Understanding Your Hair Type
Haircare & Beauty Advice
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Everyone's hair has its own character, whether it's softly wavy, tightly curled, straight, or somewhere in between. Your natural texture is part of who you are, and learning how to work with it (rather than against it) makes care and styling feel much easier.
At The Chapel, we always begin with a conversation, not a quick judgement about “hair type”, but an understanding of you, your lifestyle, and the relationship you have with your hair. Because texture isn't just about appearance. It's about how you feel wearing it every day.
In this blog, we'll explore what shapes your natural texture, how to care for it, and the simple styling approaches that help you embrace and enjoy the hair you already have.
What Shapes Your Texture
Hair texture starts at the follicle. Its shape determines whether hair grows straight, wavy, or curly, and genetics play a major role. Still, even with similar genes, two people can have completely different hair behaviours.
That's because texture isn't one fixed category. Someone might have straighter strands underneath and curls through the top layer. Another person may have tighter curls in some areas and looser waves elsewhere. Men and women experience the same variations — no two heads of hair ever behave the same way.
How much hair you have, and whether it's thick or fine, also influences how you care for it and which styles work best — whether your hair is curly, coily, wavy or straight.
Lifestyle and Scalp Health Matter
While genetics set the foundation, daily life shapes how hair feels and responds.
Stress, hormones, environment, diet, heat styling, and product build-up can all influence the condition of your hair's texture. Even weather changes can affect curl definition or how sleek straight hair appears day to day.
Healthy texture starts at the scalp. When the scalp is supported and nourished, hair has a stronger base to grow from. That's why we often look at both scalp wellbeing and lifestyle habits before recommending styling or product changes.
How to Care for Your Natural Texture
Before choosing products or routines, it helps to understand that each texture type has its own needs when it comes to moisture, styling and daily care.
Curly Hair
- Curls thrive on moisture. Use hydrating shampoos and conditioners.
- Dry gently — avoid rough towels.
- Use creams or gels that define rather than weigh down.
- Detangle while wet; brushing dry curls tends to create frizz and break definition.
Wavy Hair
Waves sit in a balancing act between moisture and lightness.
- Hydration helps waves form more smoothly, but too-rich products can flatten them.
- Light gels, mousses or curl creams designed for waves help encourage their natural pattern without heaviness.
Straight Hair
- Straight hair benefits from lightweight care and scalp balance.
- Thicker straight hair can handle slightly richer products for nourishment.
- Finer strands need lighter products to avoid flatness or oiliness.
- Use a gentle cleanse, a light conditioner through the lengths, and soft texture products (if desired) to maintain movement without build-up.
Across all textures, the best results come from working with your hair's natural movement rather than trying to reshape it.
Styling with Ease and Confidence
True styling isn't about forcing your hair to behave differently. It's about finishing in a way that supports what it already wants to do.
- For curls: scrunch-dry or use a diffuser.
- For waves: air-dry with gentle shaping.
- For straight hair: a soft blow-dry to enhance natural shine without heavy product layers.
At The Chapel, this is always personalised. We look at your day-to-day habits, how much time you enjoy spending on your hair, and how you want to feel — relaxed, polished, low-maintenance, expressive, or somewhere in between.
Loving Your Natural Hair
Confidence sometimes comes from comfort. When you learn how your texture behaves, the routine becomes easier, not heavier. Many guests tell us that once they start embracing what their hair naturally wants to do, it suddenly feels like their hair is “working with them” rather than against them.
Texture isn't a problem to fix. It's something to embrace and understand.
Our Approach
At The Chapel, we always say never be afraid to ask. Your hair will change through eras and chapters of life, and you don't need to have the answers before you walk through the door — that's what we're here for.
If we notice changes in your hair, scalp, ears and neck, we'll always tell you gently and honestly, and if we're ever concerned about changes in your skin's pigmentation, colour, or moles that look irregular or different since your last visit, we'll always discuss this with you so you can seek medical advice if needed.
We often explore hybrid care, supporting both scalp health and hair strength. A great example is Keune's Long & Strong collection, enriched with Centella Asiatica, Marine Density Infusion, and Biomimetic Peptides to nourish the scalp, fortify strands, and encourage healthy hair growth.
For styling, Keune's three Confident Curl Leave-In Creams are tailored to different textures — wavy, curly, and coily — to enhance, define and smooth natural movement with lightweight hydration and no heaviness.
A favourite among our guests with curls is the Curly Hair Co-Wash from Oway, a gentle cleansing milk that purifies and conditions in one step, boosts elasticity, and leaves curls soft, bouncy, and beautifully defined.
Want to Explore Your Hair Texture Further?
Every hair texture is different. If you're unsure what works best for yours, we're always here to talk it through.
Book your free consultation at one of our salons and start a relaxed conversation about your hair — not just how it looks, but how it makes you feel.
