Texture names are not standardised across the wig industry. One seller's "deep wave" is another's "loose wave", which is why so many people receive something other than what they pictured. Here is what each term means, what it looks like in practice, and what it costs you in maintenance.
Body wave
Pattern: A loose, open S-wave. The closest equivalent is a blow-out done with a large barrel.
Looks like: Movement without curl. Reads as styled hair rather than textured hair.
Shrinkage: About one inch.
Maintenance: The easiest of the wave textures. It straightens flat with a flat iron and reverts to its wave pattern after a co-wash, which makes it the most versatile unit you can own — one wig, two looks.
Buy it if you want one unit that does everything, or it is your first textured wig. → Aria 13x4 body wave
Loose deep wave
Pattern: Bigger and softer than deep wave — an oversized wave with real swing.
Looks like: A fresh salon blow-wave. Somewhere between body wave and deep wave, and the answer for people who find body wave falls flat by afternoon but deep wave feels too tight.
Shrinkage: About 1.5 inches.
Maintenance: Refresh damp with a leave-in rather than with heat. The wave comes back stronger wet than it does under an iron.
Deep wave
Pattern: A tight, uniform S-pattern with defined ridges.
Looks like: Structured, consistent texture. Holds its shape hard through washing — this is the texture that still looks like itself after twenty wears.
Shrinkage: About two inches.
Maintenance: Scrunch with leave-in while damp, air dry, never brush dry. The curl pattern is robust; the enemy is a bristle brush, not water.
Water wave
Pattern: A deep, irregular wave with higher shine and less uniformity than deep wave.
Looks like: The most photogenic texture we sell. The irregularity is the point — it reads as hair that dried at a beach rather than hair that came off a rod.
Shrinkage: About two inches. Order one length up from your target.
Maintenance: Same as deep wave. Sleep in a loose braid; water wave flattens on one side overnight more readily than tighter patterns.
Kinky curly
Pattern: A true coil, closest to natural 4B/4C hair.
Looks like: The most natural texture in wigs. It does not read as "a wig with curls" — it reads as hair.
Shrinkage: Four to five inches, sometimes more. A 20" wears closer to 15" unstretched. This is not a defect; it is what coily hair does.
Maintenance: The highest of any texture. Define with curl cream on soaking wet hair, then do not touch it. Deep condition weekly — coils dry out faster than any other pattern because the oil cannot travel down a bent strand.
→ Jada 4x4 kinky curly · Nia glueless curly bob
Kinky straight
Pattern: Straight, but coarse and with body at the root — the texture of natural hair that has been blown out.
Looks like: The best-blending texture there is for anyone whose own hair is blow-dried natural. Not glossy; deliberately so.
Shrinkage: Minimal.
Maintenance: Flat irons bone straight and reverts to its texture after washing, which is the whole reason to own it.
Straight
Pattern: Flat. Bone straight is poker-flat out of the box; silky straight keeps a small amount of root body and takes a curl more easily.
Looks like: Sleek and high-shine. Least forgiving at the lace edge — there is no curl to break the line where lace meets skin, so buy a longer length or go glueless if you are new to installs.
The one rule that applies to all of them
Never brush a textured unit dry. Detangle with a wide-tooth comb, from the ends upward, on damp hair with conditioner in it. Brushing dry curls is what turns a defined pattern into permanent frizz — and unlike your own hair, a wig cannot grow the damage out.
Browse curly and wavy wigs or straight wigs.