Women, who are forced to spend hours with hot curlers in their hair, or work with curling irons and various hair products trying to attain a head of beautiful curls, often envy those women who are lucky enough to come by stunning curls naturally. However, women with wavy hair that looks as if they just rolled out of bed or got caught in a wind tunnel may not always agree that naturally curly hair is something to be jealous of.
If you have curly hair, you can tame your tresses without the extra fuss by using these uncomplicated tips designed specifically for curly and wavy hair types. The summer heat and humidity are not friends of curly locks. Keeping this fact in mind when shampooing, conditioning, and styling your hair, will help you to create attractive yet manageable hairstyles all summer long.
It is best to shampoo curly hair only two or three times a week at most. This is due to the fact that shampoos tend to strip your hair of its natural oils, causing it to dry out, frizz, fray, break, and become harder for you to manage. When you do wash your hair, try using shampoos with rich emollients in their formulas to provide your hair with added hydration. Use a wide-tooth comb to help evenly distribute shampoos and conditioners to your hair. Otherwise, you may hydrate the top of your hair very well while getting very little hydration to underlying layers of hair or hair tips. Follow up shampooing by applying emollient rich conditioner to your hair and allowing it to soak in for at least two minutes. After rinsing, apply leave-in conditioner to your curly hair.
Wrap your hair in a towel and gently rub to remove excess water from your hair. Vigorously rubbing your hair dry could cause damage to hair roots and, sometimes, causing some of your hair to fall out. It is wise to finger comb through tangles, or to use a wide toothed comb, for combing through those annoying knots in curly hair. This will help to avoid breaking hair. You will want to apply moisturizing, curl-activating hair gel to your hair while it is still wet. This step will help to lock in moisture and help your curly hair stay hydrated and more manageable all day long. Dividing your hair into sections and scrunching curls into place while hair is still damp can also help you to gain better styling control over curly hair.
High heat from blow dryers tends to dry out curly hair quickly and can cause frizzing, and hair breakage. It is best to let your hair air-dry naturally. However, if you do need to dry your hair fast with a blow dryer, use the lowest heat setting and stop drying your hair just short of completely dry. Apply anti-frizz serum and moisturizing hair gel to damp hair. Curly hair needs more moisture than straight hair to stay healthy and manageable. We all need to replenish the moisture we take out of our hair with blow-drying and the use of various styling products, but curls tend to sap more moisture from hair quickly and become unruly.
Using styling products not made for curlier hair can weaken and cause damage to hair and make your tresses even more difficult to style and manage each time you try. Even products designed specifically for use on curly hair should not be overused. Curly hair needs frequent timeouts from having a lot of styling products applied to it. Most women with curly hair know how temperamental their wavy hair can be.
Using styling products too often on your hair can deplete your hairs natural oils, making it more susceptible to breakage. Applying too much styling product to your hair can have another unpleasant affect by making it stiff and uncooperative once the product has dried.
A good rule of thumb on how much styling product to use when applying to your hair is to put a dime-sized amount of the product in the palm of your hand. Then, use a wider toothed comb for even application all over your hair. If you find that this amount does not provide you with enough styling freedom, or your hair feels extra dry after the product dries, experiment with different amounts until you find just the right amount for your curly hair.
Develop a new friendship and appreciation for your curly hair. There are plenty of women out there wishing that they had naturally curly hair like yours. Learning more about the many different products, tools, and methods that are available to help you in taming your curly hair can also teach you to love your luscious mane.
About the Author
Arianna Jordan is a freelance writer and blogger who writes about fashion and beauty, often focusing on a particular product such as Bumpits.