How to Style Different Hair Types: A Stylist’s Guide to Straight, Wavy, and Curly Hair

TikToker (@frmstephwluv) Stephanie loved her professional silk press—until she washed her hair. Post-wash, her natural curls were gone.

“As someone who’s been on a natural hair journey for years, this was absolutely devastating,” Stephanie said. “To go to someone that’s a professional and come out with fried, heat-damaged hair—I could cry about it.”

Model Kamie Crawford shared similar frustration after a professional stylist turned her classic, voluminous, curly hair into frizzy, undefined tangles for a photoshoot.

“It made me feel so ridiculous that I didn’t feel confident enough to do my job properly. I couldn’t stop thinking about the little girls who look like me and have hair like mine seeing those images blown up,” Crawford told Glamour.

As a professional stylist, you’ve gone to school to learn your craft. Yet few hair school curriculums and classes teach all different hair types. This leaves even the most seasoned stylists unsure how to style different hair types. Natural or highly textured hair like Stephanie’s and Crawford’s seem to receive the least classroom time, with only 19 states requiring specific training for it.

Should hairstylists be trained to work with all hair textures? Yes. To create an inclusive culture in your salon, you need to practice different types of hair styling.

“Most salons specialize. If you are a cut specialist, you should be able to cut every hair type and texture. If you are a color specialist, you should be able to color every hair type and texture equally as well,” Kevin Molin of Aveda Global Education told Allure.

In this article, we explore different types of hair and how to develop the skills for working with all hair texture levels.

What are the different hair types for hairdressing?

How is hair type determined? What goes into determining your client’s hair type? Looking for a list of hair textures to learn from? Are you learning how to describe hair texture and recognize every hair type?

Retried stylist Andre Walker developed a hair typing system that breaks hair down into four primary textures, each with three subcategories beneath them. That’s 12 major types of hair: 1a to 4c. To understand different types of hair styling, let’s review these categories:

1a to 4c Hair Chart

• What is Type 1 Straight Hair?
  • 1A: Flat, Thin, and Silky
  • 1B: Some Bends and Coarser Strands
  • 1C: Thicker and Coarser
• What is Type 2 Wavy Hair?
  • 2A: Flat and S-Shaped
  • 2B: Defined Waves
  • 2C: Wavy hair with Some Loose Curls and Coarser Textures
• What is Type 3 Curly Hair?
  • 3A: Loose Curls with a Few Waves
  • 3B: Springier Curls
  • 3C: Tighter Curls
• What are Type 4 Coils?
  • 4A: Tight, Small Coils
  • 4B: Sharp, Zigzag Shape
  • 4C: Z-Shape, Tight Pattern

What do these various types of hair look like? Here’s an illustration from Prevention.

When determining your client’s hair type, having a framework like Walker’s 1a to 4c hair chart can be handy. By examining the strands’ shape, texture, hydration, and behavior, you can determine the best techniques and products and how to style different hair types.

How to Style Straight, Wavy, Curly, or Coily Hair

When learning how to style different hair types and serving all hair types, keep these tips in mind:

1. Ask your clients about their hair.

When your client’s in the chair, you’re getting a snapshot in time. Their hair may look a certain way today, but how does it look and behave most days? 

Explain the different types of hair with an 1a to 4c hair chart, like the one here. Then work together to decide which of the hair classifications best describes their hair. To increase the accuracy of your diagnosis, consider describing common problems each hair type faces. For example, clients might attest to elastics slipping out of their Type 1A straight hair and frequent frizziness of 2B hair type.

2. Figure out their needs and wants.

Do you have a frequent washer on your hands? Or someone who loves up-dos? Knowing what your client likes to do with their hair on a day-to-day basis will help you recommend different types of hair styling based on hair type categories.

Once you know their needs, compare them to their wants, as you would before using thinning scissors. Do the cuts and styles they want conflict with what their hair needs? If so, help them set realistic expectations.

3. Train up on all different hair types.

Have a knowledge gap for how to style different hair types? Fill that gap with some continuing education. 

Find a cosmetology school near you that offers classes on serving clients with various types of hair. If you can’t find a local school that teaches what you need to know, check out courses online.

4. Get to know which products are best for every hair type.

The right products can enhance your clients’ hair. But the wrong products can damage it. So study up on hair products that work best for all different hair types.

For example, clients with curly hair can benefit from a diffuser hair dryer attachment to define their curls, suggests Joanna Blair School of Makeup and Hair. For clients with highly textured hair, dry brushing or regular heat styling can cause hair loss and breakage, warns Josh Rosebrook.

5. Be humble.

While the ultimate goal is to be skilled enough to serve every client with every hair type, it’s okay if you’re not there yet. If a client walks in with a hair type you aren’t familiar with, refer them to a stylist who’s more experienced with their hair type.

“I know my limits. I know I can do some [textured] hair, but can I do all of it? No, and I’m not going to tell you I can when I can’t,” said hair stylist Lisa Monda in an article for Allure. “I don’t have ego when working with clients; I work with what’s realistic in my toolbox. If I don’t feel that I’m the right person for the job, I have so many amazing hairdressers to whom I can refer you.”

For hair-raising complaints about how to style different hair types, call WellnessPro.

Even after you’re versed on how to style different hair types, you can still have lawsuits from unhappy clients. 

WellnessPro gives hair stylists like you the insurance protection they need for the worst client hair days. Learn more about our barbers and hairstylists coverage here.