My Curly Girl Hair Care Routine

Anyone who knows me knows I have some crazy curly hair. Fun fact: hair is coded! Hair codes range from 1a-4c, 1a being the straightest and 4c being the curliest. My hair falls somewhere around 3a. My type of hair struggles a lot with curl definition throughout the week, ranging from beautiful, bouncy curls to basically a head of frizz. It took me years to learn to love my hair and every day I learn more about which products and routines work best for me. Interested in a glance into my curl girl hair routine? You’ve come to the right place. 

A few things to note: I love experimenting with my hair products. You can always catch me switching up the brands I use, and I almost never buy the same product twice (with the exception of a few essentials). Also, I am consciously trying to make the move towards more sustainable, clean beauty products. However, I’ve found it hard to find things that meet my needs, are affordable, and are actually clean products, not just brands that have greenwashed their advertising, especially given there are pretty limited regulations or requirements when it comes to labeling products. I’m always learning more and always open to recommendations!

Now let’s get into it. 

First, I have to let you in on a few rules. If you’re a fellow curly girl, you know: 1.) Absolutely no blow-drying, and 2.) absolutely no brushing. 

Both will immediately cause frizz and ruin your hair. Sometimes, when I tell people I don’t brush my hair, they’re shocked. But for my curls, it’s all about the post-shower routine, after which I’m (mostly) good until I next wash my hair. 

Wash: 

When it comes to washing my hair, I typically wash it about once a week, sometimes twice. I stick to pretty basic shampoo, whatever I’m feeling good about at the moment, as long as it’s designed for curly hair. I scrub just my scalp and don’t get much of my shampoo on the ends of my hair. Curly hair doesn’t allow much oil to travel down the hair shafts, so keeping my shampoo towards the roots of my hair keeps my ends from getting really dry. For conditioner, I almost always use Ogx’s “coconut curls” conditioner. I concentrate this towards my ends and leave it on while I wash the rest of my body before rinsing, allowing for deeper hydration. 

Dry: 

Like I said before, I never blow-dry my hair. If you were to use heat to dry your curls, a diffuser is the way to go! Diffusers attach to the end of a hair dryer and diffuse heat throughout the hair without the wind. Personally, I’m more of a wash and go gal, and never use heat but plenty of people do (and swear by it!). Instead, I use a cotton t-shirt to “towel” dry and then let it do its thing. 

Style:  

I use the term “style” loosely here. A lot of curly folks have very extensive styling routines, which make their hair look bomb, but frankly, I don’t have time for. Once my hair is “toweled” off but still very damp, I use a leave-in conditioner and rake it through my hair. Currently, I’m loving Paul Mitchell’s “The Conditioner.” It’s a little pricier than I usually go for, but it was a gift from my mom (who I got my curls from). 

After the leave-in, I comb through with both a wide tooth comb and a Denman brush. Never heard of a Denman brush? I hadn’t either until last year. Essentially, it’s a brush designed for wet curly hair. Its unique shape and many bristles allow for styling specific to curly hair that “encourages” hair to curl and remain defined. I encourage you to do your own research as there are so many techniques out there and I will not do any technical explanation justice. 

Once I’ve combed and brushed through my (still wet) hair, I add a little curl cream. I’m almost finished with my bottle of Cantu’s “curl activator cream,” which unfortunately isn’t sold anymore. At this point, my curls are usually starting to become more defined, so I scrunch this cream in, so I don’t disturb the curls! 

Maintain: 

I’m an evening shower person (where are my peeps at!), so usually, my hair is not dry by the time I’m ready for bed. In this case, I tie my hair up in a t-shirt so it doesn’t rub on my pillow case (helloooo friction) and create unnecessary frizz. Once my hair is dry, I sleep with it in a scrunchy throughout the week. Officially, it’s called The Pineapple! Shoutout to my freshman year roomie and fellow Her Campus gal for that recommendation — still doing it three years later. 

My hair gradually starts to fall apart throughout the week. Ever heard your curly friend talking about “day 3” hair? The struggle is real. For midweek pick-me-ups, I add a little water or my savior Aussi’s “curl-defining miracle oil.” It literally is a miracle. 

Even so, by the end of the week, you’ll catch me with my hair in a claw clip or very deflated curls (no judgment!). 

Got tips? Curly hair essentials? Let me know! I’m a junky for curl care and I love learning more about how to keep curls healthy and looking superb for as long as possible. 

HCXO,

A

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