Hair Type Chart: Find Your Curl Pattern From 1A to 4C

A hair type chart classifies hair by curl pattern using the Andre Walker system: type 1 is straight, type 2 is wavy, type 3 is curly and type 4 is coily. Each type splits into A, B and C, where A is the loosest pattern in that group and C is the tightest. That gives twelve types running from 1A through to 4C.

Most charts stop there. WAVE stocks human hair extensions in curl patterns from 2A to 4C, so every type below is matched to the texture that blends with it, and we say plainly where nothing matches.

The full hair type chart, 1A to 4C

How to find your hair type

There is one honest method and it takes a day. Wash with a clarifying or sulphate free shampoo, then put nothing on the hair afterwards. No cream, no gel, no mousse, no oil. Do not rough dry it and do not touch it while it dries. Let it air dry fully, then look at it in daylight.

Then read one strand against the chart above, and narrow the letter by width: the smaller the loop, the further along the alphabet you go.

Almost nobody has one type. The nape is usually tighter than the crown and the hairline looser than the back. Type the majority of your head, not your favourite section. If two thirds of your head is 3B and the underneath is 3C, you are 3B, and 3B is what you buy.

Type 1: straight hair

Type 1 has no curl pattern. The problem with type 1 is not shape, it is grip: fine straight hair shows a join more readily than any other type, because there is no texture to break up the line.

WAVE straight hair comes as clip-ins, wefts, nano bonds, tape-ins and K-tips. Browse them together at straight hair extensions. For coarse 1C hair, the Kinky Straight texture carries more body than standard straight and sits better against a thicker natural strand.

Type 2: wavy hair

Type 2 makes an S, and the letters differ by where that S begins and how deep it runs. This is the group people most often misjudge, usually by a letter, because straightening has flattened the pattern they remember.

Match 2A and 2B to Soft Wave, and 2B to 2C to Water Wave. See wavy hair extensions, body wave and water wave. Water Wave runs across wefts, nano bonds and clip-ins, so a 2C client can be fitted by whichever method suits their density.

Type 3: curly hair

Type 3 forms a closed loop. 3A is a curl the width of a stick of chalk, 3B a ringlet the width of a marker pen, 3C a corkscrew the width of a pencil.

Deep Wave covers 3A and 3B. For 3C, Jerry Curl and Burmese Curly are closer. Browse curly hair extensions, deep wave, curly hair bundles or curly tape-ins. One honest gap: curly clip-ins currently reach only as far as Deep Wave, so a 3C client wanting a temporary set is better served by a weft.

Type 4: coily hair

Type 4 is coiled rather than curled. It is not fragile because it is weak. It is fragile because every bend in the strand is a point where the cuticle lifts, so it loses moisture faster and snaps when handled dry.

WAVE covers this group with Jerry Curl for 3C to 4A, Kinky Curly for 4A to 4B, and Burmese Curly for 4B to 4C, as weft bundles and tape-ins. Said plainly: there is no type 4 clip-in or nano bond in the range at present, so a 4B or 4C client is fitted by weft or tape.

The two things people get wrong

Shrinkage. Extension length is measured with the hair pulled straight, so a 20 inch coily set will not hang at 20 inches. A 20 inch 4C set can sit around five inches once worn in its own pattern, while a 20 inch straight set hangs at the full 20. The same number on the label buys a different result, and this is the biggest cause of disappointment on a curly order. Buy the length you want to see, not the length you want to measure.

Curl reads darker. A tight pattern traps light between its coils instead of reflecting it back, so the same shade number looks a level deeper on 4B hair than it does on straight. Never match a curly order against a straight swatch under salon lighting. Match texture to texture, in daylight, with the hair dry.

Porosity and density are not the same as type

Curl pattern tells you the shape of the strand, not how it behaves.

Porosity is how readily the cuticle lets water in and out. Low porosity hair sits wet on the surface and resists conditioner. High porosity hair soaks up water instantly and dries out as fast. Porosity, not type, decides which products work.

Density is how many strands you have per square inch of scalp, and it decides how many packs a set needs. A 3B client with low density and a 3B client with high density need the same texture and very different quantities, which is why density is judged in the chair, not from a photograph.

Where this chart comes from

The 1 to 4 system was created in the 1990s by the stylist Andre Walker, and its history and original type descriptions are documented in the Andre Walker Hair Typing System entry on Wikipedia. It is a styling shorthand, not a scientific measurement, and it has been criticised for implying a hierarchy and for ignoring that most heads carry several patterns at once.

The scientific picture is a continuum rather than four boxes. Researchers led by Geneviève Loussouarn, publishing in the European Journal of Dermatology, measured hair diameter, colour and shape in 2,249 people across 24 populations on five continents, and describe hair shape as eight measured types from straight to highly curly rather than a few ethnic categories.

For care rather than classification, the American Academy of Dermatology advises washing curly hair only when needed, conditioning every strand, detangling with a wide toothed comb while wet, and sleeping with it loosely plaited. That applies to extensions too.

Hair type questions people ask

What is my hair type?

Wash your hair, put nothing on it afterwards, and let it air dry without touching it. Then look at one strand in daylight. Flat is type 1, an S shape is type 2, a closed loop is type 3, and a tight coil or Z shape is type 4. A is the loosest pattern in each group and C is the tightest.

What is 2C hair?

2C is the tightest wavy type. The S shape starts at the scalp rather than mid length, the waves are wide and deep, and a few loose curls usually appear underneath. Strands are thicker than 2A or 2B and frizz easily in humidity. It sits between wavy and curly, and the WAVE Water Wave texture matches it.

Is my hair 2A, 2B or 2C?

Look at where the wave begins. 2A waves start low and are shallow enough to brush out in one stroke. 2B waves start around eye level and hold their shape after drying. 2C waves start at the scalp, run deeper, and bring loose curls with them underneath. Years of straightening usually put you a letter higher than you think.

What is the difference between 3C and 4A hair?

The difference is shape, not size. 3C forms corkscrews, a continuous spiral winding down the strand like a coiled spring. 4A forms separate O shaped coils stacked one after another, roughly the width of a knitting needle. 4A is also drier and shrinks more, often losing half its length once dry.

Can you change your hair type?

Not permanently, because curl pattern is set by the shape of the follicle. What changes is how clearly the pattern shows. Heat damage, relaxing and bleaching all loosen or destroy it, and that does not reverse. Hormonal shifts, pregnancy and some medications can alter the pattern of new growth, but products and styling cannot.

Can you have more than one hair type?

Almost everyone does. The nape is usually tighter than the crown, the hairline looser than the back, and the temples different again. Type the majority of your head rather than one section. If most of your head is 3B and the underneath is 3C, buy for 3B and give the 3C section extra moisture.

Once you know your type

The pattern is half the job. The shade is the other half, and colour is where most orders go wrong. Send a photograph through the free colour and texture match service and we will tell you which of the 60+ shades and which curl pattern to order. To hold the hair instead, the colour shade swatch ring is refundable against a first trade order.

Stylists and suite renters can apply for a trade account for 20% off retail, with no sign-up fee, no minimum order and approval usually within 48 hours. Or browse the full range at shop all hair extensions.