Talkin ‘Bout That Super Curl
I’ve been rocking the curls since 84’, and have become a pro at dealing with curly hair. Over the years I’ve had my ups and downs, suffered through horrible haircuts, wrote off my curls in favor of straightening it out, but now, more than ever, I have embraced my curly locks—and so should you!
My clients joke that I am “hair famous;” I am approached at least once a day by an admirer or fellow curly-haired human to ask, “what products do you use,” or “where do you get your hair cut,” or “how long does it take to get your hair like that,” or, my favorite, “can I touch it?” I have a head of hair so thick I could probably make five wigs with plenty to spare, which I think is why it’s so unique.
So for all you curly-haired babes out there, here are the rules to live by for dealing with curly hair.
Rule #1: Ditch The Shampoo
Most of us in the curly community have dry and/or coarse, thick hair. If you are using shampoo, you’re doing it all wrong, as it can strip your hair of its natural oils and moisture.
Consider conditioner your best friend! Additionally, most people tend to over-wash their hair. Typically, and unless you live a tremendously sweaty, outdoorsy lifestyle, you only need to wash 2-3 times a week.
If you work out a lot and are a particularly sweaty man (like my husband) and you feel like your hair is becoming super frizzy, try an anti-frizz serum or curl cream after your workout.
Here are a few that work for me: Grooming Creme, Pre-Style/Re-Style Primer, Curl Defining Styling Cream, No Frizz Humidity Shield, Smooth Curls Anti-Frizz Curl Re-Activating Spray.
You can also hit your roots with a quick blow dry after your sweaty activity. Lastly, try a deep conditioning treatment if your hair is feeling extra dry or damaged. There are a lot of good products out there, but never be afraid to stop in a salon and ask for free samples!
Rule #2: DON’T BRUSH, YOU MANIAC!
With super curly locks you NEVER, EVER want to brush out your hair, unless you are interested in looking like Phil Spector. Honestly, I don’t even own a brush. If you find your hair is getting knotted, here are a few things you can do:
1.) Get a pick or a wide-tooth comb to detangle while in the shower and use once you have your conditioner in.
2.) Use your phalanges to your advantage! Once you have thoroughly applied your conditioner, start from the bottom/base of your hair and slowly work your way up to the roots.
Comments
Can I touch it, the best ones are when I’m with my girlfriend and another girl walks up they always ask HER if they can touch my hair
Curly hair love forever! Awesome article, keep the curly blogs comin!
Glad to have you here amigo!
I don’t do any of these things. I must admit that my hair is extremely short at the moment, 3 months of growth, but I literally have only 3 products. I wash my hair once a week with water at body temperature, read cool to lukewarm, and pat dry with the same towel I use on my body. As long as you’re patting and not rubbing like so many of us are used to, your hair shouldn’t break. Since I usually give myself an edge up, or line up, on the same day as wash day, I end up letting my hair dry all the way then proceed to touch up my edges.
After that I can finally use my products:
1) I spray a moisture based (meaning first ingredient is water) leave-in conditioner and massage that in.
2) Rub a small amount of oil onto my scalp to keep it from getting dry and dandruffy.
3) I finish with a small amount of hair grease rubbed all over and comb my hair. Moisturizing this way means you only have to moisturize one other time that same week. That’s my whole routine.
Thanks for the extra tips SIR, these are great!
Long curly hair is easy bros it may be more expensive and girly with proper care it will be amazing all you really have to start out with is buy a sulfate and silicone free shampoo and conditioner ditch the hair products and buy a silicone and alcohol free gel wash your scalp and condition your ends, leave some conditioner in hair smooth over gel and scunch after doing so grab a t shirt and plop
Heck yeah man! Thanks for the tips. And keep lettin it ride!
I’m in the process of growing it out I have super thick curly locks and I’m really excited to get more length any more suggestions on how to get it to grow faster?
mrs T-Monster
i understand you need products to define your curls; but your hair is occlused, and only repeated shampoos can resolve it
but i’ve found at the greatest homemade cosmetics french retailer a mask wich is an emulsion: water, fatty matters, emusifying tensive and a preservative; it can be used as leave-in mask to define curls; many afroeuropean women use it as
and 90% goes away under the shower ( the shampoo eliminates the rest)
one tip: add in 4%vol honeyquat ( honey and hydroxypropyl trimonium, a quaternary compound)and a fragance for getting a detangler treatment, and a little hydrating agent ( yoghurt for an example); it’s a base to complete as your convenience
on the site, 369 user’s comments; you can be confident to those advices; no censure
two problems: a great odour of rosemary and the shipping rate to the usa: us$ 20 ( free shipping at us$ 105)
i precise that i am a hair blogger who refuse any commercial agreement ( my honor is my independance…that allows me to be critical)
the page of that product: http://www.aroma-zone.com/info/fiche-technique/base-masque-capillaire-bio-aroma-zone
I totally agree on the shampoo thing! My hair is pretty straight at the top, but it’s thick and curly down at the bottom where the tips of my hair are. I’ve found that the longer I go without washing it, the better it lays down and avoids being frizzy. The minute I wash out all of the oil using shampoo, the frizz is back and I have a huge fuzzball on my head!
as i’ve shared your tips and my objections, the curly haired reader Myrtale sent me this comment
” i agree with the most of those tips; less is more and does not cost much buckets; in my case, a shampoo based on sci, then a marshmallow gel diluted 5% vol in water ( preservative geogard) as a detangler; it does the job added with a last vinegar rinse ( vinegar 10% vol in water), and a few drops oil on the wet lenghts; i’ cannot agree with a daily detangling on a very curly hair, for even a finger or afro comb detangling breaks the curls, and you get the man’s head pictured. I detangle only 2-3 times a week on wet hair; i begin with the finger to break the greatest knots, then i finish with the forky comb
for the night, i wear the same high messy bun as T-Monster, and i’ve not many tangle
for the end trim, i do it on wet hair for curly hair accept a little cutting unprecision; but, for a major haircutting, i trust you must do it on dry hair: the hairdresser can see the real result”
recipe of the sci shampoo ( the second): https://beautysurvivalism.wordpress.com/2014/08/24/english-recipes-for-healthy-hair-make-your-own-chemical-and-organic-formulations/
Awesome post, love it.
I’ve just started growing my hair out for good, and from past experience I suspect it will end up as thick and wavy-to-curly as yours. I have a question: what is it like to tie up hair like that? Like just getting a hair tie around it all …and to remove it?
I’ve experience with straight fine hair (my daughter’s), but just looking at your hair… whoa!
Hey Tim!
That’s exciting you have committed to growing it out! How long is it currently? A thin headband looks cool if its still short and you want to keep it out of your face. Getting hair like ours tied up is tricky, but once you do it a few times you will be a pro!
1.) I usually have to use 2 or 3 hair ties to keep it nice and tight
2.) Bobby pins are really helpful and you shouldn’t be ashamed to use them 😉
3.) Removing it is the easy part
4.) It can’t look bad so just play with it a bit
I think the Longhairs will have to let me do a tutorial video of how to tie it up next!
Hope this was helpful!
Beautiful! “It can’t look bad” haha!
Thankyou so much, and yes: please do a video for the guys… the videos they’ve provided in the past have been immensely helpful! (and funny-as… I’ve rewatched their launch ad many times for a laugh)
My hair’s only about 3 inches all over right now. I’m hopeful about the awkward/messy stage, as I remember in the distant past I was able to sweep it straight back from my brow and it would stay put… sorta, a bit… from about 6 months in. Only had to sweep it back 20-30 (70-80) times a day. 🙂
Thanks again.
Great tips! As a curly-haired guy having grown out my hair for almost a year now, this is really helpful.
Oscar – glad I could help! Any questions let me know 😉
before the conditioner, i suggest you a low poo
i’ve found an old post about one made from a bath salt; if you make a last rinse with 2 tablespoons vinegar in a cup of water, you have also a detangler
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoPoo/comments/455rzj/i_struck_no_poo_gold_this_stuff_is_fantastic/
Chamane you’re a champion of authentic advice and a true longhair. We’re glad to have you on our site often.
Yes…”Can I touch it” is the most made comment, followed by…”it’s so soft, how do you do that?”
But a question about shampoo, you said to ditch it. Do you mean completely? I shampoo the scalp about once a week. In between, I rinse with plain water followed by conditioner three or four times a week.
Hahahahah Neal – I love it, you totally get me 😉
I’ve had people legit ask me if I curled it with a curling iron – come on man thats silly, you think I have time for that!?
On a real note, I think you regimen sounds legit (especially if people say “it’s so soft” ha!). I only use shampoo about once a month, but that’s because my hair is super dry and coarse and it does nothing for me.
i am not surprised that your hair is super dry; you put on grease, oil, grease, oil…and you use rarely tensives
then the water cannot go through that greasy matter for hydrating your hair
i believe you have an hair deshydratation and if you add a tea spoon of yoghurt in a dose of mild shampoo, it will go better
you ought consult this two interesting french sites ( in french language ) of longhaired curly women:
sa’ravissantebreauté: http://saravissantebeaute.blogspot.fr/
les carnets de tinuviel ( archives and recipes) : http://lescarnetsdetinuviel.blogspot.fr/p/blog-page.html
i hope your hair will go bettre, dear curly rapunzel !!! lol
As a man with thick Wavy hair, I thank you from the bottom of my ?. I just want to rock my mane but sometimes it’s hard.
Jaime my man, it’s hard but it’s worth it!! Have you ever gotten your hair thinned out? About once every sixth months I will give this bad boy a nice thin out and it makes it much more manageable. If you haven’t done it, I would definitely give it a try!
Awesome post, Trista. Great tips.
Happy the tips were helpful 😉
Thanks Sheila!
Great article. Beautiful hair
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks Karl!
I agree with most of the points made except for #1 not washing your hair with shampoo, and #5 trim it dry. As a curly haired individual I thought it was a great read. Looking for more articles are curly hair and maybe from a Latino perspective!
Hey Steven!
Appreciate the feedback! I think it’s ok to use shampoo every once in a while (maybe once a month), but if you are using every time you wash that’s no bueno dude. It definitely depends on the type of curl and hair you have, but this is what works for me 😉
I’ve had trims both dry and wet and the results are always better when it’s dry. Would love to hear more about why you like cutting yours wet? We are all here to help each other with that curly hair fight!
caution: in the Usa, a conditioner is very greasy and not often a detangler, and don’t wash efficiently
avoid silicone ( XXXcone or XXXsilate) and prefer cationic tensives ( XXXium or stearamidopropyl dimethylamine); avoid also polyquaterniums ( can cause an occlusion); learn reading the inci lists ( ingredients) on the bottles !!!
it’s better using a mild shampoo, then a detangler with cationics
if your hair is not greasy, you can also use a low poo ( Yves Rocher for example), and you can add in a few drops of table oil
to avoid deshydratation, a tip: add to the dose of shampoo a tea spoon of yoghurt ( and eat the rest of the pot)
you must detangle daily, and for helping use a spray conditioner detangler
I strongly suggest you all try New Wash by Hairstory… the perfect degree of clean without detergent of any kind… and no conditioner needed!
I was wondering if clear hair elastics (the rainbow loom like bands) are okay to use in curly hair. They look like they might get stuck, but I don’t know. Any curly tops out there willing to give advice?