Hair Types: Know the Different Types (2025)

What Are the Different Hair Types?

Hair comes in four main types: straight, wavy, curly, and coily. Each hair type has its own unique characteristics. The four types are broken down into subtypes (A, B, C) based on their texture, thickness, and curl pattern.

Whether your hair is straight or curly, thin or thick, depends mainly on your genes. Genetic variations that are common in certain regions of the world – such as Asia and Europe – are linked to differences in hair texture. The shape of your hair follicles also plays a role. For example, people with curly and coily hair have hook-shaped hair follicles, while those with straight hair have round follicles.

Knowing your type will help you care for your hair, and help your stylist know how to cut and style it.

Who created this hair typing system?

The hair typing system is the brainchild of Andre Walker, a celebrity stylist who has worked with Oprah Winfrey and first ladies Michelle Obama and Barbara Bush. He created the system in the 1990s to market his line of hair care products.

Walker devised a chart with four different hair types that go from straight to tight coils. He matched each type with the shampoo, conditioner, and styling products that work best for it, to help stylists and consumers know which product to choose. While the system became popular with stylists and is widely used in cosmetology schools, it has faced controversy from those who see it as embracing a racist concept.

Hair typing controversy and criticism

Though Walker's goal was to simplify hair care, hair type systems were used historically to assess people's closeness to whiteness. Around 1905, Nazi scientist Eugen Fischer developed a tool that classified how close a person was to whiteness based on their hair color and texture. Eugenicists like Fischer promoted the racist and false idea that humans could be "improved" by selectively breeding people with preferred traits like straight hair.

Between 1948 and 1994, the South African Apartheid system used a pencil test that determined whether a person was white or Black based on their hair texture. If a pencil placed in the hair stayed there, they were Black. If the pencil slid out, they were considered white. And if it fell out when the person shook their head, they were classified as mixed or "Coloured" – terms that were put on their identity documents.

Critics also argue that Walker's system isn't a precise or scientific way to categorize hair. And they say describing tight curls as "kinky," as Walker did, is a form of bias that puts too much focus on race.

Hair Types Chart

Understanding Hair Types

Along with its straightness or curliness, your hair type is based on other features, including porosity, elasticity, and plasticity.

Porosity

This refers to how much moisture your hair absorbs and holds. The porosity can be low, medium, or high depending on your cuticle – the outer layer of each hair strand. Each cuticle is made up of overlapping scales, which may be tightly woven or dotted with small gaps. Medium porosity is the ideal. It means your cuticle is healthy and is holding the right amount of moisture.

High porosity hair has tiny holes in the cuticle that let in moisture. Chemical treatments and heat styling can cause damage that creates these holes. High porosity hair tends to be frizzy and needs extra conditioning to hold its moisture.

To find out how porous your hair is, put a strand of your hair into a bowl of water. If it sinks to the bottom, your hair has high porosity. If it floats, your hair has low porosity.

Elasticity

Hair's elasticity is a measurement of its strength. Take a piece of your hair and stretch it as far as you can between your hands. If it stretches all the way straight without breaking, it has high elasticity. If it breaks quickly, it has low elasticity and is very brittle.

Plasticity

Plasticity is the ability of hair to regrow after the hair follicle has been damaged. It's also an important component of the hair cycle – the process where each hair grows, rests, and eventually falls out.

Hair Types Quiz

What type of hair do you have? To learn your hair type, wash and then air dry it. "You can see whether it's straight, it has a subtle wave to it, or if it wants to kink up and curl," says Danielle Huacuja, a celebrity stylist at Onyx on Madison Salon in Pasadena, CA.

Type 1 hair dries straight
Type 2 hair has a slight curve or "S" shape
Type 3 hair has coiled curls
Type 4 hair dries in well-defined, tightly coiled curls

Type 1: Straight Hair

Type 1 hair is totally straight. It doesn't curl or wave unless you use heat styling and products on it. But it does have great shine, thanks to the oil that travels down the hair shaft. The three subtypes of type 1 hair range from fine and soft to coarse.

Type 2: Wavy Hair

This hair type falls in a soft "S" shape. Though it's still fairly straight, with some styling you can coax it into curly styles. In humid weather it tends to frizz.

Type 2A hair

Type 2A hair is fine and thin. It falls in loose waves, but you can style it either straight or curly if you choose.

Type 2B hair

With this type you'll see gentle waves with more volume and some frizz. It will curl with help from the right styling product.

Type 2C hair

These thicker waves stay curly when you air-dry your hair. Type 2C is harder to style and more likely to frizz than types 2A and 2B.

Best type 2 hairstyles

Because wavy hair contains a balanced amount of oil, it's easy to style compared to other hair types. It benefits from long, soft layers broken up by some shorter layers to give the hair more shape and movement. Some stylists recommend beach waves – soft, loose waves that make you look like you've spent the day by the ocean.

How to care for type 2 hair

You don't need to wash type 2 hair as often as type 1 – maybe once every three days, suggests Huacuja. "Use light hydrating products to help moisturize." Follow with a leave-in conditioner to give curls more bounce. Style your hair with a gel product designed to control frizz, which will also give your hair more structure.

Type 3: Curly Hair

Now the curls have more definition. Type 3 hair ranges from loose curls to tight corkscrew-shaped ones. It tends to be drier because oil has a harder time reaching the bottom of a curled hair shaft.

Type 3A hair

These curls are S-shaped and loose. Type 3A hair frizzes in humid weather, but it's easy to tame with styling products.

Type 3B hair

In type 3B, the curls are tighter. They look like spirals or tight corkscrews that stay in place once you've finished styling. This type is likely to frizz and dry out, depending on the weather.

Type 3C hair

Curls are very tight corkscrews or coils. Type 3C hair has a lot of volume, but also gets frizzy.

Best type 3 hairstyles

Curls can really weigh hair down. Huacuja suggests adding some layers along the sides and on top to lighten it up.

How to care for type 3 hair

"As your hair gets more coily and curly it becomes more dry because your cuticles open, so you're going to need more hydrating products," Huacuja says. Limit washing to once a week to prevent your hair from drying out. Follow up with a deep conditioning treatment to fight the frizz that often accompanies curly hair. Use a mousse or curl-defining cream to give hair structure without weighing it down.

Type 4: Coily Hair

This hair type features the tightest and most dense curls. Although type 4 hair might look coarse, it's actually made up of many fine hairs tightly packed together, which makes it more fragile than straighter hair.

Type 4A hair

Curls are well-defined, tightly coiled, and springy. They form an "S"-shape when you stretch them out.

Type 4B hair

These curls have more volume and look like a "Z" with a sharp-angled zigzag pattern where the hair bends. Hair may have more volume when wet and shrink as it dries.

Type 4C hair

Type 4C curls are the smallest and tightest of all the hair types. They form a variety of shapes and the hair grows outward instead of down.

Best type 4 hairstyles

"For coily hair, you need more internal layers to give it more shape," says Huacuja. Braids and twists are good hairstyles for this hair type. Or, you might opt to wear it loose in a puff on top of your head.

How to care for type 4 hair

Type 4 hair is extra dry. It needs a hydrating conditioner to hold in moisture and keep it manageable. Wash every two to three days with a mild shampoo. Then apply a leave-in conditioner. Use your fingers or a comb to distribute the conditioner evenly through your hair.

Before styling, apply a moisturizing spray to soften hair and a gel or mousse to keep curls structured and under control. Either air dry or use a diffuser attached to your hair dryer. Because this hair type is so fragile, brush and style it carefully to avoid breakage.

Hair Type Discrimination

Hair discrimination includes policies and biases against natural Black hairstyles like afros, locs, braids, and twist-outs. It's a form of racial discrimination – negative treatment based on a person's race.

Historically, enslaved people who worked in the fields were allowed to have natural hair, but those who worked in white people's homes were forced to straighten their hair. To reclaim the narrative, natural hair became a symbol of Black power and identity during the 1970s and 1980s.

The natural hair movement continues today. While understanding has improved somewhat, Black people continue to face hair discrimination and bias at school and in the workplace. Natural hair is sometimes described in derogatory terms like "kinky" or "nappy."

Like other forms of racism, hair discrimination can have negative effects on a person's self-esteem and sense of well-being.

Texturism

Texturism involves stereotypes and stigma where natural Black hair is seen as being less attractive than other hair types. It's a form of discrimination against people who have coily or tightly curled hair.

Research finds that people with naturally Black hair types face more bias and are less likely to succeed in the workplace than those with hair types associated with other races. Black women's hair is 2.5 times more likely than white women's hair to be seen as unprofessional. As a result, Black people have felt pressured to change their hair to fit into their white surroundings. About two-thirds of Black women said they've changed their hair for a job interview.

Examples of hair discrimination

Employers have enacted policies that discriminate against people with natural hair. Brittany Noble, a former news anchor at WJTV in Jackson, Mississippi, was fired after complaining about discrimination on the job. Her news director told her that her natural hair was "unprofessional." Chastity Jones lost her job at a call center in Mobile, Alabama, because her dreadlocks violated the company's grooming policy.

There have also been instances of hair discrimination in schools. Two-thirds of Black girls in predominantly white schools say they've experienced hair discrimination. A white referee in New Jersey forced high school student Andrew Johnson to cut his dreadlocks to participate in his school's wrestling match. In the Barbers Hill Independent School district near Houston, Texas, three students were suspended for wearing their hair in long locs. District leaders defended their action by saying, "Being American requires conformity."

Hair discrimination laws

A bill called the "Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair" or CROWN Act aims to prohibit discrimination based on hair style and texture in jobs, schools, housing, federally funded programs, and public businesses like hotels and restaurants.

So far, 27 states have passed the CROWN Act, but it hasn't become federal law. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill in 2019 and 2022, but the Senate ultimately blocked it. InFebruary 2025, the CROWN Act was reintroduced in both chambers of Congress.

What to do if you experience hair discrimination

If you've experienced hair discrimination at work, you can file an employment discrimination complaint with your state's Human Relations Commission or Civil Rights Department. You can also contact an attorney who specializes in employment law. Advocacy groups like the Legal Defense Fund can offer support and resources to help with your case.

Takeaways

Hair can be grouped in four types based on features like its texture, thickness, and curl pattern. Each type needs different care and styling. Hair typing is considered controversial because it was used in the past to assess how close to whiteness a person was. People with traditionally Black hair types and styles have faced discrimination throughout history. Despite greater awareness of natural hair, discrimination still occurs today.

Hair Types FAQs

What are the four types of hair?

The four types of hair are straight, wavy, curly, and coily.

How do I identify my hair type?

An easy way to learn your hair type is to wash and air dry it. Type 1 hair dries straight. Type 2 has a slight curve or "S" shape. Type 3 hair has loosely coiled curls, and type 4 curls are well-defined and tightly coiled.

What is 4a, 4b, and 4c hair?

These are the three variants of type 4, or coily hair. They range from well-defined, S-shaped curls to sharper and tighter zig-zag curl patterns.

What is the rarest hair type?

Type 1a is the rarest hair type. It's super straight and hard to curl.

What does 4c hair look like?

This hair type features tight, dense curls that look coarse but are actually very fine and fragile.

What is the most common hair type in the world?

Type 1b is the most common hair type. It's straight, but with some volume.