What Is Type 4 Hair?
If you searched what is type 4 hair, you are asking about the coily branch of the twelve-type Andre Walker chart—not a medical diagnosis, but a widely used shorthand for how tightly your strands curve when they are clean, product-light, and air-dried without tension.
Type 4 inside the twelve-code system
The chart splits human hair into four numbered families. Type 4 is the tightest geometry: fibers bend into coils or zig-zags so compact that resting length can look dramatically shorter than stretched length. Within Type 4 there are three sub-types—4A, 4B, and 4C—that refine how visible the repeating pattern is and how sharply the strand changes direction.
Think of "type 4" as an umbrella. Your day-to-day routine still depends on porosity, density, climate, chemical history, and scalp health. Two people labeled 4C can therefore need different product weights even though they share a similar curl diameter range.
How Type 4 differs from Type 3 (curly)
Type 3 curly hair usually shows open spirals you can trace with your eyes—sidewalk-chalk curls at 3A, marker-width at 3B, pencil-tight at 3C. Type 4 pushes past that: the pattern may look like dense springs, stacked angles, or a soft cloud when dry, even though organized coils appear under water or with leave-in and gel.
Shrinkage is the practical clue many people notice first. Type 4 often loses half or more of visible length between wet and dry states. Type 3 shrinks too, but the drop is usually less extreme than what 4B or 4C wearers describe. If you are unsure whether you are 3C or 4A, read both the 3C and 4A guides and compare your wash-day behavior, not a single selfie.
4A, 4B, and 4C in plain language
4A hair often shows a visible S-curve when you gently stretch a hydrated coil; circumference is tiny—picture a crochet needle. 4B bends in sharper Z-shaped angles; the pattern can look less "ringlet-like" in photos but still responds to moisture and careful styling. 4C packs the smallest repeating geometry; dry hair may appear almost undefined until you section, wet, and apply product.
None of these codes imply how "healthy" or "manageable" your hair is. They only describe geometry. For deep dives, open 4A, 4B, and 4C plus the Type 4 coily hub.
Care themes most Type 4 routines share
Because bends are tight, sebum from the scalp travels slowly down the strand. Mechanical stress from dry combing, tight ponytails, or harsh detangling shows up as breakage faster than on looser types. Most educational routines therefore emphasize slippery conditioner, finger or wide-tooth detangling on wet hair, regular moisture tuned to your climate, and protective or low-manipulation styles when you need a break from daily manipulation.
For a full wash-week strategy aimed at the question people also ask—how to keep moisture from vanishing mid-week—read our companion article how to keep type 4 hair moisturized for multiple days.
How to confirm you are Type 4
Start with a gentle cleanse, skip heavy stylers, and air-dry without stretching. Photograph side and back views in soft light. Compare your naked texture to the interactive hair type chart, then run the hair type quiz if you like question-based nudges. If you sit on the border between 3C and 4A, treat both routines as experiments for two weeks each and note which failure mode disappears—chronic dryness versus loss of definition.