4B & 4C friends—we’ve heard your call for a broader discussion on how coily & tight textured curlies in our community can best use their PATTERN formulas & tools, & we are here for this conversation! We celebrate that each curly hair type is unique & recognize that hair products function differently for each person’s hair strand, so the team is very excited to provide suggestions below to help you find the most success on wash day for individuals with either a 4B curl pattern or 4C curl pattern hair type.
Shampoo Time
Start with a gentle wash with our Hydration Shampoo—you’ll enjoy a thorough clean from our delicate, oil-packed cleanser, & many of our tight-textured shoppers find their curly type more hydrated, softer and beginning to detangle even from just the shampoo itself.
And we’ve got options…
Choosing which conditioner is right for you is an undeniable step for maintaining maximum moisture! Knowing your curl pattern, hair texture, your hair’s porosity, its protein sensitivity, the weather environment & the extent of potential chemical or heat damage from the past are some of the factors to consider as you choose between different formulas.
Medium Conditioner
- Works very well for curly & coily hair
- Offers plenty of hydration, slip & curl definition
- Works well for medium hair porosity folks
- Is perfection for a wash day when you are only looking to co-wash (aka, use only conditioner)
Heavy Conditioner
- Very rich, buttery thick formula that imparts a ton of moisture
- Works beautifully for coily hair & any tight-textured hair pattern
- High porosity hair folks whose hair craves as much moisture as it can get will love this hydrating formula
- Protein-free for protein-sensitive hair
- Works amazingly as a deep conditioning treatment
Intensive Conditioner
- This deep conditioner loves a tight-textured hair pattern
- Rich yet slightly milkier formula (compared to the Heavy Conditioner) to help glide through a denser hair texture
- This low porosity hair product is great for folks struggling to get moisture to penetrate deep into their hair cuticle
- Protein-free for protein-sensitive hair
Still unsure which might work best? Give our Mini Conditioner Bundle a try to test all three and learn which hair product your hair will favor most!
You know your curly hair type best, so feel free to jump around the recommendations above and test out a few—your new favorite may surprise you! Interested in other product types? Check out all of our beauty bundles.
More Tips for Conditioning
- In order to allow our conditioners to do their best work, they must be water activated! Be sure to keep thoroughly wet hair throughout the process.
- Allow the conditioner to fully penetrate strands before detangling.
- Try leaving the conditioner on for longer periods of time under a cap or in use with a hair steamer to really open up the hair cuticle & let the nourishment seep in.
- Finger detangle while conditioner seeps into your strands to start the detangling process in a super gentle manner.
- Working in small sections (we suggest using our extra big & strong Hair Clip to hold back the rest of your hair), gently rake fingers through starting at the most delicate section of the hair—the ends.
- Slowly make your way up to the middle of the hair & then up to the roots & eventually comb all the way back down through the hair as the tangles are gently worked out. Shedding hair is normal, but this gentle process should help you lose as few hairs as possible!
- Fingers or a wide-tooth comb may work best for detangling either a 4C curl pattern or 4B curl pattern if you find the Shower Brush contains too many bristles for your type 4C or 4B curls (stay tuned for some new tools coming soon!)
- Keep newly detangled sections twisted up & out of your way so you can easily progress around your whole head.
- Rinse out conditioner & follow with the Leave-In Conditioner to seal in moisture,
- further detangle strands & define your natural hair curls as you style your hair.
For a Little Extra TLC
Treat your strands & scalp to boost moisture & revitalization with the Oil Serums. Our Jojoba Oil Hair Serum feels amazing as it brings hydration & revitalizing properties to the scalp! We also love to follow Tracee’s tip with the Argan Oil Hair Serum & cocktail it into some Leave-In Conditioner for an extra boosted hydration layer on our strands as we step out of the shower.
Don’t forget the Microfiber Towel as needed to gently squish & soak up excess water post-shower keeping those curls defined & intact after your brush styling. It’s one of our favorite styling product tools along with our shower detangling brush, hair pick, wide tooth comb, hair clip, mini shower brush, hair pins etc.
Please share your 4B & 4C hair knowledge in the comments below to help fellow coilies & tight textures with hair product tips, favorite methods & more.
