Textured hair 101: Cuts, curl patterns and enhancing your unique look
The beauty of textured hair is that it encompasses a wide range of waves, curls and coils.
At Paul Edmonds London, our stylists have the skills and knowledge to work with every type of textured hair, so you can be confident you’ll leave your appointment looking and feeling amazing, whether you’re after a quick trim or a celebrity-inspired transformation.
“I love Jordann Dunn’s hair at the moment,” says Paul Edmonds. The London-born model recently unveiled a super-short, curly pixie crop. “It looks really good having that short look on curly hair.”
He’s also a big fan of curly or wavy jaw-length bobs for women and perms for men. “We're getting a lot of guys coming in for perms recently who want to go curly. Sometimes they don’t realise they can't style it like they used to, because the texture of the hair has changed, so how you look after it is really important.”
As always, the Paul Edmonds ethos is about finding a flattering cut that works with a client’s hair type and lifestyle, and giving them the advice they need to care for their hair at home.
Here, the team talk through everything you need to know about making the most of your textured hair…
DEFINING YOUR CURL PATTERN
To determine how to cut and style textured hair, the Andre Walker Hair Typing System is the most widely used classification tool.
Invented by Oprah Winfrey’s hair stylist in the 1990s, the system is made up of four categories – straight, wavy, curly and coily – with three sub-categories to define how loose or tight the texture is, from 2A (loose waves) to 4C (the tightest coils, often referred to as Afro-textured).
“Curly hair can be anything from a soft curl to quite a firm curl, then there’s coily hair, where you get a really spiral curl,” says Paul Edmonds, who has built up a huge amount of experience with textured hair during his four decades in the industry.
“Afro-textured hair is not always curly when you look at the strand. It can actually be more like a zigzag.”
At the start of an appointment with a curly hair specialist at Paul Edmonds London, your stylist will begin by determining your curl pattern, which can vary throughout the hair.
“We start by looking at the individual strands, but also what the overall distribution of weight is in the hair,” Paul says. “Some people have quite dense curly textured hair and others have very fine, so we need to look at that before we decide what products to use and how to cut it.”
TEXTURED HAIR EXPERTS
Paul and the team understand that not every hairdresser is equipped to deal with textured hair, which is why, when a new client comes to the salon, they’ll always recommend a team member who has the requisite experience for their hair type.
“Our reception team is really good at talking to the client and finding out what they want so they can match them with the right stylist,” Paul says.
“We’ve got four staff members who are particularly skilled at cutting Afro-textured and curly hair, including Haley, who’s really good with men’s hair.”
Hayley has a roster of loyal clients who trust her implicitly. She says that in addition to more than a decade of salon training, she’s had one major advantage in terms of hands-on experience: “I've been very lucky because I've got four mixed race nephews and each one of them has different hair, from a really strong Afro to a loose coil, so I've been able to practise on them over the past 15 years.”
Staff do regular training sessions with brands such as Redken and L’Oreal to learn the different cutting techniques for textured hair. For instance, whereas straight hair is usually cut while wet, it’s sometimes better to cut curly or coily hair when it’s dry in order to be able to see the finished shape better.
Our stylists can also help if a client has been having a chemical straightening service but wants to grow their hair out and embrace their natural texture.
“It can be quite hard to do that, so I usually recommend a keratin treatment which will soften their own curl while they're growing out, which makes it a little bit easier,” Paul says.
CARING FOR YOUR CURLS
“People tend to think that Afro-textured hair is stronger, but actually that's not true,” Paul says. “It's normally very delicate and breaks easily, so it needs a lot more nurturing.”
The same applies to curly hair as well, which is why “treating all curly, coily, and textured hair is thinking about the moisture content in the hair, starting with moisturising shampoo.”
He’s a big fan of Kérastase Curl Manifesto shampoo and the Davines Love Curl range, made up of a shampoo, conditioner and the Revitalizer, which refreshes and defrizzes curls in between shampoos.
Hayley recommends Shu Uemura Urban Moisture shampoo and says that men with Afro-textured fade hairstyles should add a scalp scrub into the mix.
“Because the growth pattern is so strong, ingrown hairs can happen as it grows back and coils around,” she says. “It's really important to wash your hair with a scalp scrub to prevent ingrown hairs.”
When it comes to blow drying, Paul says: “If you've got a soft curl, you'll want something like Shu Uemura Kaze Wave mousse. It has a high moisture level but isn’t too sticky but it'll give the hair more body.”
For tighter curl types, a hairdryer diffuser is your best bet: “Apply your chosen product to give it some hold and separate the curls, then tip your head upside down and use a diffuser. Oway have a brilliant salt spray that isn't too drying on curly hair, but if you want something more smoothing, Davines do a really good curl cream that stops it going frizzy.
Tailored to your texture
If you’re looking for a textured hair expert, look no further than Paul Edmonds London, where our staff are trained to cut waves, curls, coils and everything in between.
From classic Afro-textured cuts to the latest trends for men and women, our stylists have got the skills and experience to craft bespoke textured haircuts that will make you feel amazing.
Curls need a cut? Book your next appointment at Paul Edmonds London.
