There is a definite amount of truth to the saying “the grass
is always greener on the other side.” And when it comes to physical appearance,
it’s so easy to want what you can’t have. Personally, my curly hair used to be
one of those “brown grass” areas in my life, while straight, shiny, perfect
hair was practically a technicolor green. I always wanted that shiny perfection
that you just can’t achieve with a frizzy head of curls, because natural curls
won’t ever quite look like the shiny, perfect do’s of celebrities. (Although
they all wear wigs anyway, don’t they?) My natural curls have weird kinks,
constant fly-aways, and at the sight of sweat, form a lovely little halo around my face no matter how
much I try and slick back my ponytail. For years I straightened my locks for
formal events, only to realize that after 20 minutes in a stifling gym my hair
looked exactly like it always had, curls, curls, curls and a matted hairbrush
to match.
Like with most things in life though, I grew up to realize that
I am so blessed with the hair I have! (Guys. Hair is a metaphor for life.) And now I
love my curls and wouldn’t really ever want to be without them. It’s like they
are messy and fun and free just like I can be at times. (Guys, GUYS! Hair is a
metaphor for myself too apparently.) So, I’ve been in the lovely practice of
embracing my curls 100% for the past few years, even to the point where I go
mostly natural for even the fanciest of events. And therefore, I wanted to write a
little series of posts about making crazy, curly hair work for me.
To kick it off, I have a few tips and tricks that I put to work
to make my curls super lovable, even though they are wild! I’m not anywhere near an
expert, but trial and error with my own head of curls has resulted in the guide I
am making for you now!
1) Don’t you dare brush
As I’m sure many curly girls know, do NOT brush your hair.
Not only does it increase your risk of knotting and breakage, but it also takes
those curled strands that are all wound up together and pulls then apart—talk about volume!
(Think Hermione from movie 1. That was me all the way through elementary school…)
Instead, I run a very wide tooth comb through my hair after I shower, and if I do dry comb, I dampen my hair first and finger-comb only. I
find that this helps keep those gathered curls together to make everything a
whole lot less poofy! That said, when those pretty locks do get separated, such as
while French-braiding or re-parting my hair, a few spritzes of water tends to
recurl that chunk of hair nicely!
2) Spritz spritz
And on that note, if I look in the mirror and see a kinky,
unclassy mess, adding more water is usually my first go-to. For example,
sometimes I’ll have a piece or two oh hair that got pulled is straighter than
the others. When this happens, I just spritz and scrunch that section to
achieve a uniform (still crazy) mess. Hair oil mist and sea salt spray are also helpful for me to tame the curly beast, but I'll discuss that further in the next installment of this series!
3) Be gentle
Curly hair can be pretty brittle, which isn’t exactly compatible
with the fact that it likes to wrap itself around and anything and everything in its
way! (I’ve gotten so many pencils stuck in my hair….) Wearing your hair tied
back, especially with traditional hair ties, can also cause extra breakage at about chin-level. To fight this, apart from not brushing and combing my hair
while dry, I often wear my hair down during the day. When it needs to be tied up or pulled back, I use soft elastic
hair ties or clear elastics that can be cut when you want to remove them.
I also sleep with my hair either in a loose high pony with a
wide elastic or short ribbon (like, about to fall out loose) or with my curls
confined to two braids without hair ties at the ends. (Yes, my curls will still
hold the braids.) I find these are good compromises between keeping my slept-on
hair nice and avoiding the pulling and breakage that a normal hair tie would cause in my sleep.
4) Shampoo Less
Another tip you have probably heard many a time if you are a
curly-girl is to shampoo less, and honestly this makes a huge difference for
me. I wash my hair with shampoo every 5-6 days at the absolute most. Personally,
my hair is pretty dry, so my roots do not experience much oiliness. Depending
on your hair though, you might feel the need to wash more often at first! Just
keep in mind that your scalp will start producing less oil as you wash it less.
Another tip here is to pull your hair away from your face if oil i a concern. I typically side-part my hair, meaning that the
fuller side from the part can pick up oils from my forehead more easily and
look kind of gross. I take care of that with some bobby pins, a half-pony, or by embracing
the center part for a change!
5) Hydrate
And on that note, hydration is key to curls! Some helpful
tips I have there are washing the hair less, drinking your fluids like you should, and
using a serum, hair mask, or leave in conditioner on the ends! I’ll detail my
favorite products soon, but there are a lot of good products out there that you
can take a gander at! (And a lot of good reviews to compare them!)
An alternative (or addition) to leave-in conditioner would
also be to rinse the conditioner from your hair with cool water. I think this
has something to do with the cuticle sealing or something to produce shine, but I also feel like
it washes out a little less of the conditioner so that it can keep working to
increase the softness of my hair.
6) Avoid Chemicals and Heat
Just generally be nice to your hair. It is no surprise that
reducing chemical dyes and heat exposure on your hair makes it healthier, and
healthier curls are prettier! (Unless you are going for the 80’s/Hermoine look.
I mean, you do you.) For example, I will be dyeing my ends blue later this month (for a summer camp thing... for now at least), so I am looking into conditioners that
slowly build up the color over time. I’m hoping that a product like Overtone, which is
actually made to preserve bright hair color, will dye my hair enough while also conditioning it! Henna hair colors by Lush are also very interesting to me, and would be great for dying curls in a natural shade. (Super cool, but super permanent, so you decide.)
7) Trim the Mess
I love having long hair, but keeping it short can keep your
curls much healthier day-to-day. If you still want long locks though, (like me) then pay
attention to when your ends start getting extra split and tangley. (I can usually
tell if they knot up constantly, no matter how much conditioner I use!) Then,
when my hair goes knotty, I go for a trim! For me, waiting to cut split-ends gives no extra length benefit because the ends don’t curl as prettily, and will break off regardless! Oh, and no one can tell anyway, so it's not like it makes a big difference. Curly hair is an illusion like that as it springs up a couple inches
regardless of its length.
8) Embrace Them Gorgeous Locks
Over the next couple installments of this series I plan on
talking about products I like and life-saving hairstyles, but until then I can
say that the best way to love your curls is to just embrace them! Accept that
your grass is pretty damn green all on its own, and when your hair seems to be
getting big, spray on some saltwater and embrace the wild, hippie-child feels.
Curls are fun and gorgeous in a messy and natural way that
many straight-haired girls will work hard to achieve. I joke that my hair is a
mess that I pretend is intentional, but that is completely accurate. My hair
isn’t gonna look like it was curled by an iron because it wasn’t. (It was
curled my genetics and science and stuff…eww no, school.) And besides, natural hair is
totally in style and confidence is the best accessory.
Are there any fellow curly girls out there? Any vital tips I
missed?
Stay lovely,
