After nineteen years of living with curly hair, you’d think that I would have grown to absolutely love being a “curly girl,” ringlets and all. Not necessarily. I still have those mornings where I want to completely shave my head, thinking it would look better than the untamable and relentless curls that never quite do what I want them to do, no matter how many hair products I use. Luckily, after having my pleas for a keratin treatment shot down multiple times by my mom (who claims it would “destroy my hair,” which is, for the most part, true…), I have learned to make the best out of being a curly girl. Here are a few of my favorite ways to deal with and bring out the best of your curly hair!
1. Condition, condition, condition
Curly hair is naturally more dry than straight hair, which means it is in need of serious moisture renewal every day. However, you don’t need to splurge on expensive conditioners to hydrate your hair! I have found that the conditioners you buy at drugstores, like Pantene’s Extra Moisturizing or Aussie’s Moist Conditioner, work just fine.
2. Leave-in conditioner
Conditioning shouldn’t stop when you step out of the shower! Invest in a leave-in conditioner to put in your damp hair. I personally am in love with Paul Mitchell’s “The Conditioner” – I buy it in bulk and it usually is the only product I need to use to tame my hair on most days.
3. Only comb your hair in the shower
If you comb your curls when they’re dry, it’ll mess up their natural way of falling, causing a lot of frizz.
4. Air dry as much as possible
Blow dryers are your enemy – they dry out and damage your hair and, like combing, blow drying disturbs your curls’ natural pattern, causing frizz. If you absolutely need to blow dry your hair, or are late to class and can’t bear show up with sopping wet hair, make sure to use a heat protectant spray, attach a diffuser to your blow dryer, and always point the blow dryer’s nozzle down towards your hair – never up – to reduce frizz.
5. Shampoo every other day
Shampoo strips the natural oils from your hair because it contains harsh, drying sulfates that are also found in dish washing liquids. Would you want to wash your hair with Palmolive? Didn’t think so. Curly hair needs to maintain the moisture it obtains from these oils because, like I said before, it’s dry to begin with. Try shampooing every other day or every third day to make sure your hair is kept at its healthiest and curliest, not driest and frizziest.
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6. Moroccan Argan Oil is your new best friend
I recently discovered this amazing product over the summer and, let me tell you, it has been life changing. Moroccan Argan Oil not only deeply conditions, but also restores and strengthens your hair while infusing strands with various vitamins and antioxidants. Organix makes a whole line of relatively inexpensive Moroccan Argan Oil products, including conditioners, serums, and curl defining cream.
7. Check the weather – be prepared
With curly hair, it’s best to know what hair you’ll be waking up to rather than be taken by surprise. We all know that if there’s high humidity or pouring rain, our curls go nuts – they get tighter, puffier, and frizz is at an all-time high. By checking the weather for the next day before you go to bed, you can plan out how to wear your hair to mask the potential unruliness that comes with a rainy day. Braids, buns, and French twists are always great go-tos.
8. Regular trims
Even if you’re trying to grow your curly hair out, you definitely don’t want those split-end “fuzzies” at the ends of your hair. Try to get your hair trimmed at least once every 6 weeks. The healthier your curly hair is, the better and faster it will grow.
9. If you go to bed with wet hair…
and don’t want to wake up and have to re-shower because your curls are either flattened or frizzy from sleeping on them while they were drying, you can: 1) Wrap your hair in an old cotton t-shirt or 2) Put all your hair in a ponytail on the very top of your head (about an inch and a half from your forehead) using a cloth scrunchie. Cotton is one of the only materials that stifles frizz and putting your hair in a pony tail that far up on your head will make it so you don’t lay on your hair and disrupt its drying. When you wake up in the morning, you should have near-perfect curls.
10. Accept it
If having curly hair has taught me one thing, it’s to accept that some things are out of your control. So, next time you are thinking about cutting all your hair off because you’re having a bad curl day, drop the scissors and take a few deep breaths – it’s not the end of the world. Your hair is unique and there are tons of girls who wish they had naturally curly hair like yours! Who cares if your curls don’t look perfect all the time like Taylor Swift’s (before she fell in love with the flat iron)? Hair is just hair, it doesn’t define who you are. Although it may be frustrating at times, having curly hair is amazing – it really makes you stand out in a crowd and is so versatile you can wear it in practically any style you want!