Tips for Curly Hair
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Curly hair is the most difficult to maintain because it breaks easily, is prone to frizz and dryness, so it needs special care. Follow these easy tips below on a regular basis for super healthy, strong, slick and shiny curly hair.
SHAMPOO
1. Use a shampoo that is specifically geared towards curly hair
2. Never apply shampoo to the top of your head. Always start at the nape of your neck.
3. Don't shampoo too often as it will dry out your hair and make it frizzy. Shampoing too often strips your hair and scalp of its natural oils. A good rule of thumb is to wash hair no more than twice a week.
4. After shampoo, rinse hair with warm water before applying conditioner. (never hot water as it dries out the hair). Warm water opens hair shaft so it absorbs conditioner better.
CONDITIONING
2. Never apply shampoo to the top of your head. Always start at the nape of your neck.
3. Don't shampoo too often as it will dry out your hair and make it frizzy. Shampoing too often strips your hair and scalp of its natural oils. A good rule of thumb is to wash hair no more than twice a week.
4. After shampoo, rinse hair with warm water before applying conditioner. (never hot water as it dries out the hair). Warm water opens hair shaft so it absorbs conditioner better.
CONDITIONING
1. Use a conditioner that is specifically geared towards curly hair
2. Use a conditioner every time after you shampoo to re-moisturize your hair
3. To avoid breakage, comb conditioner through your hair while you’re still in the shower. Detangling hair saturated with conditioner reduces hair breakage dramatically. Start distributing a generous amount of conditioner at the middle of your hair (not at the roots) and work your way down the end. Apply an additional helping of conditioner to the hair’s ends, as they are the most dry and porous. Fisrt detangle with your fingers as much as possible
Then start with small hair sections at a time, and comb from the ends and work your way up to the roots until hair is detangles. Comb gently. Never start detangling from the top because this breaks the hair. This evenly distributes the conditioning product, makes combing your wet hair a breeze and avoids hair breakage.
Then start with small hair sections at a time, and comb from the ends and work your way up to the roots until hair is detangles. Comb gently. Never start detangling from the top because this breaks the hair. This evenly distributes the conditioning product, makes combing your wet hair a breeze and avoids hair breakage.
4. Avoid using narrow toothed combs and brushes, use wide-toothed combs instead which has less of a tendency to cause breakage and frizzing.
5. Rinse hair with lukewarm or cold water, this will seal the hair cuticles, reducing frizz and make your hair look shiny and silky
6. In the final rinse, add either lemon juice, apple vinegar or beer (good quality brand like Guiness), this will make your hair really shiny as it will change the PH of your hair and seal cuticles.
STYLING
1. Never wrap your hair in a towel like a turban. This bends the hair shaft and causes hair breakage. Instead, place the towel on your head like a veil and gently squeeze out excess moisture.
2. Let your hair air dry to reduce frizzing, blow dryers' heat breaks hair. If you need to your hair to dry quickly, blot your hair with a towel, but do not rub it.
3. Blow dry methodically if you can't air dry or are straightening your tresses. This can take practice and time, but it is worth it. Use a big round brush that will allow you to smooth your hair as you dry. Always blow in a downward motion. Running the dryer over hair up and down causes the cuticle to frizz and split. Divide hair into sections with curler pins and dry one section at a time.
4. Avoid brushing, curly hair should never be brushed unless you straighten it or brush the front when wearing a ponytail.
5. Use a leave-in conditioner on your hair daily or every other day.
6. Avoid gels and mousse as they tend to dry curly hair. Curly hair needs moisture, moisture and more moisture. Opt for leave-in conditioners, moisturizing lotions, puddings, creams, serums, balms, pomades etc
7. Avoid styling products with grease or drying alcohol. Grease won't moisturize your hair but make it greasy and unhealthy looking.
8. Avoid using narrow toothed combs and brushes, use wide-toothed combs instead which has less of a tendency to cause breakage and frizzing.
9. Use Rejuvenate Texturizing Mist on days when you do not shampoo your hair to revive your curls and give them a fresh, bouncy look.
10. Before applying a styling or finishing product to your hair, really rub the product into your hands as if you were applying hand cream. This will help you to control the product and distribute evenly.
MAINTENANCE
1. Deep treat your hair with heat at least once a week but not too hot or it can break your hair. Your thristy tresses will thank you.
2. Also try to use a natural hair recipe at least once every two weeks and let it sit on hair all nigt if you can. I do this with olive oil once a week. I use olive oil alone or with a little honey and I leave it all night and sometimes all day when I stay in. It leaves my hair really well conditioned. You can add heat with those natural recipes
3. Get your split ends trimmed at least 4 times a year.
Avoid using a razor on your hair. Razors give rise to split ends.
4. Choose a hairstyle, which you can maintain easily.
EXTRA TIPS TO STOP FRIZZ
Most of the tips above are all about reducing frizz so read each section carefully.
However this section will give you additional cool tips to stop and prevent frizz.
1. Avoid playing with your hair or touching it as much as possible, the more friction that occurs on your hair will cause it to tangle and/or frizz.
2. Always rinse with the coldest water you can stand after using a shampoo and conditioner. The cold water "locks down" the hair cuticle and makes hair appear slicker, less frizzy
3. Use quality products to stop frizz
4. Do not use a hair brush. Using a hair brush on thick hair and "frizzy" prone hair will cause split ends. Use a wide toothed comb to detangle hair when hair is saturated with conditioner, and finger comb only when hair is dry. In the morning when you wake up, if you have "bed" hair, spritz your hair with leave-in conditioner and finger comb it into place.
5. Air dry your hair instead of using a blow dryer or hair dryer (the kind with bonnets attached to a hose). This will also cut down on split ends. Using a curling iron or hot rollers is acceptable, but this can also damage your hair if not done properly.
6. Do not rub your hair with towel. A towel worsens the cuticle and causes them to stand.
Labels: Tips for curly hair