People have different hair textures and scalp conditions. Each one isn’t alike and requires unique ingredients in products and care methods. Besides, the process for drying, detangling, and the like also varies.
Taking care of naturally curly hair can be tricky because usual techniques for haircare won’t usually work. Curly hair can be rather finicky, too, because of humidity and moisture. However, one shouldn’t think that taking care of curly hair textures is impossible. With the right knowledge and techniques, one can easily manage and allow curly hair to rightfully take its moment and shine.
To maintain and make your curls look fantastic all the time, try out the following steps.
1. Choose Shampoo For Curly Hair
If you have a set of curly locks, the first thing to invest in is a shampoo that’s good and designed for your hair. Depending on your hair type, there should be specific products appropriate for you. There are a lot of hair products to bring out natural curls, including shampoos.
Nevertheless, it can be confusing as to which shampoo or brand is good for curly tresses. While some brands claim to be safe on textured locks, it isn’t always the case. To ensure what type of products you can use, make sure they have:
- No silicones;
- No sulfates;
- No alcohols;
- No parabens; and
- No fragrance.
2. Don’t Wash Your Hair Too Often
Once you find the shampoo with ingredients that works for you, make sure that you don’t use it too often. Some people with curly hair only wash their hair once a week. Still, this will also depend on how oily your scalp gets. Hence, it’s important to observe how quickly your hair gets dirty. This may help you form a consistent schedule on when hair washing day should be.
Additionally, it’s important to not wash your hair too often because it can strip your locks and scalp of its natural oils. Curly hair is already known to be on the drier and frizzy side compared to its peers. One reason for this is that the natural oils from the scalp can’t easily slide down to the length of the strands because of the curly texture.
Extra tip: If you find that your hair gets too dry after shampooing, you might want to use pre-shampoo treatments to lock in much-needed moisture.
3. Use A Leave-In Conditioner
After applying all your curly hair products in the shower, you might want to top it off with a leave-in conditioner. This will help add more moisture to your hair since most rinse-off products won’t stick to your hair as effectively. Try to apply this on the more damaged parts of your hair like the ends. Also, run it through the length of your hair but try to avoid the roots if you have an oily scalp.
4. Try Out Hair Oils
Water-based products can evaporate and leave your hair dried out. If you find that your hair is extremely dried out, adding hair oils to your routine might be the fix you need. Hair oils don’t evaporate or dry as fast as other products. But be sure that you use it sparingly or you might end up with greasy-looking hair.
5. Use Cold Water In Washing Your Hair
Hot water is known to dry your skin so it’s best to stick to lukewarm or even cold water during baths. If hot water can do this to your skin, it can do it to your hair too no matter what texture it is. Curly hair is already known to be dry, so subjecting it to high temperatures is believed to be a bad idea. Stick to cold water instead, this way, it won’t get easily damaged or dried out.
6. Don’t Brush It Out When It’s Dry
If you have naturally curly hair, you probably already know that brushing it out while it’s dry is a big no-no. When curly hair dries, it sets into its natural curl pattern. Passing a brush or a comb through it would disturb the naturally occurring pattern and you’ll just end up with a frizzy mess.
7. Airdry Your Hair
Being so dry, curly hair can benefit from being air-dried whenever possible. Avoiding any kind of heating tool such as a blow-dryer can help maintain moisture. This will help your curls look more defined, shinier, and bouncier.
If you do need to dry off your hair, make sure that you use extra heat-protecting products prior to the application of any heat. You can prep your hair in the shower too by using masks and deep conditioners. And most importantly, blow dry your hair with a diffuser so that each strand can dry while being scrunched in place for an even finish.
Conclusion
Curly hair is said to be finicky because of how quickly it can frizz up and how unmanageable it may get. Nevertheless, if you could resist the urge of straightening it, you could manage to get the best out of your natural healthy curls with a bit of hard work.
With the right knowledge, products, and proper care routines, you’ll definitely see a change in how defined your ringlets, waves, or curls can look.