4a Hair: What It Looks Like, Why It Shrinks and 14 Styles That Work

4a hair is the loosest type 4 texture: tight, springy S-shaped coils about the width of a crochet needle, a size smaller than a pencil, which clump into visible definition on their own. That makes 4a the one type 4 texture where a wash-and-go really works, so the problem to solve is not definition. It is shrinkage and dryness.

This guide covers how to tell 4a from 3c and 4b, the styles that suit what you want from it, a wash-and-go routine that holds for days, what 4a looks like on men, the mistakes that cost length, and fourteen ways 4a hair is worn.

What is 4a hair?

4a hair is the first texture in the type 4 group of the Andre Walker hair typing system, sitting between 3c curls and 4b zig-zags. Each strand forms a round, tightly wound S-shaped coil, so a single lock looks like a small spring. The coils hold their shape when dry, have a soft sheen, and are usually fine to medium per strand but very dense across the head.

What it is not: 4a is not a corkscrew ringlet the width of a straw or pencil, which is 3c, and it is not the matte, pattern-less coil of 4c. If the coils are visible and round from root to tip without any styling, you are most likely 4a.

Three things follow from that coil shape:

• Shrinkage is real but moderate. Dry 4a hair often looks 40 to 50 percent shorter than its stretched length.
• The ends dry out first. Scalp oil has a long, spiraled path to travel, so the last few inches are always the thirstiest.
• Definition comes free, frizz comes fast. The coils clump without help, but they lose that clump as soon as they dry out or get touched too much.

3c vs 4a vs 4b: how to tell them apart

Take one dry strand in daylight and look at its shape. A corkscrew ringlet the width of a straw or pencil is 3c. A tighter round spring about the width of a crochet needle is 4a. A sharp zig-zag with corners instead of curves is 4b. Most heads mix two types, so go by the section that covers most of your head, usually the crown.

If your coils are so tight you see little pattern without product, read the 4c hair guide too. The line that matters for styling: 4a holds a wash-and-go, 4b holds a set, and 4c holds a stretch.

Fourteen ways 4a hair is worn

Every photo below is 4a hair in the same salon setting, so the coil pattern stays constant and only the style changes. Use it to pick your next look, from wash-and-go to fully tucked away.

Gallery14 photos · tap to enlarge

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If you want to see one of these on your face, the curly and coily try-on renders a style on your own photo.

Why 4a hair looks shorter than it is

Here is the part most people get backwards. Because 4a coils define on their own, people with 4a hair rarely struggle to get definition. What they struggle with is length: shoulder-length hair that dries at the chin, and the feeling that it never grows. It does grow, at about half an inch a month like every texture. The coil just hides it.

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So the real choice with 4a hair is not how to define it. It is whether you want to show off the coil or show off the length on a given week. A wash-and-go shows the coil and accepts shrinkage. A twist-out, banding or a gentle stretch trades a little definition for visible length. Both are healthy. Mixing them up is what causes frustration, like expecting a wash-and-go to show hip-length hair.

Which 4a hairstyle fits what you want?

Pick by the result you want and the time you have.

To show the coil: the wash-and-go

This is 4a hair's best trick and the reason to learn it properly. Applied to soaking wet hair, a leave-in and a gel lock each coil into a clump that dries glossy and holds. The routine is further down.

To show the length: twist-outs and stretched styles

A two-strand twist-out on 4a hair stretches the coil into a looser wave and shows far more length. Chunkier twists give more stretch. If you want coils and length at once, twist big and keep the ends coiled around your finger.

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The twist hairstyles guide covers twist sizes and parting if you want to wear the twists themselves for a week or two first.

For volume: the picked-out afro

4a hair makes a full, round afro once it has been stretched by a twist-out or a few days of wear. Pick from the roots only, never the ends, so the shape grows without tearing through the coils. A round shape suits most faces; if yours is long, keep more width at the sides than on top.

For almost no styling: the short tapered cut

A short tapered cut is one of the best looks for 4a because the coils define instantly at two inches. Keep about two inches on top and taper the sides and nape shorter. It needs water, a leave-in and a minute of shaping each morning.

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Ask for the cut on dry hair, because wet 4a hair looks far longer than it will dry.

4a hair on men

4a hair on men is the easy end of type 4: the coils define at an inch or two with nothing more than water and a light cream. The look that suits it best is a short top of visible coils with a low taper, which keeps the shape round as it grows. Past about three inches, two-strand twists are the low-effort next step.

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Two things go wrong. Daily brushing or a sponge on 4a coils breaks up the definition and leaves the top dull. And a cut done on wet hair shrinks into an uneven line by the next day, so look for a barber who cuts dry. For fade and taper heights, see the taper haircut guide.

How to do a wash-and-go on 4a hair

This is the one routine worth getting right, because 4a hair rewards it more than any other type 4 texture.

Mistakes that cost you length with 4a hair

• Typing yourself as 3c. 3c routines often go light on moisture. 4a needs more leave-in and heavier sealing, or the ends dry and snap.
• Detangling dry. Coils wrap around each other, and dry combing tears them. Detangle wet, with conditioner for slip.
• Touching the wash-and-go while it dries. Every touch before it is dry breaks a clump and adds frizz.
• Tight styles at the hairline. High puffs and ponytails pulled tight cause traction alopecia, which the American Academy of Dermatology warns can become permanent.
• Heat as a weekly stretch. Repeated flat ironing loosens 4a coils for good, and heat damage does not revert. Stretch with twists or banding.
• Measuring dry. Check length stretched, in the same spot, once a month. A dry 4a wash-and-go hides most of it.

If you want to put your hair away for a few weeks, the roundup of protective Black hairstyles covers braids and twists that are gentle on the hairline.

Can you try a 4a hairstyle on for free?

Yes, for the first look. You get one hairstyle, plus one color on it, on your own photo in front view, with no card needed. After that, Plus is $9 a month or $60 a year for 150 credits a month, where a hairstyle costs 10 credits and a color on it costs 5. Pro is $24 a month or $160 a year for 480 credits a month. Every plan has a seven-day refund, and cancelling takes two clicks. Full details are on the pricing page.

The manual way to decide on a new look is to save photos of other people's 4a hair. That works until you need to know how it looks around your face, at your length, after shrinkage, which no photo of someone else can tell you. The free look is the fix for exactly that: a tapered cut, a full afro or a honey blonde color, on you, before you cut or dye.

Where to start with 4a hair

You do not need to chase definition. 4a hair already defines on its own. Learn one good wash-and-go, keep the ends moisturized, detangle only when wet, and choose a stretched style on the weeks you want your length to show.

If you are torn between growing it out and a short tapered cut, try both on first. The first look costs nothing and can save you a cut you cannot undo.