Here are my top 10 curly hair dos and don’ts to style perfect curls every time. Plus find out your hair horoscope!
Brought to you by Style Studio
Curly hair needs special care. It’s something a lot of people probably don’t realise. For us curly girls, it actually takes a long time and a lot of effort to get our curls looking naturally curly!
Naturally curly hair is often drier than straight hair, which means it’s extra prone to the dreaded ‘F’ word: frizz. Add in the effects of heat styling and colour and you’ll see that curly hair needs a special care routine.
And in the meantime, so many curly-haired women out there are doing the wrong thing by their locks – not on purpose of course. But either treating curly hair like straight hair or not reacting the right way to the strange things it does, curly girls around the world are struggling with their hair.
To help make the most of your beautiful locks, I want to share my most important 5 dos and 5 don’ts for curly hair with you:
Do
1. Use lots of conditioner
Curly hair is naturally drier than other hair types, so that means it’s thirsty! It will drink up your conditioner, so use more than you think you need. Focus more on the ends of your hair and avoid your roots if you are prone to an oily scalp.
2. Detangle from the bottom up
Curly hair can be tangle easily and the perfect time to deal with this is when your hair is full of conditioner in the shower. Use a wide tooth comb to detangle your hair starting at the ends of your hair. Then slowly work up your hair to gently remove any knots.
3. Use deep conditioning treatments
Make time to do a deep conditioning treatment on your hair regularly. I like to do one once a week and really give my dry hair a treat. If you have fine hair, you can switch your regular treatment for a mask in the shower instead. I love the Schwarzkopf Extra Care Ultimate Repair Mask.
4. Cocktail your products to find your perfect mix
Finding the perfect curl product has been my life’s work. What works for one curl may not work for you, so the secret is in blending your own product. My fave curl cocktail is the Schwarzkopf Curl Cream mixed with the blue Taft gel.
5. Apply products to wet hair
The secret to beating frizz in curly hair is to apply your products to really wet hair straight out of the shower. This lets you lock in the most moisture to your hair and stops the frizz from forming.
Don’t
1. Apply conditioner to your scalp
Oily scalp is a common problem with curly hair and it’s the same reason that the ends of your hair are dry. The oil from your scalp can’t travel easily down your hair so stays on your scalp. Shampoo the roots of your hair only and then deep condition the ends so your hair is back in balance.
2. Brush your hair when it’s dry
Unless you want a ton of frizz, keep all brushes away from your hair. If you have knots, detangle them as described above.
3. Use a regular towel
Remember that friction equals frizz and a regular fluffy towel is doing your hair no favours. Switch to a microfibre towel or better still, use an old, soft t-shirt to dry your hair. Oh and keep your hands away from your hair while it’s drying too.
4. Straighten your hair all the time
The bonus of having curly hair is that we have so many ways to wear our hair, but please don’t straighten your hair all the time. Your curls will suffer if you flat iron your hair all the time. It’s ok to do it occasionally, but please use a heat protectant spray when you do.
5. Give up on your curls
Finding your perfect curl routine takes trial and error, but keep going! If you’ve straightened your hair a lot, it can take time for your curls to recover, but they will, I promise.
Now if you need help navigating your hair, then your hair horoscope can lead the way. I’m so excited to be working with Style Studio again this year, and you have to check out their Hair Horoscopes. Even if you checked it out last year, these updated horoscopes are designed to help you achieve your hair goals.
I’m a Smooth Siren – Click here to find out your Hair Horoscope now and let me know in the comments what yours says!
Your tips have been A GAME CHANGER for me. I’ve always struggled against my naturally curly and fine hair, it frizzed when I straightened it and blah blah blah. Since binge reading your blog I’ve narrowed my routine down to the Taft Gel (who would have thought!!!) micro-fibre towel, air dry, blow dry fringe, scrunch and fluff. I also use a silk pillowcase. The other day on a Zoom call a girlfriend said my hair looked great. I had washed it about four days prior, its been under numerous beanies during Covid walks, been slept on, but it still fluffs up and looks good. I’m so glad you’ve done the research for us! Thank you!
I have strugglesd with my curly hair because everyone in my family has straight hair but me. So as a kid I always had big puffy hair. as an adult now I am finally understanding how to care for it. Even though I still end up hating it. lol. Great tips. I never brush it anymore because of that dreaded puff.
haha it’s a love hate relationship with curls for sure xx hope it’s more love than hate for you soon xx
Thanks for sharing so many useful tips! I’m always learning more and more about curly hair care from blogs and youtube videos, and have found yours the most useful by far!
When I was younger my hair would always fall in a random parting and have such lovely volume on top, but lately it always falls in the same parting and even when I try zig-zagging it it falls flat on my face and I constantly tuck it behind my ears! I’m looking forward to trying these flat pin clips you mention, but I can’t find them anywhere in the UK?! I’m unsure of what they really are, do they have an alternative names?
Thanks once again 🙂
Hi Hair Romance
I am a fan of your blog, I love reading, I can’t really do some of the hairstyle, but I love your hair color and your curls. I wish I could control my frizzy curls. Do you have any advice?
Thanks Anna! Have you watched my video tutorials? They might help explain my routine better and they have lots of styling tips too – https://www.hairromance.com/2016/05/wash-style-curly-hair.html xx
Both of my children have ultra curly hair My son (7 0 has a beautiful head of dark crisp curls and my daughter (5 yrs ) has ringlets of fine curls that love being styled wet then drying naturally – we always use bhave shampoo and conditioner and cureplex bond strengthener – My hairdresser recommended a tangle teaser brush and a micro fibre towel. We love your braiding and wet hair tutorials, so perfect for curly locks – Thanks, Hair Romance !
Thanks so much, Liza-jean! I love bhave too. I love that you’re caring so well for your children’s curls, they’re so lucky! Christina x
These are really good tips! Curly hair is beautiful, but it can be tough to manage, especially if you’re in a humid area. Nice work! Thanks for the ideas!
Thanks Morgan! x
Love everything about this post. Especially the whole trial and error thing. I used to hate my hair because my hair was big and I couldn’t do the routines my friends would tell me to do when I asked how they got their hair so straight and smooth. But, I figured out why I had the equivalent to a triangle of undefined, crunchy, rough frizz on my head. Now, after I looked online and through countless blogs, I figured out what works for me. It took a really long time, but I figured out that I had a pretty unique texture, and I found this blog to help me out. Three years after hating my hair, here I am, with healthy hair. So please don’t give up after a few bad hair days 🙂
oh that’s awesome, Jessie! It’s definitely a journey to find your perfect curl routine but it’s worth it xx
OMG I love your hair and the color <3
please check out my blog:
http://peachmeup.com/
Thanks Kimberly 🙂