Curl Types Explained: How to Find Yours (2A to 4C Chart)

Knowing your curl type is useful, but not for the reason most charts suggest. The number and letter won’t tell you which bottle to buy; they tell you how your hair tends to behave, so you can predict what it needs. Here’s how curl types work, a full 2A to 4C chart, and the three other traits that matter more than the label.

How the Curl Typing System Works

The chart most people use traces back to hairstylist Andre Walker in the 1990s, and the online curly community has expanded it since. It sorts hair into four numbered families and then subdivides each one with letters.

• Type 1 is straight hair with no bend.
• Type 2 is wavy: an S-shape that lies fairly close to the head.
• Type 3 is curly: defined spirals or ringlets that spring away from the head.
• Type 4 is coily: tight coils or zigzags that shrink significantly as they dry.

Within each family, A is the loosest and widest pattern, B sits in the middle, and C is the tightest. A 2A wave is barely there, while a 2C wave is almost a curl. A 4A coil forms a visible spiral, while a 4C coil is so tight the pattern is hard to see.

The system was never scientific. It doesn’t measure strand thickness, how many hairs you have, or how your hair handles moisture, which is why two people with “3B” hair can need completely different routines.

The Full Curl Types Chart: 2A to 4C

Find the row that describes most of your hair. The product weight column is a starting point for medium-density, medium-porosity hair; go lighter for fine or low-porosity hair and heavier for coarse or high-porosity hair.

How to Identify Your Curl Type

The test only works on hair in its natural state, because product, brushing and stretching all change the pattern. Here’s how to do it:

1. Start with a clean slate. Shampoo with a clarifying or regular shampoo to remove buildup, condition, and rinse everything out.

2. Skip styling products and don’t touch. Gently squeeze out water with a cotton T-shirt and let your hair air-dry completely. No clips, brushes or scrunching.

3. Look at the pattern in three places. Check the crown, the sides and the nape. Note the shape (S-wave, spiral or Z-bend) and where on the strand the pattern starts.

4. Measure a dry curl. Hold a single curl next to a marker, a pencil or a crochet needle. The object it would wrap around points to the letter.

5. Check shrinkage. Gently stretch one strand and compare it with its resting length. Shrinkage of half or more usually points to type 4.

You can preview your type on soaking-wet hair too: waves show as stretched S-shapes, curls as loose spirals and coils as tight springs. Wet hair always looks looser, so confirm the result once it dries.

If your hair is heat-damaged, the true pattern may not show until the damaged length grows out or is trimmed.

Why Curl Type Matters Less Than Porosity, Density and Width

Once you know your family, three other traits do more to decide your routine.

Porosity is how easily hair absorbs and holds water. Low-porosity hair has a tightly closed cuticle, so products sit on top and lighter, water-based formulas work best. High-porosity hair has a raised or damaged cuticle; it absorbs water fast, loses it fast, and loves creams and sealing oils. This matters more than any letter, so read low vs high porosity hair before buying anything new.

Density is how many strands you have per square inch of scalp. High-density hair can take more product and benefits from styling in sections. Low-density hair looks flat and stringy with the same amount.

Strand width (fine, medium or coarse) controls how much weight a single hair can carry. Fine 4A coils can be flattened by a butter that coarse 3B ringlets soak right up.

Put together, a fine, low-porosity 3C and a coarse, high-porosity 3C are almost opposite heads of hair. The curl type gets you to the right aisle; the other three traits pick the bottle.

Care Tips for Type 2 Waves

Waves range from nearly straight 2A to almost-curly 2C, but they share one trait: they’re easily weighed down.

• Wash two or three times a week with a sulfate-free shampoo, since waves show oil faster than curls.
• Style on soaking-wet hair with mousse or a light gel and scrunch; skip heavy creams, especially on 2A and 2B.
• Deep condition every other week rather than weekly, and treat limpness as a sign of over-conditioning.
• Clip the roots while drying for volume, and diffuse on low if air-drying leaves them flat.

Waves get a full schedule of their own in this wavy hair routine.

Care Tips for Type 3 Curls

Curls want moisture and hold in roughly equal measure.

• Wash once or twice a week, and co-wash or use a gentle cleanser in between if your scalp needs it.
• Use a leave-in, add a cream for 3B and 3C, and finish with a gel that has enough hold to form a cast.
• Apply products with flat palms, then scrunch, working in four to six sections on dense hair. The full technique is in how to define curls.
• Deep condition weekly for 10 to 20 minutes, and clarify about once a month to prevent limp, coated curls.

Care Tips for Type 4 Coils

Coils are the driest and most fragile family. Natural scalp oils travel slowly down a tightly bent strand, and every bend is a potential breaking point.

• Wash every one to two weeks with a moisturizing or low-lather cleanser, and pre-poo with oil or conditioner to protect the lengths.
• Detangle only on wet, conditioner-coated hair, in small sections, from the ends up.
• Layer leave-in, cream or butter, and oil or gel to hold moisture for days. A weekly 20- to 30-minute mask is non-negotiable, as covered in deep conditioning for curly hair.
• Rely on protective styles such as twists, braids or buns between wash days, and cover your hair with satin at night.

Keep protective styles loose. The American Academy of Dermatology’s hair care resources explain how styles that pull tightly on the scalp can damage hair over time.

Common Curl Type Misconceptions

• “Higher numbers mean more difficult hair.” They mean tighter patterns. A well-cared-for 4B can be healthier and easier to manage than a damaged 2C.
• “My type never changes.” Hormones, age, medication, length and damage all shift curl patterns. Many people loosen by a letter as their hair grows long, or tighten after cutting off damage.
• “Products are made for specific types.” Most are made for a weight and a moisture level. A cream marketed for coils can suit coarse 3B hair, and a “wavy” mousse can be perfect on fine 3A.
• “Shrinkage is damage.” Healthy coily hair shrinks dramatically. It’s a sign of good elasticity, not a problem to fix.

The Bottom Line

Curl types give you a vocabulary and a starting point: waves want light products and volume, curls want moisture and hold, and coils want layered moisture and protection. From there, porosity, density and strand width fine-tune the routine. Find your row in the chart, pick the weight it suggests, and then let your hair’s response, not the label, make the final call. A simple weekly curly hair routine is the easiest place to test it.