The Ultimate Curling Iron Guide For All Hair Types

The Ultimate Curling Iron Guide For All Hair Types

I gifted myself one of the best curling irons to live the cherished dream of mine of having luscious celebrity styled curls. However, all my efforts and money ended in smoke. My curling tool disheartened me with the disastrous output. Then I came to know about the context of a curling iron and hair type. The hair type has a direct connection with some certain features such as the temperature range and barrel material of a curling iron. Hair type also has an implicit connection with the barrel size of a curling iron.

Table of Contents

Initial Words on Hair Type

As per the type of hair, we can divide it into two sections and they are:

  1. Hair density
  2. Hair Pattern

Hair density

Hair density indicates several hairs on your scalp. Some people have a little density of hairs and some have heavy density. Hair density is a genetically inherited thing. One cannot change or transform the hair density. However, one can surely choose the right curling iron as per the hair density. According to density, we can divide it into two categories and they are:

  • Thick Hair
  • Thin Hair

Thin vs thick hair

Hair density has a connection with features like temperature range and barrel material. Thin hair is delicate and cannot bear the excessive heat. Therefore, thin hair needs a low-temperature curling iron and a sophisticated barrel material. On the contrary, thick hair needs quite high heat to curl them perfectly. So, the High or moderate temperature range and barrels that can absorb high heat and can protect hairs from constant and high heating is okay for it.

In Short

  • Hair density is connected with temperature settings and barrel material
  • Thick hairs demand high heat settings and barrel material that absorbs high heat
  • Thin hairs demand low heat settings. Also, it needs barrel material that absorbs low heat.

Hair Pattern

Three different hair patterns are commonly seen. They are:

  • Straight
  • Wavy
  • Curly

Hair types

The hair pattern has a connection with the temperature. Straight hair is easy to curl thus low temperature is suggested for straight hairs. Wavy hair needs a little high temperature to be curled. However, curly hair is a stubborn one. It needs a high temperature to be curled.

In Short

  • The hair pattern is connected to the temperature range
  • Straight hairs demand low heat settings
  • Wavy hairs demand moderate heat setting
  • Curly hairs demand high heat settings.

Curling Iron Guide According to Hair Density

Suitable Curling Iron for Thick Hair

Curling thick hair with curling iron

While you are styling thick hairs the following features control the final outlook of your curls:

High-Temperature Range: (250°F to 400°F)

Thick hairs need high-temperature range to become curled due to the stubborn texture of certain types of hairs. Again, there is an issue of holding the curls for a long time on thick hairs. High temperature can maintain the curls for a long time in thick hairs. If you put the low temperature on thick hairs, you may get the desired curls but you will be certainly at a risk of soon faded curls. As the low temperature cannot hold curls for a long time on thick hairs.

Barrel Material

For thick hairs, one must choose barrel materials that can absorb high heat settings. Again as we, all know high heat can damage hairs so we must choose barrels that minimize the heat damage. Some barrel materials add extra volume to hairs. However, while you are applying it on thick hairs you must avoid such barrels, as it looks quite unkempt.

Suggested Barrel Material: Titanium Barrel, 24k Gold Barrel, Tourmaline Barrel, Nano Ceramic, Nano Titanium, Nano Tourmaline, Nano Tourmaline Ceramic or Ceramic Tourmaline barrel, Ceramic Titanium or Titanium Ceramic, Tourmaline Ceramic or Ceramic Tourmaline, Tourmaline Titanium

Suitable Curling Iron for Thin Hair Or Fine Hair

Curling iron for thin hair

Low-Temperature Range: (200°F to 300°F)

Thin hair is naturally delicate and cannot tolerate high-temperature range. The high-temperature range is considered as one of the main reasons for hair damage. Again thin hair can be curled under a low temperature and it is not difficult to hold the curls on thin hairs with a low temperature. Therefore, the Low temperature is preferable to thin hairs.

Barrel Material

When you are styling your thin hairs, you must need a sophisticated barrel material that can protect the delicate strands from being damaged. While choosing the barrel material you must look for barrels that generate Infrared heat, absorbs low heat settings, conditions and nourishes hair. Barrels that do not create “Hot Spots” or evenly heated barrels are the best for thin hairs. Moreover, for thin hairs, you may not choose plain barrels except the Ceramic ones.

Suggested Barrel Material: Ceramic Barrel, Nano Ceramic, Nano Tourmaline, Ceramic Titanium or Titanium Ceramic, Tourmaline Ceramic or Ceramic Tourmaline

Curling Iron Guide According to Hair Pattern

Suitable Curling Iron for Straight Hair

Curling iron for straight hair

While you are styling straight hairs the following features control the final outlook of your curls:

Low-Temperature Range: (200°F to 250°F)

Straight hairs are usually not stubborn while it comes to curl them. This is the ideal state of hair when you can turn them into any style of curls. Straight hair does not need any high-temperature range or other efforts to curl them. A low temperature is okay for curling straight strands. Again low temperature can hold the curls for a long time on straight strands.

Suitable Curling Iron for Wavy Hair

Curling iron for wavy hair

While you are styling wavy hairs the following features control the final outlook of your curls:

Moderate Temperature Range: (250°F to 300°F)

Wavy hairs sometimes need a higher temperature range than that of straight hairs. Wavy hairs have their general waves and structure. Also, to create the change in their basic structure, they may need a temperature that is neither very high nor very low rather a moderate temperature is preferred. Moderate temperature creates beautiful curls on wavy hairs.

Suitable Curling Iron for Curly Hair

While you are styling Curly hairs the following features control the final outlook of your curls:

High-Temperature Range: (300°F to 410°F)

Curly hair is quite stubborn when it comes to curling them into other styles. Again, it is tough to make the curls long-lasting on curly hairs. Thus, you must need a curling iron that has a higher temperature to recreate the structure of curly hair and to make them long-lasting.

Essential Brief of the Content: According to Hair Density

Hair DensityTemperature RangeBarrel Material
Thick Hair250°F to 400°FTitanium Barrel, 24k Gold Barrel, Tourmaline Barrel, Nano Ceramic, Nano Titanium, Nano Tourmaline, Nano Tourmaline Ceramic or Ceramic Tourmaline barrel, Ceramic Titanium or Titanium Ceramic, Tourmaline Ceramic or Ceramic Tourmaline, Tourmaline Titanium
Thin Hair200°F to 300°FCeramic Barrel, Nano Ceramic, Nano Tourmaline, Ceramic Titanium or Titanium Ceramic, Tourmaline Ceramic or Ceramic Tourmaline

Essential Brief of the Content: According to Hair Pattern

Hair PatternTemperature Range
Straight 200°F to 250°F
Wavy 250°F to 300°F
Curly300°F to 410°F

Why the hair types are so crucial for styling

Suppose four people live in four different towns of the Le country of Hairstyle. One lives in the Straight town, one in the Wavy town, one is in the Curly town and the last one in the Mixed town; so, when they decided to meet at the same destination, they had to take different routes!

Yes, different people have different roots! So, even if two individuals have the same hairstyle, the route or steps to reach that style may have been different. It’s their hair type that will decide if one will need to wash hair before styling, use conditioner or not or will 2nd-day hair be better.

Some other important factors

The curling iron, the material of the barrel and size will also be different depending on the hair type, the length of the hair and most importantly, it will also rely on the style you are trying to create. Thus, your mother’s or sister’s best curling iron might not be the ideal one for you.

If you know your hair type, or if you have just found out by following our instruction then wait no more!!! Go ahead and get the best curling iron according to your hair type and flaunt damage-free, healthy shiny hairstyles whenever you wish!

The classification of hair

We can broadly classify hairs into the four following groups given below,

  • Straight, silky, fine/thin
  • Normal, straight to wavy, medium hair
  • Dry, wavy to curly, thick/coarse hair and
  • A combination of two types of hair such as straight at the root but wavy at the bottom and so forth.

If you do not know the type of hair you have or just want to check it for reassurance, you have come to the right place. We will help you identify it in a minute! There is no harm in reassuring since hair type can change too!

How to identify your hair type

Don’t be overwhelmed; you don’t need to be an expert to identify your hair type. Just check one characteristic at a time and soon you will know the kind of hair you have. Follow each step given below and you will be able to identify your hair in minutes.

  1. By the look: the flowing pattern of your hair
  2. By the texture: By running your fingers through your hair, and
  3. The thickness of a single hair strand: You can’t possibly measure the diameter of your hair with an ordinary measuring tape. All you need to do is feel one single strand of your hair in between your index and thumb.

Identify your hair

1. By the look

How does your natural towel-dried, plainly combed hair look like? Although color and length are not significant here for your convenience, we have a given example of a natural raven, brunette, and a blonde.

Straight hair

Below is an examples of a straight hair. Does your hair look like the picture below? Then you certainly have straight hair. Natural straight hair may have little bent at the bottom and will not be as straight as the flat-ironed hair, so don’t be confused. Your hair is naturally shiny but needs to be frequently washed due to greasiness. It feels great not to tie your hair and let your natural shine mesmerize people, but it’s also inviting dirt with open arms so don’t always do that

Long straight hair

Wavy Hair

If your hair looks like this then you have naturally wavy hair! Wavy hair is the best type of hair to wear differently. From retro to absolutely ground-breaking hairstyle can be done on your hair

Natural Wavy hair

Curly hair

Your hair is a little moody, but if you can control the dryness and frizz then your hair has the strength of a superhero! The conditioner should be your weapon to dominate roughness and frizz

Curly hair

2. By the texture

How does your hair feel when you slowly run your fingers through them?

  • Silky: Your fingers will glide through the hair easily
  • Normal: Your hair will slightly resist your fingers to run through
  • Dry: difficult to run fingers through, feels rough, especially without conditioning

3. Thickness

How thick or thin your hair determines what type of curling iron you need. Usually, there are 4 types of hair according to thickness

  • As fine/thin,
  • Medium, not too thick nor thin
  • Thick/coarse
  • Mixed texture either naturally or due to damage

To make sure which type you belong to, you need to check 1 single strand of hair. Look at it first. Is it almost translucent? Now put it in between your index and thumb. Can you feel it? If you can’t feel it then rub your fingers, if you still can’t feel it after rubbing, then you have fine hair. If you can faintly feel it without rubbing and feel it after rubbing then you have medium hair and when you can feel the hair without rubbing your fingers than you have thick hair.

Although hair can be classified in many different ways we chose the most logical yet simple method to organize it. The best part is, Straight, Silky and Fine hair can use the same curling iron. The reason is straight hair usually silkier and finer than the other two which makes them naturally fall into the same group.

Same goes for Straight to Wavy, Normal, Medium can use the same curling iron and Wavy to curly, Dry, Thick/Coarse can be combined as a big group and can use the same curling iron too.

So congratulations!!! Now you know the hair type you have. And just one step away from getting the curling iron especially made just for you!


most popular curling iron icon Readers' Choice

Barrel SizeMost Popular
1/2 Inch: Click to see Top 3
3/4 Inch: Click to see Top 3
1 Inch:Click to see Top 3
1 1/4 Inch:Click to see Top 3
1 1/2 Inch:Click to see Top 3
1 3/4 Inch:Click to see the most popular
2 Inches: Click to see Top 2
Interchangeable:Click to see Top 2