Hair Guide

Hair Types - Curly Hair and Curly Hair Care

Curly hair has a distinguishing loopy “S” pattern to it as well. Unlike the smooth “S” pattern of wavy hair, curly hairs “S” pattern is elongated looking more like a stretched out slinky. Contrary to popular belief, curly hair is not coarse at all. The individual strand of hair is baby soft and has a very fine texture. The only problem is that there is a lot of it to begin with!! Curly hair is not as shiny as straight or wavy hair. The reason why is because curly hair does not have that very smooth surface. Hence, light does not reflect off of it as much as it does with straight or wavy hair.

When curly hair gets wet it straightens out. When it dries though, it absorbs that water and contracts back into its natural shape. Individuals with curly hair know all too well the extra frizzy and curly effects that high humidity creates.

Healthy curly hair has identifiable traits. It is shiny and soft, with smooth curls, and has strong elasticity. The hair is very strong and springy. If you pluck a strand of hair out and stretch it, it will not snap in two. Conversely, damaged curly hair has the opposite traits. They are fuzzy, frizzy, dull, dry to the touch, with weak ill defined hair curls.

Just as with wavy hair, curly hair has sub types as well. They are:

Sub Type C1

This type can be very loosely curled and can also be shiny with big curls. Remember the principle rule for curly hair; the shorter the hair is, the straighter it will get. The longer the hair is, the more defined the curl will be.

Sub Type C2

Traits of this type range from tight corkscrews to bouncy ringlets. It’s not strange to find different sub types on the same head. In fact, curly hair is made up from several different textures with the crown being the curliest part.

Sub Type C3

This type of hair has very tight curls and is densely packed with lots of strands of hair. The curls can also be very kinky and blow drying this hair sub type is more difficult than both sub type C1 and C2.