Maintaining naturally curly hair can be a challenge, especially when you’re on a budget. Here are four tips to help you keep your curls healthy and beautiful without breaking the bank.
1. Using the right products is a must for curly hair.
If you want your curly hair to look healthy and frizz-free, then you must use the right products for your curly hair. Invest in a good quality shampoo and conditioner that is designed for curly hair. Avoid shampoos and conditioners that contain sulfates. When in doubt, ask your stylist or the manufacturer if any ingredients are an ingredient you shouldn’t put in your hair. I’ve used sulfates in my hair for years without issue.
According to Dr. Michelle Henry, a board-certified dermatologist, “Sulfates can strip the hair of its natural oils, which is particularly damaging for curly hair that is already prone to dryness.”
Besides shampoo, which I’ll be discussing next, I like to use a smoothing conditioner that is made for curly hair. It’s a gel or cream that is applied to your locks and dispersed evenly. Most conditioners contain a sugar that can add breakage to your hair. If you use these conditioners regularly in the wrong way, they can lead to your hair becoming overly rigid and brittle, which can damage your curls over time.
The best way to use a smoothing conditioner is to mist your hair lightly and follow up with some gentle moisturizer. Most conditioners contain ingredients that are not suitable for curly hair. If you want to use a conditioner that’s specifically designed for curls, it’s necessary to know which ingredients to look out for. Unless it’s a sulfate-free product, most curly conditioners contain chemical ingredients like parabens and artificial ingredients. If you use one of these, it’s important to tread lightly.
2. Protect your hair with the best heat protectant you can afford.
If you’re going to use heat, then you need to protect your hair. The best heat protectant you can use is one that includes a sealant and a leave-in conditioner.
Celebrity hairstylist Vernon François advises, “Heat protectants are essential for curly hair because they create a barrier that reduces moisture loss and prevents heat damage.”
If you’re using a heat protector, use something that is meant to be used on hair with a textured texture instead of the smooth plastic kind. In other words, use something that is meant to help wrap your hair around your head. If you want to try heat protectants with curly hair, the easiest to use for deep conditioning is Aloe Vera + Heat Cleanse + Protective Cream + Chamomile. It takes less than 10 minutes to apply, and it’s a gamechanger for the curly locks of our lives. — Jeana Keough
For the boi in yo’ family, curly hair can not only be expensive but can also cause more friction and “stickiness” between the ends of your hair and the scalp. That’s cause for super careful braiding and tying! Here are some quick workouts at home that “mind the knots” and also help prevent tangles. Try calming waves. Two minutes, or a more intensive workout — 10 minutes to meditate is a good time for relaxing curls.
While prolonging the life of your hair may be a luxury for frugal curly girls, it’s not for everyone. Most methods of colour correction include chemicals to darken your hair and unnatural chemical treatments to straighten it. You can use a natural colour and natural hair dye mix to keep your volume in check and to colour-correct naturally.
3. Don’t style your hair every day to reduce damage and breakage
You should try to reduce the amount of heat you use on your hair and avoid styling it every day. If you can’t go a day without styling your hair, at least consider using heat protectant products and wearing protective styles like braids.
According to a study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Science, “Frequent use of heat styling tools can lead to significant hair damage, including breakage and split ends.”
If you want to reduce the amount of breakage and damage, it’s important to use the right products. It takes approximately five months for your hair to fully recover after you stop washing it.
You don’t need to go crazy on your conditioning regimen, but if you want your curls to last longer, try using less heat. Let’s say that you wash your hair three times a week, in the shower, at home, and on a hot day with a conditioner. During the first three months, you’ll need to use a heat protectant at least once a week, and you can use an anticaking spray if you don’t have one already. With the fourth month on a standby schedule, you’ll do a spot check to make sure that all the damage is being taken care of. It makes sense to condition once a week then rinses out your hair once a month afterwards to avoid possible bacterial growth.
Curly hair takes more time to recover than straight hair. Try a weekend detox to reduce frizz, use hot compress soaks in place of diapering, and mix the lengths you wash your hair with more oil and styling products. Heat is very harsh treatment for curls, so try not to apply it so liberally. If your hair is falling out, you may have overused heat or failed to condition properly.
A study from the International Journal of Trichology found that “Protective hairstyles can significantly reduce hair breakage and promote healthier hair growth in individuals with curly hair.”
4. Trim your ends every few months to prevent split ends and keep your curls looking great!
The ends of your hair are the oldest part of your hair, so they’re the most fragile. Split ends break easily, and they can get caught in your brush or snag on your clothes. Keeping your ends healthy and tangle-free will keep the length of your hair looking great. It’ll also prevent them from breaking off.
Renowned hairstylist Ouidad, known as the “Queen of Curl,” states, “Regular trims are essential for maintaining the health and shape of curly hair. Split ends can travel up the hair shaft, causing more damage if not trimmed regularly.”
You can fully punish your curls if you want, but if you want to give your curls a boost, you should limit detangling. Since curls are strong, fluffy, and wiry, they’re naturally able to pull themselves out of clumps of hair by themselves, but if you tug on them for too long or try to loosen them with liquid or gel, they will become damaged and fall out instead. To prevent detangling from damaging your curls, give them a few days before detangling more. Let your curls breathe. Curly hair is, after all, a living, breathing creature.
You don’t need to spend a fortune on shampoos and conditioners just to keep your hair looking and feeling great. Your curls may look great with a simple detangling session in the shower, and you can spend the same amount or less as a few hundred years ago on the gear your great-grandmother used.
