What are the 3 parts of a curl?

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Here’s the thing about curls: Each one of them comes with an asterisk and a footnote. Because the products that make your coils shiny and soft might make mine greasy and lank, while the way your best friend styles her curls can turn yours into an undefined mess.

Luckily, an unofficially official guide to curls exists, and it’s basically the key to really, really good hair. The classification system, originally created by hairstylist Andre Walker and later expanded on by the natural-hair community, breaks down curls into types and subtypes—type 3 curls (that get progressively curlier from 3A to 3C) and type 4 coils (that get progressively more kinked from 4A to 4C)—to help you find the right products and techniques for your pattern.

But because no two people (or their curls) are the same, it can take some trial and error to figure out what works best for you. So to simplify the process, we created the easiest routines for every texture (with the help of celeb hairstylist and legit curl pro Ursula Stephen) and broke down the best products to make it all happen. Find your curl type, below, and get scrunching.*

(*Or don’t. You’ll see.)

Fact: 3A curls are tricky little shape-shifters. Although they’re typically the size of a wine-bottle cork (as in, you could almost slide a cork through the spirals), they’re usually fine, easily blown out, and incredibly reactive to the elements.

So if it’s slightly humid or too dry or if Jupiter doesn’t perfectly align with Saturn on the 5th of October during a Full Moon on Shawn Mendes’s birthday…3A curls will look anything but “typical.”

Instead, you might have a smattering of curl patterns: some that have a clear, loopy, S-shaped pattern (the hallmark of 3A curls) and some that are pulled out, looser, or chronically undefined. Which means your number one styling goal is to get them all on the same springy, defined level without weighing them down.

curl-defining creamwide-tooth comb

To keep things PG, Miyabi here is in a robe, but ideally, you start styling your 3A curls in the shower when your hair is still sopping wet (wet styling helps curb frizz and gives you better product coverage). After squeezing the excess water from your curls, rub a nickel-size dollop of between your hands and rake your fingers through your hair, concentrating on your mid-lengths to ends before raking through your roots. Comb through with a to evenly distribute the cream.

After applying your curl cream, which helps condition and define your curls, layer on a curl-enhancing mousse to lock in moisture and prevent frizz. Press a golf-ball-size puff of mousse between your hands and rake it through your hair with your fingers, starting with the bottom layers (watch Miyabi) before working your way to the surface layers. Then with a bit of product still on your hands, twirl small sections of hair around your finger to define your curls, especially in sections that tend to look limp.

Scrunching may seem like the enemy of curls, but it can actually add a ton of volume and definition to 3A hair. And as long as your curls are still pretty wet, you won’t be encouraging a halo of frizz while you do it. Just flip your head over or to the side, and gently squish your curls up toward your scalp, working in sections. If your hair is coarse and prone to excess dryness, massage a lightweight oil between your hands before scrunching for an added boost of shine-enhancing moisture.

Then either plop your curls with a T-shirt, let them air-dry, or diffuse them on low heat until they’re 80 percent dry.

BTZ Noodle Head Curling Cream Curl Cream

Ogx Quenching Coconut Curls Mousse Mousse

Verb Ghost Weightless Hair Oil Oil

3B curls are coarser, springier, and tighter than 3A curls, and they usually have the circumference of a Sharpie marker or your index finger.

Unlike 3A curls, which tend to lose their definition or get pulled out, 3B curls stay coiled no matter how much you play with them or what products you put on them (yay!). But they’re also the most prone to frizz and dryness (boo).

Being in the middle of the type 3 spectrum means your curls could also have a mix of 3A, 3C, or, hell, even 2C (wavy/curly) textures, but don’t let that overwhelm you. Focus on the biggest characteristics of your hair type—dehydration and frizz—and layer on a cocktail of moisturizing and humidity-blocking products to enhance your curls and keep them healthy.

Your curls need moisture, and the best way to lock in the hydration is with a lightweight leave-in conditioner, which basically sets the foundation for good hair. After squeezing the excess water from your sopping-wet curls, rub a quarter-size drop of leave-in between your hands and rake it through your hair, making sure to coat your ends and the bottom layers near the nape of your neck. Comb through with a wide-tooth comb to distribute.

Although it can be tempting to use the thickest, richest curl cream to stave off dryness, you’ll only end up with greasy residue. Instead, rake and smooth a curl milk (it’s like a lightweight leave-in that draws moisture into your curls all day) through your hair with your fingers, paying attention to your ends and hairline. Then brush—yes, brush—through it with a detangler brush to make sure every section is coated.

Now that you’ve added two layers of creamy moisture to your curls, lock it all in with a layer of lightweight oil, which essentially seals in the hydration to keep it from evaporating as your hair dries. To avoid creating frizz, apply the oil using the praying-hands method (aka the clapping method): Rub a nickel-size drop of oil between your palms, clap them around a section of hair like you’re praying to the curl gods, and glide them down from roots to tips. Then with the excess oil on your hands, smooth them over your hairline.

Once your curls are coated entirely, either plop them with a T-shirt, let them air-dry, or diffuse them on low heat until they’re 80 percent dry (although, warning, diffusing almost always encourages a bit of frizz).

Kinky-Curly Knot Today Leave-In Conditioner Leave-In

Shea Moisture Curl & Style Milk Curl Milk

Mizani 25 Miracle Nourishing Hair Oil Oil

3C curls are definitively tighter than 3B curls—think the size of a straw or pencil—and thickly packed together, giving your hair some major volume.

Despite the density and elasticity of your coils, 3C strands tend to have a finer texture (although you may still have some coarse pieces), which means they’re more prone to dryness, breakage, and loss of definition.

Yes, that sounds all sorts of ominous, but it’s not (clearly, since you’ve been living your 3C life just fine up to this point). A mix of moisturizing creams, puddings, oils, and conditioners will keep your curls happy, and the right application technique can bring out the perfect level of shine and definition.

The higher you climb on the curl scale, the drier your curls tend to be, and 3C is no exception. Start off your routine with a leave-in conditioner (look for one with lightweight oils like argan, jojoba, or grapeseed). After scrunching out the excess water from your sopping-wet hair, rub a quarter-size dollop of leave-in between your hands and finger-rake it through your curls, making sure to coat every layer evenly.

Once you’ve applied one layer of moisture, it’s time to add another (sensing a pattern here?). If your coils are on the coarser side and/or you experience a lot of shrinkage, try using a curl pudding, which tends to be heavier than a curl cream. If your curls look like Laís’s, here, who has some looser 3B textures mixed in with her 3C, reach for a rich curl cream and gently scrunch it into your wet hair, working section by section to really push the formula into your curls while avoiding tangles and knots.

To keep all that moisture you just layered on your curls from evaporating throughout the day, finish with a mid-to-heavy oil, which acts like a sealant for your hair. Laís swears by straight coconut oil for her curls, which she gently glides over her hair (praying-hands style), in sections, until it’s fully saturated. Coat your ends by lightly scrunching coconut oil into them, and use the tips of your fingers to massage the oil into your roots.

To dry your curls, you can plop them with a T-shirt, let them air-dry, or diffuse them on low heat until they’re 80 percent dry.

Mixed Chicks Leave-In Conditioner Leave-In

Cantu Coconut Curling Cream Cream

Majestic Pure Coconut Oil Oil

4A hair has the tightest, smallest coils—and sometimes curls, if you also have a few 3C sections like Ezi here does—that can just barely wrap around a crochet needle (we all have one of those, right?).

Because 4A coils usually have a well-defined S pattern, they tend to retain moisture better than any of the other type 4 hair, which means they also experience the least amount of shrinkage.

Still, as you already know, your coils need some serious hydration to keep them healthy, especially if you’re mainly doing wash and gos. A combo of creams, oils, and gels will maximize your corkscrew texture while keeping all the good, hair-healing moisture from escaping too quickly.

Rub a quarter-size dollop of curl cream between your hands and finger-rake it through your wet hair, making sure to cover your hairline, ends, and nape of your neck. (Note: Although your cream will add a ton of moisture to your hair, you can start with your favorite leave-in if you have extra-dry, shrinkage-prone coils). If your coils are on the coarse side, you can opt for a curl butter instead, for even more hydration.

Now that you have a coat (or two) of moisture on your coils, lock in all the hydration with a layer of oil (try anything with a base of coconut, jojoba, avocado, mongongo, or Jamaican black castor oil). Rather than raking it through your hair, which doesn’t always give you even coverage, try coating your hands in oil and then smooshing and scrunching it into your curls to really cover every strand. Gently massage a bit through your roots and hairline too.

To define your coils and get that perfect corkscrew shape, rub a quarter-size drop of gel between your hands and rake it through your hair, working on one quadrant at a time. With some gel still on your hands, finger-coil small sections of hair until the entire quadrant is coiled. Repeat until your whole head has been gelled and defined.

To dry, you can either plop your coils overnight with a T-shirt (although some denser types may find this doesn’t completely dry their roots by morning), let them air-dry, or use a hooded-dryer attachment.

Eden Curl Defining Creme Cream

Kinky Curly Curling Custard Gel Gel

4B (and C!) hair is in a class of its own. Rather than curling or coiling around themselves in an S pattern, 4B strands bend in a sharp, zigzagged Z shape.

There’s no uniform texture here—your 4B hair might be superfine while your best friend’s is super coarse—but your kinks and coils usually have the circumference of a spring in a ballpoint pen, or slightly wider.

Although each curl type is characteristically drier the farther it is on the scale, type 4 hair (especially B and C) is the most prone to moisture loss, shrinkage, and breakage. All of which means that your main styling goal is to infuse each strand with a ton of hydration while keeping your coils defined and stretched.

Your hair can handle rich formulas, so load it up with a nourishing leave-in conditioner to start. Clip your wet hair into sections (Kristina, here, separates hers into four quadrants) and rake a palmful of leave-in through each quadrant, unclipping and re-clipping as you work to keep your coils from drying out. Then with your hands still covered with conditioner, go back in and finger-coil each section to really work the product into your strands. Yes, this will take you a hot second, but the end result is worth it.

Although many swear by the LOC method (leave-in, oil, cream) for their type 4 coils, Kristina gets better results using a lightweight gel after her leave-in (“Without it, my hair looks like cotton,” she says). Since you don’t want to break up the curls you just created, apply the gel—after coating your hands with it—by smoothing it down and over the lengths of your hair rather than raking through them. Palm another layer over your hairline and edges.

To really lock in moisture and prevent shrinkage, try using an oil-based serum, which is a bit heavier than a traditional hair oil, says Ursula. After removing your clips, rub a quarter-size drop of serum between your hands (you may want to take the top off the bottle and just pour it into your hands), then grip and squeeze sections of hair, really pushing the product into each coil. Work section by section, scrunching carefully to avoid messing up your curl pattern.

Let your coils air-dry or use a hooded-dryer attachment on low heat for extra volume.

Camille Rose Natural Curl Love Milk Leave-In

Aunt Jackie's Don't Shrink Elongating Gel Gel

SheaMoisture Daily Hydration Finishing Oil Serum Oil Serum

4C hair is actually quite similar to 4B but with one key difference: Its zigzag pattern is way tighter, making its many kinks and angles almost imperceptible and making it prone to intense shrinkage.

Although 4C hair isn’t represented by one single texture (you can have fine and soft, coarse and wiry, or even a mix of both), it does tend to be the most delicate of the curl types, leading to breakage and dryness.

Why? Because type 4 strands naturally have fewer cuticle layers than any other hair type (note: The cuticle is responsible for retaining hydration and protecting your hair from damage), meaning your strands are basically fighting for all the TLC they can get. Help them out by covering them with moisture, moisture, and more moisture and by being gentle with your styling.

To help curb shrinkage from the start, Ursula suggests beginning your routine on dry, slightly picked-out hair (“You’ll already have the length, so it won’t shrink as much,” she says). Then, follow the tried-and-true LOC method—leave-in, oil, cream—to maximize your moisture retention. Massage and rake a palmful of leave-in conditioner through your hair, working in tiny sections until you’ve fully saturated your strands and roots.

Next, lock in all that moisture from your leave-in with a layer of oil. Na’Jeen, here, swears by grapeseed oil for her coils, but if your hair is incredibly porous (usually if it’s color-treated or damaged), opt for a thicker oil like castor or olive. Rub a palmful of oil between your hands, then rake and smooth it over one section of hair at a time. Once the section is covered, use a Denman brush to gently detangle your hair and distribute the oil across every strand. Repeat until all your coils are covered.

As a second layer of protection against moisture loss (yes, we’re not playin’ around here), finish with a twisting cream, which contains emollients that’ll help hydrate and define your twists. Rake and smooth a dollop of cream through a small section of hair until it’s coated, then two-strand twist the section to the ends. Keep raking on the cream and creating two-strand twists until your hair is completely twisted out.

Let your hair dry completely (if it’s overnight, make sure to wear a satin bonnet while you sleep), then unwind each twist from the bottom and separate the pieces.

Creme of Nature Argan Buttermilk Leave-In Milk Leave-In

Now 100% Pure Grape Seed Oil Oil

As I Am Twist Defining Cream Cream

Congratulations! You’ve officially mastered learned one of many different ways to style your curls and coils with, hopefully, some pretty excellent results. Now please, go forth and test these routines on yourself—I’ll be here dunking my head in leave-in if you need me.

Follow Chloe on Instagram.

Look 1: Staud top, Baublebar earrings; Look 2: Alice + Olivia top, L’agence pants, Shashi earrings; Look 3: 3.1 Phillip Lim top, Frame jeans, Ellie Vail earrings; Look 4: 3.1 Phillip Lim top and long sleeve; Monica Vinader earrings; Look 5: Cinq a Sept top, Jennifer Fisher earrings; Look 6: Sunday Riley top, Shashi earrings

Hair: Ursula Stephen, Hair Assistants: Mohan Jean-Mary and Amira Jannah; Makeup: Daniel Avilan, Makeup Assistant: Monica Nguyen; Nails: Kayo Higuchi, Nail Assistant: Ella Nguyen; Photographer: Ruben Chamorro; Models: Miyabi, Eileen Matias, Laís Felisardo, Ezinma (Ezi), Kristina Elise, Na’Jeen Michelle; Fashion Stylist: Kathy Lee; Senior Beauty Editor: Chloe Metzger; Creative Director: Abby Silverman; Senior Visuals Editor: Raydene Salinas Hansen; Visuals Editor/Production Assistant: Esther Faciane; Designer: John Francis; Cinematographer: Jennifer Cox; Editor: Olivia Akien; Production Assistant: Scott Kidwell

Chloe Metzger is the deputy beauty director at Cosmopolitan, overseeing the editorial content and growth strategy of the hair, makeup, and skin space on digital, while also obsessively writing about the best hair products for every hair type (curly girl here; whattup), and the skincare routines that really, truly work (follow her on Instagram to see behind-the-scenes pics of that magazine life). She brings nearly a decade of writing and editing expertise, and her work has appeared in Allure, Health, Fitness, Marie Claire, StyleCaster, and Parents. She also has an unhealthy adoration for Tom Hanks and would like to please meet him one day, if you could arrange that. Thanks.

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