Coarse hair has a very distinctive texture. With the wrong kind of care, coarse hair can become maddening. It gets frizzy and dry and stubbornly refuses most efforts to style it differently. Fortunately, you can learn how to make coarse hair softer.

In this article, we’ll go over seven helpful tips to make naturally curly, coarse hair soft.

What is Coarse Hair?

The story behind coarse hair begins with the size of the hair itself. Hair strands come in all manner of different diameters, and a coarse hair texture typically means the individual strands have a large diameter. Coarse hair automatically has more protein than fine hair. Keratin is rough in texture, which means that coarse hair is naturally of a different texture and not quite as soft as fine hair.

How to Know If Your Hair Is Coarse

But really, your hair might just feel rough because it’s dry. How can you tell the difference? Try the thread test. Grab a strand of hair from your head and compare it with a piece of thread. If it is the same diameter, roughly, your hair is a normal texture. If it is thicker in diameter, your hair is coarse. If it is thinner in diameter, your hair is fine.

How to Make Coarse Hair Soft

Strand size only tells part of the story. Thick hair often becomes rough and stiff due to a lack of moisture. Large strands need more water to retain their body, so coarse hair can quickly become dried out.

1. Hydrate

Hydration forms the basis of softening coarse hair. Getting more water into your body will put more water into your hair in short order. Adequate hydration also helps maintain healthy nerve endings near the roots, a key factor for robust hair growth.

If you have coarse hair, consider upping your water intake. Everyone’s body has slightly different hydration demands, but you don’t need to overthink how much water to drink. A couple of liters a day should suffice for most body types and activity levels, but the more, the merrier.