While everyone’s hair is impacted by environmental stressors like heat, moisture, or chemicals, not every hair type will be affected the same way.

Consequently, the different hair types require diverse care approaches. Read on to learn how to get the best out of your hair type!

Straight Hair

While straight hair is easy to style, it can be tricky to care for. Those with this hair type typically have oily roots, which is both good and bad. On one hand, the excess oil softens the hair strands, making them more manageable. However, an oily scalp can make the hair look flat and lifeless. Depending on strand thickness, straight hair can be fine, medium, or coarse. Here are a few tips on how to care for straight hair.

Start by Choosing the Appropriate Shampoo‍

Remember, this hair type has plenty of excess oil, so you’ll need shampoos for oily hair as they can clean the scalp properly. If your hair is thin, avoid using thick, heavy shampoos because these will weigh your hair down. Choose a volumising formula instead.

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Try Reverse Washing

Conditioning hair before shampooing is often recommended for fine, straight hair and people with excess oil production. With a conditioner, you add enough moisture to your hair, and the excess is washed away with the shampoo. Apply the conditioner evenly across your entire hair, wait 4-5 minutes, apply shampoo, and rinse everything off.

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Use Dry Leave-In Conditioners

Leave-in conditioners with a dry formula (like the ones you apply for heat protection before blow drying) will moisturize the hair without weighing it down or making it look flat and greasy.

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Let Your Hair Rest

Excessive heat styling, bruising, perming, and chemical strengthening are all detrimental to your hair. Because straight strands are usually the thinnest, the constant damaging factors can cause your scalp oil production to go into overdrive, making your hair look matted, flat, and unhealthy.

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Switch up Your Styling Pattern

If your current styling methods leave your hair looking thin and lifeless, try sprucing it up with a texturizing spray or dry shampoo. These will absorb the excess oil and give your hair more movement.

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Try Layered Haircuts

Adding some layers to your hair is a great way to make it look more voluminous, especially if you have long hair. If cut straight, long, thin, and straight hair tends to look dull and lifeless even if it’s perfectly hydrated and not too oily.

Book an appointment with us at V for Hair & Beauty for your fresh new hairstyle and free consultation!

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Wavy Hair

Neither curly or straight, yet wavy hair has the characteristics of both. While the soft natural curls are relatively easy to style, they are prone to dryness and split ends. Even though the scalp produces enough oil, it’s not easily distributed due to the waves. Wavy hair also has three types; thick, medium, and fine. Below are a few handy hair care tips for wavy hair.

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Use a Moisturising Shampoo

To avoid the waves getting frizzy, opt for shampoos that additionally moisturize the hair, preventing its length and ends from drying out. It can help prevent split ends - a frequent issue with frizz-prone, wavy hair.

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Learn How to Detangle Your Hair

Due to its texture and being fizz-prone, wavy hair tangles easily, causing its owner to struggle with knots that are extremely hard to detangle. To make it easier, use a wide-toothed comb or special detangling brush. Brush your hair immediately after washing and conditioning it while it’s still wet. Always start at the bottom and slowly work your way towards the roots.

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Deep Condition Regularly

True to their name, deep conditioners hydrate the strands from deep within, which is great for wavy hair that’s on the dryer side. However, you should apply it only on the ends and mids (depending on how long your hair is), as your roots get enough moisture from the oils on the scalp. Deep condition once a week by leaving the conditioner on for at least 10 minutes after shampooing. It will reduce the hair’s frizziness without making it look flat and lifeless.

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Use a Leave-in Serum

Hydrating serums work similarly to leave-in dry conditioners, except they nourish your hair more intensely. If you have an oily scalp, avoid applying the serum to the roots; otherwise, it can go across the entire length. After washing your hair, put a few drops of serum into your hands, massage it into the strands, and let your hair absorb it. It’s an additional step for preventing frizz and helping style the hair.

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Air-Dry Your Hair

Because heat styling tools dry out your strands, opt for air drying your hair whenever possible. After washing it, soak the excess moisture with a cotton or microfiber towel, apply serum or another styling product, and let the hair air-dry. If you live in a climate where air dying isn’t a good option, or if you’re in a hurry, blow-dry it using a diffuser. Be gentle and use the hair dryer’s lowest speed setting to avoid creating frizz.

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Change Your Pillowcase

Cotton and synthetic pillowcases create a lot of friction between the hair strands, which leads to frizz and breakage. To avoid this, get a silk pillowcase or silk cap. Your hair will thank you for it by becoming much easier to style.

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Learn to Style Your Hair Properly

Experiment with different styling methods to see which works best. For example, applying a little hair oil to the ends and mids can reduce the frizz and make the strands easier to style. Using a styling mousse after washing the hair will keep it hydrated while giving it more volume.

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Curly Hair

People with curly hair have defined curls, which can be tight or loose. Curly hair strands are coarser than other types and more prone to dryness and frizz, often requiring more attention and care during styling. Here is how to make curly hair look healthy.

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Use Hair Oils

Hair oils like jojoba or coconut oil can work wonders for moisturizing and defining your curls. Apply them before or after washing the hair. If you apply them before, slather on a generous amount of oil, leave it on for a few hours, and then wash and condition. If you use them after washing your hair, apply the oil across the entire length, slowly distributing it through the curls.

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Use Deep Moisturizing and Sulfate-Free Shampoos

Besides stripping it from its natural oils, sulfates can also weigh down your hair, making the curls look more dense. To keep your hair soft and hydrated and your curls bouncy, opt for shampoos listing coconut oil and aloe vera among their ingredients.

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Avoid Over-Cleansing

Given that curly hair tends to be on the drier side, it’s not recommended to wash it too often. Wash your hair once a week, and always rinse the shampoo with lukewarm water. Use cold water to rinse the conditioner. Cold water closes hair cuticles so your curls can retain nutrients and moisture.

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Be Careful When Styling Your Hair

Detangle your hair while it’s still wet after washing. Wet hair is more resilient, so it won’t break as easily. Besides the leave-in conditioner, you can also apply a few drops of fair oil across the strands. For beautiful, natural-looking curls, air dry or blow dry your hair with the diffuser.

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Try the Foundation Cut

As its name implies, this haircut gives a foundation for shaping the curls into more defined patterns. It usually involves layering the hair, particularly with tight curls.

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Kinky Hair

Kinky hair has an even tighter curl pattern than curly hair, giving the hair an elevated look. Extremely dry and brittle, kinky hair breaks very easily. Follow these hair care tips to make this hair type look healthy.

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Use a Hair Mask

Being extremely breakage-prone, kinky hair needs intense conditioning to remain hydrated. Apply a deep conditioning mask once a week and leave it on for 30-60 minutes to properly nourish your curls.

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Opt for Sulfate-Free Shampoos and Conditioners

Sulfate-free shampoos are gentler on the hair, making them the best choice for washing dry, coarse strands. Apply a generous amount of gentle but deeply hydrating conditioner on the entire length of your hair after washing it. Alternatively, you can reinforce it with a leave-in conditioner, particularly if your hair is damaged.

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Be Careful When Brushing

Brush your hair slowly, using a wide-toothed comb, and don’t use too much force. If you encounter a stubborn knot, try detangling it from the lower end to avoid breakage. If needed, use a product meant to make detangling hair easier.

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Style Properly

Air dry your hair whenever possible to avoid drying it out. Excess heat (even from the blow dryer) makes the hair frizzy and incredibly changing to style. Wrap your hair in a cotton towel for 10 minutes, then apply a moisturising styling product or a leave-in conditioner.

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Find the Right Haircut

Because their hair already looks shorter due to the tight coils, many people with kinky hair opt for longer hairstyles. For the same reason, they avoid trimming even split ends, which is a huge mistake. However, with dry, coarse hair, leaving split ends causes even more breakage, and you need to cut off even more. With the right haircut and regular trims, your hair will look much healthier, even if it isn’t too long.

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Final Thoughts

The four basic hairstyles, straight, wavy, curly, and kinky, all have their unique strengths and challenges. However, with the right hair care methods, they can all become healthy, easily manageable, and flattering to the owner. It’s all a question of finding the right products and approaches to cleaning, hydrating, and styling the hair.

Book an appointment with us at V for Hair & Beauty for your fresh new hairstyle and free consultation!