Get Your Best Hair Yet with These Haircare Products

One of the most common mistakes we make when caring for our hair is selecting hair products that aren’t right for our hair type!

It might be the best Shampoo on the market, but if it’s ill-suited to your hair type, quite frankly, you’re wasting you’re time - and money. Hair comes in so many different types! Some key differences can be defined by porosity, thickness and condition.

Porosity is the hair’s ability to hold moisture. The more porous your hair is, the more holes it has in the cuticle. This means it can take up air in the atmosphere easily (eg. if you live in a humid climate) which can make for frizz.

As you can imagine, damaged hair also tends to be more porous, as its cuticles are not sealed. But on the flipside, it also means hair products penetrate easier!

All types of hair can be damaged, so today, we’re going to focus on the four key hair types and their subtypes, highlighting effective products for each!

Type 1 - Aka the Straight type.

The straight and (sometimes) narrow. Straight hair is often soft and shiny, making for those beautiful sleek ponytails we all wanted at some point in high school. Straight hair doesn’t have any wave, anywhere, from root to tip, and they can tend to oilyness, because there are no waves to slow sebum down as it moves down the strand. True story! 

Strands can be thick or they can be thin. Type 1A is the finest and wispiest, super straight. When styling, it’s hard to make it hold a curl or a wave. Type 1B tends towards a little extra volume, while Type 1C also carries a little more body and a little bend.

For straight hair, oily and flat hair are key issues. You’ll find lots of uses for the Milk_Shake Incredible Milk Leave-In Treatment. Apply wet or dry to add body and volume and get those wispy bits in line.

To properly clean out that scalp and reduce excessive sebum, the Goldwell Dualsenses Scalp Specialist Deep Cleansing Shampoo will effectively remove your old styling products too while strengthening and stimulating hair growth.

To bring volume to straight and narrow locks, the NAK Volume Shampoo and Conditioner is a weightless cleansing and conditioning system, working together to enhance natural volume and increase bounce while removing excess sebum.

Type 2 - Aka the Wavy type.

Hello beach hair. Overall, Type 2 is straight from the root, with a wave towards the lengths, and doesn’t err too oily, finding it’s primary issue is balancing the effects of the changing seasons.

2A is the gentlest wave and easiest to style or straighten. But if you’re looking to enhance those lovely waves, choose lighter products such as serums, mousses and gels rather than oils or creams.

Type 2B has a little more of an S-curve in the mid lengths and ends. Naturally dimensional, it’s easy to create extra definition and texture it up with something like the Milk_Shake Lifestyling Amazing Curls & Waves spray, which our customers say gives them amazing natural waves that feel super soft, or the Karaal Style Perfetto Beachy Hair Sea Salt Spray, both ideal for battling humidity.

Type 2C is the curviest of the 2’s, with the curl beginning closer to the root. Most likely of the 2’s to battle frizz, try mousses and definers that can be brushed out and used repeatedly between washes. Tthe Paul Mitchell Twirl Around works well to define those S-bends!

2C is the closest type to the curls of 3 and the hardest to style, so closest to the issues of dryness and unruly body. Try the Redken All Soft Shampoo, using the strength of proteins and Argan oil to soften hair while preventing dryness and colour fade.

Type 3 - Aka the Curly type.

Curls for the girls, baby! Let’s work with your natural assets. Curls can be hard to style, so why don’t we go with the flow and shape them up?

Type 3A is pretty close to 2C, with the biggest, loosest loopy curls, so some of those products may work for you too! These styles don’t love to be brushed, as you can brush out the curl. Similarly, ponytails can rob you of that natural shape!

To smooth and define and restore nutrients, start with a gentle Shampoo and Conditioning system with the Keune Care Vital Nutrition Shampoo and Conditioner. Our customers love the nutrient boost this gives to hair through all seasons of their lives! It’s a winner for restoring life back to coloured hair, too.

Using the natural humectant Provitamin B5 and Wheat protein, hair is effectively cleaned while strengthening and defining each strand. It also has Vitamin A in the mix; its antioxidant properties protect locks from UV and environmental stressors!

Types 3B and 3C are your ringlets of various sizes with 3B more of your corkscrew or tighter ‘S’ curls, and 4C a tight corkscrew. Both types tend towards the coarse, dense and dry, as oil and sebum have a long, curly way to go as they travel from the root!

As hair can be dry and frizzy, you’ll want to add moisture into the lengths. 

Avoid sulphates and silicone ( most of our products are free from these these days!) and find your moisture from other sources, such as the Davines OI All In One Milk,  a light cream easily absorbed into curly hair. You can use it wet or dry to condition your hair, as well as a fabulous detangler when those curls go awry.

When it comes to creating definition, the Keune Care Curl Control Boost Spray is your right hand man, fighting frizz and delivering a light hold and a steady dose of moisture that gives your curls bounce and beauty, babe! Curls also love a Mousse, like the Davines More Inside This Is A Curl Moisturising Mousse.

Type 4 - Aka the Coily type.

Within Type 4, you’ve got S-shaped coils (4A), zig zag girls (4B) and super tight 4C coils.

Type 4’s are also a great match for ditching Shampoos and opting for some of the co-washing techniques and products described in Types **** and ***.

You’re also well suited to the Davroe CURLiCUE Cleansing Clay. It’s a lightweight detox Shampoo designed to free hair from the constraints of old product as well as dirt from the environment! Using Kaolin Clay, Quinoa and our beloved native Kakadu plum, its low foaming formula lathers subtly to gently glean hair, adding body and detangling to allow curls to lift!

This Curly Girl Approved formula has no silicones, sulphates or alcohols. 

Type 4s are also greatly suited to oils and love a good butter. We love the Alfaparf Semi Di Lino Curls Multi-Benefit Oil for it’s humidity protection and super nourishing, hydrating qualities. Banishing frizz with Manketti, Sunflower seed and Linseed oils, it’s bio-based fragrance will have your coils and curls smelling delightful too.

Our customer Carroll says it leaves her hair feeling soft and shiny, and a little goes a long way!

So there you have it folks - the four key hair types! Do you think you know yours? Shop for your needs by hair type on Salon Style, the Australian home of haircare and selfcare, and enjoy the best brands on your doorstep stat, with same day dispatch and free shipping on all orders over $50!