Naturally curly hair is unique and beautiful. But it requires special care and attention to maintain its health and vitality. To keep your natural curls healthy and bouncy, you must use the right approach to hair care. Find this essential list of dos and don'ts to remember when caring for naturally curly hair.
The Dos of Natural Curly Hair Care
Follow these natural curly hair care tips to promote healthier and more vibrant strands.
1. Use the Right Shampoo and Conditioner
The first step to ensuring that your natural curls are healthy is to invest in shampoo/ cleansers and conditioner specifically formulated for your hair type. As mentioned above, natural curls require special care and a unique approach from other hair types. Shampoos/ cleansers and conditioners made for natural curls provide the essential ingredients and nourishment your curls need.
For example, you need to invest in shampoos/ cleansers and conditioners that include coconut oil and avocado oil as ingredients. These ingredients help to moisturise and define your curls.
On the other hand, you should avoid shampoos/ cleansers and conditioners made of sulfate, silicone & parabens. These products strip your curls of natural oils that can make them prone to frizz and hair breakage.
2. Moisturise Regularly
Proper and adequate moisturization is essential to the hair care routine for natural curls. The shape of the strands makes it difficult for the natural oils from the scalp to travel along them. As a result, they can be prone to drying and developing frizz.
The best way to combat frizz in natural curls is to use a leave-in conditioner, curl cream and moisturising gels. These products inject your strands with additional moisture to stay hydrated and healthy. It is also worth investing in a deep conditioning treatment once a week to give your hair an extra moisture boost.
3. Air Dry Your Hair
Heat styling is one of the biggest enemies of natural curls. Therefore, make it a habit if possible to air dry your hair after every wash or use low to medium cooling heat. You should limit or avoid using a blow dryer on high heat because the heat can cause damage to your strands. It can make them more prone to damage and frizz.
If you use a blow dryer on your curls, always use a diffuser attachment. This attachment evenly distributes heated air to avoid causing extensive heat damage to your hair.
4. Protect Hair During Sleep
Sleeping with your hair out can cause frizz and damage due to friction. The best way to prevent this is to use silk pillowcases or satin bonnets (coming soon to See My Curls) to reduce friction while sleeping. Or, you can wear a hair covering to protect your strands.
5. Use a Wide-Tooth Comb
Use bamboo wide-tooth comb or bamboo paddle bush to detangle your curly hair instead of using regular plastic brush on your natural curls. Plastic combs and brushes can cause frizz, breakage and long-term damage to your curls. Apart from being ego friendly & vegan, bamboo combs & brushes are perfect for curly hair care because they are gentle on the scalp & stimulates blood circulation. They are also static free & therefore reduce frizz.
6. Embrace Your Curls
The most important tip to remember when caring for your natural curls is to embrace them. Limit your use of hair products that expose your strands to various chemicals. You should also refrain from using excessive heat styling. Learn to embrace your curls as they are, and avoid using too many products.
The Don’ts of Natural Curly Hair Care
The following are essential guidelines on what you should avoid doing when maintaining the health of your natural curls.
1. Avoid Over-washing Your Hair
Washing your hair excessively can strip any natural oil from your strands. When there is not enough hair oil, it can lead to dryness and breakage.
Because all hair and curls are different, you need to decide for yourself how often you want to wash your hair. Ideally, you should wash your curls once or twice a week. That being said, some people for example, swimmers and those who work out a lot often need to wash on a daily basis. If this is you, then you will love our Detangler Cleanser Conditioner as it's formulated with moisturising and cleansing ingredients that will wash your scalp & curls without striping away the natural oils.
2. Avoid Washing Hair with Hot Water
Washing hair with hot water is a no-no, regardless of whether you have curly hair. But it is significant for those with natural curls because it can dry your hair out, making it prone to breakage and hair fall.
Instead, use cool or lukewarm water for washing your curly hair.
3. Avoid Brushing Your Curls
Brushing can cause your curly hair to become brittle over time, mainly when dry. It’s also possible to snag at your strands and cause more hair damage.
If your hair is wet, only use a wide-tooth comb to detangle it.
4. Don’t Use Heavy Hair Products
You should avoid using strand alone heavy products on your hair, such as oils or butters. These products can weigh down your natural curls and make them feel greasy. Instead, opt for balanced formulated products such as See My Curls that will moisturise your hair without feeling too heavy.
5. Neglecting Your Scalp
Your scalp health is integral to your hair health. When caring for natural curls, paying attention to your scalp is essential. Invest in natural hair care products that nourish your scalp to promote healthy hair regrowth. Also, a healthy scalp translates to healthy hair. For healthy hair care, add to your weekly or fortnightly regimen the use of a scalp scrubber to gentle exfoliate product build up and remove dead skin cells. Your scalp will thank you for stimulating blood circulation and for adding this to your healthy hair care routine.
Aside from using products that promote scalp care, it is a must to massage your scalp regularly. It helps to stimulate blood flow to your scalp and keep it healthy.
6. Refrain from Using Heat Styling Tools
You must avoid using heat styling tools on your natural curls, such as flat irons and curling irons. Too much heat exposure can damage your fragile strands. In addition, since curly hair is prone to dryness, heat styling tools can further dehydrate your strands. If possible, avoid using these tools to style your hair. Switch to our handmade, natural and organic products that will feed, love your curls and bring it to life.
Conclusion
Caring for natural curls requires a gentle and consistent approach. Unfortunately, remembering the proper ways to care for your curls can be overwhelming.
Remember this list of dos and don’ts for your natural hair care routine to keep your curls looking healthy, beautiful and shop See My Curls natural & organic curly hair products, handmade in Australia.
Love your curls and set them free!