. It’s one reason solid rice water bars from Viori keep coming up in curly circles: the brand’s shampoo and conditioner bars are built on Longsheng rice water — a 2,000-year-old ritual ingredient of the Red Yao women — with options like the Argan Oil Shampoo Bar aimed squarely at dry, frizzy hair that needs lightweight moisture. Have a look at the Viori shampoo bar range, or read our full Viori review first. And whatever you wash with, check the label for harsh detergents — our guide to sulphate free shampoo for curly hair explains exactly why curls punish stripping formulas harder than straight hair does.
Day-to-day handling counts too. Tight elastics snap curls at the same point over and over; a soft oversized scrunchie or a strong claw clip is far kinder. France Luxe and its sister label L. Erickson specialise in exactly this — French-made claw clips with strong spring clasps for thick, curly hair, and soft scrunchies with a gentle hold that helps reduce pulling and creasing. Browse the France Luxe collection for options, and see our hair clip buying guide for matching clip size to hair volume.
Putting It to Work
Identify your curly hair type on a normal wash day — clean hair, no product, air dried — and photograph it. That picture, plus a little porosity awareness, tells you more than any quiz. Men working out how a cut should fit their pattern should head to our mens curly hair style guide next; everyone else, start with gentler cleansing and richer conditioning than you think you need, and adjust from there. Your curls have been trying to tell you what they want for years — the typing system just gives you the vocabulary to listen.