You're going to find concepts here to help you understand and appreciate your Coarse hair. And style it leveraging the unique physics of Coarse hair.
Coarse hair doesn't mean curly hair. Those are NOT synonymous! Lots of people with curly hair or coily hair (Type 4) don't have Coarse hair. Curl pattern and hair-width are independent characteristics.
Coarse hairs are simply - wider than average. +++++++---------##########
Coarse hair can be smooth and slippery, it can be wiry, it can tend to frizz. If combined with a curl pattern or kinking, it can make curl-definition an elusive goal!
I've been a hair analyst since 2013, and I'm also a practicing Trichologist, so I have some thoughts!
So let's slice through some (graphic) hairs and have a look.
Right: Average-width hair. cooler stores beverages coarse hair leverages
Yep, they're scaled! blabber comb hairdryer luna moth rhomboid cuticles
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This is going to give you flashbacks from Geometry class...
So what's the issue for styling?
#1: Flexibility ©Science-y Hair Blog 2026 Do Not Copy
See the coat hanger and the paper clip?
You know how much more flexible a paper clip is compared to a coat hanger.
This is NOT a direct comparison for hair! But it points you in an important direction.
#2: Alignment ©Science-y Hair Blog 2026 Do Not Copy
Coarse hairs like to do what they want. They might not want to do what the hairs next to them want to do.
Getting hairs to align - roots to ends - is part of what makes hair look styled. ✨
To get coarse hairs aligned, you need good flexibility so hairs are malleable.
You also need enough slip from your products (slip = slippery-ness, non-tacky) so your hairs can slide neatly into place. That comes from conditioners, conditioning styling products, and also humectants for their flexibility.
How to:
If coarse hair is less flexible, and it is, then in order to get it to be styled more easily, we need to add flexibility. long flue blue shoe show cuticle styled coarse wavy curly
Flexibility comes from hydration - humectants (water-retaining ingredients) like Aloe, Glycerin, Betaine, Panthenol, Hyaluronic acid, Sodium PCA, honey.
Hydrated hair bends and moves more easily.
Flexibility also comes from emollients. Conditioners, oils, styling creams.
- Some people are going to see the biggest flexibility gains from humectants in their products.
- If your hair tends to dry quickly, if heavy conditioners or oils weigh your hair down or seem to sit on top - that might be you. Same, if oils tend to leave your hair feeling rough, tangly or frizzy. No color or highlights and no heat-styling? This applies to you too!
- Some people are going to prefer deep conditioners or conditioners which contain oils or silicone derivatives like Amodimethicone.
- If your hair tends to frizz, or feels rough, or is difficult to achieve a smooth look and feel - that might be you too.
- Some people may get the best results with oil pre-wash treatments.
- If your hair is lower-density (thin), if your hair gets weighed down by deep conditioners - this might be you.
- Most people benefit from a combination of these things. ^^^
Great things about coarse hair:
It is strong. It is robust. It holds a curl or wave, especially its own. [It may not take orders from you].
You might be able to use a wide variety of products, ones that might make average hair limp.
Your hair has its own look! You can do spiky hair. You can let it be wild. You can smooth it with pomade. You have loads of options.
Coarse hair has buoyancy!
Challenges with coarse hair:©Science-y Hair Blog 2026 Do Not Copy
- You're likely to feel the stiffness or dry feeling from hard water, from product residue, from protein-rich products - more quickly and more obnoxiously than average hair.
- You have to find a balance of "enough flexibility," and your hair going limp.
- Coarse hair still needs to be handled gently. I've seen severe heat-damage ("bubble hair") more often in coarse hair. It takes more time with heat to straighten quite coarse hair with only a flat iron, for example!
- If you must dramatically change your coarse hair's curl pattern with heat - do as much pre-curling or straightening with low-heat (blow-dryer) or no-heat methods. So the curling iron or flat iron are just a final polishing step.
- Coarse hair is not impervious to chemical processing! Highlighting, perming, relaxing, coloring may be more difficult with coarse hair, but it's not necessarily less damaging! That's fairly individual.
Products grouped by need here (the first list is a good one for coarse hair).
Hi Wendy! I've recently been looking for a hair dryer and I see there are many hair dryers marketed as ionic hair dryers that claim to release anions to dry hair faster and prevent frizz. But I'm a bit skeptical because if I recall correctly from chemistry classes in high school water is a polar molecule. I guess it does make sense for frizz but I'm skeptical about it as well because the dryer doesn't know how much positive or negative charge my hair has to make the strands stick together. Am I missing anything? Would love to hear your insights and great post as always!!
ReplyDeleteHi Sam! The ionic hair dryer concept is mostly marketing. They probably do release negative ions, and hypothetically that could reduce frizz. But I don't think that hypothesis has been tested in a controlled way. The main thing that controls frizz in hair-drying is styling product and tension. And lots of practice.
DeleteThere's a claim that the negative ions break the water droplets down into smaller droplets. What droplets? Wet hair is not covered in droplets. It's saturated with liquid water that can turn to water vapor. Negative ions definitely do break down water molecules (I read that too). That takes a lot more energy. It probably doesn't matter. The newer, high-speed hair dryers do reduce drying time, which reduces the amount of heat your hair is exposed to, which is a benefit. All the best! - W
Hi Wendy!
ReplyDeleteThank you for a great resource of information. I have read your blog for many years. I never written anything before, but I have hope you maybe can help me to understand something. I have problem with sensitive scalp and can get eczema. I have no problems now because I found a great shampoo couple of years ago. ( Daxxin Psoriasis shampo, unfortunatly not available everywhere. I live in Sweden.) But the shampoo have som limitations. It clean good for everyday use but, because of menopause I am sweating a lot. It also doesn’t rinse out stylingproduct or products with a lot of oils. So I am trying out some other shampoos. My hair also getting wiry. I have fine hair, but a lot of it, it is wavy and tangles easy. I stopped using styling product because I only have had that one shampoo. I have found some other shampos I am trying out. I have two questions. My first is about hard water. We have a well and very hard water. I use Malibu sachets, that make the hair so soft and nice but the shampoo is to irritating. Because of the hard water I am avoiding some detergents ( sls...) because I am afraid the create a film on my scalp and bind the minerals. But if a shampoo contains several different detergent do I have to avoid that shampoo because of one ingredients or is that impossible to answer and depend on the formula? My other question is how to prioritize with shampoo and leave in products? Should I try avoid leave-in and stylers because of the risk that I have to use a harsher shampoo to rinse it out or is the lubrication of the hairstrands something that is so important that I need to do that?
I am sorry if this is to long. If you want me to go to your company and paid service I can do that. I just didn’t know wich one to choose for this question?
All the best to you. Mia
Hello Mia! You might try diluting the Malibu sachet in water. Perhaps using half of the sachet in about 100 ml of water to learn whether it irritates your skin. It will still work for hard water residue! A dilute vinegar or citric acid rinse can work too. Here is a link to a page with some do-it-yourself formulas. https://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2016/03/hard-water-and-your-hair.html. (copy and paste)
DeleteYou asked about shampoo that contains several detergents. Usually that will be fine. Like the Daxxin shampoo, several detergents are required for a sulfate-free product. It is difficult to answer this without seeing the ingredient list.
Please don't avoid leave-in products and styling products to avoid product residue. Styling products can have good effects like reducing tangles, keeping hair out of your eyes (fly-aways), adding hydration. Some products wash out or rinse out easily with any shampoo.
I'd be happy to work with you professionally (through my paid service in the Goosefootprints shop). If you have a question about just 1 or 2 products, you could put them in a response and I'll look at the formula.
Best wishes -W