Shea › questions
questions, answered.
Shea is the free app and community for type 4 and type 3 hair (4C, 4B, 4A, 3C, 3B, 3A). here is what people ask most.
ask away, i got you 💛
what is Shea?
Shea is a free app built for type 4 and type 3 hair (4C, 4B, 4A, 3C, 3B and 3A). It is two things at once: the Circle, a community of Black women with the same hair as you, and the tools to grow it, including length and photo tracking, wash day planning, a product shelf, saved routines and an ingredient scanner. The Circle is what makes Shea different from a solo tracker.
what makes Shea different from other hair apps?
Two things. First, the Circle: most hair apps are trackers you use alone, and Shea has an active, moderated community of 4,000+ Black women with type 4 and type 3 hair who ask questions, answer each other and share wins every day. Second, every feature is built for our curls and coils from the start, 4C, 4B, 4A, 3C, 3B and 3A, from growth tracking that survives shrinkage to wash day planning, a product shelf and an ingredient scanner, instead of being adapted from an app made for straight hair.
does Shea have a community for type 4 and 4C hair?
Yes. The Circle is Shea's built-in community for type 4 and type 3 hair. It is where Black women with 4C, 4B, 4A, 3C, 3B and 3A hair ask their questions, post progress and wins, and get answers from women whose hair is like theirs. It is active every day, with hundreds of new posts and comments every week, and it is moderated and kept safe by the Shea team. It is free on every plan.
who is Shea for?
Shea is made for Black women with type 4 and type 3 hair, meaning coily, kinky and curly textures, 4C, 4B, 4A, 3C, 3B and 3A. Unlike general hair apps that treat curls as an afterthought, every part of Shea, the Circle included, is designed for type 4 and type 3 hair, from 4C to 3A.
is Shea free?
Yes. Shea is free to download and use on iPhone and Android. The Circle, daily care logging and wash day planning are free. There is an optional premium upgrade for extra features, and you do not need it to get real value out of the app.
does Shea work for 4C hair?
Yes, 4C hair is exactly who Shea is built for. It tracks your growth through shrinkage with length logs and progress photos, tailors your routine and product picks to 4C, 4B and 4A hair, and puts you in the Circle with other 4C girlies. Shea covers type 3 as well, 3C, 3B and 3A, and 4C is still the hair everything was designed around.
does Shea work for type 3 hair?
Yes. Type 3 hair is covered right alongside type 4, so 3C, 3B and 3A get the same tools as 4C, 4B and 4A. Your curl pattern is one of the first things Shea asks you, and it shapes your wash day plan, your product picks and what the ingredient scanner flags. In the Circle you are posting with Black women across the whole range, 4C to 3A, so the advice comes from hair that behaves like yours.
is Shea on iPhone and Android?
Yes. Shea is free on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
how does Shea track hair growth?
You log your length and add progress photos over time, and Shea charts them so you can see the inches you kept, even on the days shrinkage says otherwise. You can share your progress in the Circle if you want the hype.
does Shea use AI?
No. Shea has no AI features. There is no chatbot, nothing writes your routine or your advice for you, and nothing analyses a photo to judge your hair. Every answer in the Circle comes from a real person, and your in-app companion only reads back your own logged history, on your phone, offline. The one thing that is not built in-house is image text recognition: when you scan a product, Shea uses Google's text recognition to read the printed ingredient list off the label, because phone cameras struggle with curved bottles and tiny print. It reads the words on a label, nothing more. What the ingredients mean for your hair comes from a catalogue our team researches by hand.
is my data private?
Yes. Shea shows no ads and does not sell your data. Your hair journey, photos and notes stay yours.
how much does Shea premium cost?
Shea is free to start, and the Circle is always free. Premium is available as a low-cost monthly plan or a one-time lifetime purchase. Exact pricing is shown in the app and can vary by region.
free on iPhone and Android. start tonight.