How to care for 4c Hair | 4c Hair Care Guide
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Last Updated on July 27, 2026 by Tiffany
Girlie pop, your 4c hair is GORGEOUS and so are you! Today I’m going to give you my best 4c hair care tips and teach you how to properly care for your 4c hair.
What is 4c Hair?
4c hair is the tightest curl pattern on the hair chart. Many people try to push this rhetoric that 4c hair “can’t be defined” which not only is untrue, it doesn’t make sense.
Because 4c hair is so tightly coiled, it can often coil repeatedly over itself which may give the appearance of it ‘not looking defined’. However, with a simple gel, you can get your curls looking sharp and beautiful!
4c hair has the same curl pattern as 4a hair, but with a tighter coil. 4b hair is often times confused with 4c, but is slightly looser with a ‘z’ pattern.
A lot of people that have 4c hair have fine hair strands that appear to look thick. For example, I have fine 4c high density hair so it might look like my hair is super thick, but technically each individual strand is very fine.
Due to the fine-ness a lot of 4c and type 4 girlies have, over manipulation and constant styling, it might seem “hard” to take care of our hair type. Truth is, when you have fine strands, you’re more susceptible to breakage.
When I was scrolling on tik tok, I saw a (foolish) hair stylist roughly managing her client’s 4c hair, saying that our hair is strong and can handle a lot. Oh honey, that couldn’t be farther from the truth!
As mentioned before, the more tightly curled your hair is, the more easily it can break. When I stopped treating my hair like super woman, always brushing it rough and putting so much heat on it, my hair started to grow so quickly. I mean, my hair had grown at a peace I’d never seen before!
The key to having healthy and long 4c hair is treating your locs with gently & with love my dear. Some TLC might I say.
There are of course many 4c girlies who have thick strands, but most of us have fine hair. Take one strand of hair and see if it is thicker or smaller than a piece of string/yarn. This will help you determine if your hair is fine or coarse (thick).
Let’s go ahead and break into the best tips for happy and healthy 4c hair care!
Find out your hair’s porosity- 4c Hair Care
A lot of people say that hair porosity doesn’t matter and I say it surely does. Well, it kind of does. Stay with me now, let me explain.
The reason I believe knowing your hair’s porosity is important is so you can know the proper routine to build, and products to use on your strands. Once you know those, you can technically just prioritise your routine over the porosity of your hair.
High porosity means your hair lets in moisture well, but it lets it out just as easily. Some people are born with natural high porosity hair while others unfortunately obtained it via heat damage, tight braids, or dyeing.
I have high porosity hair and I learned my strands ADORE protein, greases, and heavy creams. But this combination might be a nightmare for low porosity! On the other end of the spectrum, low porosity hair lowkey repels water, and it has a hard time letting moisture in.
Lo-po (like my cute nickname?) girlies should be very cautious when using protein to avoid overload, and may benefit from lighter leave ins. Study your hair and its porosity, research the best products for you, and stick to it!
Find a good hair care routine & stick to it!
There is no reason to have 46 different hair products in your bathroom sis. All you need is a good shampoo, leave in conditioner, deep conditioner, and an oil/grease. I find that when I keep rotating between different hair products, my hair can become confused.
My wallet can also become confused if you know what I mean. Why spend more money on a new conditioner if you already restocked your favorite bottle last week? Having go to products is the best advice for length retention and a simplified routine. Listed below I included all the products I use for my high porosity, high density fine 4c hair.
Pre-Shampoo Detangler: African Pride Detangler
Shampoo: Camille Rose Sweet Ginger Rinse
Conditioner: Aussie Moist Avocado & Jojoba Oil Conditioner
Deep-Conditioner: tgin Honey Miracle Mask or Palmers Coconut Oil Deep Conditioner
Leave In Conditioner: Cantu Curl Activtor Cream (hey, cantu works for me, if it don’t apply, let it fly)
Grease: Blue Magic Indian Hemp Hair Grease
Detangle Slowly & Gently- 4c Hair Care
STOP detangling your hair dry! Like, what are you even doing?! Detangling is actually when people tend to lose most of their length. It’s important to be patient and gentle during this phase, like for real.
Detangle in sections with fingers & a product that has a lot of slip. Slip means that a product has a lubricating feeling that allows a comb to glide easily through your hair.
My ALL time favorite detangling pre shampooo is by African pride. It defines my 4c curls so easily and has my hair feeling so soft. Use this link to grab a tub for your next wash day.
Protective styling w/o extensions
Many women don’t realize it but those 30 inch bussdown knotless braids, yeah they’re chewing up your hair sis. I wore back to back knotless braids for about 5 years. My hair stayed at the same length for the entirety of that time.
When I stopped getting my hair done by angry braiders who braid my hair so tight like they hate me, my hair density started to increase and I was able to retain a lot of length. Plus, a lot of times extensions can weigh down your hair and break it off.
I love doing REAL protective styles without extensions! Mini twists, Mini braids, corn rows, braid outs you name it! Not only is it cheaper to do your own protective hairstyles, but it’s so much better for the health of your hair sis.
Wrap you hair when you sleep- 4c Hair Care
I feel like this is a give. Wear that bonnet sis. If you experience your bonnet falling off while you sleep, try upgrading to a satin or silk pillowcase.
Grab a cute satin pillowcase to match your breadspread here.
Protect your hair from the sun!
A lot of coily girls don’t realize that the sun can do quite a bit of damage to our beautiful curls! Have you noticed some parts of your hair lightening in color and turning into a lighter, chocolate brown? Yeah, that’s called sun damage.
The uv rays from the sun can not only damage our skin, but our hair strands and scalp as well. The sun can strip your hair of its oils, protein, and even make it slightly brittle.
To protect my hair during the summer and on the beach, I spray my scalp with a liquid sunscreen and apply UV protectant leave in. My favorites are by sun bum leave in conditioner and the it’s a 10 miracle plus leave in!
Never let your hair dry out!- 4c Hair Care
One of the ultimate enemies to 4c hair is letting it dry out. Having dry hair allows it to be more susceptible to breakage and brittleness.
I always try to take control of my hair before it gets to a state of no return. I moisturise my hair every 3 days (if it needs it) and try to grease my scalp every 2 days with a scalp stimulating massage. When moisturising your beautiful 4c hair, I’ve found the LCO method is the best way to go.
Liquid, cream, and oil. My favorite liquids are either straight up water or a nice conditioning leave in spray, a thick cream, and blue magic grease.
Weekly Washes
Lots of women with 4c hair were sold the myth that “dirty hair grows”. The issue is, if you consistently have a dirty scalp, your hair follicles may become clogged and this can actually prevent your hair from growing properly.
In many cases, your hair can also grow bacteria/fungus due to not being washed enough or always wetting your scalp without shampoo. I used to wash my hair 1-2 times per month because that’s what I was told.
Don’t touch your hair too much, don’t wash it too much because our hair doesn’t need it. The less you wash youe hair, the more it will grow.
When I started to wash my hair 1-2x per week, I experienced a huge burst in length retention and hair growth! Wash your hair weekly sis, your scalp is begging you.
Find a good deep conditioner- 4c Hair Care
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