I love, love, love curly hair! In my opinion, there is nothing more beautiful than a head full of curls. When curly hair is springy, and the curl is uniform, you know that it’s been cared for with love AND the person blessed with those curls has found the best way to care for those locks. Recently, I attended a weekend full of training and one of the best classes I took was from Liz Paola. She taught an awesome class full of information to help us stylists help our curly girl clients learn how to love and treat their curls.
You see, too often, curly girls haven’t been taught the best way to handle and treat their hair. The end result is frizz, frustration, limp curls, or big hair. It’s no wonder that the top five complaints of curly hair are:
- frizz
- frizz
- frizz
- frizz
- flat
Product companies have answered back to these complaints with a plethora of serums, styling creams, gels, mousse, conditioners, shampoos, etc. Take a walk down any aisle of hair care in your local store and your head will spin! In reality, the reason for the frizzy curl is damage, not having the correct balance of moisture + protein and lack of proper care. Those curls have been dried out, tortured with a blow dryer and/or flat iron and treated badly to try and yield them into submission. More importantly, the lack of proper care is causing the damage and no amount of product will fix that.
Let me share with you what I learned from Liz- along with a few tips of my own- about how to take care of curly hair, keep the frizz away and love those fabulous curls…
First up and most important, is the cleansing cycle. Curly hair does not need to be shampooed every day! This is important to maintain the proper PH level and curls at their maximum definition. The ideal cleansing cycle looks like this:
Day 1 Clarify + moisture or protein treatment (Not sure if you need moisture or protein? If curls are limp, use protein. If curls are too big, use moisture.)
Day 2 Rinse with water only and use a leave in conditioner
Day 3 Rinse with water only and use a leave in conditioner
Day 4 Rinse with water only and use a leave in conditioner
Day 5 Wash and condition using a moisture or protein based shampoo with a PH level of 4.5-5. (Not sure if you need moisture or protein? Limp curls = protein/Too much volume = moisture.)
Day 6 Rinse with water only and use a leave in conditioner
Day 7 Rinse with water only and use a leave in conditioner
Repeat! You will start to see results in about one month. I know that sounds like forever, but hang in there!
Moving on to styling…
- Always use a wide tooth comb on wet hair! This prevents breakage and limits the disruption of the curl pattern.
- Always blot and scrunch wet curls, preferably with an old cotton t-shirt or paper towels. This prevents roughing up the cuticle layer which causes frizz and disruption of the curl pattern.
- Apply product to wet hair and use more than you might think might be needed. (I love Texture Gelee or Curl and Lift Scrunching Foam!) This prevents frizz and helps to define curl pattern.
- Always use a diffuser attachment when using a blow dryer and always leave some moisture in the hair. Never over dry! Again, this prevents frizz and keeps curl pattern defined.
- Keep your hands out of your hair until it is 100% dry. I like to put a few drops of Morrocan Miracle by Solo Capelli Studio Line on my hands to ‘fluff’ curls up at the base/scalp area at this point.
I would love know if these tips have been helpful and if you’re a curly girl, please feel free to share what tips or tricks you use to keep your curls looking their best. As always, your comments are always appreciated…
