Are Type 4 Naturals Ignored?

Ipanema

Well-Known Member
To those who don't like the wash and go in the vid posted, what's wrong with how it came out?

After two and a half hours, it didn't look much different from how it looked when she walked in there. At the end, her "before" shot was after her hair was messed with and scrunched around, not how she looked when she walked in. The shape of her cut at the end was not very remarkable, and the side view looked terrible. It looked like a little mullet forming at the nape. After that many hours in a salon, I'd want a glamorous, amazing style.
 

Honey Bee

Well-Known Member
After two and a half hours, it didn't look much different from how it looked when she walked in there. At the end, her "before" shot was after her hair was messed with and scrunched around, not how she looked when she walked in. The shape of her cut at the end was not very remarkable, and the side view looked terrible. It looked like a little mullet forming at the nape. After that many hours in a salon, I'd want a glamorous, amazing style.
I noticed that too and I only watched for the cut. Womp. :lol:
 

kxlot79

Kitchen Mixtress
Idk how I feel about Type 4 WnGs as a style. They feel more like a lifestyle to me. The more often you do them (like all styles), the better and easier they come out. I have a lot of different methods that give me good results and I choose whichever depending on how much time I have, what kind of longevity I’m looking for, and the products at hand.
I’d say this lady is probably 4B. A lot of the “4C” hair I’ve seen in person is really really dry and combed out and that’s why they don’t see as much curl definition or elongation.
But the method in the video is one of my quick WnGs, only I mostly airdry and prefer clay washes to any shampoo for WnGs. Blow drying on cool should eliminate heat damage fears.
ETA: correction that my guess is 4B, though some may argue 4A.
 
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GGsKin

Well-Known Member
Can someone post their 4b w&g....please!

Ok. These are not in any kind of order but I think they were all mostly dry (none are day 1). Pic.5 has damp roots, as does Pic.4 (at least in the middle). Overload coming up in..

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Alma Petra

Well-Known Member
Idk how I feel about Type 4 WnGs as a style. They feel more like a lifestyle to me. The more often you do them (like all styles), the better and easier they come out. I have a lot of different methods that give me good results and I choose whichever depending on how much time I have, what kind of longevity I’m looking for, and the products at hand.
I’d say this lady is probably 4B. A lot of the “4C” hair I’ve seen in person is really really dry and combed out and that’s why they don’t see as much curl definition or elongation.
But the method in the video is one of my quick WnGs, only I mostly airdry and prefer clay washes to any shampoo for WnGs. Blow drying on cool should eliminate heat damage fears.
ETA: correction that my guess is 4B, though some may argue 4A.
Such an amazing WNG! And the girl is so cute too.
Why does my hair not behave like this? :cry3:
 

Ipanema

Well-Known Member
My hair forms zig zags, too. Sometimes the corners of the Z pattern will spontaneously twist on itself like in the photo below and turn into a knot. That's why I keep it stretched or straightened.




This style is shaped nicely, and looks super cute on her. Her doing it in the shower herself, using regular products, and a plain blow dryer makes me think I might can accomplish this.
 

GGsKin

Well-Known Member
Same. My 4b is right at the top-front of my head and it’s definitely a kinky wave. It defies all gel & “snot” products, refusing to clump even to wave together lol

@AbsyBlvd your wng is goals. :drool:

Thank you:2inlove: @MeaWea. I love your hair. My hair has coils and waves/ kinks all throughout (coils next to waves, coils turning into waves etc). I see the strands growing out this way but as my hair gets longer, the bulk of my hair appears to have more waves/kinks than coils. Especially the ends of my crown and front- they used to coil a lot more so I spent some time trimming away wispy straightened ends, caused by henna.
 

Alma Petra

Well-Known Member
My hair forms zig zags, too. Sometimes the corners of the Z pattern will spontaneously twist on itself like in the photo below and turn into a knot. That's why I keep it stretched or straightened.





This style is shaped nicely, and looks super cute on her. Her doing it in the shower herself, using regular products, and a plain blow dryer makes me think I might can accomplish this.
Her hair was defined right out from shampoo. I'm incredulous and very very jealous!
 

Cheleigh

Well-Known Member
Wash and go on 4c hair with tips:


I get the Deva Cut and style on my 4a hair, and my stylist doesn't do the Deva style like this. She adds all the Deva products at the bowl (with my hair inverted), then dries my hair under a dryer, and finishes the style in the chair. Granted, I have thinner hair and I'm not a 4b/c.

On another note, my little girl has thick 4b/c hair, and I will not do a W&G on her hair--too thick, too much shrinkage, and therefore too prone to tangle. Styling while wet, or stretched styles and oils (jojoba, argan) are her friends. Her hair can handle a braid-out/twist-out for a couple of days if I keep it in ponytails. I've been actually looking on YT for more 4b/c stretched styles and how to lightly stretch her hair with heat because she wants to show more of her (mid-back) length with her twists and barrettes (that is ear length if I wet style her hair).
 

charmtreese

Well-Known Member
Hmmm but what about the diameter of the zigzags? They must be a certain size hence why you call it 4b not 4a or 4c.
I am very curious to see your curls/zigzags and what they do when you do a wash n go. Do you wear wash and goes often?

I consider my hair 4b based on the pattern (zig zag). I don’t have curls and the coils I do have are few and far between, inconsistent and randomly placed, therefore there is no “real” diameter or circle to measure, hence why I consider my hair 4b.

ETA: I’ve never worn a wng...but I’m curious as to how other 4b women achieve this style.

I should also add that I have fine hair which is more prone to tangles.
 
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snoop

Well-Known Member
Ok. These are not in any kind of order but I think they were all mostly dry (none are day 1). Pic.5 has damp roots, as does Pic.4 (at least in the middle). Overload coming up in..

3.......



2.....


1...View attachment 426564 View attachment 426566


I know that people talk about how 4c is a myth, but I always (secretly) thought that 4a and 4b were myths and that there was only one type 4. Your hair, as soon as I saw these pictures made me say "oooh! THIS is 4b!!!" (without reading your description). I can TOTALLY see how your hair differs from mine. Your hair is so beautiful!!!
 

GGsKin

Well-Known Member
I know that people talk about how 4c is a myth, but I always (secretly) thought that 4a and 4b were myths and that there was only one type 4. Your hair, as soon as I saw these pictures made me say "oooh! THIS is 4b!!!" (without reading your description). I can TOTALLY see how your hair differs from mine. Your hair is so beautiful!!!

@snoop
Thank you! You know I think you and your hair are gorgeous. Have you posted any more vids?

It's funny. There are so many different type 4 heads in my family I never really got drawn into the hair typing, I just got the jist then schooled-up more I explored hair online. I found it interesting, dissecting the properties of my hair and the people who would have me style theirs. Yet before I found this board, I didn't believe that 4b existed! Never really heard of it. So when I found a whole bunch on heads on here who descriptions matched how a lot of my hair behaves, it was a revelation. None quite look the same. The variety is wonderful and intriguing.
 

Alma Petra

Well-Known Member
I consider my hair 4b based on the pattern (zig zag). I don’t have curls and the coils I do have are few and far between, inconsistent and randomly placed, therefore there is no “real” diameter or circle to measure, hence why I consider my hair 4b.

ETA: I’ve never worn a wng...but I’m curious as to how other 4b women achieve this style.

I should also add that I have fine hair which is more prone to tangles.

First, I apologize for the long post.

Second, I see what you mean. I thought that you said 4b based on how small your coils/zigzags are. I understand now that some systems define 4b as zigzag-like hair, even though also from the photos and videos posted above 4b hair can be in the form of coils (tighter) and curls (looser) too.

So have you ever attempted a wash and go though? Because wash and go nowadays apparently means something different from simply washing hair and letting it be. I think it now means washing and styling in such a way as to try and achieve defined clumps of curls/coils/zigzags using special products and techniques. I say this because even though I regularly wet and washed my hair for the first 24 years of my life, I never even knew that my hair was curly or that my strands had the ability to clump or form coils. I discovered this accidentally after years of having my hair texlaxed because texlaxing made it easier for my hair to clump (it was smoother) and probably to acquire moisture (by increasing the porosity?) Anyways throughout my natural life and my first relaxed/texlaxed years, my hair was kinky/straightish-wavy/zigzagy but not at all in a uniform way. It's been almost a year since I last relaxed and in this year, I discovered that natural hair (my type of hair) is even more difficult to clump and define than texlaxed hair. It simply has a natural tendency to live in the form of frizz. If I were to simply wash then go, I'd go out with a halo of frizz for hair. If I want the clumped defined look, I have to work hard for it, unfortunately.

As @YvetteWithJoy has said in another thread, it takes a long time to master your wash and go because you will need to first go through a lot of trial and error. You need to try and discover the products that suit your hair (the number of products, the actual products, the order of application, etc) and the technique of application that brings out the best in your hair. There are a lot of products and techniques out there and different stuff works for different people hence the time it takes to find what works for you. But you need to try to find out. If your hair never really showed a strong pattern in the past, then with trial you might discover that your hair actually has the ability to clump, and your coils might turn out to be 4a, 4b, 4c or even 3c who knows.

You perfectly described my hair in the past when you said "I don’t have curls and the coils I do have are few and far between, inconsistent and randomly placed" but I am now working on learning my natural hair and perfecting my wash and go. Most often my hair is frizzy but sometimes I manage to get rather decent curls that take me by surprise. Look at what I managed to achieve today while experimenting with my twa, and plz excuse that the rest of my hair is a mess:

photo_2018-03-15_22-17-33.jpg


I know it's far from perfect but it's also very far from where I used to be. If coils is what you'd like to achieve in your wash and gos then you'll have to start trying to get them. I'm sure many of the ladies here can contribute advice on how they achieve their clumps and definition. I can also try to describe the things that I have tried and that have worked for me.

Also if anybody has suggestions on how i can improve my "WnG" plz let me know. I think that I probably need to have thinner clumps, more root lift, less weighed down curls, more uniformity, more root curl, the straightish ends probably have to go, etc. So suggestions are strongly needed.

And of course if and when I big chop the rest of my hair, I'll need to get my hair shaped. No matter how good the clumpage and definition, I believe that a wash and go will not look good if it doesn't have a good shape.
 

justNikki

Well-Known Member
4c Wash and Go



She needs a shape up, BADLY. Ok, soapbox.....I'm sick of seeing naturals on youtube who refuse to shape their hair. It's just not a good look. I refuse to recommend instagrams or youtubers to anyone with textured hair when there's no shape to it. If your hair has no texture (not in the 3s or 4s), then it's really not of interest to me.
 

YvetteWithJoy

On break
She needs a shape up, BADLY. Ok, soapbox.....I'm sick of seeing naturals on youtube who refuse to shape their hair. It's just not a good look. I refuse to recommend instagrams or youtubers to anyone with textured hair when there's no shape to it. If your hair has no texture (not in the 3s or 4s), then it's really not of interest to me.

:up:
 

sunflora

Flowah Powah
I'm a little late to this thread and having read all the replies, but I subscribe to a couple of type 4 naturals: Lydia Tefera, Jewellianna Palencia and Idya Michael are my favorites. Naptural is one too. There are quite a few others, I believe.

What I have found is that I cannot do a wash and go due to the length of my hair. I risk SSK's to the point that it would be more harmful than blowing out and flat-ironing, for me personally. So the people I have subscribed to are waist-length, which isn't common for coarse curly hair as it is.

I base it on the probability of someone having a unique texture, a unique texture of a certain length, a unique texture of a certain length willing to post themselves on social media..... that's just my thoughts. I'm sure were there more, they'd have tons of subscribers. All curly hair is beautiful.
 

snoop

Well-Known Member
@snoop
Thank you! You know I think you and your hair are gorgeous. Have you posted any more vids?

It's funny. There are so many different type 4 heads in my family I never really got drawn into the hair typing, I just got the jist then schooled-up more I explored hair online. I found it interesting, dissecting the properties of my hair and the people who would have me style theirs. Yet before I found this board, I didn't believe that 4b existed! Never really heard of it. So when I found a whole bunch on heads on here who descriptions matched how a lot of my hair behaves, it was a revelation. None quite look the same. The variety is wonderful and intriguing.

Thank you! I've only got 3 out so far -- I'm pacing myself because this is a hobby and the kidlets keep me quite busy.
 

GGsKin

Well-Known Member
@Alma Petra your hair is wonderfully shiny. Are your coils wet or dry in this pic? Your definition is popping. With the amount of practice you get in with your twa section, by the time you are ready to do your whole head, you will be a pro with the wng with thin clumps/ thick clumps etc. I think your current methods are yielding great results.
 

YvetteWithJoy

On break
@Alma Petra your hair is wonderfully shiny. Are your coils wet or dry in this pic? Your definition is popping. With the amount of practice you get in with your twa section, by the time you are ready to do your whole head, you will be a pro with the wng with thin clumps/ thick clumps etc. I think your current methods are yielding great results.

Agreed! Ditto!
 
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