Are you a 2C hair type clueless about what that entails and how to care for your hair? That shouldn’t be a problem anymore; 2c hair type, although unique and gorgeous, can be challenging to manage with the frizz, tangles, and many more!
The hair typing system comprises the type 1s straight, the 2s are the wavy type, the 3s are the curly type, and the 4s are the coily type. These outline how tightly curled the strands are, with four being the tightest. Subclasses A to C is determined by the width and diameter of the waves, curls, and coils.
The hair follicle for wavy to curly hair is oval-shaped, which makes it harder for the hair’s natural oils to travel down the hair shaft; the lack of moisture results in dryness and enables frizz.
What is 2C Hair?
Type 2C hair has the tightest waves, almost resembling 3a, which makes discerning between both confusing. However, with a closer look, you’ll be able to make out its S-shape. The curl pattern is typically determined by the shape the strand makes, whether they curve, kink, or wound around each other.
2C Hair has wider waves that begin at the roots in contrast to a 2B, which starts at the mid-lengths, and a 2A which has waves at the bottom. The waves starting at the roots give it a voluminous nature and make it resistant to styling, and frizz is its second nature.
Care Tips for 2C Hair.
Knowing your hair type makes everything better, similar to how we feel, coming to terms with who we are, or learning about a facet of ourselves that we didn’t know existed. It can quickly transition from exhilarating to overwhelming, but it’s all worthwhile in the end.
As was already mentioned, the frizz, knots, and dryness are the main issues with the wavy type. Utilizing the proper products and maintaining a healthy hair care routine is necessary to resolve that.
1. Replace your Shampoo.
Shampoos frequently contain harsh surfactants that excessively strip the hair of its natural oils, causing dryness. Since dryness already poses a serious issue for hair types with waves, adding to it would not be beneficial.
It would be much better for the hair and help keep it hydrated to switch from the typical sulfate-containing shampoo to one with softer surfactants. It’s sad to stop using standard shampoos because they are good at what they do but not what your hair needs.
If you don’t want to discard them, use them as a clarifying shampoo to remove debris, extra oils, and product buildup. However, depending on your lifestyle, product usage, and exposure to dirt, it would be beneficial if you performed a clarifying treatment once or twice a month.
To avoid tangling and hair damage, massage the shampoo into the scalp with your fingertips after lathering it in your palms but without using excessive force. In addition, a co-wash, often known as a cleansing conditioner, can be used in place of shampoo because it only cleans with conditioner. Make sure the bottle of any co-wash you intend to buy specifies that.
2. Confirm Hair Porosity.
Hair porosity! Finding the correct product for your hair’s needs depends on knowing the porosity of your hair, which is extremely significant. The ability of the hair to absorb and retain moisture is determined by its porosity, divided into low, normal, and high.
Your hair often becomes more porous the more damaged it is. Frequent exposure to heat, sunlight, chemical processing, environmental damage, and mechanical damage from excessive brushing and combing can all easily damage hair.
Normal porous hair can adequately absorb and preserve moisture, while low porosity hair has problems absorbing moisture but has excellent moisture retention power. In contrast, hair’s high porosity makes it easy for moisture to be absorbed and lost.
The cup test, strand test, and spay test are three techniques you can use to assess your hair’s porosity in the comfort of your home. The above test can give you an idea of where you stand, but it has limitations. Determining your hair porosity and getting accurate results requires lab work, which is not easily accessible and cost-effective.
The widely used and straightforward cup test method involves dipping a clean strand of hair into a glass of filtered water and gently pushing the hair. If the hair sinks, it has a high porosity, floats in the center, or stays in the middle; it has normal porosity and floats at the surface; it has low porosity.
3. A Pre Poo Treatment
Pre-pooing is the process of treating your hair before washing it. Since shampoo often contains harsh surfactants, using it can significantly deplete the natural oils from the hair. Your type 2c hair might benefit from an additional layer of protection because it is undoubtedly prone to dryness.
Apply a hot oil treatment, which involves heating a bowl with various oils. Once the oil is warmed, massage your scalp while applying the oil to your hair in portions. Blood circulation is improved by scalp massage, which promotes hair development. You might also gently untangle your hair and leave it alone for 30 to 2 hours.
Before shampooing, conditioners or other hair treatments can add a layer of protection and ensure the hair is moisturized.
3. Pick up a Wide-tooth Comb.
Even the slightest shift in the weather can cause tangling in hair types with waves, especially 2C. When your hair is dry, brushing it makes it into a poof ball. You might get away with dry detangling for the wavy varieties, but doing it before a wash will help reduce knots.
The intervals between a wide tooth comb teeth enable less tension on the strands, and the waves and clumps remain unaffected. Apply a conditioner to your hair after shampooing, making sure to coat it completely from the mid-lengths to the tips. At this point, you take out your wide-tooth comb and start untangling the hair in portions. What follows is a good rinse.
Conditioners include Cetearyl alcohol, fatty and beneficial alcohol that provides the slip needed for easier detangling. Additionally, it contains items rich in emollients and humectants that can moisturize the hair by retaining moisture.
4. A Microfiber Towel for Drying.
Because the hair is weak while damp, pulling and rubbing it vigorously causes breakage and frizz. Switch to a microfiber towel or an old, light t-shirt instead of your terry towel to avoid that. Since the Terry towel has a rougher surface, vigorously rubbing wet hair together would cause it to tangle, break off strands, and promote frizz.
The microfiber is much kinder on the strands, and it can soak up a lot of water and quicken the drying process. The microfiber towel and t-shirts could potentially be used as a popping device. Plopping your waves will increase their volume and definition. To accomplish that, place your plopping device in a suitable location, lean forward, and drape the object over your head, securing it with a knot at the front.
Add your gel and possibly other styling products before plopping to get that definition.
5. Don’t Skip Trims.
The hair strands begin to split, which is another sign of damage. If the split ends are not removed, they move up the hair shaft, preventing growth and leading to hair breakage and severe tangling because split ends are weak.
Every six weeks is the recommended frequency for trims; however, you should choose the frequency that works best for you. Most importantly, follow the schedule. Split ends should be cut off to promote hair growth and enhance appearance.
6. Moisturizing Products is Key.
It cannot be stressed how moisture is necessary for 2C hair because it is prone to dryness. The oval-shaped follicle makes it more difficult for natural oils to penetrate the hair shaft.
After washing your hair, add your moisturizing products using the LCO or LOC method, which stands for leave-in (liquid), cream, and oils or leave-in, oils, and creams. These products include gel, curl cream, hair oils, and serum. Find the method that works best for you.
Emollients and humectants, which are present in creams and oils, work to seal in moisture by creating an oily film. I suggest selecting a cream or oils following your hair’s porosity.
Lighter weight treatments are better suited for hair types with less density and low porosity, and heavier weight products containing ingredients like oils and butter for considerably more porous hair. When applying these products, pay close attention to areas more prone to dryness.
The method of applying these products can help with definition, raking the product in, brush styling, shingling, scrunching, and plopping are various styling techniques.
7. Sleep with Protective Covers.
You must wear a protective head cover if you sleep with cotton sheets. Particularly as you toss and turn, the cotton fabric’s surface rubs against the hair strands, causing friction or increased strain that leads the cotton fabric to absorb moisture from the hair strands.
Since it all disappears when you apply an overnight hair treatment and then go to sleep, your hair will be dry and frizzy when you wake up. To prevent that, sleep with a silk or satin bonnet or scarf. You can wake up to healthy waves because of the smooth surface’s reduced stress and friction, which preserves the moisture in the hair.
It’s simple to wrap your hair in silk or satin; take your chosen piece, and join the opposite ends to form a triangle, making sure the silkier side is facing out. Then, stoop forward and drape the scarf over your neck, aiming the middle point at your forehead. The side should be taken and tied in a knot above the main section at the top of the hairline, and the remaining components must be tucked into the wrap’s sides.
8. Avoid Heat Styling
Hot tools are convenient, but in the long run, too much dependency on hot styling tools like blow dryers or even flat irons when you want to switch up your look can damage your hair.
Heat alters the hair proteins, disrupting the shape and hair structure. To avoid heat damage, apply a heat protectant to sections of your hair to ensure the strands are coated. Use the lowest heat settings on any heating device and at a 15cm distance.
Best Products for 2C Hair.
All you need for consistently having beautiful hair days are the right products, so make sure any hair care products you purchase do not contain any potentially harmful ingredients like silicones, sulfates, parabens, or drying alcohols. Here are a couple of basic options to choose from.
Shampoo
- Everyday Shea Shampoos
- Giovanni Shampoos( Ultra-Sleek, Repairing, Ultra-volume, Frizz be gone)
- Jason Dandruff Relief
- Jason Normalizing Tea Tree Shampoo
- Jessicurl Gentle Lather Shampoo
- Kinky Curly Come Clean Shampoo
Conditioners
- Eden Bodyworks Coconut Cowash
- Everyday Shea Conditioners
- Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser Conditioner
- Giovanni Conditioners( Frizz be gone, Ultra-Moist, Repairing, Ultra-Luxurious, Ultra-Sleek, and Ultra-Revive)
- Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat.
Creams
- Ouidad VitalCurl Define and Shine Styling Gel-Cream
- Oyin Handmade Whipped Pudding
- Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus Curl and Style Milk
- Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie
- Taliah Waajid Curly Curl Cream
Gels
- Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee
- Camille Rose Naturals Aloe Whipped Butter
- Curl Keeper Gel
- Curls Goddess Curls Gel
- Curls Passion Fruit Curl Control Paste
Deep Conditioners
- Kevin Murphy Born Again Essential Treatment
- Kevin Murphy Young Again Masque
- Living Proof Restore Deep Conditioning Masque
- L’Oreal Oleo Therapy Deep Recovery Mask
- Made Beautiful Intense Treatment Masque
Leave in Treatments
- Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Extra Moisture Detangler
- Suave Essentials Conditioners
- Taliah Waajid The Great Detangler
- Tresemme Naturals Radiant Volume Conditioner
Mousse
- Herbal Essences Body Envy Mousse
- Herbal Essences Set Me Up Mousse
- Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Mousse
- Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly Mousse
- Living Proof Full Thickening Mousse
Clarifying Shampoos
- Neutrogena Anti Residue Shampoo
- Paul Mitchell Shampoo Two
- Suave Essentials Shampoo Daily Clarifying
- TRESemme Purify & Replenish Deep Cleanse Shampoo
Conclusion
The best way to take care of your hair type would be to continuously experiment with products and techniques until you find what works best for you; this process can be overwhelming, but try to enjoy the journey and remember that even if you have the same hair type as someone else, yours is unique to you. Hopefully, the tips listed above will help.