From 3A-4C Hair: What Type Of Hair Is Good For Sister Locs?

Understanding ‘Hair Types’

Hair types and hair typing can be a polarizing subject, but for the sake of helping you take the best care of your sisterlocks or understanding which is best for sisterlocks, we’re going to dip our toes into this controversial pond.

However, we must say that regardless of your hair type, your loc journey will be unique to you and your hair.

Let’s begin at the beginning. If you are unfamiliar with The Hair Chart or the Andre Walker Hair Typing System, it was created in the mid-1990’s by Andre Walker—Oprah Winfrey’s hair stylist.

The chart was created as a marketing tool for Walker’s line of hair care products.

However, over the years, it has been accepted as the main hair-typing classification system.

The chart provides a visual representation of most hair types and classifies them using a system of numbers and letters that denote straightness or lack thereof.

Starting with 1A being the straightest and ending with 4c being the tightest or coiliest texture (see the chart below).

Despite avid criticism of the chart as biased against and/or presenting a hierarchy of hair that implies that European/ straighter textures are “better” than tighter curls and/or coils, the usefulness of the chart lies in the context and labeling it provides to make it easier for some of us to talk about the characteristics of our hair.

However, it should be duly noted that not everyone’s hair falls neatly into one hair type. This is especially true for women of African descent, as many of us may have several different hair types throughout our heads. The chart acts as a simple guide but should not be taken as more than that.

What does Hair Type Have to do With Sister locs?

Different factors affect the growth, length, and maturity of your locs. Most of these are genetic like your general hair type, hair density, rate of growth, and scalp health. Hair type helps you understand what your loc journey might be, how to care for your hair, and what to expect overall is your hair type.

Using your hair type as a guide can help you find the best tools, retightening methods, cleansing products, styling products, and hair care accessories to ensure hair health and growth.

Coarse and Tightly Coiled Hair (4C Hair)

Coarse and tightly coiled hair, such as 4C hair, is considered the best texture for sisterlocks. This is because the texture provides 'body' and makes it easier for the locks to form. 4C hair often has brotherly love; its coily texture encourages the hair strands to clump together and weave around each other.

This is especially true when the hair is left to its own devices—not detangled or separated regularly, which is the main premise of locking. If one were to freeform loc 4c hair, it would happen effortlessly.

With sister locs, however, we are training the hair to grow into tiny tightly-coiled strands through interlocking. The coil pattern of 4C hair alone makes for hair that will loc and mature faster than locs of other hair types.

Type vs Density

It is important that we not conflate hair type with hair density though. There can be a common misconception that by virtue of its very tight coil, 4c hair has a natural fullness and thickness that would allow for a more robust and voluminous appearance. That’s not entirely true, as hair type does not directly correlate to hair density or thickness.

Hair density pertains to the number of hair strands and/or hair follicles present on one’s scalp. You can have 4C hair and have low density.

Hair thickness refers to the size and diameter of each strand on your head. This means people with thick hair have strands with larger diameters while those with thinning hair have smaller diameter strands. You can have 4C hair that is thin.

Hair type does not denote the thickness or density of your locs. However, you can easily increase the appearance of density or thickness based on the method of interlocking you choose for your 4c hair. Check out our article on DIY sister loc maintenance to learn more about that.

4C hair is considered the best hair type for locs or sister locs because of its propensity to cling to itself—making the locking process easier.

Other Afro-Textured Hair Types

While 4C hair is ideal, other Afro-textured hair types (e.g., 4A or 4B) can also achieve excellent results with Sister locs. Similar to 4C hair, these textures are characterized by strands that get easily caught on each other and wrap around themselves.

While it can pose a challenge for loose natural hair wearers, curlier and kinkier hair types are a dream come true for loc wearers as the style itself encourages the tangling of the hair into locs. For these slightly looser coils and kinks,  the natural curl pattern helps the locks form more easily and remain stable over time.

Fine or Looser Curl Patterns (3A-3C Hair)

Sisterlocks can be installed on finer or looser curl patterns, such as 3A-3C hair. However, these hair types are more prone to slippage and, in some areas, prone to breakage or over-twisting in spots that are too soft to loc.

Slippage refers to the unraveling of locs, especially in the beginning stages of the loc journey. There are several methods of preventing and/or mitigating slippage when washing and retightening starter locs. You’ll find that banding OR braiding the hair in sections before washing helps to prevent locs from unraveling during the maintenance process:

1. Banding is when you take hair ties or scrunchies and create ponytails throughout the head. The ponytail will have three to four hair ties, rubber bands, or scrunchies going down the length of it to help maintain the structure of the loc OR you can braid and band.
2. Braiding and Banding means you are securing the top of the ponytail with a scrunchie, rubberband, or hair tie, braiding the body of the ponytail together, and banding the end to ensure all of the locs are tightly constrained together. This will mitigate the possibility of locs unraveling.

Overtwisting and Breakage

Some loc-wearers with softer textures/ looser or finer hair types have areas of their scalps where the hair will never fully loc. The loose texture, particularly toward the front of the scalp for many 3A- 3C loc wearers, presents a challenge with that hair being too stubborn to loc.

While it can be annoying, if you have a looser texture, resist the urge to retwist or retighten that section of hair more frequently than the rest of your hair. Learn to embrace the look of your looser edges to avoid developing traction alopecia or breakage in those areas.

Locking time

The locking process will take a little longer for looser textures and may require the use of additional products to maintain the structure of the locs in the short term (starter loc stage), but the hair will still lock.

What is the Best Hair Type for Sister Locs?

The best hair type for YOUR sister locs is the one—or the many— you have on your head. Knowing your hair type(s) and how it behaves arms you with the knowledge you need to take good care of your locs.

 However, to have a truly successful loc journey, you have to embrace the fact that no two heads are the same, and your loc journey is unique to you. Your locs aren’t going to look or behave exactly like anyone else's, so learn to love how they look and behave.