While curls are undeniably beautiful across the board, it’s important to understand which category your specific curl type falls into. Being able to identify your curl type is one of the first steps to bringing your curls back to life. Today we are talking about How To Identify Your Curl Type.
If you are new to the curly girl method or having trouble understanding the steps, I got you!
I create The Curly Girl Cheat Sheet just for you. In printout, I break down the method step by step to help guide you along the way.
But before we get into the nitty gritty of how to determine your curl type, let me define what curly type means.
What is a curly type?
Your curl type is determined by the shape that your hair naturally grows. It could be loose waves, to tight coils.
Are you confused about your curl type and how to choose the right products?
CLICK HERE to take the FREE curl type quiz!
Your curl pattern is a super important characteristic of your hair and is key in establishing the right routines and techniques.
Common misconceptions about curly type is that you only have one. This is not true. Most people have a range of 2-4 different curl types. Mine for example is 2a-3b.
How To Identify Your Curl Type
You can get all sorts of fancy when identifying your curly type, but what you really NEED to know is whether you have wavy, curly, or coily hair.
This is the basic information needed to determine what type of products and techniques will typically work best.
Use the chart below to decide which category your curls fall into.
If you do want to get fancy in identifying your curl type, you can use the below point to be very specific.
Curl types are typically broken down into four main groups and each group is further divided into three subcategories.
- One Straight – (a, b, and c)
- Two Wavy-(a, b, and c)
- Three Curly -(a, b, and c)
- Four Coily/Kinky -(a, b, and c)
The numbers describe the shape of your curls while the the letters describe the width or diameter of the curls themselves.
A = wide; B = medium; c = tight.
Keep in mind that all curls are different.
Your hair may react differently than another curly with the same hair type because that is the nature of curls. Which is why it is so important to track everything you do to you hair and what the outcome is. Read more about tracking your curly journey here.
More importantly than curl pattern is hair porosity which you can read about here.
xoxo
Curly Colleen
P.S Get started with your curly girl journey here.
