Curly Girl Hair Care

I have a love/hate relationship with my hair.  Most days it's great, I love it and everything about it....some days though, I just WISH I could have straight hair so I could bounce out of bed, run a brush through, do a few minor tweaks and be on my way.  I have learned SOO much about how to take care of my hair over the years.  Trial and error are my best friends, and now so are Pinterest and YouTube.

Of course, there is no one right way for every curly girl.  You have to find the right products for your curls, try different things.  This is my regimen.

Cleansing:

I have read so many things about "no-poo" and "co-washing" washing your hair with just conditioner or once a week with sulfate-free and then in between with conditioner...um, no.  My hair will be a grease pit if I followed those methods!

Instead, I wash and condition my hair with Kirkland Signature Sulfate-free Shampoo and Moisturizing Conditioner from Costco.  These are amazing on my hair!!  After washing, I wrap my hair in a t-shirt, not anything terrycloth or microfiber.  I absolutely cannot stand how microfiber feels on my skin!!

Styling products:

This girl loves some hair products.  This is my current regimen.

1.  Slip Detangler by Curly Hair Solutions - I love this.  I spray it, wait a minute, then brush.  Yes, I said brush.  I use a paddle brush and not a pick or comb because I would be crying on the floor if I used a pick or comb every day!

2.  Argan Oil of Morocco - again amazing stuff.  I use a nickel size amount, avoid the roots, and just finger it through my damp hair.  It softens, helps with frizz, overall amazing.  I can find this almost anywhere, bought it at Target.

3.  Curl Keeper by Curly Hair Solutions - This is like a primer for me.  I can't use it alone, although some people can and it looks amazing.  I use a lot of this, several squirts on each section of hair, making sure it feels squishy wet when I squeeze it.

4.  Mega Firm Hold Gel by Vidal Sassoon - BEST gel for my hair and I have tried every gel out there
.  I can only find it at WalMart so every time I go, I stock up with about 5 tubes.  I use a generous amount and make sure every part of my hair is covered.

Once all of this is in my hair, I flip and use the t-shirt to scrunch and remove excess liquid.  I let air dry for as long as I am able, sometimes only 10 minutes.  I like to wait until there is a bit of a crunch to my hair before I blow dry.

Styling:

I flip and blow dry my hair for about 10 minutes.  I use a diffuser otherwise all the curls will be blown apart.  I usually use this time to check instagram, blogger, etc, because it is boring to stand flipped over for 10 minutes with nothing to do!  Sometimes I read quilting magazines, or books.  I make sure the roots are as dry as I can get them and work into the rest of my hair.

And that's it!!  Seems like a lot, but it's not too bad.  I still haven't mastered 2nd or 3rd day hair.  Usually it goes in a pony tail or some kind of up-do.  I hope this post has helped any other of my curly girls out there!

Managing Curly Hair

Ever since I was little, my hair has been curly and thick.  I inherited the curly from my mom and the thick from my dad.  I was doubly "blessed" and absolutely HATED it when I was young.  It was always out of control and a ball of frizz.  My mom did the best she could to help me tame the wild.  God bless her!!  On top of this, my head is very tender....so every time she came at me with a brush I screamed bloody murder!  We should've bought stock in Johnson and Johnson tangle remover!  It took me YEARS to figure out how to take care of this "blessing" so that I didn't look like Diana Ross every time I fixed my hair....seriously it's that big when I brush it out dry....mercy.  I still have bad hair days, and live where it is humid all summer long, but these tips have helped keep it under control and looking nice--most of the time!

1.  Invest in GREAT products.  I cannot emphasize this enough...I have spent so much money on cheap-o products and not only do I waste money, but I end up spending more because I have to buy more and more.

2.  Use a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner.  I LOVE Aussie products and use their Moist shampoo and conditioner. If you use a great conditioner, you don't need a leave-in conditioner.  It will over-condition your hair which leads to big-time frizz.

3.  Comb/Brush all hair when wet....and only when wet!!  Spray your hair with a detangler and let it set for about a minute before brushing...it helps!  If you are bold and want the Diana look, go ahead and brush out dry curls!  Otherwise, back away from the pick, brush, and comb.

4.  Repeat after me....Mousse is for VOLUME and Gel is for CONTROL.  I have dabbled with oh so many products here and have found that my all time favorite gel is Redken number 16.  Pricey but well worth it!  I have also been introduced to a new product called Curl Keeper.  I tried it and really liked it...still needed a touch of gel, but it is a great product with amazing results!!  You have to buy online since it is from Canada, but it is SO worth it!

5.  After washing, apply hair gel when it is wet and let it air dry until it feels a bit "crunchy."  Then blow dry with a diffuser.  If you can't wait until it is "crunchy," it will just be frizzier.  I flip my head over and blow dry so that all my hair gets dry.  Use your fingers here instead of a brush or comb!

6.  Find a hair stylist that knows how to cut curly hair.  Don't be afraid to ask if they feel comfortable with it.  Once I walked into the salon and the girl scheduled to cut my hair got a deer-in-the-headlights look all over her face...she was scared of messing up and wasn't confident.  My hair didn't look awful when I left, but it wasn't really what I wanted, either!

7.  Layers are your friend....long layers that is.  Unless you like the Q-Tip look, stick to long layers.  Also, if it's all one length, you will have the lampshade look.  I've had both and they are not attractive!!

8.  Don't be afraid of using hair accessories!  My hair is too thick for most clips and cute stuff, so I have had to make my own.  And using a non-slip grip on the clips has helped keep them in my thick hair.  My hair is "bigger" than most people's hair, so I am not at all afraid of using a larger accessory.  I love big flowers and headbands!

It is funny that neither one of my daughters ended up with my curly hair!  Sure enough, if I ever have a boy, he will have it!