What are the differences between wavy hair and curly hair? What makes wavy hair different from curly hair? Why is wavy hair included in the curly girl method? Wavy hair isn’t curly, but it is wavy. In this blog I talk about the 5 main differences that wavy hair and curly hair.
Difference between wavy hair and curly hair mainly lays on the curl tightness. Wavy hair for type 2, curly hair for type 3, and frizzy hair for type 4.
Curly Hair
Type 3a
3a curly hair has loose ringlets curls, similar the size of a wine bottle cork. They won't rest flat on the scalp.
Type 3b
3b curly hair has S shape in coils, a coarser spiral ringlet shape. With more volume than 3a curls.
Type 3c
3c curly hair is shaped into tight corkscrew curls, tight spirals or coils, has the curl size of a pencil. Type 3c has tend to have more volume than 3b curls.
Wavy Hair
Type 2a
Wavy 2A hair has Tousled beachy waves, mildly wavy and tends to stay closer to the head, and be finer in volume. Loose S shape in the ends, easier to style and add some sexy.
Type 2b
2b type hair holds a loose wave S shape curl that starts from the mid-length of the hair. The hair density tends to be more thicker but still not a coarse hair texture.
Type 2c
2c wavy hair has a deeper S shape, is more prone to frizz. 2c Type hair holds a clearly defined S shape that often begins at the top of the head.
Get to know the hair type between wavy hair and curly hair! Knowing your curl hair type helps you to get the information on how to care for and how to style your hair.
Difference Between Wavy Hair And Curly Hair
1. The hair follicles
The first major difference between wavy hair and curly hair is that they have different shaped hair follicle. The shape of your hair follicle determines your hair texture. A perfectly circular hair follicle means your hair will be straight and then the more oval your hair follicle is the curl your hair will be.
So wavy hair follicles fall right in between straight and curly. The following image will tells the difference between a straight hair, wavy hair and curly hair follicle.
2. Curl pattern
In general, curly hair is cultiva curl while wavy hair is diva wave. That wavy hair takes an S form and curly hair has a perfect spiral barrel curl. If you do have spirals from the root to the tip you probably have curly hair and not wavy hair.
3. Curl Thickness
Curly hair have more volume than wavy hair, looks more thick. Also, curly hair is usually coarser than wavy hair. Tight, Thick curls add width to your hair, making it look instantly thicker, as well as giving your hair plenty of bounce and body.
4. Hair close to the scalp
Wave hair is more close to the scalp and has a flatter roots. Even if you have a very dense hair, if you use products that weigh it down you'll find that the roots of your hair will lay very very close to your scalp.
whereas curly hair whether it is high or low density, it generally does not stick to the scalp unless you have really oily roots, you'll find that your hair will grow outwards and have a little bit more volume than someone who has wavy hair.
5. Hair inconsistent
Wavy hair is super inconsistent, it looks different every single day. What wavy hair looks like on day one without product and the next day it doesn't look like that it falls. Wavy hair just take some different pattern every single day because it is not curly. Curly hair holds curls more perfectly.
Why Is Wavy Hair Included In The Curly Girl Method?
There is this notion of if your hair is not a perfect spiral barrel curl, then it must be straight, which is not true wavy hair does fall in between the straight hair category and the curly hair category. But wavy hair can behave like both straight hair and curly hair.
Wavy hair share a lot of properties with curly hair, which is why women who has wavy hair can use curly hair products to enhance the curl texture. But because wavy hair is so misunderstood and so easily mistyped with curly hair, you can't have to see hair that is borderline curly, it can look very curly and not actually be curly.
