Type 2A curls are the most subtle curl type - think of a very loose, S-shaped beachy wave with just a hint of curl which starts near the root and gently cascades down your lengths. This curl type is often fine in texture and needs lightweight products that enhance your natural waves without weighing them down.
Here’s our guide on looking after your 2A waves, styling suggestions to make the most of your natural texture and the best products to keep your waves looking defined.
Type 2A Hair Care
- Use a gentle shampoo: If possible, use a sulphate-free, moisturising shampoo to prevent excessive dryness and frizz
- Wash your hair less frequently: Avoid over-washing Type 2A hair - as a rule, shampoo every 2-3 days, and rinse or mist your waves with water if they need a boost in between washes
- Only apply conditioner to your lengths: Apply conditioner from your mid-lengths to your ends to avoid over-moisturising your roots
- Avoid heavy styling products: Choose lightweight products, even if you’re worried about frizz. If you use products which are too heavy, they’ll weigh your hair down and leave it looking greasy and limp
- Detangle often: Always detangle your waves before styling, even if they don’t look or feel knotty - you’ll avoid larger, more problematic tangles later on and you’ll help your waves showcase their natural texture
- Take care with heat styling: Use the diffuser attachment on your hairdryer to enhance and set your natural wave pattern, and protect your hair by using a heat protectant spray before using heat stylers
- Don’t skip regular haircuts: Curly hair needs to have healthy-looking ends to look its best. Since most of your hair’s texture is in your lengths, regular trims every 6-8 weeks are a must
Hairstyles for Type 2A Hair
Type 2A hair is super-popular as it’s so easy to style in different ways. Its natural wave pattern allows for effortless beachy waves, elegant updos, or sleek straight looks - and with the right techniques and products, Type 2A hair can hold curls, maintain volume, and easily transition between various styles.
- Beachy Waves: Enhance your natural waves by using a sea salt spray or texturising spray to create a tousled, beach-inspired look. Scrunch the product into damp hair and either air dry or use a diffuser attachment on low heat to define and boost your curls
- Half-Up Half-Down: Gather the top section of your hair and secure it with a hair tie or clip, leaving the rest of your waves flowing freely
- Loose Braids: Create a romantic, boho-inspired look by loosely braiding sections of your hair - don’t tie up the ends, but instead secure them with a spritz of hairspray. Pull out a few face-framing strands for a soft, effortless look
- Low Ponytail: Gather your hair at the nape of your neck and secure it with a hair tie for a sleek, polished style. For added texture, gently tug on sections of the ponytail to create volume and softness
- Messy Bun: Pull your hair back into a high or low bun, allowing some loose strands to frame your face for a flawless, chic messy bun
- Soft Updo: Twist sections of your hair and secure them at the back of your head with bobby pins, creating a loose and romantic updo
- Straight and Sleek: Fancy a change? Use straighteners to iron out your waves for a sophisticated look. Always apply a heat protectant spray before straightening, and use a comb to section and straighten small portions of your hair at a time
Hair Products for Type 2A Hair
Why we like it
This much-loved heat protectant spray minimises heat damage and friction caused by styling tools, helping to keep your hair shiny and soft. It provides heat protection up to 450°F, and enhances your hair’s flexibility to reform and hold its shape without getting damaged.
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Why we like it
Get the beach babe look without going anywhere near the coast with this styling spray enriched with Dead Sea salt and sea kelp. It adds volume, texture and lift - perfect for Type 2A waves that have a tendency to fall flat.
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Why we like it
We love moisturised, flexible, shiny curls with movement, and this lightweight version of Bumble and bumble.’s Curl Defining Cream allows you to shape, style, and define curls and waves. It’s made with rich, curl-loving oils and a butter blend to hydrate and reduce frizz, and provide long-lasting soft hold.
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Why we like it
Made with smoothing coconut oil and creamy shea butter, this heat-free styling blend helps your waves hold their shape without crunch. It reduces frizz as it dries for stunning heat-free styles and hydrated, defined waves.
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Why we like it
This fan favourite activates and defines curls, hydrates hair and fights frizz and flyaways for lightweight, soft styles with shine. Argan oil helps to hydrate and nourish your waves, and vegetable protein coats porous strands and split ends for healthier-looking hair.
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Shampoo for Type 2A Hair
Why we like it
This moisturising shampoo is designed to cleanse curls and waves without over-stripping essential oils, so your waves stay hydrated and bouncy. The triple blend of marula oil, coconut cream and shea butter restores, strengthens and protects for cared-for waves post-wash.
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Why we like it
This sulphate-free and silicone-free shampoo strengthens and protects your hair, and is especially good for coloured hair that needs some TLC. It rebuilds and restores chemically-damaged waves, and is fortified with panthenol to increase elasticity and reduce breakage.
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Why we like it
You can’t go wrong with this wave-friendly shampoo for buoyant body and a soft, seabreezy texture. It rinses out clean, taking impurities and product build-up with it, and specially-formulated sea botanicals build body, help to detangle and leave your hair touchably soft
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Why we like it
Sulphate-free, salt-free, and surfactant-free, this gentle shampoo for 2A waves won’t strip your hair’s natural oils or dull its colour, leaving it soft and manageable. The vanilla and coconut milk fragrance is especially lovely on gloomy Monday mornings where you need a little boost.
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Why we like it
This specially-formulated shampoo features the perfect blend of wave-enhancing ingredients to cleanse and hydrate your hair for bouncy, shiny, frizz free curls. It’s infused with light butters and hydrators for maximum hydration without weighing your hair down, blocks humidity from your strands, and it’s also vegan and cruelty-free. Win-win.
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How Often Should I Wash Type 2A Hair?
You’re the best judge of how often your Type 2A hair needs a wash - unlike more curly hair types, Type 2A hair can take more frequent washing, but it’s wise not to overdo it. We’d recommend that you wash your hair every 2-3 days - however, you can wash it every other day if it’s starting to look greasy and flat in between washes.
Curlier hair types make it difficult for sebum - your hair’s natural oils - to travel down the hair shaft, but 2A’s lack of texture makes it easier for oil to travel through your strands, which is why you may need to wash it more frequently.