1/13/13

Tips for Curly Hair Girls

    As a curly haired girl I am always looking for tips and so I decided to share my tips to other curly haired friends. Enjoy the tips!

(I have moved to a different site, so come on over!)


        My normal routine when taking a shower:

1) Shower (every other day). Ok, my hair always looks it's best after I shower, but it isn't a healthy habit to shower every day, so I have to hold off showering every day.

2) I don't shampoo. Yes, as crazy as it sounds I don't shampoo. Why do I do this? It because almost all shampoos contain different types of sulfate in them, which causes your already dry hair to become dryer. It may take four weeks for your hair to ajust to using no shampoo, and don't worry your hair will still stay clean without shampoo.






3) Put in conditioner. I use Frizz-Ease conditioner. Let me tell you I use more than a dine size in....If you do not use leave in conditioner I would suggest leaving a tad bit of conditioner in your hair so your hair is for sure to stay soft and silky.
    TIP: I apply most of the conditioner at the ends of my hair.

4) While the conditioner is in I brush my hair with a wide toothed comb or run my fingers through it until it is detangled or close....

 (After I started using these tips - >)
I still need to learn how to style it, but the curls look great!

5) Then before I get out of the shower I rinse off my hair with cold water. It helps with the shine of your curls and helps close off my hair cuticles.
   TIP: Try gradually changing the water temperature from hot to cold, because a sudden blast
of cold water is not very welcoming especially in the
winter.                                                  

5) When I get out of the shower I flip upside down and lightly run my finger through my hair once. So that my clump of hair separates into curls.

6) Then (still upside down) I scrunch my curls one or two times with some curly hair product in my hand and some leave in conditioner (the product changes a lot, because I haven't find the RIGHT product yet). This helps with forming the curls.

7) I take a clean T-Shirt and lie it flat in my hand and scrunch my hair a couple of times, while I'm upside down. This dries off your hair a little bit.                                                                           
 TIP: Never use a towel to dry your hair off. It can cause your hair to become frizzer and cause breakage. A T-Shirt is better to dry with, because the flatter the surface you use to dry off your curls the less frizzy your hair will become.

8) Then I blow dry my hair with a diffuser, set on low heat. You know that thing that comes with a blow-dryier? It is a diffuser. I do this while upside down until my hair is 70 to 80 percent dry. The diffuser adds a lot of volume (that isn't frizz) to the curls, and around the roots, so the roots aren't lying flat.
    TIP: The diffuser is the best part of my routine.  I would totally recommend this. Because if you let your curls air dry all the way...then the curls are sopping wet for hours.

9) Then I take two or three giant clips and clip my hair up without flatting my hair. I leave this in for about an hour or until my hair is completely dry.

10) After I take the clips down my hair looks really funky, But after a couple upside down shakes the funky position is gone. Middle parts in my hair don't look good so I have a side part and then pin my bangs back with booby pins.

EXTRA TIPS:
•Use a silk or satin pillow case. This can stop breakage and leave our hair less frizzy when you wake up in the morning, and reduces tangles.

•NEVER brush your hair except when you are in the shower. As most of you know brushing hair can cause serious frizziness.

•Never rub your curls just scrunch. We are trying to give curls their natural form and rubbing doesn't while scrunching does help with the shape.

•Try not to use products with sulfate in them. Curly hair is naturally more dry and sulfate does not help with that problem.

•If you have more time after your hair is dry you can take a small curling iron and re-curl some of the really frizzy curls.

•Products with coconut oil in them are good for your hair (don't really know why, but it's working)

•Get a small trim once ever 4-6 months. This helps get ride of the spit ends in your hair.

•Try to stay away from using a lot of gel, since it can make your hair texture hard and crunchy.

•Put some honey into your conditioner. Honey helps cleanse your hair and leaves moisturizer and shine.

•Try to safe straightening you hair for extra special occasions. I LOVE my curly hair (minus the frizziness :), but a change is fun every once in a while, but the more you straighten your hair the more damaged your curls will get. So limit how much you straighten your curls.

•A salt spray mixture that will help define your curls. Put about one teaspoon of regular table salt into a spray bottle, fill the rest up with warm water, and add some optional drops of lavender in. Shake until salt is dissolved, and your good to go!

Apple Cider Vinegar. Every couple of weeks after conditioning and rinsing out, I’ll take a cup full of ACV, dump it on my hair, and rinse. It helps get rid of buildup, keeps your hair shiny, and NO, you will not smell like salad after you’re done!

Two great books that have helped me in so many ways:


               






   



















      Curly Girl: A Celebration of Curls











      

      Hopefully these tips were helpful. I have learned to embrace my hair on the good days and the bad, and bad hair days are not the end of the world :). For we were all made to be different and stand out from the crowd. Feel free to share your tips of how you manage your hair or if you don't have curly hair share this post to a curly-haired friend.

Emma
I have moved to a different site, so come on over!

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18 sweet notes:

  1. I have almost the same exact routine as you, except I use a sulfate/silicone free shampoo because my hair doesn't do so well shampoo free. I recently found out about plopping (putting your hair in a t-shirt) and my hair has looked better since. Thanks so much for the tips!
    I also have a post about my curly hair routine :)

    Pepper

    http://pepperhales.blogspot.com/

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  2. I forgot to say, you're curls are gorgeous!

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  3. You are so pretty! And i love this post! My hair is sooo curly and this really helped<3

    God bless! I really love your blog

    Love,

    Ashley http://luv2sing-mypre-teenjourney.blogspot.com/

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  4. You are so pretty! Your hair is absolutely beautiful :)My younger sister has blonde hair that is also crazy curly. She is trying to figure out how to fight the frizz so I will totally tell her all of your tips. Thanks! I am also homeschooled except I live in the east coast. I love your blog and how you aren't afraid to share your love of Jesus!!!!
    Camryn
    I would love it if you checked out my blog at passthesparkles.blogspot.com

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  5. Oh my goodness Emma your curls are very beautiful!!! So jealous! But you do sooooo much to your hair it's crazy. But that's awesome. I love how your all about natural stuff. I've done some of these things but I've stopped. So you have encouraged me to start doing them again. I have very thick red hair. Haha it seems uncontrollable some days! But under my top layer of hair I have lots of waves. I really like my waves so I'd like to try these different idea's to bring out my waves. Thank so much!
    Amber :D

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  6. I loved this post! Such great trips - I think I'll try some of them in the weeks to come!
    Blessings,
    Anne Marie

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  7. You know, as I was reading these tips I was thinking "Hey! These sound almost just like what I read in that Curly- girl book!" And hey, whatayouknow! It was! That book has been super helpful to me too! =D
    I also use a sulfate free shampoo. =)
    Thanks for sharing this!

    ~Jenny

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  8. I have read one of Lorriane's curly hair books. I'm a curly girl too and I have successfully stopped using gel and hairspray for 4 months or so.

    I love your curls!!!

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  9. Your curls are gorgeous! Thank you for sharing this link with me. My routine is similar but not exactly the same. Tomorrow it will be two weeks since I've started the "Curly Girl" routine and I think I like my hair better now than I did before.

    I have noticed that using gel does make my hair hard and crunchy, like you said, though in Massey's book she says that if you scrunch it up afterward it dissolves the gel cast. I wonder why it didn't work so well with me.

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  10. Hey there Emma, just wanted to give my input. I also have curly hair, and while I definitely agree with abandoning normal shampoo, I've found the (now don't laugh) no-poo method works pretty well. The "shampoo" is baking soda mixed with water, and while most people use apple cider vinegar as a conditioner, I use coconut oil as a leave-in conditioner the night before. I only wash my hair about once a week, and it doesn't get greasy until at least 7 days after washing.

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  11. I also have naturally curly hair and it is thick! I do use gel, but it is an off brand that can't be found in all stores, but you can order it online. It is Volumax and is in a black bottle! I go through many of the same steps you do but include this and is is AMAZING! I love it!

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  12. I would love to wash/no soap my hair every other day, but after sleeping it is too frizzy and I have to get it completely wet again. I can't stand having all that hair in my face while I sleep, so I have to put it in a soft scrunchy. Any tips for the morning of the second day so i don't have to wash it again?

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    Replies
    1. My advice would be to find a hairstyle that looks cute messy such as a messy bun. My favorite messy hair-do is doing a french braid round the back of my head and ending in a low messy bun. I know some people instead of washing their hair again they spritz it with water in a spray bottle. I don't know how that would work because I have never done it. Hope this helps.
      Emma

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    2. I spray my hair with a spray bottle every morning and it works really well! You have to scrunch it. And when I'm going somewhere, I put argan oil, ojon and gel in it and scrunch. There's a picture of my hair here on the right hand side: www.agentleandquietspirit.com.

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  13. Anyone with curly hair should try ouidad. It is amazing!

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  14. Anyone with curly hair should try ouidad. It is amazing!

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  15. I have tried everything possible for curly hair and when I tried potion9, I was hooked.Try potion 9 from sebastion. This is the only thing I have found to keep my curls natural, frizz free and it doesn't look like there is gel in my hair. It smells good too!

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  16. Use its a 10. It works really well to keep the frizz away. It's easy to use too since it's just a spray.

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I love getting comments and feedback from readers...they make my day. :)
-Emma