Have you been wondering how you can step your curl game up with a few quick simple tips? Well, I have a few ideas below you can check out; see if you can learn or add something new to your current hair care routine.
Style on Damp Hair
Once you’ve co-washed or shampooed your hair, 9 times out of 10 you’re styling your hair directly afterwards while it’s soaking wet. Depending on the density of your natural hair texture this can also take what seems like forever to dry. Or your hands end up looking like dried raisins from the amount of time it takes to set and style your hair in its soaking wet state. Try styling your hair on slightly damp or semi dry hair for a wet style like a twist, braid, or bantu set. After shampooing your curls, keep your hair wrapped in a microfiber towel or an old t-shirt for about 5-10 minutes to get some of the excess water out of your hair. Then you can proceed with applying your favorite products, styling, and setting you hair with a dryer!
Allow For Time to Dry!
A completely dry style is the key to a frizz free and well defined hair style. If you don’t want to sit and wait around for your hair to air dry, as you find your hair still damp the next day (ugh don’t you hate that), the next best thing is to invest in a hooded dryer. Yes you’ll have to sit under a dryer that blows hot air for at least an hour but you’ll have completely dry hair with a nice polished look overall! Beauty is pain so deal with the hooded dryer for now (once summer hits you won’t have to worry about that hooded monster as much)!
Behold…the H2O Mist
When you don’t wake up as flawless as expected and you find your sacred headscarf hanging from the ceiling, or your curly fro smashed down as if a bulldozer drove on the side of your head, you know it was a good night of sleep you had! The good thing about kinky curly hair is that water hydrates, moisturizes, and resurrects squashed curly bed head from the dead; all you need is a spray bottle filled with water. The key is to not soak your hair completely wet but to mist your hands with a few squirts of water and to scrunch, tug, and fluff out the base or the ends of your curls to stretch them out. Your hair will spring right back to life with added moisture from the water. Just be sure to seal that moisture in with a light hair butter, leave-in cream, or even a natural oil.
Tuck & Roll OR Pin & Go!
Do you need to buy yourself more time with a quick hairstyle that will hold you over until wash day? Have no fear the tuck and roll is here! Mist your hair with some H2O, apply a moisturizing cream/lotion, grab a few hair and bobby pins, and tuck the ends of your hair into a creative protective up-do. There is no right or wrong way to do your thing!
I Can Use a Diffuser…Say What?
Blowdryers with a diffusing attachment are special in its own right. The round nozzle with nubbed prongs create just as strong of an air flow as a normal blow dryer but without moving the hair all over the place. Because of this feature waves and curls can dry without being disrupted and minimizes the amount of frizz that occurs. So, yes you too can use a diffuser whether your hair is wavy, spiral, coily, or tiny corkscrew curls. How you use the diffuser is what makes a difference. For loose wavy hair to spiral and coil shaped curl patterns a diffuser will help to define your natural wave or curl pattern. For tighter curl types that are prone to shrinkage, myself included, use the diffuser to stretch the hair from it shrunken state.
Live in Your Hair
Well not literally but it’s kind of literal because you actually do live in and with your hair each day! But what I’m trying to say is to let your hair evolve into more than one style until the next time you have to shampoo or style it. This way you’ll have two to three styles in one.
