Welcome back to another episode of "What the heck am I doing to my curls?" where I navigate and experiment with what I do to take care of my curly hair and share it with you guys in hopes to inspire you to take care of your own curls.
Turns out, even though I'm trying to be super empowered and embrace me wholeheartedly. I still have a lot of insecurity attached to going out in public with my natural curls. I learned this because I decided to wear my natural curls to a wedding instead of curling my hair like I normally do for big events and about had a meltdown because they didn't look as good as I wanted them to and I was worried people were going to judge me for it. After we left, I basically cried the entire way to the wedding while spraying them down with water and using our car's AC to get them to dry and curl how I wanted them to...
So yeah, we're getting there. Progress doesn't happen overnight.
Honestly, it just brought back a lot of memories of being told to go brush my hair so I looked presentable and all of the comments on how "messy" my hair looked whenever I didn't straighten my hair in high school/college.
It's crazy how other people's words can haunt you years and years later and keep you from being 100% you.
Lesson for the day: Be nice to other people.
Towards the end of the month though, I was definitely figuring out a routine and feeling a little more confident in my curls.
August's Curly Hair
Everyday Routine
This month I tried to wear my hair down more when it was just me just hanging out at home. Didn't work too well since I'm back at work part-time now. I also went back to shampooing every wash day, just because my hair wasn't feeling super clean and was getting greasy faster than normal with co-washing. Honestly, I probably wasn't scrubbing enough, but spending 10 minutes just on one shower aspect is exhausting lol. I did fully switch all of my products over to Curly Girl Approved products, so hopefully we'll see a big change soon.
I washed my hair with Kristin Ess Curly Hair Shampoo using my shower scalp massager to really get in there and get all the junk off my head. I then followed it by using Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus, Curl & Shine Conditioner using the finger comb and scrunch in method. I typically use a wide tooth combs to get out all of the knots while my conditioner is still is in my hair before rinsing.
After getting out of the shower, I start by sectioning off my hair and using my Denman brush to brush the curls up and away from my head thus coaxing my hair to have a little more volume. I then flip my head over, spray it down with my leave in conditioner/water mixture and scrunch in some Kristin Ess Curl Jelly, followed by Not Your Mother's Curl Activation Mousse and Cantu Hair Gel.
For drying, I take a T-shirt, lay it down on my vanity chair, and slowly lower my head onto the T-shirt which helps the curls curl better and maintain their shape while getting rid of a decent amount of water. While I'm in this position, I grab my diffuser, on medium speed and medium heat, I diffuse my roots by hovering the blow dryer around my head in a circular motion.
Once the roots on the back of my head are dry, I'll flip my head to the side and diffuse those roots before doing the same to the other side. Once my roots are completely dry, I'll flip my head back upright, fix whatever curls may have fallen out or gone limp with some more leave in conditioner/water before letting the rest of the curls air dry.
To finish, when my head is completely dry and stiff because of the gel cast (usually about 30-45 minutes later), I flip my hair back over, scrunch out the cast with two drops of Argon oil, and fluff out my roots to create more volume.
I've also started wearing a satin sleeping cap occasionally in order to protect my curls overnight and be able to go longer in between wash days.
New Products
Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus, Curl & Shine Conditioner Conditioner
Sleep Cap
Resources
Things I've Learned
Don't use a regular towel on your curls. It literally creates frizz galore. Use a microfiber towel or a T-shirt.
The more you let dry your hair and leave it down after styling, it will continue to curl better each time.
Curly hair doesn't need to be cut, but every five to six months if you take care of it properly. I found that really interesting, I'm not mad about it; I'm gonna save a lot of money on hair cuts now that I won't be going every three months.
I feel like I look ridiculous in a sleeping cap, and it makes me a little insecure about wearing it.
Goals for the Month of September
Figure out how to keep curls longer than one day.
Volume Volume Volume
Better day two curls
Take a shot for the curls ruined by me putting it up in a bun and toast to finally being on all Curly Girl Method Approved products.
Cheers,
Kristaleagh