Hair

3A hair forms loose spiral curls roughly half an inch to an inch across, about the width of a piece of sidewalk chalk. The curl wraps around itself rather than zigzagging on a flat plane, which is what puts it in type 3 rather than type 2. It is the first curl pattern on the … Read more

2A hair is the loosest wave on the typing chart. It sits flat at the roots, opens into a shallow S from the mid-lengths down, and elongates back toward straight as the day goes on. It is a wave pattern, not straight hair that happens to bend. That distinction decides which shelf of the shop … Read more

2B hair forms a defined S wave that starts around the mid-length and repeats down to the ends. The roots stay comparatively flat, the strands sit at medium width, and the pattern is consistent enough to be recognisable without product. It is the middle of the wavy band, which is the reason most of the … Read more

2C hair is the waviest end of type 2. The S starts at the scalp rather than partway down, the strands are wider than 2A hair or 2B hair, and the pattern occasionally tightens into a loose spiral near the ends without ever becoming a proper curl. It is also the type that sits on … Read more

1B hair is straight hair with body. It falls without a defined wave, the ends bend under slightly, and it holds a curl for most of a day. That last part is the one behaviour that separates it from 1A, which drops a set within about two hours. Two different things get labelled 1B, and … Read more

1A hair is the straightest code on the hair typing chart. It air dries flat from root to tip with no bend, no wave and no natural lift at the crown. The code describes shape and nothing else, which is why two people who both read as 1A can need completely different products. Most guides … Read more

1C hair is straight hair with wide, coarse strands and enough natural bend to be mistaken for a wave. It lies flat at the crown, gains body from the ears down, and frizzes in humidity where the other straight types stay smooth. It also sits on the most contested line in the whole typing chart. … Read more

Hair types are grouped into four families by curl pattern: type 1 straight, type 2 wavy, type 3 curly, type 4 coily. Each family splits into A, B and C by how tight the pattern is, giving twelve types from 1A at the straightest to 4C at the tightest. Key Takeaways The chart measures one … Read more

Confession: I wasted a genuinely embarrassing amount of money on natural shampoos before I actually understood what I was looking for. Pretty green label. “Plant-based” in large font. Recyclable packaging. I picked them up, convinced myself this was going to be the one, used the bottle for two weeks, hated it, and quietly moved on … Read more

Confession: I can spot a blonde who skips purple shampoo from across the salon. After years of toning blonde, silver, and gray clients in my chair, I can tell you it is the single cheapest fix for that yellow, brassy cast that creeps in between appointments. But most people either buy the wrong one or … Read more