How I Took Control of My Curly Hair
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Looking back at my curly hair routine from a few years ago makes me want to travel back in time and tell my past self to stop what I was doing and throw out every single one of those products.
Sound a bit harsh?
Well, it’s true… I always wondered why my hair would look perfectly okay and then by the end of the day it was a frizzy, puffy mess. #notcute
2018 was the year of self-discovery when it came to my health and beauty routines. I finally found a birth control method that works wonders and I took the time to research and learn about ingredients in my beauty products. Switching to natural deodorant, becoming more invested in skincare products, and finally researching products that are MADE for curly hair. I’ve stopped falling for these curly hair products made by brands who don’t know a single thing about curly hair and falling for all of their cool advertisements and marketing campaigns. Nope. No more.
Before (2015)
After (2019)
The Curly Girl Method
Y’all I found my people when I discovered the Curly Girl Method. Turns out there’s an entire community of curly-haired girls out there that are sharing all the best products, what ingredients to stay away from, and how to tame your mane.
The essentials of the curly girl method are as follows: no
The Curious Jalebi goes into
If you’re ever unsure about whether or not a product is Curly Girl Approved, you can copy and paste the ingredients list into this website! It’s super helpful and I use it all the time.
My Haircare Routine
So the whole Curly Girl Method was a bit intense for my liking. Plus, those Deva Curl products are hella expensive. And I’m a broke college student living off at-most $500 a month. There’s
Day 1: It’s Time for a Wash
The whole curly hair process starts with washing my hair. Sometimes I shower at night, and sometimes I shower in the morning. My routine differs slightly depending on when I’m washing.
The routine starts out the same – shampoo & condition. It’s important to stay away from all of the ingredients listed in that handy dandy infographic above. Those are known to dry out the hair and cause frizz. Frizz is the last thing I want.
Here are some of my faves:
Washing @ Night
After rinsing my conditioner out and hopping out of the shower, I toss my hair up in a towel and let it dry for a few minutes. Apparently, terry cloth towels are the devil for curly hair so you’re supposed to use a microfiber towel to combat frizz
Once my hair is no longer dripping wet, I add in a quarter-sized amount of leave-in conditioner. I run it through my hair and then throw it into a messy bun on top of my head.
I sleep with it wet and then do the whole styling process in the morning.
In the morning, I wet my hair until it’s in between the damp and soaking wet stage. I flip my head over, take a good amount of my hair scrunching gel, and get to scrunching. It’s essentially the same routine as washing my hair in the morning minus the whole shower part.
I scrunch until the curls are well-defined and then leave them to air dry.
Washing in the Morning
After rinsing out my conditioner, I grab my styling gel and get ready for some scrunching action. I turn away from the stream of water, flip my head over, and scrunch a good amount of my curl gel through my hair. Scrunching actions only.
Once I’m satisfied with the scrunching, I hop out of the shower and scrunch my hair with a towel until it’s no longer dripping wet. The less scrunching with a towel the better.
I let my hair air dry and it turns into these beautiful, well-formed curls that aren’t frizzy or puffy or undefined. It’s honestly amazing.
My Favorite Styling Products
Day 2 & 3: Style Me Please
I freshen up my curls with a mixture of water and my leave-in conditioner. It puts some moisture back into them and makes them almost just as bouncy as my day 1 curls.
If I feel like my water & leave-in conditioner mixture just isn’t doing it, I’ll re-wet my hair and add more curl gel. It takes a few tries to understand your hair and know just how much product it needs to be happy without feeling greasy or weighed down.
My day 2 and day 3 curls are still just as defined and beautiful as day 1!
Day 4 & 5: Messy Buns and Getting Stuff Done
After day 3, I’m not the biggest fan of styling my hair with curls. I find that my curls lose their oomph, and they get a tad frizzy. Plus, wearing my hair curly all the time is a lot to handle.
As you’ve probably seen in a lot of my Instagram posts or IG stories, I love a good messy bun, and that’s how I live the majority of my life.
I could easily wash my hair again on day 4 and start over with fresh hair, but the truth of the matter is is that I’m #lazy, and I find washing my hair to be an inconvenience LOL. Sometimes I look back at my middle school and high school self and wonder how on earth I managed to wash my hair EVERY SINGLE DAY. Was that just me? I definitely feel like it was a part of the times to just strip all oils from your hair on a daily basis.
Fun Curly Girl Videos
Keep in mind, I’m still only about 8 months into this whole curly hair journey. I’m sure I’ll find new products that I love and new methods that work even better for me! And of course I’ll share all of that with you 🙂 I introduced my mom to these products and she’s just as obsessed as I am. I guess that means it actually works!
~abigail gray
