To get your 4c textured hair curly, you’ve tried several styling products, but nothing seems to work. Maybe it’s not the products and you’ve been going about it the wrong way. In this article, I’ll share straightforward steps to curling your hair in no time.
4c Hair Type Overview
The tightest curl pattern is present in this hair type. Type 4c hair tends to clump and shrink at the ends because the strands are fashioned into tight, springy ringlets.
How can you tell if you have a 4c hair type?
The structure of the hair follicle and the shape of the hair strands—whether they curve, kink, or loop around one another in a spiral—determine the type of curl you have. Your hair should be completely moist when you determine your curl pattern.
Type 1s are straight, type 2s are wavy, type 3s are curly, and type 4s are coily, to give you a quick breakdown. Your wave, curl, or coil’s width determines where on the A to C scale these forms fall. The narrowest type is C, followed by medium type B, and the widest type A.
You can better style and care for your hair if you know what type it is. Type 4 hair is generally referred to as kinky, black, coarse, or afro-textured hair and is distinguished by its tight, dense texture, natural lift, and massive volume as a result of its distinctive curl pattern.
4c Hair grows horizontally and doesn’t fall until it is very long. Because the follicle isn’t straight, sebum and the hair’s natural oils have a harder time moving down the hair shaft, leaving kinky hair more prone to dryness. This causes the hair strand to become weaker, causing breakage, damage, and frizz.
Natural texture-wise, Type 4c hair is the driest and needs a lot of moisture. Keep your curls well-hydrated if you want them to be longer and more defined.
Listed below are tips to make your type 4c hair curly:
Cleansing Process
To achieve those long-lasting and defined curls, you must start by washing your hair. Use a sulfate-free shampoo or co-wash to get your hair rid of dirt and product build-up.
Sulfates in shampoos assist in removing oil and dirt from the hair. The only drawback is that they do their work so well that they remove all the moisture and hair oils that the hair needs to keep healthy.
Kinky hair is prone to dryness due to the shape of the hair cuticle, introducing sulfate to the hair would encourage frizziness. To make your type 4C hair curly, you need to use a sulfate-free shampoo or a cleansing conditioner to retain moisture in your hair.
A cleansing conditioner( co-wash) possesses the cleansing effect of a shampoo and the moisturizing effect of a conditioner.
Apply Leave-in conditioner
The next step after shampooing would be to add in loads of conditioner or a leave-in conditioner.
For the hair to curl it has to be moisturized.
The Leave-in conditioner doesn’t require rinsing and can hydrate and maintain the health of your hair all day.
Conditioners are fantastic for mending split ends and preventing hair damage and detangling hair, reducing friction, minimizing frizz, and enhancing hair health.
The best way to apply conditioner:
Apply your conditioner to your hair shaft. Make sure the ends of your hair are coated and distributed evenly with your fingers, or a wide-tooth comb.
A common misconception is you need to apply a pea-sized amount of conditioner but that shouldn’t be the case for kinky hair. You’d need to apply a large amount of conditioner due to the thickness and texture of the hair.
Detangling your Hair
Use a brush, fingers, wide-tooth comb, or anything to delicately detangle conditioned hair and smooth out the knots without causing hair breakage.
Do all these while in the shower. Avoid towel drying your hair because applying styling products to wet sapping hair is the trick to getting great definition and elongation, shine, and lackluster without frizz.
Spray in Moisturizing Oils
Because oil molecules are small enough to pass through the outer cuticle and can replenish protective oil in the hair, oils help keep the hair moisturized and act as a barrier against hair breakage and damage.
Styling
Styling happens almost instantly after conditioning. Conditioning reveals your hair’s natural texture, and styling products allow you to keep it.
Apply a curling cream or curl activator gel into sections of your hair. Ensure your hair stays wet during the process. You could do some finger coiling for more defined curls or use the raking method.
Use a Diffuser
A diffuser is an attachment to a blow-dryer that disperses air evenly around your curls and stimulates natural air drying. A diffuser helps to minimize frizz, keeps the coil pattern intact, and creates a big volume.
The amazing thing about using a diffuser is that it allows coils to retain their natural pattern and be frizz-free. Simply put, a diffuser equals a faster morning routine and well-defined curls.
How to use a diffuser for kinky Hair
Step 1: Allow your hair to partial air dry after applying your preferred styling products.
One thing to note before using a diffuser, your hair health should be a priority and the best way to avoid damaging your hair is to use a heat protectant.
Step 2: The Hover technique
Start with high heat and low setting, in a circulating motion, and at a safe distance, hover the diffuser facing downwards towards your hair roots. If you feel your arms getting weak or tired, you can brace the dryer where you’ll be comfortable.
Step 3: Make small head movements, and sway your hair from side to side while directing the diffuser.
Conclusion
It only takes learning the proper techniques this article has largely covered to get your 4c Hair curly.
However, you must concentrate on the condition of your hair if you want coils that set you apart from others. If you have healthy hair, your coils will thrive and treat you right no matter what.